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 3. ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER. By Sir Walter 
 
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 4. MADAME IZA.N: A Tourist Story. By Mrs. Campbell 
 
 Praed. 
 
 5. A WOMAN INTERVENES. By Robert Barr. 
 
 6. NULMA : An Anglo-Australian Romance. By Mrs. Campbell 
 
 Praed. 
 
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 Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 NULMA : An Anglo-Australian Romance. 
 
 Post 8vo., illustrated boards, 2s. each. 
 THE ROMANCE OF A STATION. 
 THE SOUL OF COUNTESS ADRIAN. 
 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, 6s. 
 MADAME IZAN : A Tourist Story. 
 
 By Mrs. CAMPBELL PRAED & JUSTIN McCARTHY. 
 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, 6s. 
 'THE RIGHT HONOURABLE.' 
 
 London : CHATTO & WINDUS, m St. Martin's Lane, W.C.
 
 V 
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 A TOURIST STORY 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. CAMPBELL PRAED 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 'THE ROMANCE OF A STATION.' 'MRS. TREGASKISS,' ETC. 
 
 SPECIAL EDITION 
 
 For sale only in India and the British Colonies 
 
 LONDON 
 
 CHATTO & WINDUS 
 
 1899
 
 ¥- 
 
 PR 
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 John Windeatt saw her for the first time in the 
 lift of the big hotel at Hong Kong. That was 
 an epoch in Windeatt's life, though he was not at 
 the moment fully conscious of the fact. He did, 
 however, feel vaguely that something rather out of 
 the common had happened, though this was only 
 that the most beautiful woman he had ever beheld 
 suddenly stepped into the dim, fusty, steaming box 
 which was conveying him and his sister to their 
 recently-acquired rooms on the fifth story. 
 
 She entered with a little wavering movement, 
 out of keeping with the Diana-like carriage of her 
 head and bust. This was the suggestion she gave 
 — that of a Greek goddess just descended from 
 Olympus. She had the radiant, surprised expres- 
 sion which, under these circumstances, a goddess 
 might be supposed to wear, and seemed to exhale, 
 as it were, some celestial aroma of youth, and to 
 
 I 
 
 1662080 '
 
 2 MADAME IZAN 
 
 personify the freshest joy of existence. It was 
 not, however, a favourable opportunity for cata- 
 loguing features or for discriminating as to tones 
 of colour in the matter of hair and complexion. 
 He perceived that she was a brunette, that nose 
 and chin were of classic mould, and that about 
 the splendour of her dark eyes there could be 
 no manner of doubt. Another lady followed her, 
 smaller, insignificant, and distinctly more mature. 
 
 No other passenger appearing, the four went up 
 together. In speaking of the four, the Chinese 
 conductor is naturally not included. This person 
 leaned in the corner, his head on one side, an ex- 
 pression of weary resignation upon his stolid flat 
 face as he languidly fanned himself with one hand, 
 while the rope slithered softly through the other. 
 Never in tourist experience had that Chinaman 
 been known to speak, smile, or, indeed, vary the 
 blank, unintelligent stare with which he greeted 
 humanity as it presented itself at the entrance to 
 the lift. He smiled now, the feeblest ghost of a 
 smile, and he spoke, too, later, when the goddess 
 addressed him, with a pretty imperious air of 
 curiosity. 
 
 ' How does the thing go ?' 
 
 'Has she but just touched earth?' Windeatt 
 asked himself, and reflected, being a person of old- 
 fashioned taste in literature, that in the days when
 
 MADAME IZAN 3 
 
 Zeus controlled the affairs of the world, eagle's 
 feathers as a means of locomotion had been in 
 vogue, and elevators had not been invented. 
 
 The Chinaman shook his head. 
 
 ' How does it go ?' repeated the goddess. 
 ' There was no lift, Herminia, at Singapore?' 
 
 ' No, there wasn't, dear,' assented the other 
 lady. 
 
 ' Nor in Colombo,' pursued the goddess. She 
 bent forward and touched the rope and gearing 
 with childlike interest. ' Is it steam that makes 
 it go ?' she asked. 
 
 4 Oh dear no, Izo ; lifts are mostly hydraulic !' 
 
 Izo did not seem much the wiser, but she sat 
 silent till the last stage was reached, and the 
 Chinaman and his pigtail slowly disappeared up a 
 bamboo ladder and came down again, while the 
 others waited, not being quite certain that they 
 had arrived at their destination. 
 
 ' What is that for ?' demanded the goddess. 
 
 ' Oh, Izo dear, it's nothing !' said the other lady. 
 
 e But I want to know !' exclaimed Izo. 
 
 Windeatt lingered at the lift-opening after his 
 sister, Mrs. Eugarde, had passed along, and heard 
 her add petulantly : 
 
 ' You are always pulling me up, Herminia. 
 And how am I ever to learn the East if I don't 
 ask questions ?' 
 
 T 2
 
 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' You could have learned lifts in Paris if we had 
 stayed in a hotel,' replied Herminia. ' They're 
 common enough everywhere.' 
 
 ' Oh ! are they ? Well, I want to learn them 
 here. What for, Chinaman? — Topside? — So?' 
 
 The enchanting smile and still more enchanting 
 undulation of the goddess's arms, first towards the 
 bamboo ladder and then in the direction of the 
 rope, fascinated Windeatt, and he lingered on. 
 The Chinaman was fascinated also, and the strings 
 of his tongue became unloosed. 
 
 ' That water. No water, topside — no lift. Mine 
 ling-a-ling-ling ' — touching the electric button — 
 ' and mine no savey. No come.' 
 
 ' Oh, well !' 
 
 The goddess didn't seem quite satisfied with 
 this explanation, but her companion would not 
 wait. Here was Windeatt's chance. In stepping 
 out, the lady of his admiration stumbled again, and 
 stretched forth her hand uncertainly. He extended 
 his own to help her, and she touched it for a 
 moment. Their eyes met ; he bowed reve- 
 rentially. 
 
 ' Oh, thank you !' she said, and, turning down a 
 side-corridor, caught up her friend. 
 
 John Windeatt followed his sister. From the 
 end of the corridor two of their fellow-passengers 
 on the steamer advanced to meet them.
 
 MADAME IZAN 5 
 
 1 Here are Mr. Barradine and Captain Kelsey, 
 Jack,' exclaimed Mrs. Eugarde. 
 
 ' We've been to your rooms to look for you,' 
 said Mr. Barradine, a thin, elderly gentleman 
 dressed in gray alpaca, and speaking in a plaintive 
 high-bred voice. ' I wanted to tell you, Mrs. 
 Eugarde, that this won't do at all — oh dear no, 
 not at all ! There are five cases of plague in Hong 
 Kong.' 
 
 ' There are thousands in Canton, and I'm not 
 afraid of them,' said the other man. 
 
 ' Look here,' said Windeatt, thinking not at all 
 of the plague : ' did you notice those two ladies 
 who came up in the lift ? Can you tell me who 
 they are ?' 
 
 Captain Kelsey, who was a big, dark Indian 
 officer on furlough, making for sport in Alaska by 
 way of Japan, gave a rough guffaw. 
 
 ' What ! another divinity?' 
 
 Mr. Barradine knew nothing about the divine 
 lady — had not remarked her, and was far more 
 deeply interested in the reports of the plague. 
 
 ' I shall go back in the steam-launch, Mrs. 
 Eugarde. I'm certainly not going to stay on 
 shore to risk catching the plague, for if there is 
 anything to be caught, I catch it. Mumps was 
 the last thing — and at my age ! No, I shall live 
 on the boat.'
 
 6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' And I,' said Captain Kelsey, ' am going to 
 Canton. Follow my example, Windeatt : let the 
 divinity rip, and see what you can. Don't be 
 scared by the plague ; Europeans never take it.' 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Barradine produced an instance 
 of a European who had taken the plague, and 
 had died and been buried. 
 
 ' It's all rot !' said Captain Kelsey. * Come 
 along, Windeatt, to Canton. We'll look out for 
 a Mandarin chap — that's the correct thing, they 
 tell me — to shepherd us.' 
 
 But here Mrs. Eugarde had something to say. 
 She was a neat, rather impressive-looking woman 
 of about forty, with a pince-nez and a kindly 
 and sensible face. No, she was not going to be 
 left lone and lorn in Hong Kong to hunt up copy 
 for her weekly ' Round the World Jottings.' If 
 Jack went to Canton, she would go too. 
 
 ' Ah, dear Mrs. Eugarde !' protested Mr. Barra- 
 dine, ' I assure you that Canton is quite impossible 
 even with a Mandarin to look after you. People 
 are dying in the streets, taking off all their 
 clothes, which would be unpleasant for a lady, 
 and grovelling to the great enemy. Do not be 
 misled by Kelsey ; go back to the boat. One 
 might make inquiries about the Peak, but I really 
 think we should do better on the boat. This 
 hotel is quite the worst I have set foot in yet, and
 
 MADAME IZAN 7 
 
 the dearest. I had a cup of gruel — I didn't 
 dare take anything else — and they charged me a 
 dollar.' 
 
 ' I,' said Captain Kelsey, ' had oysters and iced 
 sauterne, which were reasonably cheap. They 
 don't understand gruel in the East.' 
 
 Mr. Barradine shuddered. 
 
 ' Oysters ! Nothing would induce me to swallow 
 an Asiatic oyster. When I was in Bombay, seven 
 persons were poisoned by eating oysters.' 
 
 ' I've eaten a good many scores of dozens in 
 Bombay and never had an ache,' declared Captain 
 Kelsey. 'And it wasn't because they were 
 Kurrachee oysters : you think you're safe if you 
 ask for a Kurrachee oyster at Green's. And they 
 get 'em from Kurrachee, and put 'em in Bombay 
 beds. But I know a fellow that would wash down 
 his oysters with pegs of whisky. Consequently 
 they turned to leather in his inside and gave him 
 indigestion ; and he swore ever afterwards that the 
 oysters had poisoned him. Whisky is fatal to 
 oysters. . . . Lord!' he continued, ' if you went 
 on Barradine's tack in India, you'd starve. There 
 are eleven men in a hundred that won't eat meat 
 out there, because they'd once been scared. 
 " Trust in Providence " is my motto, and thank 
 it for a good appetite. Otherwise, eat every- 
 thing you fancy, and don't care a hang.'
 
 8 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' Excuse me,' cried Windeatt, whose eyes had 
 been roving down the corridor. ' I quite forgot 
 about some inquiries I wanted to make at the 
 office. There's the lift again. Shall see you at 
 tiffin, I dare say, Barradine. Will you come, Ju ?' 
 
 ' It's the goddess going down,' said Mrs. Eugarde, 
 nodding pleasantly. ' Jack will never be satisfied 
 till he has found out her name, and got someone 
 to introduce him. You must really help me, 
 Mr. Barradine. These divinities are becoming an 
 embarrassment.' 
 
 Two figures in grass-cloth gowns and pith 
 helmets, of which one towered a good five inches 
 above the other, appeared from a side - passage, 
 and showed in profile to the group. 
 
 'It's the tall one, I suppose!' said Captain 
 Kelsey. ' By George ! she's a ripping fine woman ;' 
 which outspoken remark jarred upon Windeatt. 
 He hurried on his sister, observing that he dis- 
 liked that fellow Kelsey, a coarse brute, who didn't 
 know how to talk about ladies. And when the 
 Chinaman wanted to wait for those two gentle- 
 men who came sauntering leisurely towards the lift, 
 Jack wouldn't have it, but peremptorily bade the 
 Chinaman start off, which seemed rather a base 
 trick to play upon the gentle valetudinarian. He 
 at least had said nothing to deserve it. 
 
 Again Windeatt was struck by that curious
 
 MADAME IZAN 9 
 
 hesitancy in the tall and beautiful lady's way of 
 moving. She had a groping fashion of putting 
 out her hands, as though she were uncertain of 
 the actual distance of any object which might 
 loom before her, and another slight stumble as 
 she entered the lift gave him excuse anew for 
 proffering assistance. 
 
 ' Oh . . . thank you,' she said again. 
 
 Her manner of addressing him — certainly he 
 was a stranger — was jerky and half frightened, yet 
 not without a simple sort of dignity, and her voice 
 was rich and musical. Jack's bow expressed all 
 the homage which such a voice and a pair of eyes 
 so lovely had it in their power to command. The 
 other lady scrutinized him with her head at much 
 the same angle as that of the Chinaman, and with 
 something of the air of an inquisitive bird. From 
 him she glanced at Mrs. Eugarde, and the im- 
 pression appeared to be satisfactory, for she shed 
 on brother and sister an impartial and grateful 
 smile. She was rather an attractive person, not 
 young, but still pretty, slightly freckled, with 
 curly reddish hair and limpid blue eyes. She 
 murmured something indistinct as to the general 
 unpleasantness of lifts, and Windeatt, emboldened, 
 inquired if she had been up to the Peak in the 
 cable-car, and if she had found the ascent dis- 
 agreeable.
 
 io MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' No,' the freckled lady informed him, ' they 
 had not, so far, been able to make the ascent.' 
 
 And the goddess put in eagerly : ' But we 
 want to very much ; we thought of going this 
 afternoon.' 
 
 ' The view ought to be extremely fine,' said 
 Windeatt. 
 
 ' Do you know Hong Kong?' asked the freckled 
 lady. 
 
 ' Oh, not at all,' answered Mrs. Eugarde. ' We 
 are only here since yesterday — waiting for the 
 Japan boat.' 
 
 ' Oh !' exclaimed the younger one in a tone of 
 awakened interest, and appeared to wish to pursue 
 the subject ; but the freckled lady turned it off 
 with the observation that there seemed a promise 
 of a clear afternoon. 
 
 ' Oh, I hope so !' exclaimed the goddess. * It 
 is so splendid to see everything all spread out 
 before one.' 
 
 She laid an oddly pathetic accent on the ' see,' 
 which reminded one somehow of a prisoner let 
 loose. Now the lift stopped at the dining-room, 
 and they all got out. There was a thin crowd 
 streaming into the great pillared place, which was 
 set about with many small tables, and the usual 
 groupings of people that one sees in an Anglo- 
 Eastern hotel — tourists, of course, of the different
 
 MADAME IZAN n 
 
 types ; a few foreigners ; some English officials, 
 languidly imperious and indifferent, except to their 
 food ; men, evidently in the army, in drill suits 
 and cummerbunds ; and ladies in muslin blouses, 
 sallow and tired-looking, and with that indefinable 
 self-conscious smartness acquired by English- 
 women quartered in the East. Among them all, 
 the Chinese boys stalked noiselessly — pigtails 
 hanging, blue gowns flapping with the swing of 
 the punkahs — always imperturbably remote. The 
 freckled lady made for a table in a corner, swept 
 by the tail of a punkah, and began to fan herself. 
 She was the kind of woman to whom a fan at her 
 girdle appears the natural appendage. 
 
 Windeatt manoeuvred his sister to the next table, 
 adroitly placing himself so as to get a good three- 
 quarter-face view of his divinity, and barely a 
 profile one of her friend. No doubt he had 
 reflected that his full gaze might be disconcerting, 
 for it did not appear that his eyes wandered very 
 far from that next table, except when they were 
 bent upon his plate. Mrs. Eugarde sat facing the 
 freckled lady's back, but had uninterrupted facilities 
 for studying the charms of Izo. 
 
 ' Really, Jack,' she said, taking advantage of 
 the clatter made by a party of tourists not many 
 paces off, so that there should be no possibility of 
 her remarks being overheard by their object, ' I
 
 12 MADAME IZAN 
 
 don't think that I ever saw anyone quite so striking- 
 looking.' 
 
 ' No, isn't that so, now?' and he seemed charmed 
 at her enthusiastic praise. ' That's exactly what 
 I feel myself. She is more than just pretty or 
 handsome. There's something altogether out of 
 the common run about her — a kind of majesty, 
 an unconsciousness, I don't know how to describe 
 it — something, you know, Ju, that reminds one 
 of a Greek goddess.' 
 
 ' You couldn't have seen many Greek goddesses 
 out in Australia, Jack.' 
 
 ' No, I didn't,' he answered frankly ; ' and I 
 don't know that I had seen many before I went 
 there. It's just an idea of mine — my fancy of 
 how a Greek goddess ought to look : right over 
 ordinary people's heads in a sort of surprised 
 glory.' 
 
 ' She may well look over some ordinary people's 
 heads — mine, for example,' said Mrs. Eugarde. 
 ' I should say that she can't be less than five feet 
 nine in her heels.' 
 
 ' She doesn't wear heels — not to speak of. I 
 noticed that when she got out of the lift.' 
 
 ' Well,' said Mrs. Eugarde, * if there's any doubt 
 about the glory, there's none about the surprise. 
 Odd, wasn't it, that she should never have seen a 
 lift before she came to Hong Kong?'
 
 MADAME IZAN 13 
 
 ' Yes, it was certainly odd.' 
 
 Windeatt seemed to find no satisfactory solution 
 of the problem, which was evidently perplexing 
 him as he gazed abstractedly across to the table 
 where the two ladies sat. 
 
 ' I think she must be short-sighted,' he said. 
 ' Did you see how she kept putting out her hands, 
 as if to feel her way ?' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde assented. 
 
 ' But she doesn't look short-sighted.' 
 
 ' Wonderful eyes, aren't they? I'm so glad you 
 agree with me, Ju, about her. You see, I'm not 
 easily knocked over ' 
 
 ' Oh no, indeed,' ironically cried Mrs. Eugarde. 
 ' And what about the pretty girl from the Riverina 
 country who went ashore at Albany, and disappeared? 
 And who was it that insisted upon my scraping 
 acquaintance — and getting snubbed — with the 
 mamma of that golden-haired scion of the aristo- 
 cracy at Kandy ? And we have no recollection 
 whatever, have we, of the charmer who coached 
 you up in the history of the Ruanweli, and good 
 King What's-his-name, and wanted you to chip 
 a piece off the Buddha, who had been sitting since 
 before Christ all alone in the jungle ? — no, I suppose 
 the jungle had grown up round him afterwards, but 
 that's a detail. She lived in Denver City, do you 
 remember? Don't be rash, Jack. America is a
 
 i 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 fine matrimonial market. . . . And, of course, you 
 have entirely forgotten how far things went with 
 the fiancee of the doctor at Singapore. Those 
 flirtations don't count, do they ? Oh dear no ! 
 you are not in the least impressionable — not in 
 the very least.' 
 
 ' Don't chaff, Ju. You know quite well what 
 I mean. I'm not talking about common or garden 
 flirtations like those. Naturally, when a fellow 
 has been knocking about for years in the Bush, he 
 appreciates the society of ladies, and wants to make 
 the most of it — naturally ! And there's nothing 
 common or garden about this one. I wish I could 
 remember what the statue is that she makes me 
 think of — just now, do you observe ? — as she 
 holds her head back and stares in front of her 
 with that wondering kind of dignity. I've seen 
 the look in a startled heifer — never in a girl.' 
 
 ' A Greek statue and a startled heifer ! Gracious, 
 there's a comparison ! But I think I do under- 
 stand. How do you know, though, Jack, that 
 she is a girl ?' 
 
 1 Of course she is a girl. You don't tell me 
 that she is a married woman ! She is a young girl, 
 fresh from school — or a convent. Did you remark 
 that she crossed herself? The freckled one is 
 chaperoning her. Probably she is an orphan and 
 an heiress.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 15 
 
 ' Her clothes certainly suggest affluence,' replied 
 Mrs. Eugarde, appraising the goddess's attire with 
 a critical eye. ' That jacket is distinctly French, 
 and not cheap French.' 
 
 ' Wonder if she is staying in the hotel ?' mused 
 Windeatt. 
 
 ' We can find out.' 
 
 ' Well, yes, I rather think we shall find out. 
 And suppose that she is waiting, like ourselves, 
 
 for the boat to Japan ! That would be 
 
 Yes ' — in a louder tone — * Barradine was right. 
 I don't think much of this hotel. It's the worst 
 curry I have tasted in the East. . . . Don't 
 stare, Ju ; she is looking this way.' 
 
 But the goddess's glance swept indifferently 
 past the table. She appeared quite unconscious 
 ofWindeatt's admiration and of his sister's scrutiny. 
 In fact, she was far too absorbed in studying the 
 scene, and also in the viands placed before her. 
 She ate with healthy gusto — not like Herminia, 
 who merely pecked. A dish of fresh lichees 
 seemed as great a novelty as the lift. 
 
 'Strawberries!' she exclaimed, with that un- 
 certainty of gesture which had before struck 
 Windeatt and his sister. 
 
 Picking one of the fruit — in appearance it is 
 not unlike a yellowish -pink strawberry — she 
 examined it at a little distance, and then drew it
 
 1 6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 close to her eyes. Mrs. Eugarde came now to 
 the conclusion that her dreamy, puzzled — what 
 Windeatt called her startled-heifer-goddess — look 
 must indeed be due to near-sightedness. The 
 freckled lady laughed as Izo put the lichee to the 
 bow of her lips and made a wry face at finding 
 hard rind instead of luscious pulp, and a small 
 passage of banter passed between them. Presently, 
 however, Herminia became sentimental, and 
 perched her head again at the lackadaisical angle. 
 Something was said about a ' burying-ground, and 
 its being a sacred duty,' which led the Australians 
 to suppose that one or other of the two had a 
 relative interred in Hong Kong. 
 
 The American manager behind the office 
 counter grinned knowingly when Windeatt asked 
 to see the visitors' list. He motioned to where 
 Captain Kelsey stood, his red face bent over its 
 contents, and as Windeatt addressed him, Kelsey 
 looked up, with his finger laid triumphantly upon 
 a recent entry. 
 
 ' There,' he said, ' I guess what you are after, 
 and so does the office fellow. Some other gentle- 
 men have been on the same business. I spotted 
 her at tiffin, and she is out-and-out the finest 
 woman I've seen this many a day. But she is 
 booked, my friend. You can't lawfully endow 
 her with your bit of the great Wee-Waa Mine —
 
 MADAME IZAN 17 
 
 just at present, anyhow. You'll have to try the 
 effect of cold steel on her husband first, or other- 
 wise discreetly settle him. I bet my hat she is 
 going out to join the husband, most likely at 
 one of the Legations. From the name, I should 
 say the Russian Legation in Tokyo or Pekin. 
 See here.' 
 
 He pointed to two names bracketed, and in 
 the same round schoolgirlish handwriting, which 
 Windeatt assumed to be that of the more inver- 
 tebrate-looking Herminia, but which he afterwards 
 discovered to be verily the caligraphy of his 
 divinity : 
 
 ' Madame Izan ) r „_ ... , 
 , _ „ \ from Marseilles. 
 
 Mrs. Bax j J 
 
 1 Marseilles ! That don't tell much. And 
 which is Madame Izan ?' said Captain Kelsey. 
 'Sounds Russian, eh? I lay it's the tall one — 
 the beauty ;' and he went forward and interro- 
 gated the clerk, returning with information. ' It's 
 as I said : it is the beauty. And they can't tell 
 anything about her, except that she arrived yester- 
 day in the French boat, and is going on to Kobe in 
 the Makara. Nationality unknown.' 
 
 1 Herminia Bax is British !' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Eugarde. ' There can be no doubt as to Herminia.' 
 
 ' Is that her name — Herminia ?' 
 
 2
 
 1 8 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' The freckled one,' said Windeatt. 
 
 ' You look depressed, old chap. Give it up, 
 my boy. Madame Izan can't be a widow ; 
 there's no sign of widowhood about her. Try 
 Herminia : mauve necktie, chastened sorrow — 
 that's more like it — and she's not bad-looking, 
 either. Well, good-bye, Mrs. Eugarde. I've 
 got hold of an obliging Mandarin, and I'm off to 
 Canton.' 
 
 Inside the hotel were chairs and bearers, dig- 
 nified and obtuse ; outside, rickshaws clamoured, 
 equally obtuse, and a bit more amusing. It was 
 evident that rickshaws, if dirty, offered a chance 
 of wilder excitement than the stately sedan-chairs, 
 and the Australians engaged them. So, upon the 
 same reasoning apparently, had Madame Izan 
 and Mrs. Bax, for, turning a curve as they whirled 
 along the flat road to Happy Valley, Windeatt 
 and Mrs. Eugarde perceived the two ladies in 
 front of them. Windeatt declared to Mrs. Eugarde 
 that he had instructed the coolies to take them to 
 the cable-car station, but he had omitted to say 
 ' topside.' They had by this time learned that 
 if you don't say ' topside ' in Hong Kong, and 
 very often if you do — being a tourist, and thus 
 recognisable — you are incontinently and invariably 
 dragged to Happy Valley. Twice already that 
 morning had these Australians been dragged to
 
 MADAME IZAN 19 
 
 Happy Valley. Under other circumstances 
 Windeatt would have been angry ; he was now 
 meekly pensive. 
 
 The rickshaw-coolies stopped with an air of 
 finality before some open white gates, which had 
 already admitted the two grass-cloth-clad ladies, 
 and pointed within to a garden embellished by 
 white pillars and pieces of statuary. When the 
 visitors had walked as far as the fountain in the 
 centre alley, they discovered that the garden was 
 just the most beautiful cemetery there could be in 
 the world — an ideal God's-acre, sloping backward 
 up the hill, open below to ocean's breezes, and to 
 the blueness of sea and sky and lovely land-locked 
 harbour. Natural grottos and ravines furrowed 
 the hill, and the whole was a strange blending of 
 wildness and artificiality. All among the wit- 
 nesses lay grave-gardens, set about with carefully- 
 tended shrubs and flowers, velvety grass- plats 
 between, and dividing hedges of gorgeous tropical 
 creepers and the overpoweringly sweet Chinese 
 jessamine. 
 
 The statuary was of a mournful and religious 
 character, and on the obelisks and tombstones 
 ' Died young ' and ' Died in the service of his 
 country ' were the legends mostly inscribed. 
 Over one flat grave, which was shadowed by a 
 slender palm tossing its broad fronds upon the 
 
 2 — 2
 
 2o MADAME IZAN 
 
 scented air, there bent the forms of two women. 
 Windeatt got a vague impression that one of the 
 women was weeping, and hurried his sister down 
 a side-alley. 
 
 ' It's quite possible,' he said, ' that she was 
 married straight out of a convent. You know, 
 they do that sort of thing in France. And if she 
 was an orphan to start with, why, naturally, she 
 would have stayed always in the convent, and 
 wouldn't have seen much of the world. Then it 
 was most probable that her husband was in the 
 navy — that seems to me a much more likely sup- 
 position than that he is now in a Legation — and he 
 may have had to leave her at once, at the church 
 door, perhaps, for it isn't only in you people's 
 novels, Ju, that romantic things happen. Why, 
 there might have been a hundred reasons. Then, 
 of course, he was killed in the service of his 
 country, or died of fever, and, with proper feeling, 
 she has come out to see his grave. As for what 
 Kelsey said about mourning,' he went on, 'why, 
 how could you expect a beautiful young thing like 
 that to trail widow's weeds after her, and in the 
 tropics? Think of a black gown in the tropics! 
 That, you may be certain, is the explanation.' 
 ' But this ; s the Protestant cemetery, Jack.' 
 Windeatt had to own that the ground was not 
 quite covered by his explanation.
 
 MADAME IZAN 21 
 
 * Mrs. Bax looks to me much more like the 
 widow,' went on Mrs. Eugarde. ' She is older 
 and more worn in the face, and the tilt of her 
 head suggests somehow the possibility of her 
 having worn a crown of sorrow at some period of 
 her career. And then Mrs. Bax wasn't eating much 
 at tiffin. Madame Izan's robust appetite didn't 
 strike me as altogether compatible with conjugal 
 bereavement.' 
 
 Windeatt laughed, though he was jarred. 
 
 ' By Jove ! yes ; she was hungry ! And I don't 
 see that that's anything to do with it. I like a 
 woman to tackle her grub properly. How you 
 do notice things, Ju, and draw inferences ! Now, 
 I never draw inferences ; you're so apt to be 
 wrong in your premises.' 
 
 ' My dear boy, you've done nothing but draw 
 inferences ever since we met Madame Izan in 
 the lift. And please to remember,' added Mrs. 
 Eugarde with sententious utterance, ' that my 
 observant faculties, allied to a certain facility in 
 literary composition, have supplied me for many 
 years with the luxuries, not to say the necessities, 
 of civilized existence.' 
 
 ' Oh, but that's all ended now, happily ; I'm 
 running this show,' said Windeatt. 
 
 ' And you have got also to remember, you bud- 
 ding millionaire, that I had signed the contract
 
 22 MADAME IZAN 
 
 for " Round the World Jottings ' before your 
 generous transference of Wee-Waa shares. I'm 
 still a journalist on the scent for copy.' 
 
 ' That's nonsense,' said John Windeatt. ' I 
 won't have you make yourself out a mere literary 
 hack.' But he did not pursue the subject further. 
 Presently, after some aimless pacing and inspection 
 of epitaphs, he said : ' We'll give them time to 
 exhaust their grief, and then we'll sneak round 
 and make sure whether the tombstone has been 
 put up to the departed Bax or to the defunct 
 Izan.' Which they did. 
 
 The mourners had gone, but there was a cross 
 of fresh lilies on the grave, and Mrs. Eugarde 
 fancied that she had seen the identical tribute that 
 morning in the window of the florist close by the 
 clock-tower. Sure enough, the headstone set forth 
 that the monument had been erected to the memory 
 of Richard Bax, surgeon on board the P. and O. 
 steamship Lassa, who had died of fever contracted 
 in this town some ten years previously ; likewise 
 that the monument was a memorial of affection, 
 placed by his sorrowing widow, Herminia Bax. 
 
 4 That settles the question,' said Mrs. Eugarde. 
 ' It's Herminia Bax who is the bereaved one.' 
 
 As they turned away, that lady herself con- 
 fronted them. She was hurrying back with a little 
 bunch of white roses in her hand, and looked
 
 MADAME 1ZAN 23 
 
 really pretty with the flush upon her freckled 
 cheeks, and the tears shining in her blue eyes and 
 darkening her reddish lashes. She was one of 
 those who can cry becomingly. Windeatt and his 
 sister exclaimed simultaneously with her : 
 
 ' I beg your pardon !' 
 
 ' Oh, I bought these,' Mrs. Bax explained con- 
 fusedly — ' I bought them from a Chinaman. 
 Roses were his favourite flower. He always liked 
 them better than lilies, but I couldn't find any in 
 Hong Kong this morning. We were only married 
 six months,' she added apologetically, evidently a 
 little ashamed of her exuberant confidence, ' and 
 then, as you see, he died.' 
 
 ' It is very sad,' murmured Windeatt ; and 
 Mrs. Eugarde also made an attempt to express 
 her sympathy, retiring with her brother, and so 
 leaving the widow to indulge unmolested in her 
 very natural emotion. They were rewarded by a 
 meeting with Madame Izan, who was waiting for 
 her friend. She leaned quite motionless against 
 a granite obelisk, her eyes closed as though she 
 were asleep. As Windeatt's footsteps crunched 
 the gravel she gave a violent start, and with a 
 little ejaculation opened her eyes bewilderedly, 
 making involuntarily, as it were, that groping 
 gesture with her hands while she moved uncer- 
 tainly forward.
 
 24 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Windeatt took off his hat. 'I am so sorry. 
 I am afraid that we frightened you.' 
 
 ' Oh, I didn't know — it wasn't that. But I was 
 shutting my eyes for a bit. They get so tired. I 
 can't accustom myself 
 
 Accustom herself to what — to earth after 
 Olympus? Jack Windeatt wondered, and Mrs. 
 Eugarde hazarded the remark: 
 
 ' To the glare of the East? It is trying.' 
 
 ' I find such a difficulty in telling if things are 
 close or far off",' said Madame Izan. ' That's how 
 it is. 
 
 She had dropped her parasol and a bunch of 
 flowers she was carrying ; now she peered down 
 from her slim height, apparently measuring their 
 distance from where she stood. Jack picked 
 them up and handed them to her. 
 
 ' Oh, thank you,' said Madame Izan. ' I'm 
 rather helpless without Herminia ; she finds things 
 for me and pulls me along. But I'm getting 
 better every day. I shall soon be quite like 
 everybody else.' 
 
 There was a slight pause. Windeatt and 
 Mrs. Eugarde wondered still more, when Madame 
 Izan cried out suddenly, ' Look !' and indicated 
 with her parasol a faint dark object creeping into 
 the Lymoon Pass. * Isn't that a P. and O. 
 steamer? I think I can tell the funnels: Herminia
 
 MADAME IZAN 25 
 
 taught me. She, of course, knows all about the 
 line.' 
 
 Certainly, Madame Izan could not be short- 
 sighted. The naked orbs of the Australians were 
 quite unable to distinguish the marking of those 
 funnels. Windeatt pulled out his glasses. 
 
 ' Your eyes must be pretty sharp to make out 
 the funnels at this distance,' he said. ' Yes, it is 
 a P. and O. boat. The Makara, I suppose. 
 She was expected in this afternoon.' 
 
 ' Oh, it's only about the near things that I am 
 so stupid,' said Madame Izan. ' That's our boat,' 
 she added. 
 
 ' And ours,' said Mrs. Eugarde. ' You are 
 going on to Japan ?' 
 
 ' Yes.' 
 
 'And probably, like ourselves,' put in Windeatt, 
 'returning home by the Canadian- Pacific?' 
 
 ' Home !' She repeated the word with a plain- 
 tive intonation. ' Oh, I don't know.' 
 
 'Well, anyhow,' said Windeatt, 'we shall be 
 fellow-passengers as far as Kobe. ' That's as good 
 a reason as any for an introduction, isn't it ? If 
 you will allow me, Madame Izan. I have already 
 heard your name.' John W 7 indeatt made his fine 
 bow, which he had not learned in the Bush. 
 ' This is my sister, Mrs. Eugarde. And my 
 name is Windeatt. I'm an Australian.'
 
 26 MADAME IZAN 
 
 4 Oh, you are from Australia.' Her face 
 glowed — it was like the face of a child in its 
 quick changes of expression ; and her manner, 
 which might have seemed offhand in anyone else, 
 seemed to Mrs. Eugarde noble in its simplicity. 
 ' Here is Herminia,' Madame Izan exclaimed ; ' I 
 must tell her. Herminia, you were quite right. 
 You know, you said this gentleman was an 
 Australian.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax looked archly embarrassed. She 
 appeared to have left her melancholy with the last 
 bunch of flowers she had placed upon her husband's 
 tomb, and from the manner in which she glanced 
 at Windeatt one might almost have conjectured 
 that she, on her side, would not be averse to a 
 flirtation. 
 
 ' It isn't fair, Izo, to betray me like that,' she 
 said. ' You see I recognised the type,' she added 
 again, smiting Windeatt with her deprecatory and 
 appealing glance. 
 
 ' She says it is a magnificent type,' put in 
 Madame Izan calmly, as though she were merely 
 stating a fact which had no personal application. 
 
 ' Oh, Izo !' Herminia seemed abashed for a 
 second. ' Well,' she retorted, smiling from 
 Windeatt to her friend ; ' you yourself are a 
 specimen, and so you needn't talk.' 
 
 ' We do seem to be big,' said Madame Izan.
 
 MADAME IZAN 27 
 
 ' But you seem to be bigger in proportion than I 
 am ;' and she looked up at Jack, who stood six 
 feet two in his stockings and had a frame to 
 match, with well-developed muscles. 
 
 ' There's not so much difference, considering 
 you are a woman and he is a man,' said Mrs. Bax. 
 ' One might call you a daughter of the gods, Izo, 
 you know — mightn't one, now?' — they learned 
 afterwards that Mrs. Bax had a tendency towards 
 cheap sublimities — ' divinely tall, but not divinely 
 fair.' 
 
 ' It is he who is divinely fair,' replied Madame 
 Izan in the same matter-of-fact manner, and 
 Mrs. Eugarde began to think her one of the 
 most outspoken young women she had ever 
 met. 
 
 ' You are not Australian, are you?' Izo went on, 
 addressing Windeatt's sister. 
 
 ' I suppose so — since he is my brother.' 
 
 ' But you are little, and brown, and different ;' 
 and Izo took note of Mrs. Eugarde's features, 
 much as Mrs. Eugarde had taken note of her — 
 Izo's — clothes. ' That's not the Australian type, 
 is it, Herminia ?' 
 
 ' Izo !' 
 
 ' You said so yourself, Herminia.' 
 
 ' Perhaps,' suggested Mrs. Eugarde, ' the varia- 
 tion in type may be accounted for geographically.
 
 28 MADAME IZAN 
 
 He went out young to the Bush : I have lived all 
 my life in Europe.' 
 
 ' Oh, so have I,' returned Madame Izan. 
 
 ' Izo,' remonstrated Mrs. Bax, ' it is not polite 
 to make personal remarks.' 
 
 ' I know it isn't. Never mind — Maskee ! That's 
 such a nice word, Mrs. Eugarde. I've learned it 
 from a Chinaman, and I'm so proud of it. It 
 means anything. I dare say among other things 
 it means " I beg your pardon." I didn't want to 
 be rude. Please makes allowances for me, because, 
 you see, I'm not quite like everybody else.' 
 
 ' Madame Izan means that her life has been a 
 very retired one, and that she has not had the 
 usual social opportunities,' said Mrs. Bax, bridling 
 with a prim little air of coquettish importance, 
 which was intended to counteract informalities. 
 ' Madame Izan,' she continued, 'has seen very little 
 of the world.' 
 
 4 Oh yes, and now she is making up for that 
 by going round the world,' fatuously observed 
 Windeatt. 
 
 ' Herminia,' said Madame Izan, ' did you know 
 — they are going to Japan.' 
 
 ' Oh, really, indeed !' 
 
 ' In the Makara. And the Makara has 
 arrived ; and so at last you'll be travelling in a 
 P. and O. boat. Mrs. Bax has been longing to
 
 MADAME IZAN 29 
 
 get on to a P. and O. boat ever since she left 
 England. It's been the dream of her life, hasn't 
 it, Herminia?' 
 
 Herminia sighed. The dream was obviously 
 connected with the late Richard Bax, and did not 
 admit of intrusive comment. 
 
 i 
 
 ' Herminia,' said Madame Izan, ' I thought 
 we had settled to go to the top of the moun- 
 tain?' 
 
 ' I expect we'd better wait now till to-morrow, 
 Izo.' 
 
 ' The dream of my life,' exclaimed Madame 
 Izan, ' has been to see things from the tops of 
 mountains ; I don't want to waste any more 
 time among tombstones. Of course it's very nice 
 and right-feeling of Herminia ; but there's all the 
 rest of the world requiring attention : Herminia 
 forgets that I've a hundred years to make up for.' 
 
 Neither she nor Mrs. Bax explained the state- 
 ment, and the Australians did not like to ask 
 questions. On reference to Windeatt's Murray, 
 it was decided that the mountain had better, as 
 Mrs. Bax said, be left till the next day ; and the 
 discussion of the cable-car and Madame Izan's 
 interested questioning concerning its dangers and 
 possibilities seemed an implied invitation to share 
 them with her. Anyhow, Windeatt took it as 
 such, and the four joined company and strolled
 
 30 MADAME IZAN 
 
 together back to the rickshaws. Mrs. Eugarde 
 could not contain her curiosity. 
 
 ' What does Madame Izan mean by saying that 
 she has a hundred years to make up ?' she asked 
 Mrs. Bax, as they two fell behind the others. 
 
 ' Oh, that was an exaggeration : she meant 
 twenty,' replied Mrs. Bax, and added with her 
 sentimental sigh, ' Madame Izan is in a peculiar 
 position.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde waited for further enlighten- 
 ment. 
 
 ' She was totally blind for nearly twenty years 
 ot her life,' continued Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Ah ! that explains ' 
 
 ' I see, you noticed. I thought you'd remark 
 little peculiarities in her way of saying things, and 
 of going about, and it seemed to me that I'd 
 better tell you, especially as we are going to be 
 fellow-passengers. ' 
 
 Mrs. Bax had an air of holding facts in reserve. 
 Mrs. Eugarde inwardly made conjecture as to 
 what other circumstances, physical, moral, or social, 
 had combined to enhance the peculiarity of Madame 
 Izan's position. 
 
 * Ah, well !' Again Mrs. Bax heaved an enig- 
 matic sigh, and seemed about to divulge some- 
 thing, but checked herself. ' So naturally,' she 
 went on with sprightly ease, ' objects that are
 
 MADAME IZAN 31 
 
 quite commonplace to us seem to Izo new and 
 extraordinary, for the reason that till a very 
 few months ago the world was nothing but dark- 
 ness to her. In fact, she is only now discovering 
 life.' 
 
 ' How extremely interesting !' 
 
 ' But extremely painful as well. You can't 
 imagine how painful it was just at first. I really 
 think that sometimes Izo wished herself back into 
 blindness. It was like a baby beginning to walk. 
 I dare say you noticed that she is not ready at 
 measuring distances.' 
 
 ' I noticed — a hesitation.' 
 
 ' And her outspokenness. That's like a child, 
 too, isn't it ? Occasionally people who are not — 
 not nice-minded, misunderstand Izo. But I am 
 sure that neither you nor your brother would 
 do so.' 
 
 ' No, certainly not. . . . But surely there is 
 nothing to misunderstand in Madame Izan's simple 
 frankness and charm.' 
 
 ' You feel her charm ? Yes, it's quite remark- 
 able. Often I am entirely carried away by her — 
 beyond my judgment. It's her unlikeness to 
 women in general, which comes from her long 
 affliction. That always appealed to me so tre- 
 mendously. For we are not related, you know, 
 though I do stand to her in something of the
 
 32 MADAME IZAN 
 
 position of a guardian. Poor Izo ! There ! See ! 
 Oh, Izo, do take care !' 
 
 Madame Izan, in the eagerness of her talk, had 
 well-nigh rushed into collision with a snapped 
 pillar of porphyry — symbol of a life early broken. 
 But Windeatt's quick intervention saved her. 
 
 ' It's darker than the others,' said Mrs. Bax ; 
 ' and so she imagined it was further off. I like 
 to be beside her for that reason. Though really 
 now she is getting over her trouble, and I don't 
 fed the same anxiety. At the beginning, when in 
 a difficulty, she used to shut her eyes and feel. 
 She used to say that she longed for night-time ; 
 everything in daylight was so bewildering and so 
 unlike what she had imagined it.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde asked whether Madame Izan had 
 been blind from birth, and to what she owed the 
 recovery of her lost sense. 
 
 ' No, not from her birth. She became blind at 
 five years old.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde made a mental calculation. Five 
 to twenty, and a year added ; Madame Izan was 
 therefore very much older than she looked. 
 
 ' It was that great oculist at Wiesbaden who 
 gave her back her sight,' continued Mrs. Bax. 
 ' He performed an operation. There was a doubt 
 at first as to whether it would be really successful. 
 Circumstances which occurred just afterwards —
 
 MADAME IZAN 33 
 
 a severe family bereavement and other matters ' 
 — Mrs. Bax sighed once more — ' retarded the 
 recovery, but I'm thankful to say that the cure 
 is now a certainty. Still, as Madame Izan said, 
 she has a great many years to make up for.'
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Madame Izan showed a determination to take 
 full advantage of her opportunities. She would 
 waste no time in loitering, but was whirled away 
 with her companion, both making the most of 
 a limited vocabulary of pidgin English to impress 
 speed and the wished-for destination upon their 
 rickshaw-runners. The Celestial, however, is 
 never disposed to hurry himself on a stretch, nor 
 is he remarkable for quickness of comprehension 
 when such intellectual effort demands extra bodily 
 exertion. Consequently, when the Australians, 
 following at a less vigorous pace, arrived at the 
 Bund, they found the two ladies stationary, 
 Madame Izan laughing like a child and eating 
 fruit, while Mrs. Bax, tearful and expostulatory, 
 waved her parasol frantically townwards. 
 
 ' There ! Topside ! Tram — hotel — shops ! We 
 want to do shopping : we want to have our tea. 
 Maskee — home ! Anywhere, if you'll only move. 
 Oh, will somebody be so kind as to tell them that 
 
 [ 34 J
 
 MADAME IZAN 35 
 
 we don't intend to stop here all the afternoon ? 
 Will you go on, Chinamen ?' 
 
 ' My no savey ;' and the two runners squatted 
 and conversed. When a Chinaman says ' No 
 savey,' there is nothing, short of violent measures, 
 to be done. Windeatt adopted violent measures. 
 A crowd threatened, whereupon he appealed to 
 a withered-looking English resident, just then 
 being borne past in a sedan-chair by three bearers 
 in livery. The resident eyed the party with languid 
 contempt till his glance was arrested by Madame 
 Izan. Then he took off his hat. 
 
 * You are very brave to go about in rickshaws,' 
 he said. ' Most people here use chairs.' After 
 which he talked what seemed gibberish in an 
 imperious tone, and sent the Chinamen trotting 
 once more. 
 
 ' I see how it is,' said Windeatt. ' Madame 
 Izan, we are offending against social canons. The 
 law of Hong Kong is not as the law of Colombo. 
 Apparently, none — except a bounder — goes in 
 rickshaws here. Let us return to the hotel and 
 take chairs. It would be fatal to self-respect if 
 we were not carried to do our shopping.' 
 
 But in the end it was long past tea-time when 
 they did get back to the hotel. Madame Izan 
 could not tear herself away from contemplation of 
 the many-hued and strangely-inscribed banners on 
 
 3—2
 
 36 MADAME IZAN 
 
 the outside of the stores, and of the brilliant 
 stuffs and embroideries and screens and what not 
 displayed within. She seemed to have a passion 
 for gorgeous colouring, also — judging from the 
 extent of her purchases — plenty of money to spend 
 upon its gratification. Windeatt, too, flung about 
 his dollars royally. One doesn't own three-fourths 
 of a gold-mine to no purpose, as the flat-faced 
 dealers soon found out. And, indeed, during the 
 remainder of their stay, these same curio-vendors 
 became to the Australians a pagan abomination 
 and a cause of dire offence. 
 
 After they had been down the Queen's Road 
 and up again, had encountered each other in a 
 dozen stores, and had bargained together over 
 snuff-bottles and silver spoons and hat-pins of 
 hieroglyphic device — these meaning a benison in 
 Chinese, which greatly delighted Mrs. Bax — after 
 they had been well cheated, and had finally invested 
 in Japanese dictionaries and phrase-books and beau- 
 tiful little pictures of fan-persons on rice-paper, and 
 all the other things one does get cheated over, and 
 that one buys in Hong Kong, the four might 
 have known each other intimately for as many 
 years as there had been hours since tiffin. Going 
 up again in the lift, they found that all were 
 located on the same fifth floor, and that their 
 rooms adjoined. So from the one balcony they
 
 MADAME IZAN 37 
 
 gazed down upon the Bund — a white line cutting 
 on to the blue water, with the rickshaws crawling 
 like fat beetles along it, and lazy bundles in blue 
 sacks hanging on to the parapet. To their right 
 lay the wide level of the quay, with its busy life 
 of boats and cargo-barges and steam-launches, 
 and of all the sampan-abiding population crowding 
 against the abutting piers ; while beyond spread 
 the harbour, dotted about with great ships and 
 bounded by bare brown humps of hills, tinged 
 with vermilion in the setting sun. 
 
 It was all very fairy-like and delightful, and 
 each one of the others seemed infected by Madame 
 Izan's irresponsible gaiety. Mrs. Bax had cast 
 away from her the sentimental shadow of the 
 burial-ground. Mrs. Eugarde, who had a vein 
 of quiet humour, recounted Singapore experiences, 
 and Windeatt had never been in lighter vein. 
 Nothing would content Madame Izan after dinner 
 but another rickshaw ride through the serpentine 
 street, which was like a big illuminated bazaar, 
 with its many lanterns and cabalistic sign-banners, 
 its glints of gilding and lacquer, of reds and blues 
 and gamboge yellows, and its glimpses of round- 
 headed, pig-tailed, grotesque forms in shapeless 
 garments, fanning themselves, or sleepily talking 
 or eating, or else industriously plying a trade. 
 Madame Izan's rich soft laugh contrasted strangely
 
 38 MADAME IZAN 
 
 with the cries of the rickshaw-runners and chair- 
 bearers as they jogged along, dispersing the lazy 
 groups of Chinamen gathered in the roadway. 
 She wanted to know the name of everything, 
 wanted to buy everything, and could with dif- 
 ficulty be restrained from entering into places 
 where, perhaps, European ladies might not have 
 been very welcome. This eagerness for informa- 
 tion and action obliged Windeatt to keep his 
 rickshaw on a level with hers, for the other two had 
 chosen to go in chairs. It was not surprising, as 
 the lamps flashed upon the animated faces of this 
 good-looking pair, while they bent to each other 
 exchanging comments and bits of guide-book 
 knowledge, that the bystanders stared and chuckled, 
 and made remarks which the runners declined to 
 interpret. 
 
 Clearly, the signs of the times pointed to a 
 flirtation, more serious than those Windeatt had 
 so far indulged in, between him and the fair 
 mystery, and Mrs. Eugarde was not a little uneasy, 
 and began to ponder upon the advisability of 
 asking Mrs. Bax for some accurate statement con- 
 cerning the absent or dead Izan. On the whole, 
 however, she decided to wait till events had 
 further evolved themselves, and the party were 
 established on board the Makara. 
 
 Then, after the expedition, there was the lounge
 
 MADAME IZAN 39 
 
 on the balcony at the beginning of that sleepless 
 tropical night. Such a night ! It would have 
 been purest poetry but for the vile stench which 
 floated up at intervals from the sampans. Truly, 
 is it not a problem on a par with the origin of evil 
 and the doctrine of election, this unnecessary and 
 meaningless juxtaposition of the malodorous with 
 the sublime as presented in the East ? Madame 
 Izan was sensitive to smells, as she was also to 
 contact with rough or jarring substance. She in- 
 sisted upon her chair being pushed out so that 
 there was no chance of its touching the stone, and 
 she told them of her dislike to wearing woollen 
 stuffs, and her predilection for grass-cloth and 
 Oriental silk and every texture that was smooth 
 to her fingers. 
 
 It was upon such trivialities — intimate, and yet 
 befitting the limitations of a recent acquaintance- 
 ship — that they discoursed, while from down 
 below came the subdued hum of the Chinese 
 people chattering together, where they might be 
 descried sitting in sampans — sometimes a shower of 
 tiny stars surrounding them when they shook out 
 the sparks which had lighted their pipes — or as 
 they squatted among the glow-worm lamps of the 
 rickshaws that were drawn up against the parapet. 
 Dark shapes of different craft lay outlined on the 
 water, and here and there a white sail flitted across
 
 4 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 the harbour like a ghost. The twinkling re- 
 flections seemed to catch the froth of babbling 
 talk. Sometimes they spread in long bars of 
 wavering brightness from the electric lamps of the 
 Bund, and sometimes were a mere glimmer from 
 the lanterns of junks and sampans ; while high 
 above the dun line of hills opposite, which, too, 
 were speckled with little flames, shone a full 
 moon, putting to shame all the lesser illumina- 
 tions. 
 
 That was how the first day passed, and how 
 Windeatt plunged into friendly relations with 
 Madame Izan. All the rest came as a natural 
 consequence of the meeting in the lift. It was 
 only to be expected that the two forlorn ladies 
 should take kindly to the notion of a male escort, 
 for when you can't speak Chinese, and know 
 scarcely anything of pidgin English, a man's more 
 forcible mode of argument, even in an unknown 
 tongue, is often efficacious. 
 
 Next morning they shopped again, acquiring a 
 considerable quantity of miscellaneous rubbish, and 
 devoted the afternoon to the Peak. As the cable- 
 car went up, at an angle which is duly set forth 
 in the guide-book, it was curious to watch Madame 
 Izan's gradual transition from pale alarm to ex- 
 cited delight. For she could not be made to 
 believe either that there was not a defect in her
 
 MADAME IZAN 41 
 
 own new-found vision, or that the houses were 
 not really sliding down the hill, and that the tall 
 Sikh guards at the gate of Government House 
 had other than a slanting sort of perpendicularity. 
 Windeatt and she, who were sitting next each 
 other, made little jokes and talked softly during 
 the ascent, while Mrs. Eugarde assiduously gleaned 
 ' copy ' for her ' Jottings ' from a fellow-passenger, 
 and Mrs. Bax, who had again waxed sentimental, 
 gazed silently upon the diagonal landscape. This 
 was for her another pious pilgrimage, awakening 
 mournful memories ; for it appeared that her 
 deceased husband had once in a letter described 
 to her a typhoon which had overtaken him on the 
 Peak, and had obliged him, with other persons, to 
 retire into a cellar from the fury of the elements. 
 
 ' That's where everybody takes refuge here,' 
 observed Mr. Barradine. ' In case of any such 
 emergency, I have been down to see the cellar of 
 the hotel where I am staying, and have satisfied 
 myself that it will hold all the inhabitants of the 
 building, and that there need be no unpleasant 
 rush.' 
 
 Mr. Barradine, divided between the risks of 
 catching the plague in the lower town and that of 
 the smells in the harbour, had compromised on 
 the Peak, and had taken himself and his invalid 
 paraphernalia thither on the previous evening.
 
 42 MADAME IZAN 
 
 He was wearing a respirator, and explained that 
 it was to protect him from the damp mist which 
 frequently envelops the summit of this Asiatic 
 health resort. They fell upon him at the car- 
 station, and he was introduced to Madame Izan 
 and Mrs. Bax, with the latter of whom, on the 
 strength of a sympathetic tendency to throat 
 affections, he at once fraternized, so that they 
 arranged to inspect together this particular cellar 
 of the hotel, which it might be assumed had 
 sheltered the late P. and O. surgeon. 
 
 ' They build the cellars here like vaults, on iron 
 piles, so as to afford security during typhoons to 
 the entire population,' said Mr. Barradine senten- 
 tiously. He enjoyed statistics in any way relating 
 to human mortality. ' And the verandas have 
 outer walls so that the damp may be shut out 
 when there's a fog, which I understand to be 
 the case for two-thirds of the year. And this is 
 what they call their sanatorium ! Hong Kong is 
 a terrible place, Madame Izan.' 
 
 Madame Izan flashed upon him a brilliant 
 blank look of wonder. 
 
 1 Why, it's the most beautiful and glorious 
 place I've ever seen !' she cried. ' And if the rest 
 of the world is only like it, / shan't grumble, 
 except that I think I should like it to be a tiny 
 bit cooler.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 43 
 
 ' Ah, dear lady,' moaned Mr. Barradine, 
 ' what it is to be young, and to have a superb 
 physique ! Nevertheless, I think that before you 
 go very much further you'll come to the con- 
 clusion I reached some short time ago. England 
 is good enough for most civilized persons. Once 
 I get back to London, I shall never leave it again. 
 The risks to health in travelling are really too 
 serious. Cholera at Port Said, leprosy at Colombo 
 — 1 heard of a family who had caught it in their 
 washed linen — the plague here. Then the fog. 
 And besides that, a fever they call the Hong 
 Kong dog, which is nearly as bad as the plague- 
 And if the typhoons blow away bacilli, they do 
 damage on their own account in an equally ex- 
 tensive fashion, two thousand bodies, they tell 
 me, floating about on one occasion in the Lymoon 
 Pass. Well, there remains for us only the terror 
 of war in Japan, and I am informed that there is 
 very great probability of our finding Kobe bom- 
 barded by the Russians. Ah ! believe me, it is 
 a mistake to go round the world. And now,' he 
 added, ' as the mist has been very unkind to me, 
 and I am afraid of staying out late, if Mrs. Bax 
 is ready, we will go and visit the cellar.' 
 
 The mist, however, was kind that day to 
 Madame Izan, and the dream of her life, as she 
 had called it, was amply fulfilled. From the high
 
 44 MADAME IZAN 
 
 point of the observatory, as far as the horizon 
 line, she beheld Asia and the sea spread out 
 around and below her. It was a great map on 
 which were painted, in all their glow and colour, 
 bays, hills, islands, the far ocean, the near town — 
 white and green and gray, with motley splashes 
 in the native quarter, and colonnaded houses set 
 in squares of foliage. Then the gleaming line of 
 the Bund, with men and rickshaws and chairs like 
 insects crawling upon it ; the clock-tower, the 
 flag on Government House, the harbour on which 
 were drawn the thin lines and blotches of the 
 ships and men of war and junks. That was in 
 front of her. When she turned there was the 
 shorn face of the hill, furrowed in tiny valleys and 
 little green cones, as though a Titanic plough had 
 been going over it. And away beyond its brow 
 the sea studded with strange shapes of islands, 
 and further still the misty coast of China. 
 
 Madame Izan's great dark eyes roved over the 
 scene, drinking it in, as it were, with a deep and 
 heart-felt happiness and surprise, those eyes which 
 had awakened so lately to the glory and beauty 
 of the universe. There was, Mrs. Eugarde thought, 
 something very pathetic in the gladness of this fair 
 creature, freed at last from the black dungeon in 
 which she had been so many years imprisoned. 
 Izo threw back her head like an animal revelling
 
 MADAME IZAN 45 
 
 in breeze and sunlight ; her lips were parted, and 
 her chest heaved in a breath of intense enjoyment, 
 while she put out her slender, ungloved hands in 
 that touching way of hers, as though she must try 
 and feel with her fingers all that was unfolded to 
 her before she could realize it with her other 
 unaccustomed sense. 
 
 'Oh, it's splendid — it's splendid!' she murmured, 
 and gave a little hvsterical gasp, and Julia Eugarde 
 could not help putting out her hand and taking 
 Izo's in sympathy. 
 
 John Windeatt was watching Izo all the time, 
 nervously pulling his fair moustache. Suddenly 
 their eyes met, and a vivid blush overspread 
 Madame Izan's face. Julia, being a professional 
 novelist, had a flair for such emotional indications, 
 and in the present instance it did not add especially 
 to her satisfaction. Embarrassingly quick work 
 this : blushes and tender perturbations produced 
 in less than two days, and a husband in the back- 
 ground, unless, indeed, that family bereavement 
 at which Mrs. Bax hinted had freed the lady from 
 her matrimonial obligations. But surely in a year 
 it is hardly permissible that a widow should 
 abandon all faint visible signs of mourning. Mrs. 
 Bax had certainly stated that it was less than a year 
 since the operation had taken place, and that a 
 severe family bereavement had delayed Madame
 
 4 6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Izan's recovery. That fixed things as to date. 
 But, of course, the bereavement might have been 
 of quite a different nature, and, somehow, the 
 theory of widowhood did not seem to fit. Julia 
 glanced at Madame Izan's left hand, which her 
 own hand clasped, and there, for certain, was the 
 gold circlet on its third finger. Horrible qualms 
 beset her ; she sent Jack off immediately to hunt 
 up the bearers. 
 
 Madame Izan scandalized Hong Kong pro- 
 prieties still further by coming on board the 
 Makara in a sampan. The devoted Mrs. Bax 
 accompanied her, though her insistence on chairs 
 during their other excursions in the little island 
 proved her to be a person of more conventional 
 instincts. Their luggage, which was bulky and 
 heterogeneous, arrived with Mr. Barradine and 
 the other passengers in the company's steam- 
 launch. For reasons connected with the pre- 
 transfer of their rooms at the hotel, and not in- 
 directly with the importunities of curio-mongers, 
 which had laid Windeatt open to a charge of 
 assault in the Hong Kong courts, these two 
 Australians had come on board the Makara the 
 previous evening, and were quite at home, their 
 deck-chairs placed and their cabins arranged, when 
 Mrs. Bax's freckled, appealing face appeared above
 
 MADAME IZAN 47 
 
 the railing of the companion. Captain Harm, who 
 looked down just then over the bulwarks, de- 
 livered a wrathful grunt and a volley of Chinese. 
 
 ' I won't have sampans alongside my ship ! 
 Here, quartermaster, send them sharp about their 
 business ! Oh, it's passengers ! Well !' 
 
 The vision of Madame Izan, to whose assistance 
 Windeatt rushed frantically as she made her im- 
 pulsive, ill-calculated step upon the ladder, struck 
 Captain Hann dumb. It has been observed that 
 this was often the effect she produced upon shy 
 men. The captain was very shy, and avoided 
 ladies as far as was consistent with his duties and 
 with the company's interests. He was big — un- 
 usually so for a sailor — loose-jointed, dark, and 
 grim, and looked as though his size were rather a 
 worry to him. Mrs. Bax halted, her hand ex- 
 tended, her pretty speech and deprecatory smile 
 all ready. 
 
 'Have we done anything very dreadful? Oh 
 yes, I know we have ; we ought to have come in 
 the steam-launch, but Madame Izan said she was 
 tired of steam-launches. We asked the clerk at 
 the bureau if there was no other way, and he 
 said, " I guess you can go in the steam-launch for 
 three dollars, or you can take a sampan." So we 
 took a sampan. It wasn't the three dollars, but 
 Madame Izan thought the sampan was more
 
 48 MADAME IZAN 
 
 picturesque ; but, I'm bound to say, it was very 
 smelly.' 
 
 ' I'm not particular,' said the captain, ' but I bar 
 sampans. You never know what they'll bring, 
 and ye wouldn't be surprised,' he added, turning 
 to Mr. Barradine, who had drawn near in fascinated 
 terror, ' if you could see the Chinese families — and 
 a few over — that live on the sampans. You 
 wouldn't want after that to make your home on a 
 sampan. But ye don't see the family, because, 
 when a passenger comes along, it hides in the 
 locker. You can smell it, though, and that's a 
 caution.' 
 
 ' Well, I must say it was,' frankly admitted 
 Mrs. Bax. ' I trust the family hadn't got the 
 plague.' 
 
 ' Oh dear,' murmured Mr. Barradine, ' I sincerely 
 trust not.' 
 
 ' How do you do, Mr. Barradine ?' went on 
 Mrs. Bax. ' I see you are afraid to shake hands 
 with me, but I think we are all right this time. 
 I did remonstrate with Madame Izan, but she 
 said she must go in a sampan, and when Madame 
 Izan says she must do a thing she generally 
 does it.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax's smile was quite irresistible, and, 
 when Madame Izan's smile was added on to it, 
 completely subjugated the captain, who took the
 
 MADAME IZAN 49 
 
 ladies down himself to instruct the steward that 
 their cabins should be on the right side of the ship 
 tor coolness. All the officers were in black gauze 
 suits, and the punkahs were rigged, for it was 
 indeed very hot ; but Madame Izan, in her fresh 
 grass-cloth and sailor-hat, glowing with the radiance 
 of youth and pleasure, showed no signs of being 
 discomposed by it. 
 
 There were not many passengers on board ; the 
 only other lady was a missionary. She was travel- 
 ling with a second-class ticket, but was put into 
 the saloon because it is contrary to European 
 notions of fitness that an Englishwoman should 
 take her meals alone with Chinamen. She had a 
 brown, massive face, sparkling dark eyes, a heavy 
 jaw, and a quantity of iron-gray hair. In the 
 mornings she wore a rusty-black satin dress with 
 a Medicis collar worked in steel beads. On the 
 whole she was impressive, and had the look and 
 manner of one with a mission. She carried an 
 accordion, on which she practised furtively but 
 assiduously, also a Prayer-Book and a Japanese 
 dictionary. Report said that she had little other 
 luggage. 
 
 Besides the missionary, there was a German 
 gentleman with a broad band of crape on his 
 arm, who had lately buried his wife. 
 
 ' It appears that the dramatis persona of this 
 
 4
 
 5 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 act are mostly widowed,' remarked Julia Kugarde, 
 who had a way of looking at life from the pro- 
 fessional point of view ; but, as a matter of fact, 
 the inconsolable gentleman had very little to do 
 with the play. Then there v/ere some tourist 
 young men, two of whom had been passengers on 
 their last steamer, an Indian officer or so — not 
 including Captain Kelsey — and some Chinese 
 merchants, returning after the war to their stores 
 in Kobe and Yokohama. 
 
 Windeatt and Madame Izan stood side by side 
 on deck, and took romantic leave of fast-receding 
 Hong Kong. The big white houses, with the 
 cavernous arches of their colonnades, which stood 
 along the Bund and climbed up the lower slope 
 of the Peak, grew smaller and smaller ; the 
 gardens and zigzagging white roads faded into 
 indistinctness ; and at last nothing seemed left 
 but the heavy gray cloud enwrapping the Peak, 
 to which Mr. Barradine pointed in melancholy 
 self-congratulation. 
 
 ' See what we have escaped ! One day longer 
 and I should have been laid up with bronchitis. 
 How thankful I am that the week is ended. What 
 a climate ! What unholy odours ! And what 
 atrocious food ! Most assuredly, I have no 
 pleasing memories of Hong Kong to carry away 
 with me.'
 
 MADAME IZAN $i 
 
 It seemed to Julia that a glance full of subtle 
 meaning was interchanged between Windeatt and 
 Madame Izan — a glance which signified, no doubt, 
 that they considered themselves richer in this 
 respect than the amiable hypochondriac. Julia 
 did not like that look, and yearned still more 
 earnestly for definite information in regard to 
 Mr. Izan. But Mrs. Bax was not just now 
 susceptible to discreet pumping ; her particular 
 memories of Hong Kong were for the moment 
 too overpowering, and her eyes strained the distance 
 for a farewell glimpse of the graveyard in Happy 
 Valley. Julia felt certain also that Mrs. Bax was 
 going to be sea-sick. Freckled people very often 
 take the ocean badly. 
 
 Her foreboding was realized ; Mrs. Bax retired 
 shortly to her cabin. The rest held out for a 
 time, and the tourist young men, whose spirits 
 were rampant, struck up ' Radoo,' and got through 
 it in diminuendo, made a gallant attempt at 
 ' Tommy Atkins,' but broke down, and the 
 Irrepressible Boy, as they called him, ordered 
 champagne and soda-water. 
 
 ' You really shouldn't give yourself away like 
 that,' said the doctor. ' Everybody knows what 
 champagne and soda-water means.' 
 
 ' Can't help it, doctor ; it's a fact. I'm bad, 
 and so is the captain ' — indicating Kelsey — 
 
 4—2
 
 52 MADAME IZAN 
 
 1 though he has been swaggering about, declaring 
 he never was sea-sick in his life.' 
 
 By dinner-time a strange quietude had fallen 
 upon the saloon, broken only by the plaintive 
 calls of Mr. Barradine from his cabin, and a 
 vigorous volley, half in English, half in Hindo- 
 stanee, which consigned Captain Kelsey's Indian 
 servant to speedy perdition. For three days very 
 few of the company showed up. Poor Mrs. Bax 
 was extremely ill. Madame Izan came to ask if 
 Mrs. Eugarde had any smelling-salts, as they had 
 forgotten theirs in Hong Kong. This request 
 gave Julia a pretext for breaking in upon the 
 invalid's seclusion, and also allowed Madame Izan 
 greater freedom to remain on deck under the care 
 of John Windeatt. There was no knowing what 
 strides their intimacy made in those three days. She 
 was a very good sailor, so was Windeatt. As for 
 Julia Eugarde, she was just bad enough to shirk 
 responsibilities, and to prefer being left alone in 
 her deck-chair, or in a certain cushioned corner 
 of the saloon which happened to be close to Mrs. 
 Bax's cabin, so that, in her good-nature, she became 
 available in case of requirements on the part of that 
 vanquished lady. Julia felt that she really could not 
 desert poor Herminia, as Madame Izan seemed 
 heartlessly inclined to do. She was sustained, too, 
 by the hope that there might arise opportunities
 
 MADAME IZAN 53 
 
 for confidential conversation. But for a little 
 while the hope was vain. Mrs. Bax was far too 
 limp to show concern when Julia informed her 
 at intervals, and with intention, of Madame Izan's 
 doings. First, that she made a practice of walking 
 for an hour every morning up and down the deck 
 on Mr. Windeatt's arm — a practice with which the 
 rough weather did not seem greatly to interfere. 
 Secondly, that Windeatt was teaching her patience, 
 halma and other games, which agreeably filled up 
 odd hours. Thirdly, that Julia had been obliged to 
 remonstrate with her brother for keeping Madame 
 Izan on deck after all, except the officers, had 
 gone below. These operations, it may be stated, 
 extended rather beyond the three days of storm, 
 but Herminia appeared in no hurry to reassume 
 her position of watchful guardian. On hearing 
 of all this, Mrs. Bax only groaned : 
 
 ' / can't help it. Of course, I know that Izo 
 does lay herself open, but what can I do ?' 
 
 ' You might explain to her, don't you think ?' 
 
 ' Oh, she wouldn't understand. You don't know 
 Izo. She is like a baby about some things — but 
 as pig-headed. I really can't always cope with 
 Izo.' Then, cheerfully : ' But your brother is all 
 right. He's a gentleman, and he'll not take 
 advantage.' 
 
 The inference was clear that Izo had already
 
 54 MADAME IZAN 
 
 occasioned Mrs. Bax uneasiness in regard to 
 persons who had not been gentlemen, technically 
 speaking, and who had ' taken advantage.' 
 
 ' Of course my brother would not take advan- 
 tage — I don't quite know what you mean,' said 
 Mrs. Eugarde in a doubting manner. ' But doesn't 
 it strike you that ' 
 
 The suggestion was a delicate one. 
 
 ' What ?' asked Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Well, you see, it isn't as if Madame Izan 
 were an ordinary unmarried woman. You said 
 she was in a peculiar position. I hope you 
 will not think it impertinent of me to make the 
 remark.' 
 
 ' Oh dear no,' said Mrs. Bax, looking uncom- 
 fortable, which look gave Julia courage. 
 
 ' Possibly Mr. Izan — I suppose there is a 
 Mr Izan — though, if she's a widow ' 
 
 ' Oh, she's not a widow,' said Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Well, doesn't it seem to you that possibly 
 Mr. Izan might prefer that she should choose to 
 walk and sit on deck and play patience with — an 
 older person than my brother — Mr. Barradine, for 
 instance.' 
 
 ' Oh, Mr. Izan !' began Mrs. Bax helplessly, and 
 added : ' There wouldn't be any sympathy between 
 Izo and Mr. Barradine. She is quite different 
 from me ; she is so splendidly healthy.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 55 
 
 1 If I were in Mr. Izan's place ' ventured 
 
 Julia. 
 
 ' Oh, that's all right,' answered Mrs. Bax. 
 ' Mr. Izan won't know anything about it.' 
 
 ' Still, that mightn't mend matters. It's no 
 business of mine, but I was going to say that if I 
 were in Mr. Izan's place — supposing he were on 
 board — I should be inclined to assert myself.' 
 
 ' Oh, he'll never assert himself,' declared 
 Mrs. Bax — ' at least, not at present.' There was 
 a brief pause. ' I'll speak to the doctor about it,' 
 Mrs. Bax went on. ' It's the doctor who seems 
 to manage everything on this steamer. He's a 
 person of great tact and determination. I'll get 
 him to advise Madame Izan that the night air is 
 injurious, though I don't know if that considera- 
 tion would weigh much, she's so healthy. But the 
 doctor will think of something. Anyhow,' she 
 added, as if that settled matters, ' Mr. Barradine 
 wouldn't sit on deck in the evenings ; and so it 
 comes to the same thing.' 
 
 ' If the doctor's influence is sufficiently power- 
 ful with Madame Izan,' Julia assented distrustfully. 
 
 ' Oh, you don't know Dr. Duppo,' answered 
 Mrs. Bax. ' He's very powerful. I've seen a 
 good deal of him in here. I'm sure he would 
 know how to tackle Izo. He can make me do 
 anything.'
 
 56 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' But then you are sick.' 
 
 ' And Izo is never sick,' replied Mrs. Bax re- 
 gretfully. ' It's such a pity. If she were sick, 
 she would be much Jess trouble. It won't last 
 very long now,' she remarked, with an air of 
 mystery. ' You'll see. When we get to Japan, 
 things will settle themselves.' 
 
 ' Perhaps Mr. Izan will meet his wife in Japan,' 
 Julia hinted. 
 
 Again Mrs. Bax looked uncomfortable, and 
 took refuge in her prim little dignity. 
 
 ' Nothing is decided yet,' she said. ' We shall 
 know when we get to Japan.' She was silent for 
 a minute, during which Mrs. Eugarde took off 
 her pince-nez and cleaned it. ' You understood 
 from me that Madame Izan's position was a 
 peculiar one,' Mrs. Bax said, abandoning the 
 dignified attitude, but keeping the primness. ' I 
 don't know whether I am justified in talking about 
 Madame Izan's private affairs, but I don't mind 
 telling you that her blindness has complicated 
 matters considerably ; it has complicated her 
 marriage relations. The fact is,' she added in a 
 burst of unpremeditated confidence, ' Madame 
 Izan has never seen her husband.' 
 
 The fog was clearing. 
 
 ' Oh dear, I hope he won't disappoint her !' 
 Mrs. Eugarde exclaimed ; and she could not help
 
 MADAME IZAN 57 
 
 making a mental comparison between the splendid 
 Australian Apollo on deck and the hypothetical 
 picture of a disagreeable Calmuck. Somehow, it 
 had become a generally accepted belief that Mr. 
 Izan was a Russian. 
 
 ' I hope not — oh, I do hope not !' Mrs. Bax 
 
 exclaimed fervently. ' Or, if he does ' She 
 
 did not finish the sentence. 
 
 ' I see,' said Mrs. Eugarde, after another short 
 pause, leaving Mrs. Bax to infer what she did see. 
 ' I assure you that I have no intention of being 
 intrusive. 
 
 ' Oh no, not at all. It was quite natural.' 
 
 ' I was thinking of my brother, who, as you 
 must have noticed, seems greatly attracted by 
 your charming friend. And I don't mind telling 
 you, on my part, that I am extremely anxious to 
 see him happily married ; for he has got the 
 notion in his mind, and it's bound to happen 
 pretty soon. In fact, I believe that he left 
 Australia with the intention of seeking a wife in 
 Europe. Thus, you see, the fire is all ready laid 
 for the match.' 
 
 ' Yes,' I see,' said Herminia in her turn. ' Men 
 are like that.' And Mrs. Bax sighed, doubtless 
 in affectionate reminiscence of the departed Bax. 
 
 'They are much more weak-minded than 
 women in affairs of the heart,' said Julia, ' and a
 
 58 MADAME IZAN 
 
 great deal more susceptible. Now, it would be 
 very sad, wouldn't it? for him if further com- 
 plications arose through a misguided attachment 
 on his part. But if I have your authority for 
 stating that there is a Mr. Izan in existence whom 
 Madame Izan expects shortly to join ' 
 
 ' Oh, I didn't say that,' hastily interposed Mrs. 
 Bax ; ' I have no authority. But, of course, there 
 is a Mr. Izan — at least, there was, not very long 
 ago.' 
 
 ' That's quite enough to check any ill-founded 
 hopes he may be cherishing. You know, we were 
 neither of us sure, and especially as you had spoken 
 of a bereavement from which Madame Izan had 
 suffered.' 
 
 ' Oh, that wasn't her husband ; it was her 
 uncle. He died about a year ago, just after the 
 operation, and he left Madame Izan a good deal 
 of money. That's how we come to be travelling 
 round. Well, I'll do anything that I can, Mrs. 
 Eugarde. But Izo is very difficult, and she'd fly 
 out at me if I even suggested that she was 
 encouraging your brother. She has no idea of 
 flirting ; she's very innocent.' 
 
 ' At any rate, the information you have given 
 me puts things on a safer footing/ replied Julia 
 Eugarde, * and I'm deeply obliged to you. I shall 
 take the first opportunity of telling my brother
 
 MADAME IZAN 59 
 
 that Madame Izan is not a widow, as he may have 
 supposed, and that he mustn't be so wrong and 
 ridiculous as to fall in love with her.' 
 
 ' People can't help that sometimes,' said Her- 
 minia sentimentally. 
 
 ' Under certain conditions, the law of England 
 obliges them to help it,' said Mrs. Eugarde rather 
 sharply. Although she was a professional story- 
 writer, she was not greatly given to sentiment. 
 
 ' Oh, well, I'll do anything I can,' repeated 
 Herminia. 
 
 And just then there was a tap at the door of the 
 cabin, and the doctor came in to see after his 
 patient.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Julia had not paid much attention to Dr. Duppo, 
 not having been ill enough to require his services, 
 and sitting away from him at the captain's end 
 of the dinner-table. He was a square-set, clean- 
 shaven, ugly man, with a downright way of 
 talking. 
 
 ' You've got to get up,' was his preliminary 
 address to Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Oh, you haven't asked me how I feel, doctor.' 
 
 ' I can see that without asking. You're much 
 better.' 
 
 In fact, Herminia was looking well and quite 
 delicately pretty in her much - beribboned pink 
 dressing-gown, with a flush to match on her 
 cheeks, and her eyes shining in soft sympathy 
 over the possibility of a tragic muddle arising from 
 Windeatt's attraction to Madame Izan. 
 
 ' I'm feeling very weak, doctor ; I couldn't 
 possibly get up. I've tasted nothing but cham- 
 pagne and ship's biscuits for ever so many days. 
 
 I couldn't possibly touch anything else.' 
 
 [ 60 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 61 
 
 ' You'll have some more, then. But you've got 
 to get up ; you've got to lie on deck.' 
 
 ' I couldn't walk up the stairs, doctor.' 
 
 ' I'll carry you ' — stretching out his arms ; ' 1 
 have got good muscle.' 
 
 ' But I'm not dressed.' 
 
 ' Mrs. Eugarde will put a blanket round you. 
 
 'And my hair isn't done.' 
 
 'What's wrong with your hair? I'm going 
 along to get you champagne and biscuits, and 
 you'll please to be ready, by the time I come back, 
 for me to carry you up on deck.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax looked at Julia, and laughed with 
 triumphant satisfaction. ' Didn't I tell you ? 
 Can't he make one do anything V 
 
 The doctor came back, poured out the cham- 
 pagne, and produced a chicken sandwich, which 
 Herminia ate with relish. He did not exactly 
 carry her like a baby, but supported her up the 
 companion and along the deck, where her re- 
 appearance made a sympathetic commotion among 
 the passengers. Most of them were assembled 
 there. The missionary woman, looking very 
 bilious and huddled up in a plaid shawl, for the 
 weather had become suddenly cooler, was settled 
 by the skylight with her Prayer-Book and Japanese 
 vocabulary before her, from which she was reading 
 in an undertone. Mr. Barradine, with a woollen
 
 62 MADAME IZAN 
 
 comforter round his neck, tottered up on the arm 
 of the Irrepressible Young Man, and Captain 
 Kelsey and two of the Indian officers were playing 
 nap. Windeatt and Madame Izan stood together 
 contemplating the coast of China : a barren shore ; 
 red sandhills ; a walled town dimly visible in the 
 midst of a desert plain. The sea heaved greenish- 
 gray. A little fleet of sampans tossed upon its 
 swell, as they tried to make for a line of nets 
 fastened to stakes not far within the steamer's 
 course. The captain had his glass upon them, 
 and now handed it to Madame Izan. 
 
 ' They're giving it up as a bad job,' he said. ' I 
 never knew a Chinaman anything but a duffer on 
 
 the water. It isn't a pretty shore, Madame ' 
 
 The captain never quite accomplished the 'Izan.' 
 He had confided to Windeatt that his prejudices 
 went against Russians. 'There's nothing grown 
 along here but sweet potatoes and fish.' 
 
 ' Feesh !' repeated the German with the crape 
 round his arm, pausing in his tramp — ' feesh is 
 goot. Every kind of feesh is goot — the boil, the 
 roast, the fry. In Eetaly feesh is beautiful ; the 
 religion obliges the people to eat feesh ; they must 
 be very particular in the cookings of their feesh. 
 In England the feesh is boil, always boil. In 
 Eetaly it is roast, in Germany it is stew ' 
 
 ' And in Japan it is raw, and sometimes rotten,'
 
 MADAME IZAN 63 
 
 put in the captain. ' I've known a whole Japanese 
 village poisoned through feasting on a big fish 
 that had been cast up by the waves — in an 
 advanced stage of decomposition.' 
 
 Mr. Barradine shuddered. ' You would not 
 advise me to eat fish, then, in Japan, captain ? J 
 
 ' Yet it is goot — feesh-food,' said the German. 
 
 Windeatt looked a little conscious when 
 Mrs. Bax called fretfully from among her cushions: 
 
 ' Izo, I think it is too bad of Mr. Windeatt to 
 monopolize you. I haven't seen you at all. Come 
 and talk to me, Izo.' 
 
 ' Why, I saw you this morning, Herminia.' 
 
 Madame Izan went towards her friend, fretfully 
 rubbing her fingers against the cloth of her blue 
 dress. She looked even more handsome, if less 
 like a goddess, in this semi-nautical costume, which 
 suited her better than the grass-cloth, and was 
 equally a Parisian product. Her eyes and cheeks 
 were glowing, and she wore a rakish little English 
 fore and aft, set upon the dark-brown waves of 
 her hair. 
 
 1 1 told you I should never be able to endure it, 
 Herminia ;' and she held up her thin, sensitive 
 hands. ' Every time I touch the stuff, I shudder.' 
 
 ' That's curious,' said the captain. ' Is it the 
 feel of the serge that makes you shudder, madame?' 
 
 ' It's the first time I ever had a dress like this,'
 
 64 MADAME IZAN 
 
 said Madame Izan, ' and I dislike it. You see, 
 my fingers used to be my eyes, and all my nerves 
 went into them.' 
 
 ' It wasn't that I was thinking,' said the 
 captain ; ' but that Mr. Windeatt must have felt 
 uncomfortable with your shudderings, the times 
 when you've walked up and down with your hand 
 on his coat-sleeve. You should be getting used 
 to it by now, madame ; ye've had some practice.' 
 
 Madame Izan was not at all abashed. 
 
 ' It was perfectly horrid,' she answered ; ' but 
 Mr. Windeatt said I should fall, and so I should 
 if he hadn't held me. I'm sure he must be as 
 glad as I am that it's smoother weather, and that 
 I can get along without him.' 
 
 ' There can't be a doubt about that,' said the 
 captain. 
 
 Windeatt looked cross, Izo a little puzzled, 
 at the laugh with which the captain left them. 
 
 ' Are you better, Herminia ?' she asked. 
 
 ' I want you to come and sit with me, Izo.' 
 
 ' I'll come by-and-by. Now I'm going to play 
 quoits with Mr. Windeatt,' said Izo. 
 
 The two went round to the lee side, where a 
 band of spectators gathered round them watching, 
 Captain Kelsey taking upon himself the super- 
 intending of Madame Izan's performance as soon 
 as he had finished his own game.
 
 MADAME IZAN 65 
 
 ' I was certain that it wouldn't be of the least 
 use, my trying to do anything,' murmured Her- 
 minia despondently. ' Izo never will see.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde's observations of the pair con- 
 vinced her that she had better lose no time in 
 tackling her brother. Later on, she managed to 
 get hold of him, the doctor, rehearsing his own 
 part in the comedy, having taken Madame Izan, 
 whose thirst for knowledge was even more in- 
 satiable than her apparent liking for flirtation, to 
 inspect the engines down below. 
 
 ' Jack,' began Julia Eugarde, ' you are not 
 behaving at all nicely towards Madame Izan.' 
 
 ' I — not behaving nicely towards Madame Izan?' 
 
 ' In less than five days you have made her the 
 talk of the ship.' 
 
 1 Oh, but that's nonsense, Ju !' 
 
 ' Not in the least. You are never apart ; you 
 sit up on deck to all hours ; you live in her 
 pocket. Everybody is remarking it. The 
 missionary lady — her name, by the way, is Theo- 
 dosia Gotch — asked me last night if you had 
 travelled by the same steamer to Hong Kong, 
 and if you were engaged.' 
 
 ' Theodosia Gotch should mind her own mission, 
 and leave people outside it alone. All the same, 
 we may be.' 
 
 ' Engaged !' 
 
 5
 
 66 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'Well?' 
 
 ' Jack, she is a married woman.' 
 
 ' Was! 
 
 < n: 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde stamped her small foot emphatic- 
 ally. 
 
 ' You are mistaken,' said he. ' Yesterday she 
 told me herself that she is her own mistress, and 
 responsible to nobody in the world. So where 
 does the husband come in ?' 
 
 ' He does come in, though. I have it on Mrs. 
 Bax's authority that Mr. Izan is alive.' 
 
 ' She is free,' persisted John Windeatt. ' She 
 has told me so.' 
 
 ' Perhaps,' suggested Mrs. Eugarde cruelly, ' her 
 husband has divorced her. She is twenty-five — I 
 have found that out, though she looks seventeen. 
 It's quite possible, though even twenty-five is 
 young to have irretrievably disgraced one's self 
 
 ' Ju !' Windeatt's voice rang out, sternly re- 
 proving. ' You know that it's quite impossible, 
 and you are only saying it to aggravate me. She 
 is as innocent as a baby.' 
 
 c Read me the riddle, then. She says that she 
 is free. Her bosom friend declares that she is 
 bound, and that her husband is alive. Perhaps 
 it's a judicial separation.' 
 
 ' I don't believe it's anything whatever.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 67 
 
 ' Well, I have good reason to conclude that 
 matrimonially she is unattainable.' 
 
 ' We shall see,' returned Windeatt darkly. 
 
 ' You don't mean, really, Jack that you would 
 marry her if you could.' 
 
 1 I think that's pretty well what I do mean, Ju. 
 The instant I set eyes upon her in the lift at 
 Hong Kong, I said to myself, " There's no need 
 for me to skoot round the world any further. 
 I've found my wife." ' 
 
 Julia was shocked beyond expression. Though 
 she ought to have known that it was John 
 Windeatt 's way to make love, as he made money, 
 at double-quick pace, she had not imagined that 
 things had gone as far as this. 
 
 4 I must say,' she said in a tone of mild ex- 
 asperation, ' that you Australians seem to know 
 how to make up your minds.' 
 
 'The exigencies of social conditions out West,' he 
 replied, 'oblige us to be prompt in our decisions.' 
 
 The brother and sister looked at each other 
 straight. Then both laughed. 
 
 ' But if she is married already, Jack?' said Mrs. 
 Eugarde. 
 
 ' I can't help that, Ju. I shall have a try, all 
 the same.' 
 
 ' Jack, do you expect me to aid and abet you 
 in defying the proprieties?' 
 
 5—2
 
 68 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' Certainly not, Ju, if you have any objection. 
 You can always take the Empress boat straight 
 across to Vancouver.' 
 
 1 Oh, Jack !' 
 
 * Oh, Ju ! Don't be stupid, dear. I'm only 
 chaffing.' 
 
 ' But not about your being in love ?' 
 
 ' No, indeed, not about my being in love. 
 There I'm deadly earnest.' 
 
 ' Has she told you anything about her life, 
 Jack ?' 
 
 ' Not a word, except that she was blind. She 
 is the oddest mixture of out-spokenness and 
 reticence that I ever met. And she has a straight 
 high way of looking at a fellow that effectually 
 checks caddish questioning.' 
 
 ' And how are you going to find out ?' 
 
 ' I shall wait till we get to Japan. Then, when 
 opportunity occurs, I shall ask her.' 
 
 ' Why not ask her at once?' 
 
 ' Because, as I said, that would be acting like a 
 cad. I should be putting her into an unpleasant 
 position. You see, she can't get away from me 
 on board this steamer. She can get away from 
 me in Japan if she wants to, though I don't mean 
 to let her unless she very much wants to. No, it 
 would be playing it rather low down on her, poor 
 little thing ! to force her into a corner and make
 
 MADAME IZAN 69 
 
 her tell me what perhaps she has her own good 
 reasons for keeping to herself.' 
 
 * Poor little thing !' repeated Mrs. Eugarde with 
 a certain tender derision. 
 
 ' Well, poor big thing! if you like that better.' 
 
 ' I can't see that there's anything caddish in 
 trying to ascertain a fact which ought to have 
 been made clear from the beginning. She is either 
 free to receive honourable addresses or she is not,' 
 objected Mrs. Eugarde. 
 
 ' Lord ! what a grand way you literary people 
 have of putting things ! Honourable addresses ! 
 
 As if It's simply a question of whether I 
 
 pop the question on sea or on land. And don't 
 you understand that my attacking the subject 
 implies a motive ? And the motive means — pop- 
 ping the question. Then there's the boiler burst- 
 ing, and only deep ocean to jump into to escape 
 being scalded.' 
 
 ' And in the meanwhile ?' 
 
 ' Well, in the meanwhile? 
 
 ' Suppose you fall hopelessly and dangerously in 
 love ?' 
 
 1 Oh, I told you — I've done that already.' 
 
 1 And what if she does it, too?' 
 
 ' Perhaps so much the better, perhaps so much 
 the worse. But you needn't be afraid of that, not 
 for the present, at any rate. I suppose it's her
 
 7 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 having been blind nearly all her life that makes 
 her so different from everybody else. I don't 
 think she has a notion of what falling in love 
 means ; she is far too much taken up with seeing 
 the world and enjoying it. That's her idea : to 
 see all she can, and to feel as little as she can. 
 She has done enough of feeling — through her 
 fingers ; the word doesn't appeal to her in any 
 other sense. My impression is that she is a sort 
 of Undine, and has got to find her soul through 
 love.' 
 
 ' If that's the case, what made her marry Izan?' 
 ' Don't ask me ; / haven't the clue. Perhaps 
 he made her. I'd stake the Wee-Waa that she 
 was never in love with him. And I'd almost 
 stake the Wee-Waa, too,' he went on deliberately, 
 ' that Mrs. Bax invented that marriage and the 
 name and the wedding-ring. One has heard of 
 such romantic expedients. Wasn't there a book 
 written about a certain non-existent Mr. Null ?' 
 
 This was a new view of the matter, which, from 
 the professional point of view, commended itself 
 to Julia Eugarde as having some aspects of prob- 
 ability. She felt sure, on subtle indications, that 
 Mrs. Bax was romantic enough for anything. 
 You had only to look at the books she chose out 
 of the ship's library, thought Mrs. Eugarde, to be 
 certain of that.
 
 MADAME IZAN 71 
 
 ' It's nothing short of mental dram-drinking,' 
 Dr. Duppo had said. • You're just ruining your 
 intellectual constitution.' 
 
 Whereat Herminia, who was singularly amenable 
 to the doctor's admonitions, put back her novel — 
 harmless enough, but beneath the lowest literary 
 standard — and during two whole days lugu- 
 briously perused Bacon's ' Moral Essays,' till the 
 doctor, taking pity on her, stalked up one morning 
 to her deck-chair and laid a volume of superior 
 fiction upon her lap, with the remark that delirium 
 tremens frequently supervened upon the too sudden 
 cutting off of drams. As for Madame Izan, she 
 never looked into a book. This was, perhaps, not 
 surprising, since she had for so long read through 
 her fingers, and had hardly yet grown accustomed 
 to using her eyes ; yet, considering her disabilities, 
 she must have had a good capacity for assimilating 
 knowledge. She was by no means ill-informed, 
 and of history in especial knew a surprising amount, 
 while she could recite long passages from Pope's 
 translation of the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey.' Julia Eu- 
 garde asked her how she had acquired her classical 
 taste. She hesitated for a moment, her face clouded 
 oddly, and the manner in which she replied, ' A 
 man who was a student helped me,' was no en- 
 couragement to further questioning. It came out, 
 however, that a certain scrappy acquaintance she
 
 72 MADAME IZAN 
 
 had with modern authors was due to the good- 
 nature and industry of Mrs. Bax. 
 
 Julia gleaned from sundry piecemeal information 
 that Madame Izan had not always been rich and 
 cared for, but had passed a lonely and neglected 
 girlhood, shut up in her darkness under the charge 
 of an uncongenial relative. Herminia, it appeared, 
 had been a lodger in the house of Izo's relative, or 
 in an adjoining abode — this point Mrs. Eugarde 
 did not get clear — and, moved by compassion for 
 the girl's sad state, had employed some of her own 
 leisure hours in printing, according to the raised 
 method for the blind, part of the contents of a 
 miscellany of varied merit, called ' Gems from the 
 Literature of To-day.' Mrs. Bax had also been 
 in the habit of reading aloud to Izo for a short 
 time every day. 
 
 The ' Gems ' had supplied poor Madame Izan 
 with mental sustenance of a fairly satisfying kind, 
 and the readings aloud, which, judging from 
 Mrs. Bax's present literary taste, must have lain 
 in the fields of penny fiction, had no doubt been 
 the inspiration of day-dreams and romantic fancies, 
 to which the poor blind Izo had owed all the joy 
 of those dreary times. On these slight founda- 
 tions Julia Eugarde made up a sketchy plot, which 
 she burned with curiosity to verify ; but the stray 
 confidences which, in funny little outbursts of
 
 MADAME IZAN 73 
 
 frankness, the two ladies made, were, it seemed, 
 invariably repented of, and were often haltingly 
 withdrawn or explained on some commonplace 
 interpretation, too evidently an artless afterthought 
 on the part of Mrs. Bax. For some inexplicable 
 reason, it was certain that a rule of reticence had 
 been decreed in regard to Izo's antecedents. 
 
 It was all rather puzzling — the more so, Mrs. 
 Eugarde thought, because, as Windeatt had ob- 
 served, Madame Izan was, for a married woman — 
 assuming her to be really married — curiously im- 
 mature and ignorant in the matter of feminine 
 worldly wisdom ; indeed, she seemed to shrink 
 with a kind of terror from probing below the 
 surface of things. It was as though she were 
 afraid of making some discovery which might 
 destroy her illusions and put an end to the 
 butterfly existence she now enjoyed. She gave 
 the impression of one who had deliberately chosen 
 not to look realities in the face, knowing that 
 sooner or later she must learn some unpleasant 
 truths, and wishing to put off the disenchanting 
 hour as long as possible. 
 
 Her delight in the veriest trifles of Nature was 
 almost pathetic. The flight of a sea-bird, the 
 iridescence on a fish's scales, some effect of sun- 
 light or storm, the frothy arabesques on the wave- 
 crests — such things as these seemed to stir her to
 
 74 MADAME IZAN 
 
 quiet ecstasy. To the human side of life she 
 seemed impassive, looking upon it as a mere play 
 or picture. Apparently she did not or would not 
 understand the possibility of deep emotions. As 
 Windeatt had said, like Undine, she had yet to 
 find her soul. 
 
 And truly this gliding through the Yellow Sea 
 towards the Land of the Rising Sun was for all 
 of them a basking and idyllic sort of existence. 
 After the first few days of knocking about by 
 rough winds, nothing could have been more perfect 
 than the weather. The tropical heat had been 
 left behind at Hong Kong, though it was still 
 warm enough for luxurious deck-loungings and 
 open-air music in the evenings. Dr. Duppo 
 turned out to be an accomplished pianist. In this 
 respect he and Mrs. Bax, who was gifted with a 
 tender little warble, found sympathies in common, 
 as they had also with Mr. Barradine. Poor Mr. 
 Barradine suffered excruciating agony from the 
 noisy breakdowns of the tourist gentlemen, headed 
 by the Irrepressible Young Man. 
 
 ' My greatest drawbacks through life have been 
 a sensitive ear and a too susceptible palate,' he 
 sorrowfully affirmed ; ' I might also add a dis- 
 astrous tendency to attract disease germs. Captain, 
 please wait a moment : I have been wishing to 
 tell you that the missionary lady's accordion is
 
 MADAME IZAN 75 
 
 a torture which I can no longer support with 
 dignified patience. She has established herself on 
 a portion of the second deck which immediately 
 adjoins my cabin. There she conscientiously 
 practises scales, vocal and instrumental, at the hour 
 of my siesta. I wish to make a complaint before 
 my reputation as a gentleman is irretrievably 
 ruined. This afternoon I shouted " Damn !" and 
 she heard me, and sent in to inquire if I were in 
 pain.' 
 
 ' Bribe a Chinaman to stick a pin through the 
 blowers,' suggested Captain Kelsey. ' He'd do it 
 gladly for a dollar, and we'll all contribute to 
 defray expenses.' 
 
 ' But she has a good face,' added the captain 
 thoughtfully ; ' and she means well. Gentlemen, 
 the complaint shall be attended to. Next time 
 the accordion strikes up, send the quarter-master 
 for me, and I'll discuss the question with Miss 
 Gotch.' 
 
 The missionary lady had a queer fascination for 
 Madame Izan. In the evening, when the gentle- 
 men were in the smoking-room, and there was 
 nobody to play games or otherwise amuse her, 
 Izo would hover round the saloon table where 
 Miss Gotch usually sat poring over her Bible and 
 Japanese dictionary, and would listen silently to 
 the experiences Theodosia was always ready to
 
 76 MADAME IZAN 
 
 pour forth in the ears of an interested inter- 
 locutor — reminiscences mainly of East End work 
 in London, which were plentifully besprinkled 
 with allusions to sundry bishops and archdeacons, 
 and other clerical dignitaries in connection with 
 what she called the C.M.S. It was generally 
 Mrs. Eugarde who turned the tap on for Madame 
 Izan's benefit, for while keenly observant and 
 ruminative, Madame Izan seldom asked a ques- 
 tion, and her air seemed to imply a half-conscious 
 dread of that dark social sphere in which Theo- 
 dosia Gotch did battle for her sex. 
 
 Izo came down to the saloon the evening of 
 the day after Mrs. Eugarde's conversations with 
 Mrs. Bax, and later with her brother, on the 
 subject of Mr. Izan. Julia had a suspicion that 
 Herminia must have repeated what she had said, 
 for Madame Izan wore a puzzled defiant ex- 
 pression, had markedly avoided Windeatt, and 
 in her intercourse with Mrs. Eugarde was like a 
 child hesitating on the threshold of a stranger's 
 room, partly tempted, partly repelled, and waiting 
 for advances to be made. Julia was more in- 
 clined to wait for advances herself than to make 
 them on her own account, and so lay herself open 
 to the imputation of impertinent meddling. The 
 missionary lady, as usual, was engaged in her studies. 
 Izo seated herself at the end of the table and
 
 MADAME IZAN 77 
 
 leaned over with her elbows upon it and her chin 
 resting upon her nervously-interlaced fingers, while 
 her eyes roved from Julia's embroidery to Miss 
 Gotch's dictionary. Then, contrary to her wont, 
 she began with uncompromising directness : 
 
 ' I should like to know why you fancy that you 
 can teach the Japanese?' 
 
 The missionary lady raised her sparkling dark 
 eyes from her exercise-book, and her rather coarse 
 lips relaxed into a friendly smile. 
 
 ' Well, Japan is considered a promising field,' 
 she replied. ' There are now forty thousand 
 Christians among a population of forty millions, 
 and the native ordained preachers are thought to 
 be reliable.' 
 
 ' And you ?' asked Madame Izan. * What are 
 you going to do ?' 
 
 1 First I have to learn the Japanese language, 
 which I am now endeavouring to do,' answered 
 Miss Gotch. ' They give one eighteen months 
 for that. Then it will depend upon what the 
 Bishop thinks I am fit for. I trust,' she con- 
 tinued with modest self-confidence, ' that he will 
 take my previous training among the lost women 
 of London into account. I must say that I feel 
 a vocation towards that line of work amongst 
 grown-up persons. I shouldn't say that I had 
 any vocation for teaching children. Under God's
 
 78 MADAME IZAN 
 
 help I should like to try and convert the grown- 
 up Japanese to the Christian faith, and especially 
 the poor abandoned women of the tea-houses.' 
 
 'Why are they abandoned?' asked Madame 
 Izan. ' Who abandons them ?' 
 
 Miss Gotch regarded her with a perplexed 
 expression. Madame Izan's brown eyes were as 
 limpidly uncomprehending as those of a child. 
 
 ' Why — of course ' began the missionary 
 
 lady, and stopped. ... ' That's why I'm learning 
 the accordion,' she said, turning to Mrs. Eugarde. 
 ' I'm very sorry that Mr. Barradine objects to it. 
 I should have liked to put my reasons before him, 
 but the captain assured me that he would not find 
 them convincing, and that it was of no use to 
 attempt it. Still, 1 should have liked to try, for 
 you could hardly believe the number of men I've 
 been enabled to influence — young Guardsmen and 
 men of that sort, who have sought me out. . . . 
 They say that if one can sit down outside a 
 Japanese tea-house and play a tune or sing a hymn, 
 a crowd will shortly be attracted ; and there's 
 your opening straight away for laying the Divine 
 truth before them. I'm too old to learn to sing 
 in any elaborate way, but I'm practising my sol- 
 fa-do. They tell me the Japanese are fond of 
 music, and that even this I shall find a help.' 
 
 Madame Izan appeared deficient in a sense of
 
 MADAME IZAN 79 
 
 humour ; at any rate, she remained perfectly grave. 
 But Julia Eugarde's aberrant fancy conjured up a 
 vision of the missionary lady in her shiny black 
 satin and Medicis collar against a kakemono back- 
 ground, manipulating the accordion and preaching 
 the Scriptures to an assemblage of unconverted 
 Japs — a picture which seemed to her sufficientlv 
 comical. 
 
 ' I have been attracted to the East as a field of 
 labour,' Miss Gotch went on with portentous 
 earnestness, ' mainly through one or two cases of 
 real and fictitious marriages between Europeans 
 and Eurasians and Japanese, which have come 
 within my experience. I may say that, under 
 Providence, I was instrumental in obtaining her 
 rights for a poor girl who had believed herself 
 deluded by an illegal ceremony. I consulted one 
 of the ladies of the League, the wife of a great 
 barrister, and she laid the matter before her 
 husband, with the result that the marriage was 
 ultimately proved to be binding. It is a much 
 more difficult thing than most people imagine to 
 break a marriage contracted with an Eastern, 
 according to the forms of his or her country — 
 that is, if it ever comes into a court of law. 
 Most of them do not.' 
 
 Madame Izan rose abruptly. 
 
 'What do you know about it?' she exclaimed
 
 8o MADAME IZAn 
 
 with a vehemence that surprised both the missionary 
 lady and Julia. ' A marriage like that is an 
 injustice and a cruelty towards the one who is 
 most ignorant. If that one wishes it broken, it 
 ought to be broken, no matter what the law may 
 be. I don't understand about your abandoned 
 women and your false marriages. Marriage is a 
 cruel mistake, and no one would ever marry if 
 they knew what they were doing— signing their 
 whole lives away, and putting themselves in prison 
 for ever and ever. I don't want to hear any 
 more about such horrible things.' 
 
 She swept down the saloon on to her cabin, 
 and shut the door. The missionary lady looked 
 at Mrs. Eugarde distressed and astonished. 
 
 'What did / say? What extraordinary 
 opinions to hold! Is it possible that she is herself 
 married to an Eastern, and wants the marriage 
 broken ? I can tell her that she won't find that 
 such an easy thing to do.' 
 
 With the missionary lady's speech a light flashed 
 upon Julia. Here seemed a terribly probable 
 explanation of the whole mystery. And if so, 
 what fate might not be in store for John Windeatt, 
 if he should take the same view of the matter as 
 Madame Izan? 
 
 From deck burst down the strains of ' Tommy 
 Atkins' again, and then the Irrepressible Young
 
 MADAME IZAN 81 
 
 Man called out, ' " Old Black Joe," that's a ripper! 
 Let us have " Old Black Joe," ' which followed — 
 pathetic, almost solemnizing. After that the 
 young man sang ' Juanita ' in falsetto, and the 
 whole of them, including Mrs. Bax, joined in the 
 chorus of 'Dem Golden Slippers.' Mr. Barradine, 
 haggard and harassed, descended the companion, 
 and, tragically divesting himself of his comforter, 
 commanded the Chinese boy to bring him a lemon 
 squash. By-and-by Mrs. Bax fluttered down, also 
 calling ' Izo !' But Izo was obdurate to Her- 
 minia's rappings at the cabin door. 
 
 ' Go away, Herminia,' she cried out ; ' I'm 
 sleepy !' But the tone of her voice suggested 
 suppressed sobs. 
 
 Julia Eugarde went to her berth and greatly 
 wondered.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 As the coasts of Japan came in sight, it seemed to 
 Mrs. Eugarde that Madame Izan wore an air of 
 repressed, almost tragic, excitement. She and 
 Mrs. Bax held themselves apart, talking in a 
 manner apparently so confidential that Windeatt 
 and his sister hesitated to approach them. In 
 John Windeatt, too, were signs of inward per- 
 turbation, not to say jealousy. 
 
 Madame Izan had during the last few days, 
 ever since the incident with the missionary lady, 
 developed a violent interest in photography, and 
 the Irrepressible Young Man had been teaching her 
 how to use a Kodak. Consequently, she had been 
 able to think of nothing else, and had given up 
 her deck-walks and games of patience, somewhat 
 to Windeatt's discomfiture. Mrs. Eugarde sus- 
 pected some more subtle reason for the change, 
 and was well pleased. She had not held any 
 further conversation with her brother on the 
 subject of Madame Izan's marriage, supposititious 
 or actual, as might turn out. When the episode 
 
 [ 82 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 83 
 
 with the missionary lady had been mentioned, he 
 had positively refused to discuss Julia's suspicions. 
 
 'I shall ask her myself when the time is ripe,' 
 he had declared. ' In the meantime, I don't want 
 to hear anything about the matter ; and you would 
 raise yourself considerably in my estimation, Ju, 
 if you would not encourage Mrs. Bax to betray 
 her friend's confidence.' 
 
 Julia was hurt at the rebuke, which she con- 
 sidered uncalled for. She took the line of total 
 indifference to her brother's private concerns, and 
 informed him scathingly that he, on his side, was 
 at perfect liberty to encourage Madame Izan in 
 committing bigamy without let or hindrance on 
 her part. After this a certain reserve had crept 
 into their intercourse. 
 
 But, in spite of all, this was Japan — that wavy 
 outline of peaks and cones tossed up against the 
 silvery blue, and those queer, humped shapes of 
 islets and peninsulas rising sheer from the level 
 streaks of sunlight upon the bluer sea, and those 
 fairy-sailed sampans and the decked junks, with 
 the high prows and perforated bulwarks, and the 
 gray villages scrambling up in the hollows between 
 the hills, so overshadowed by trees that only 
 patches of fantastically-curved eaves and dark 
 roof-copings could be distinguished. How was it 
 possible to cherish stupid British ill-humours when 
 
 6—2
 
 84 MADAME IZAN 
 
 all around was so sweetly and poetically gay ? 
 Land, sky, sea ; the dreamy sound of the water 
 rushing from the vessel's bow as she steamed 
 along, sails set as well; the tender sough of the wind 
 which made music in the rigging ; the frolicsome 
 breeze, blowing in wanton puffs — everything con- 
 tributed to this dangerous sense of irresponsibility. 
 
 And now they were in the harbour, where 
 among the native craft and merchantmen were 
 French and English and American men-of-war and 
 a fierce Russian battleship, which looked as though 
 it could, with its big guns, gobble up, as easily as 
 the wolf gobbled up Red Ridinghood, pretty, 
 harmless Nagasaki, lying so peacefully at the foot 
 of her green hills. 
 
 It was a relief to Mr. Barradine when the three 
 small brown health-officers in smart serge suits 
 and peaked caps passed the Makara without 
 making inconvenient difficulties on the score of 
 those five cases of plague at Hong Kong. And 
 here came the coal-barges, manned by dainty little 
 women in dark-blue kimonos, with light-blue 
 handkerchiefs bound round their elaborately- 
 dressed heads, who beamed and smiled ecstatically 
 upon the ship's crew, and turned even the prosaic 
 process of coaling into a joy. Everyone in 
 Nagasaki smiled and beamed welcome on the 
 new-comers, from the rickshaw-coolies crowding the
 
 MADAME IZAN 85 
 
 Bund, laughing and gesticulating and bowing at 
 an acute angle from their waists, while they 
 pointed to the cabalistic lettering on their mush- 
 room hats, to the oblique-eyed babies slung at 
 their mothers' backs. 
 
 The brown grigs between the rickshaw shafts 
 bent forwards their mushroom hats on a level 
 with their shoulders, the muscles of their bare legs 
 swelled into knots, and whirled the party over an 
 arched bridge away from the dull European 
 quarter into a doll-town of sights and wonders — 
 a town of queer small brown houses, which had 
 sliding fronts and magic panels and unexpected 
 windows, pushed apart suddenly, to show rosy flat 
 faces with painted lips and sleekly tired heads 
 bristling with coloured pins ; a town of lanterns 
 and banners and inflated fish flying from the 
 house-tops, and of persons who seemed to have 
 stepped out of fans, tripping along on wooden 
 clogs — clack, clack — over the stones, with kimonos 
 narrowed round their feet, and huge butterfly 
 sashes if they were young maidens, and big flowered 
 silk knapsacks if they were matured women, in 
 the middle of their backs ; a town of umbrellas, 
 and kites, and pagodas, and dragons, and porcelain 
 monsters, and temples, and much tea. 
 
 And Madame Izan's depression vanished as mist 
 vanishes in sunshine. She gazed at each bowing
 
 86 MADAME IZAN 
 
 person and smiling passer-by at first, Julia fancied, 
 with vague alarm, then with unfeigned delight 
 and amusement. 
 
 ' Herminia,' Julia heard her say petulantly in 
 answer to some remark of Mrs. Bax's, ' oh, do let 
 us be happy, and forget that this is anything but 
 Japan.' (' Why, what else could it be?' thought 
 Julia.) ' I want to see, Herminia, not to think. 
 I did quite enough of thinking when I was in the 
 dark. Now, Herminia, I declare solemnly that if 
 you make me think of what I want to forget, I 
 shall leave you behind, and you may travel along 
 by yourself. I have absolutely made up my mind 
 that I will not think till I'm obliged to, when we 
 get to Tokyo.' 
 
 Clearly, then, Tokyo was the goal of Madame 
 Izan's Eastern pilgrimage, and there doubtless the 
 mystery would unravel itself, unless, as Julia 
 grimly foreboded, Windeatt's lover-like impetuosity 
 should provoke some untoward explosion before 
 that, which would force Madame Izan, in spite of 
 herself, to think, and perhaps also to feel. 
 
 As though to emphasize her declaration of 
 irresponsibility, Madame Izan turned now to 
 Windeatt with her old radiant smile, which had 
 been dimmed these last days, and the little helpless 
 swaying of her arms that always brought him to 
 her side on the instant.
 
 MADAME 1ZAN 87 
 
 ' Madame Izan, you had really better take my 
 arm now that you've got out of your rickshaw. For 
 you'll tumble over a dragon or a bowing gentleman 
 to a dead certainty, if you don't. You see your 
 eyes have got to learn Japan, haven't they ? Poor 
 baby eyes ! You mustn't give them too much to 
 do just all at once. Do please take my arm.' 
 
 Which she did ; and that was how they walked 
 along the Kago-machi. No wonder that the four- 
 feet-nothing Japanese looked up in astonishment 
 at the splendid stature of these two fine specimens 
 of man and woman. So tall were they that they 
 could scarcely help knocking their heads against 
 the ceilings of the curio shops, and yet so mag- 
 nificently proportioned that in an ordinary way 
 one would hardly have been impressed by the 
 fact that they towered above the rest of their 
 kind. 
 
 Well, if there's one experience in the world — in 
 a small way, of course — that one would like to 
 dream over again o' nights, it is one's first expedi- 
 tion in the Kago-machi. Ah, those curio shops ! 
 But for Dr. Duppo, John Windeatt and Madame 
 Izan would have bought them up entirely, straight 
 off, including the fan-person who, as the strangers 
 entered, would glide forward through a sliding 
 paper screen, and with his two hands upon his 
 knees would butt deferentially from his haunches
 
 88 MADAME IZAN 
 
 till his forehead touched the matting. Three times 
 thus would he butt. 
 
 ' Oh hairi nasai !' 
 
 ' Honourably deign to enter,' translated the 
 doctor. ' Konnichi-wa !' politely returned the 
 doctor. And then the bargaining would begin. 
 
 ' Ikura? [How much?] No, Madame Izan ; 
 it's against my principles to see unprotected ladies 
 taken advantage of. Three yen ! Don't you 
 believe it. One yen — not a sen more.' 
 
 Then the fan-person would grimace in respectful 
 deprecation and bow once again, profoundly 
 murmuring something about old Satsuma. 
 
 ' Old Satsuma ! Rubbish ! There's not a bit 
 of old Satsuma to be bought in Japan. It's Kioto 
 Satsuma. One yen.' 
 
 ' Nikko Satsuma !' submitted the fan-person, his 
 head touching the ground. ' One yen fifty, then.' 
 
 And so it would go on. The fan-person would 
 consult a sort of magician's book inscribed with 
 strange letters on rice paper, and mournfully shake 
 his head. Whereon the doctor would wheel round, 
 followed by that son of Anak, Windeatt, and 
 would make a feint of departing. Then the fan- 
 person would snatch up the article in question, 
 gaze at it lovingly, passionately wrap it in more 
 cabalistically-stamped paper, thrust it into a box as 
 mournfully as though he were burying his last
 
 MADAME IZAN 89 
 
 hope, and deliver it into the hands of the doctor, 
 prostrating himself many times in farewell ; and 
 amid ' Sayonaras ' and ' Arigatos ' they would 
 proceed on their way again in proud possession of 
 tortoiseshell rikisha, dragon - spouted teapot, 
 bronze saki-cup, and what not, till another rick- 
 shaw had to be engaged to carry the spoils. 
 
 Then there came tea and jam-rolls in the balcony 
 of the Bellevue, looking over the harbour and down 
 upon a little garden with contorted trees and doll 
 lakes and play-box bridges and rhododendron and 
 orange trees in bloom. Julia Eugarde and 
 Mrs. Bax objected to the tea served in cups with 
 handles, and to the jam-rolls ; they had wanted 
 real Japanese tea and some of the pretty pink cakes 
 they had seen in the Kago-machi. 
 
 ' Very well,' said the doctor, ' you shall have a 
 second tea at the Tea-house of the Frogs, and the 
 very same cakes that Madame Chrysantheme used 
 to order ; and you may have some raw carp and 
 vermicelli and sugar and soy, if you wish to be 
 strictly Japanese ; and I warn you that you'll be 
 quite content to remain English in future — any- 
 how, in the matter of your victuals.' 
 
 Only Julia Eugarde, the literary one of the 
 party, knew anything about little ' Kiku-san,' and 
 the doctor promised to give Mrs. Bax a treat, and 
 buy her a copy to read going through the Inland
 
 9 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 Sea. Presently they were all whirling off again, 
 though you must please understand that in Japan 
 there is never any hurry, and that whirling is only a 
 figure of speech, and applies to nothing but rickshaw 
 locomotion, for it wouldn't mean whirling any- 
 where else. Here were strange barbaric arches, 
 the like of which no one except the doctor 
 had ever before seen — great naked pillars with 
 curved architraves, that they were to become 
 familiar enough with before long. And below and 
 above and between the gateways, flight upon flight 
 of stone steps and funny little courtyards set about 
 with grotesque monsters and big bronze tubs and 
 fountains, with many paper banners and fluttering 
 white scrolls, which were the prayers of the devout. 
 For it was the Suwa Temple on the hill, and these 
 were the steps up which Loti and Yves dragged 
 Madame Chrysantheme. Now crowds of men 
 and women and mousmes, with sashes spread out 
 like dragon-flies' wings, were tripping up and down, 
 and the air was thick with the clack-clack of the 
 wooden pattens. Men and boys were flying kites, 
 and some were holding umbrellas, and others were 
 carrying gay lanterns to light them home in the 
 evening : these were they who meant to dine in 
 the Tea-house of the Frogs. It was as though a 
 swarm of odd-shaped and brilliant-hued insects 
 had alighted and were clustering round the low
 
 MADAME IZAN 91 
 
 brown buildings of the temple, so quaint with 
 their turned-up roofs and heavy bronze copings — 
 a swarm that dispersed by batches among the dark- 
 green firs which almost hid the temple and the 
 tea-house, and hid the human dragon-flies, too, so 
 that one only heard the sound of their elfish 
 laughter. 
 
 The doctor had his jest, and there were wry 
 faces over the cakes and the concoctions in lacquer 
 doll-bowls. But what did that matter ? Those 
 were real fan-figures which set down the thimble- 
 cups and all the queer paraphernalia of a Japanese 
 feast ; and this was the land of bloom and pastime 
 — Japan, dreamy, delicious, languorously stimu- 
 lating. And did it not seem to both Julia and 
 Windeatt that Madame Izan was already affected 
 by its strange spell, since her perverse mood had 
 left her, and verily Undine was finding her soul ! 
 For upon her face, amid all its smiles, there was 
 something pensive and womanly which neither 
 had observed in it before ; and her laugh, that had 
 been silvery and unemotional as a bell, had now a 
 tender ring. Windeatt longed to ask her the 
 reason of her previous humour and of her shunning 
 airs, but dared not, lest the humour should return. 
 Perhaps it was the surest sign of deepening intimacy 
 that, though they were alone, they talked less 
 freely than at the beginning. The company had
 
 92 MADAME IZAN 
 
 divided. Mrs. Bax and the doctor were watching 
 the kite-flying from the head of the stairway in an 
 abstracted and somewhat melancholy manner, 
 Mrs. Bax looking sentimental and the doctor 
 grim ; while Julia Eugarde had pulled out her 
 note-book and was seated among the pilgrims' 
 banners, with pince-nez adjusted and alert eyes 
 taking in everything, adding to her weekly instal- 
 ment of ' Round the World Jottings.' 
 
 Captain Hann was in a bad temper. A steamer 
 belonging to another line had come in before 
 him, had bought up the fresh milk and green 
 vegetables, and secured the first lot of passengers 
 to Kobe and Yokohama. But not even this 
 prosaic note could mar the dreamy exhilaration of 
 that party of five — including Dr. Duppo, for it 
 would appear that he also had private reasons for 
 feeling exhilarated — who went ashore for that first 
 time at Nagasaki. 
 
 It was like piercing into the heart of an un- 
 known fairy kingdom to glide along between the 
 peaked hills, through the narrow, blue passage 
 which leads towards the Inland Sea. There were 
 quaint villages scrambling about the feet of the hills, 
 and the slopes showed broad bars of pale green — 
 the green of young corn — alternating with sharply 
 drawn stretches of darker vegetation — all in straight
 
 MADAME IZAN 93 
 
 lines, which sometimes took a zigzag course, 
 giving the effect of a gigantic stairway. There 
 was a hint of gnome-life about the queer-shaped 
 rocks, and of some sort of Nature-god in the weird- 
 looking firs. There was one, the only growing 
 thing upon an upheaved rock, which lay like 
 an antediluvian beast upon the face of the water. 
 The tree spread out deformed arms, as though 
 imploring notice in its solitude. Elsewhere a still 
 stranger old pine would lift itself from the roof, as 
 it were, of some gray pagoda. It shadowed the 
 temple with its blobs of horizontal foliage, just 
 as in the landscapes on lacquer boxes and tea- 
 trays, so that Julia Eugarde made a note to the 
 purport that these things, which she had imagined 
 grotesque creations of fancy, were in fact absolute 
 realism. 
 
 The sun was near its setting, and gradually 
 lowered till the distant mountains were rosy and 
 the near ones deepest green, with black shadows 
 in their dents and furrows ; while in the fore- 
 ground, here and there against the line of hills, 
 there showed the gray perforated hulk of a junk, 
 standing out spectrally, its tall stern and pointed 
 prow and tattered sails wobbling on the swell of 
 the steamer's course, and reminding one somehow 
 of old engravings to the 'Ancient Mariner.' . . . 
 And before long all the hills together melted into
 
 94 MADAME IZAN 
 
 a roseate mist, and from that became soft violet 
 blots upon the sky. And soon all the lights 
 came out — irregular lines of fiery dots, and more 
 brilliant flames at wide spaces apart, of buoy and 
 lighthouse. . . . And that was the last of 
 Nagasaki. 
 
 At daylight the next morning Julia Eugarde 
 awoke with a start, for the stewardess had touched 
 her on the shoulder. 
 
 ' It is for you to go on deck. There is some- 
 thing you ought to see.' 
 
 Julia huddled on her clothes, and mounted. 
 The decks were swimming, and the further world 
 was wrapped in a mantle of gray haze, through 
 which gleamed opal tints, and, faintly discernible, 
 the bizarre outlines of peaks and islands. Round 
 about, near the steamer, lay scattered a fleet of 
 junks and fishing-boats, some of the sails making 
 dark squares on the gray haze — for they were 
 ancient and weather-stained — and others freshly 
 white as seagulls' wings. 
 
 It was very beautiful ; and there was something 
 ethereal in these long level lines of pale illumina- 
 tion streaking the tender indefinite blue. And 
 now, for a quarter of an hour, the sun shone out, 
 lightening the mist, and gave a clearer view of the 
 green ranges and the gray villages at their base.
 
 MADAME IZAN 95 
 
 Then suddenly the fog fell, a dense curtain of 
 white velvet, shutting out everything. 
 
 The fog-horn wailed eerily, and sometimes the 
 engines stopped altogether. Mrs. Bax, who cer- 
 tainly had less sympathy with the eccentricities of 
 Nature than with the vagaries of human emotion, 
 shivered and went down below. So did also 
 Captain Kelsey and an Indian officer, and the tourist 
 young men, who had stolen up in pyjamas and over- 
 coats ; and Mrs. Eugarde could hear them talking 
 over their tea and toast and morning fruit. Captain 
 Kelsey was telling a story of how by stratagem 
 he had decoyed a boatload of a savage enemy close 
 enough for his men to fire with effect. ' Raked 
 'em through, just below the belt,' he was declaring 
 with gusto, and Julia never liked him afterwards. 
 
 It seemed as though three persons and some 
 ghosts of sailors now had the deck all to them- 
 selves. The three were John Windeatt, Madame 
 Izan and Mrs. Eugarde, who, shrouded in her 
 heavy cloak and lost in professional reverie, was 
 scarcely distinguished by, and almost oblivious to, 
 the pair a few paces from where she sat. 
 
 Windeatt had insisted upon Madame Izan 
 taking his arm as he moved about the deck. It 
 was customary with both on such occasions to 
 make some friendly little jokes over her dislike 
 to the feel of his frieze coat. She had not put on
 
 96 MADAME IZAN 
 
 her gloves this morning, and his eyes travelled 
 tenderly downward to the sensitive fingers which 
 rested above his wrist. 
 
 1 Are you getting accustomed to me ?' he said, 
 with an odd intonation in his voice. 
 
 But Madame Izan took him quite literally. 
 
 ' I suppose that I am,' she answered. ' I don't 
 seem to mind nearly as much as I used. But, 
 then,' she added, * I'm getting accustomed to 
 everything.' 
 
 ' To everything !' he repeated, a little dis- 
 appointed — ' to all the rest of the world, and to 
 me as a part of it?' 
 
 ' Yes,' she answered simply, and went on : ' For, 
 you see, I haven't had so very long to get accus- 
 tomed to things, and, of course, for the first 
 month or two, when I began to go about like 
 other people, it was as if one had been a kitten 
 with one's eyes just opened. But there's one thing 
 I should never get accustomed to,' she said brightly, 
 ' and that is the wonder and the glory of the sight 
 we saw this morning when the fog lifted. Oh, 
 this beautiful world ! And to think it has been 
 here always — always !' 
 
 ' Always !' he echoed. 
 
 'And I didn't know it, in my dark times. 
 
 ' Ah yes, I understand. What did you feel 
 like,' he asked abruptly, 'when you were blind?'
 
 MADAME IZAN 97 
 
 She gave a little shudder. 
 
 ' Don't talk of it, if you'd rather not !' he ex- 
 claimed, smitten with compunction. ' I oughtn't 
 to have reminded you of those bad times. They 
 must have been very bad times.' 
 
 ' Yes, they were very bad.' 
 
 ' Sit here,' he said, pulling up a deck-chair 
 against the shelter of the captain's cabin. ' You 
 don't want to go down, do you ? There's an 
 hour till breakfast, and it's very pleasant here, 
 though we can't see anything, except ourselves. 
 But the fog may lift at any moment, and you 
 wouldn't like to miss that.' 
 
 She let him put her in the deck-chair, and 
 folded her cloak tighter round her. 
 
 ' You ought to have a rug to keep the damp 
 from your feet,' he said. ' Do let me fetch my 
 'possum rug.' 
 
 And before she could say yes or no he had run 
 down the companion-way. Presently he reap- 
 peared, carrying a splendid dark rug of Tasmanian 
 opossum, which he tucked in over her. 
 
 ' You don't know,' he said, ' what a satisfactory 
 thing a 'possum rug is.' 
 
 1 Oh, but I do know,' she answered. ' T've got 
 one in my cabin. No, it's in my big box in the 
 hold. Uncle O'Halloran gave it to me. He 
 brought it to England with him from Australia.' 
 
 7
 
 9 8 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' O'Halloran !' he repeated in a surprised tone. 
 ' I wonder if it could be the same. I used to 
 know an O'Halloran — Redmond O'Halloran — 
 out on the Doondi River — not very far, that is, 
 from the Wee-Waa — and he struck gold before 
 the Wee-Waa rush, and started the Doondi 
 Diggings. Yes, I wonder if it could be the same. 
 How curious that would be, wouldn't it ? He 
 made his fortune and went Home.' 
 
 ' That must certainly have been my uncle !' 
 cried Madame Izan. ' His name was Redmond. 
 And do you know that / have got a claim on the 
 Doondi Diggings? How odd it seems — to be a 
 poor blind pauper nearly all one's life, and then 
 suddenly to find one's self a seeing girl, and rich, 
 with a share in a gold-mine !' 
 
 c It can't seem odder to you than it does 
 to me,' said Windeatt gravely. ' That's my 
 experience, too. I was a pauper one day — only 
 
 I wasn't blind ' The deep note of sympathy 
 
 in his voice made Madame Izan look up at him 
 with a grateful wonder in her eyes. ' A ruined 
 squatter,' he went on, ' and the bank down upon 
 me. Then, in less than a year, I had got hold of 
 the Wee-Waa. And — here I am.' 
 
 ' The Wee-Waa !' she said, a little puzzled. 
 
 ' The Wee - Waa Gold-mine — shortly to be 
 floated on the English market as a limited
 
 MADAME IZAN 99 
 
 liability company ; and that's what I'm going 
 Home for — that and other things.' 
 
 He became reflective. Madame Izan, reflective 
 too, stroked the fur rug wrong way up,' and made 
 a pretty grimace ; then right way down, caressingly. 
 
 ' Your 'possum skin makes me think of the 
 only friend I had for a long time, except Herminia 
 Bax, though it was before I knew Herminia,' she 
 said. 
 
 ' And was your friend a woman ?' asked 
 Windeatt. 
 
 ' No,' she answered ; ' it was a cat — a tabby cat. 
 They told me it was a tabby,' she added ; ' I never 
 saw it. The cat was the cause of my knowing 
 Herminia.' 
 
 ' Oh, how was that ?' inquired Windeatt eagerly. 
 
 ' Well, you see, Herminia lived in the next 
 house to us, and there were ' — she seemed to 
 hesitate for a word — ' there were other lodgers in 
 the house, and one of them was not at all a good 
 young man ; at least, Herminia said he was not at 
 all good, and that it was he who poisoned my cat.' 
 
 ' So the cat was poisoned ?' 
 
 ' And Herminia came to break the news to me,' 
 went on Madame Izan. ' Herminia knew I was 
 fond of the cat, for she had watched me nursing it 
 outside in the back-garden — we had a little strip 
 of garden to each house. Herminia used to sit at 
 
 7—2
 
 ioo MADAME IZAN 
 
 her window sewing, and she has told me how 
 sorry she used to feel for me, being lonely herself, 
 and fancying that I was lonely and neglected. 
 Because Aunt Sophia found me rather a trouble, 
 you know, and would have liked to keep me 
 always at the school.' 
 
 ' A school for the blind ?' he asked. 
 
 ' Yes. My mother sent me there before she 
 died ; and it was all right as long as she lived, 
 but afterwards — there was only Aunt Sophia. I 
 liked the school much better than Aunt Sophia's 
 house. It was unfortunate that they wouldn't 
 keep me beyond the age of nineteen. . . . But I was 
 going to tell you about Herminia Bax. She took 
 the opportunity of the cat's death to make friends 
 with me. Wasn't it nice of her? You really 
 wouldn't believe how much I owe Herminia, 
 though I am ill - tempered and perverse, and 
 sometimes threaten to leave her when she worries 
 me. Of course, though, I should never leave 
 Herminia, if it was only because of the cat. Well, 
 she used to get me up to her room, where I would 
 sit with her while she sewed : and she would read 
 to me — stories mostly ; or she would talk romantic- 
 ally about Mr. Bax, and marrying, and love and all 
 that. Herminia was very romantic then — more 
 romantic even than she is now. I suppose it was 
 because of her having been in love with Mr. Bax,
 
 MADAME IZAN 101 
 
 and his dying. That's why she is so fond of the 
 P. and O. and of Dr. Duppo. He was a doctor 
 on a P. and O. steamer — of course you know all 
 about that : you saw his grave at Hong Kong. I 
 wouldn't look at it ; I don't like graves. I don't 
 like anything disagreeable ; and graves are dis- 
 agreeable, don't you think?' 
 
 ' Yes,' assented Windeatt ; ' at least, it depends. 
 I suppose if one loved anyone very much, one 
 would like to tend her, or his, grave.' 
 
 1 Oh, I don't like graves !' repeated Madame 
 Izan. 
 
 ' It's excessively interesting,' said Windeatt — 
 ' your story, I mean. My heart aches, to think 
 of that lonely blind girlhood. And so Mrs. Bax 
 took the place of the cat. Or perhaps you got 
 another cat ?' 
 
 1 She — that is — someone — wanted to give me 
 another cat,' answered Madame Izan, again 
 hesitatingly. l But Aunt Sophia wouldn't let me 
 have it. She had always disliked my cat — 
 However, then ' 
 
 Madame Izan seemed to be pulled back upon 
 herself, as it were, by some not too agreeable 
 memory, for she gave her shoulders a little shake 
 and her brows drew together in a frown, while she 
 fell into a sudden silence. 
 
 ' Oh, please tell me more,' said Windeatt, with
 
 102 MADAME IZAN 
 
 tender persuasion, ' if you don't think it im- 
 pertinent of me wanting to know. I love to hear 
 about your girlhood. And, you see, I am not at 
 all a stranger, having met your uncle O'Halloran 
 — I — I was great friends with your uncle 
 O'Halloran,' he added mendaciously. 'Why, you 
 and I might have been friends for years. For 
 what would have been more natural than that you 
 should have come out to your uncle at Doondi, 
 supposing he hadn't come Home to you ? And I 
 might have known you out there in the Bush, 
 where people don't stand on ceremony and formal 
 introductions, and all that sort of nonsense — 
 known you as Miss— Miss O'Halloran ?' 
 
 He pronounced the name in tentative interroga- 
 tion. 
 
 She nodded. ' Yes, I was Miss O'Halloran, I 
 suppose.' 
 
 ' Izo O'Halloran,' he went on, taking pleasure 
 in the slight familiarity. ' I've heard Mrs. Bax 
 call you Izo, and I've wondered what it stood 
 for. Izobel, I fancy — or the Scotch Izobel.' 
 
 ' My mother was Scotch,' she answered — ' Izobel 
 Carmichael. That's much prettier than Izobel 
 O'Halloran.' 
 
 ' Is it ? I don't know. But it's not prettier 
 than Izobel Izan, which is a most peculiar and 
 effective combination.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 103 
 
 He spoke shyly, greatly daring ; but Madame 
 Izan moved uneasily in her chair. 
 
 ' I don't think I want to talk any more about 
 my name or my girl-life,' she said, with her child- 
 like directness, which was at once an appeal and a 
 rebuke: for he flushed, and made some incoherent 
 apology. ' I don't want to talk about my dark 
 time. I'd like to forget — to forget— to forget !' 
 she repeated, with a tragic intensity which startled 
 him, as well as that, so far, unthinking listener, 
 Julia Eugarde. ' Now I'm going down !' exclaimed 
 Madame Izan abruptly, and got up, shaking off 
 the opossum rug; 
 
 Windeatt was deeply distressed. 
 
 'Oh, why?' he cried. 'Please — please forgive 
 me ! I was carried away by my — my interest in 
 you. And don't you know that I wouldn't 
 willingly cause you a moment's pain or uneasiness 
 — not if ' 
 
 He, too, paused. For there came a sudden 
 calling and scurrying on deck, and the captain's 
 voice ringing out imperatively from the bridge, 
 and another voice answering from behind the 
 white velvet curtain. There was a ringing or 
 bells and a shrieking of the fog-horn and a queer 
 scraping sensation of reversed engines. 
 
 'What is it?' cried both Madame Izan and 
 Julia Eugarde. But to Windeatt's shame, he took
 
 io 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 no notice of his sister. Indeed, he had not 
 realized her nearness. 
 
 * A collision,' he answered quite calmly. 
 
 Just at that moment a shapeless black mass 
 loomed diagonally out of the mist, which it could 
 be seen in a moment or two was another great 
 steamer, with men and women on deck, and so 
 close that it seemed as though hands stretched 
 out from bulwark to bulwark could have clasped 
 fingers. Windeatt flung his arm round Madame 
 Izan, drawing her protectingly to his breast. 
 
 ' Don't be frightened, Izo,' he said. ' We're 
 together, anyhow, and that's enough for me. . . . 
 No ; it's all right now, dear.' 
 
 The bows just barely grazed : there was hardly 
 a tremor. And then the white mist swallowed up 
 that black monster again, and the Makara was 
 gliding on as if nothing had happened. But it 
 was several seconds before Windeatt released 
 Madame Izan from this wild embrace in which 
 their two hearts had thumped one upon the 
 other and he had kissed her lips. She gave a 
 frightened gasp and looked bewilderedly into his 
 face, reading the confession too plainly written in 
 his eyes. Then she broke away from him and 
 would have fallen upon the slippery deck, had not 
 Mrs. Eugarde, against whom she brushed, caught 
 her arm and steadied her to the companion.
 
 MADAME IZAN 105 
 
 'Jack!' Julia cried in reproachful indignation. 
 « Oh, Jack !' 
 
 At breakfast no one thought — except two, 
 maybe — or talked of anything but the narrow 
 escape they had had of a collision ; which was well, 
 perhaps, for that particular two — Windeatt and 
 Madame Izan. They sat as usual in opposite 
 places, a little below the captain, and their efforts 
 to avoid meeting each other's eyes might otherwise 
 have awakened comment. 
 
 ' That was the ship J had a grudge against for 
 taking our fresh milk and our passengers at 
 Nagasaki,' said Captain Hann. ' It was her fault. 
 She had no business to be anchored just in the 
 track, and to take it for granted that everybody 
 else would see fit to anchor likewise. She should 
 have answered our signals. But I know how it is. 
 Her bell is over the captain's cabin, and he don't 
 like to be disturbed by it. Well, I have given 
 him a scare !' added the captain with a grim 
 chuckle, ' and he's a man that's easily scared.' 
 
 Now quite suddenly the fog lifted, leaving only 
 a faint, poetic haze. The sun shone out, and the 
 blue waters seemed alive with strange great fish 
 and couchant beasts ; some almost submerged, with 
 only the jagged end of a rock fin or snout show- 
 ing above the surface, and not a ripple round it.
 
 106 MADAME JZAN 
 
 One might have fancied them primeval seals and 
 walruses, if, indeed, one could imagine walruses in 
 these Eastern summer seas. Others gave the 
 rugged profile, as it were, of some benevolent 
 monster of old, and with what might be a heraldic 
 dragon's tail twisting upward — a travesty of a 
 tail, which was, in fact, one of the queer, weird, 
 knobbed, blobbed and uncouthly gnarled, tea-tray 
 firs. Those monsters were some of the tiny 
 thousand islets of the Inland Sea. But there were 
 bigger, more natural islands with shorn protuber- 
 ances and stairways of crops, for that was the 
 effect which the alternation of dark and light gave. 
 This one had a square top, upon which a line of 
 firs made a topsy-turvy fringe against the sky, 
 with the pattern of its plantation set grotesquely 
 in a vandyke, upside down. 
 
 A straggling village, pagoda-roofed, and with a 
 sampan-strewed beach, made a broad gray streak, 
 into which the points of the vandyke merged. 
 How sweetly, tenderly, thought Windeatt, life 
 might flow in such a fairyland hamlet, in company 
 of the lady of his love ! How happy, surely, he 
 and the divinity might be, living Japanese fashion ! 
 And though she was almost twice as tall as the 
 ordinary Japanese woman, yet would not the 
 clinging kimono lend new grace to the lithe lines 
 of Madame Izan's form, and the fantastic head-
 
 MADAME IZAN 107 
 
 tiring fresh glory to those waves of dark brown 
 hair ? Yes ; a butterfly existence like that of Loti 
 and Madame Chrysantheme, but beautified and 
 ennobled, as theirs was not, by the holier emotions 
 of a higher love. And he asked himself, could 
 he be content with such an idyllic dream, or would 
 he sigh again for the world of men? 
 
 Alas! Madame Izan would not respond by the 
 most fleeting glance to those signals of penitence 
 and beseeching that from time to time he cast 
 towards her. She was an impregnable fortress, 
 entrenched on one side by Mrs. Bax, on the other 
 by Julia Eugarde, and it was only a pretence she 
 made of reading Loti's novel which the doctor 
 had bought ; yet it served as an effective shield, 
 whenever a breach was made in the line of fortifica- 
 tion, by the temporary absence of one or other 
 of her warders. 
 
 For sometimes Dr. Duppo would turn, attracted 
 by Mrs. Bax's pleading blue eyes, and the two 
 would stroll off together to the further end of 
 the deck, or Julia would be beguiled from her 
 post. Or else the Irrepressible Young Man 
 would come along with his Kodak, in which 
 on this particular morning Madame Izan was 
 showing a new and revived interest. Windeatt 
 wondered to himself, in bitterness of spirit, how 
 those negatives would turn out, which had been
 
 108 MADAME IZAN 
 
 the occasion for so much laughter as well as for so 
 much earnest manipulation and discussion. 
 
 Then at luncheon Madame Izan came in late ; 
 and no doubt it was by reason of a wicked and 
 elaborate plot devised among the three women 
 that, instead of occupying her usual place close up 
 by the captain, Madame Izan was moved three 
 down, and sat between the Young Man and 
 Mr. Barradine, quite beyond the range of Win- 
 deatt's attentions, so that he had not even the 
 poor satisfaction of handing her the salt or pepper.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 There was a great bustle on board, when soon 
 after sunrise the steamer anchored at Kobe : for it 
 was there that most of the passengers were to dis- 
 embark. The mission lady placed herself betimes 
 at the bulwarks, with an anxious yet ecstatic ex- 
 pression, as of one to whom Destiny was about to 
 reveal herself. She — not Destiny, but Miss Gotch 
 — waited the arrival of the missionaries who were 
 to welcome her to her new sphere of work, and 
 could not be persuaded to quit her post, even for 
 breakfast. Nevertheless, when breakfast was over, 
 and all the rest were dispersing about their busi- 
 ness on shore, the missionaries had not arrived. 
 This did not, however, discomfit Miss Gotch. Her 
 big sun-burned face, with its full-moulded lips and 
 benevolent smile, beamed with kindly satisfaction. 
 The bag holding her accordion was by her side, 
 and the large Prayer-Book and Japanese dictionary 
 on her lap : she was armed at all points. The 
 
 two Australians and Mrs. Bax bade her good-bye. 
 
 [ 109 ]
 
 no MADAME IZAN 
 
 Theodosia then stepped out to Madame Izan, who 
 had not advanced with the others. 
 
 ' I want to say something to you,' said Miss 
 Gotch. ' I want you to take this ;' and she thrust 
 a card between Madame Izan's fingers. ' No, I 
 know you don't like me. But the time may come 
 — you can never tell — when you might be glad 
 to feel that you had an English friend in Japan. 
 And there I shall be — backed by the whole strength 
 of the C.M.S., which is saying a good deal — 
 ready to help you.' 
 
 Madame Izan thanked her coldly and put the 
 card into her reticule. 
 
 ' Now, mind,' said Miss Gotch, * if you are ever 
 in any trouble and want advice which Mrs. Bax, 
 maybe, hasn't had experience enough to give, 
 apply to me.' 
 
 And just then the captain came up, and with 
 him a Japanese gentleman, who might almost have 
 been a gentleman straight from Bond Street, so 
 well was he tailored, and so little was there dis- 
 tinctively Japanese in his gait and manner. He 
 did not bow as though a string had been pulled 
 in his middle, but removed his hat and glove in 
 the English style — the last a mechanical act, for 
 he could have had no expectation of shaking hands 
 with the ladies, and stood at attention with an air 
 of respectful reserve. Indeed, small as he was —
 
 MADAME IZAN in 
 
 and though he was taller than most of his com- 
 patriots, Windeatt was a giant to him, and 
 Madame Izan topped him considerably — his ex- 
 treme impassiveness gave him a certain dignity, 
 which not even a pair of blue goggles that en- 
 tirely covered his eye-orbits could mar. The 
 goggles made it difficult to judge of his face, but 
 it had power, was Bismarckian after a miniature 
 fashion — square-jawed, high-cheekboned and de- 
 termined-looking. He was clean-shaven except 
 for a heavy moustache, and might have been any 
 age, for though his dark skin was but little lined, 
 his hair was quite gray. 
 
 ' Madame Izan and Mrs. Bax,' said the captain. 
 
 ' This is ' And he looked at the Japanese 
 
 gentleman. 
 
 ' Kencho Hiro - Kahachi,' said the Japanese 
 gentleman, delivering a card, which the captain 
 passed on to Madame Izan. And, oddly enough, 
 Mrs. Eugarde noticed, she glanced at it timorously, 
 as though dreading something it might reveal ; 
 also she had become extremely pale. 
 
 ' Of the Imperial Association of Guides,' added 
 the Japanese gentleman. 
 
 ' Oh!' said Mrs. Bax, a disappointed note in her 
 voice. The man had the appearance of at least 
 an important official. ' Now I understand. This 
 is the courier Dr. Duppo advised us to telegraph
 
 ii2 MADAME IZAN 
 
 for.' She took the card out of Madame Izan's 
 fingers, and spelled out with difficulty : ' Kencho 
 
 — Hiro Oh, we really couldn't say all that : 
 
 we couldn't, really' 
 
 ' It is not at all necessary,' said the Japanese 
 gentleman, who spoke excellent English. 'Kencho 
 will do very well.' 
 
 ' Oh, thank you !' fluttered Mrs. Bax. ' I am 
 surprised that you speak such good English.' 
 
 The guide bowed without answering. 
 
 ' Well, he'll take you on shore and put an end 
 to all your difficulties,' said the captain. ' He'll 
 see after your luggage, pass you through the 
 Customs, and settle you in the hotel. He'll even 
 unpack your dresses for you if you like. They're 
 extraordinarily handy men, these guides. And 
 now, as I've got to go into the town, I'll leave you 
 in his charge. So good-bye, ladies, and I hope I 
 may have the pleasure of taking you back again.' 
 
 The guide made no comment upon the captain's 
 jocose encomium. Julia Eugarde fancied that he 
 might be offended, he looked so very much of 
 a gentleman. Perhaps, she thought, he was a 
 Japanese nobleman who had fallen upon evil days. 
 He stood there perfectly silent, and seemed to be 
 in a sort of dream. To break the awkward pause, 
 she asked if he knew anything of the guide she 
 and her brother had likewise telegraphed for.
 
 MADAME IZAN 113 
 
 ' He is here, he is waiting your orders,' replied 
 Kencho, and gave a signal to someone behind, 
 who pressed forward, his clogs making so much 
 noise on the deck that he stopped deliberately and 
 took them off. This was a very small Japanese 
 man in a blue kimono and sailor hat, the ugliest 
 man upon whom Mrs. Eugarde's eyes had ever 
 rested, with his narrow shoulders, his unhealthy 
 yellow face, the obliquely-fixed beads of eyes, and 
 the cavern of a mouth, from which protruded two 
 enormous yellow tusks. He took off his sailor 
 hat, displaying a shock of black hair that stood up 
 like the bristles on a scrubbing-brush, placed his 
 hat and his two hands on his knees, and made the 
 customary butt three times, after which he handed 
 out a soiled card and presented it to Windeatt. 
 
 * I Yamasaki, guide,' he announced. 
 
 ' Then Yamasaki, guide,' said Windeatt, ' we 
 will make over to you ourselves and our belong- 
 ings.' Whereupon ensued some practical explana- 
 tions, prolonged during the space of Dr. Duppo's 
 leave-takings — he, too, had to go on shore — and 
 some whispered talk, apparently of a pathetic 
 nature, took place between him and Mrs. Bax. 
 Madame Izan and Kencho, the guide, stood apart 
 meanwhile, both abstracted and indifferent to out- 
 side occurrences. 
 
 But presently Windeatt cut short the instructions. 
 
 8
 
 1 1 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' Come along,' he said, seeing that the others of 
 the party were descending the companion ; and 
 poor Windeatt was terribly afraid that they might 
 be whirled off — who could tell where ? — perhaps to 
 Kioto that afternoon, and no chance be given him 
 of explaining and atoning for that rash kiss on the 
 deck in the fog. 
 
 When their small packages had been counted and 
 consigned to Yamasaki's care, Windeatt still would 
 not depart, but insisted that Julia should wait 
 till Madame Izan emerged from her cabin, where 
 Mrs. Bax's shrill little voice could be heard 
 recounting to Kencho the tale of their various 
 pieces of baggage, and making irrelevant personal 
 communications. The goddess did not seem to 
 be saying a word. Presently pecuniary details 
 were entered upon, which showed that, though on 
 pleasure bent, Mrs. Bax, like Mrs. Gilpin, had a 
 frugal mind. The guide's deep, rather husky 
 voice chimed in at intervals, mostly in acquiescence. 
 Was the fee to include his food and lodging ? Yes. 
 And travelling expenses ? But surely no. And 
 was he a married man, and had he testimonials? 
 
 ' I am a married man, madam,' was the guide's 
 answer. ' And as for testimonials, the fact of my 
 being employed by the Guides' Association is a 
 voucher for my respectability, as, no doubt, the 
 captain would tell you. But if it would give you
 
 MADAME IZAN 115 
 
 any satisfaction, I shall be happy to show you a 
 letter from an official of high position in Tokio, 
 which declares me to be a man of honour and 
 integrity.' 
 
 There was the rustle of rice-paper, and Windeatt 
 could hear Mrs. Bax's rather simpering laugh. 
 
 ' Oh dear me ! But I should want it trans- 
 lated. And how very decorative the Japanese 
 character is ! Well, I'm sure it must be all right ; 
 for here is the stamp of the office — Ministry of 
 Justice, is it? — oh, that is quite satisfactory. Mr. 
 — ah, Kencho — I suppose that we may regard you 
 in the light of a courier ?' 
 
 ' Certainly.' 
 
 ' It is always so much better to define a position 
 at the beginning,' said Mrs. Bax. ' Really, you 
 seem so much more English than Japanese. I 
 should think you must have been some years in 
 our country.' 
 
 ' I have lived in England, but not lately.' 
 
 ' Oh, that is very nice ; you'll understand our 
 ways, and we shall feel so much more comfortable. 
 You see, when two ladies are travelling alone they 
 are obliged to be very careful ; and you must 
 excuse my having made such a point of testimonials. 
 And now this box. You will never give it up to 
 guards or porters, if you please ; it contains jewels 
 and other valuables.' 
 
 8—2
 
 n6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 At this instant Madame Izan came out of the 
 cabin. Windeatt made an imperative sign to 
 Mrs. Eugarde, who was in like manner directing 
 Yamasaki from the door of her cabin — a sign which 
 she interpreted as an injunction to stay where she 
 was and not interfere. Then Windeatt went 
 straight up to Madame Izan ; for this was the 
 very first opportunity he had had of speaking to 
 her alone since that wild moment of the threatened 
 collision. He had never seen her so pale, and he 
 had not before noticed that half-frightened, half- 
 resolved expression upon her face. She seemed 
 lost in her own thoughts, and for a moment he 
 was vain enough to imagine that he himself was 
 perhaps the subject of her reverie. 
 
 1 Madame Izan,' he said in a moved voice, ' I 
 have been so wanting to say something to you all 
 these last days, but you have seemed to avoid me, 
 and, perhaps — well, perhaps I have deserved it. 
 But you must know that there's one thing which 
 would cut me to the heart, and it is your fancying 
 that I had failed any way in respect to you. I 
 couldn't bear that. And you must know — oh ! 
 surely you do know — that couldn't be true.' 
 
 The startled way in which she looked at him, as 
 though recalled from some quite foreign and en- 
 grossing train of thought, rebuked him for his 
 presumption in imagining himself so much to her
 
 MADAME IZAN 117 
 
 as to have been the cause of her present moodi- 
 ness. 
 
 * I — I didn't think that,' she said. 
 
 ' But you'll admit that there were excuses for 
 me,' he went on impetuously. ' I had meant to 
 be so careful not to shock or annoy you by show- 
 ing the feelings which have grown so tremendously 
 — I can't tell how or why, unless it's just the doing 
 of Fate — in this short time that we've been 
 together. I'm not going to say anything about 
 those feelings now,' he added. ' No, no ! don't 
 be afraid, I shall not bore you with them now.' 
 For she had shrunk back, as it seemed, in terror. 
 
 ' Oh no, you mustn't — indeed you mustn't,' she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 ' Very well. I am not going to say anything 
 about them,' he repeated. * If I can't be anything 
 else, I want to be your friend while we're here in 
 Japan, anyhow.' 
 
 ' Oh yes,' she replied, and an expression of relief 
 came over her face. ' Of course, that's what you 
 can be. How could you have dreamed of anything 
 else ? Why should anybody ever dream of anything 
 else ? The rest is all nonsense, terrible nonsense — 
 only fit for the stories Herminia used to be so fond 
 of, and that she would read to me for hours when 
 I was blind. I didn't know any better then. I 
 know ever so much better now, and so do you,
 
 u8 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Mr. Windeatt. And if I wanted to think, I should 
 have a great deal that is more important to think 
 about than quarrelling with you about a nothing 
 — a nothing at all.' 
 
 It was nothing to her, then — that mad kiss, 
 which had been heaven for the second it had lasted 
 to poor Windeatt. 
 
 ' But I don't want to think — about that or about 
 anything that has to do only with our two selves. 
 When there's all the world outside one, how silly 
 it is to be shutting one's self up in a kind of prison ! 
 — which is the case if one keeps worrying over 
 one's own thoughts and feelings. You should do 
 as I do : put them away till you are forced to 
 consider them,' her face darkened, ' because you 
 have got to make some important decision.' 
 
 ' That's all very well for you, who don't care two- 
 pence for a fellow,' he said bitterly. ' It's easy 
 enough for you, perhaps, to put them away. But 
 suppose I can't do that?' 
 
 Her gray eyes met his with a child's unblenching 
 perplexity. 
 
 ' 1 don't understand why you should make so 
 much fuss, when we have settled things quite 
 nicely. I am very pleased to be your friend.' 
 
 He pulled himself up. 
 
 ' Thank you. That's a comfort, at any rate.' 
 
 ' Now, I'm glad you fed about it as I do.
 
 MADAME IZAN 119 
 
 Only ' — she paused and lowered her eyes in some 
 embarrassment — ' only, Mr. Windeatt, you mustn't 
 show your friendship just in that way.' 
 
 ' I was a cad !' he cried. ' Forgive me.' 
 
 ' Oh, of course,' she went on hurriedly ; ' I 
 never thought about it, except that as we were in 
 danger, or fancied we were, you wanted me to 
 know that you'd take care of me. And I'm very 
 thankful indeed, Mr. Windeatt, that you didn't 
 have the chance, and that we hadn't to buffet about 
 together in the waves of the Inland Sea. So now 
 there's no need to think of that again.' 
 
 Thus she dismissed the episode. Windeatt was 
 chilled. This was not what he had hoped for — 
 expected, even — this air of entire satisfaction with 
 conventional limitations. 
 
 ' What I wanted to ask you,' he said stiffly, 
 ' was whether you had any objection to our going 
 — Ju and I — to the same hotel as you and 
 Mrs. Bax. You see, it would be so much more 
 pleasant and friendly. And perhaps — we might 
 do things together sometimes: make excursions, 
 and get a lot more out of Japan than if we were 
 pottering along each party by itself; for we are 
 all strangers and pilgrims, so to speak, in an 
 unknown country.' Windeatt could not help 
 echoing her laugh, serious as the situation was to 
 him, at this pathetic picture that he drew of the
 
 120 MADAME IZAN 
 
 new Innocents abroad. ' It's just a little lonely 
 for Ju,' he went on ; ' and naturally she takes so 
 much pleasure in your — and Mrs. Bax's — company. 
 It would be a great pity, don't you think, on her 
 account, if we were to drift apart ?' 
 
 ' Oh dear no ! we mustn't do that,' she answered 
 brightly. ' Why, of course, we mustn't do that. 
 And why should we, since we are going to be real 
 friends? I'm so glad it is settled in so satisfactory 
 a way. Herminia' — to that lady, who now emerged 
 from the cabin, followed by the impassive Kencho. 
 He carried the leather case containing, presumably, 
 the jewels of Madame Izan, for Herminia had not 
 given indications of the possession of such valuables. 
 ' What are we going to do next, Herminia ? 
 Mr. Windeatt wants to know which hotel we are 
 going to.' 
 
 Then Kencho — or, rather, Yamasaki — came 
 into the conclave. Yamasaki's chatter seemed to 
 quench the interest Kencho might have been 
 supposed to take in the movements of the party 
 under his charge. After all, it was a very simple 
 matter to decide ; there is no great choice of hotels 
 in Kobe. 
 
 So it happened that the whole six of them went 
 ashore together, and the four were passed through 
 the Customs with no difficulty whatever ; for 
 Windeatt noticed that a few quiet words from
 
 MADAME IZAN 121 
 
 Kencho and the exhibition of a certain document 
 — perhaps it was the letter from the State official 
 which he had shown to Mrs. Bax — was a kind of 
 1 open sesame ' as far as Japan was concerned, and 
 procured them a respect and consideration which 
 heightened Mrs. Eugarde's opinion of the courtesy 
 of that smiling nation into whose midst they had 
 entered. Then they and their belongings were 
 taken possession of by a covey of little brown 
 men, who put themselves between the shafts of 
 the rickshaws and whisked them to the hotel first, 
 and afterwards to the Consulate, where Mr. Barra- 
 dine and the Irrepressible Young Man were making 
 application for passports. 
 
 ' It's splendid !' cried the Young Man. ' It's 
 like a fairy tale : you've only got to clap your 
 hands, and there's a slave of the lamp ready to do 
 anything you want. I want to be tattooed — there's 
 a wonderful tattooer in Kioto ; he tattoos all the 
 people who come here. I'm going to Kioto, and 
 I want to shoot the Rapids, and to see the Dai — 
 what-do-you-call-'em ? — Colossus of Rhodes sort 
 of thing. I want to go to an Imperial garden- 
 party, and to eat a real Japanese dinner, and to have 
 all my negatives developed ; and then I shall be 
 ready for sport in Alaska.' 
 
 ' Oh dear me !' moaned Mr. Barradine. ' I have 
 already had enough of Japan. I don't think that
 
 122 MADAME IZAN 
 
 I shall stay. The hotel is full of dreadful Cook's 
 tourists, and the food is most unwholesome.' 
 
 ' Two dollars to pay. Call again to-morrow 
 morning,' said the clerk of the Consulate, or the 
 Consul himself — how should they know ? And 
 after that they were trotted off again — to the bank, 
 the post-office, the photographers' shops, and all 
 the other initiatory shrines of tourists. Somehow, 
 it seemed that it was Yamasaki who took the lead, 
 and not the superior Kencho, who, in spite of his 
 grand testimonial and his admirable English, ap- 
 peared distrait, and was neither so practical nor so 
 enthusiastic as his compatriot in the matter of 
 sights and diversions. He merely acquiesced now 
 with an abstracted air in Yamasaki's suggestion 
 that they should go ' where Japanese make sport 
 with fish.' Mrs. Bax confided to Julia that she 
 could not feel quite comfortable with Kencho, and 
 she wasn't certain whether she ought to call him 
 plain 'Kencho' or 'Mr. Kencho.' He didn't seem 
 like a common courier person, any way, and he 
 wasn't what she called sympathetic. On the whole, 
 she didn't feel sure that she wouldn't have preferred 
 Yamasaki ; but she concluded that, owing to 
 Dr. Duppo's insistence in the telegram upon un- 
 impeachable steadiness as a qualification of the 
 guide required, the management had sent the 
 grandest on their list. Of course, it was a comfort
 
 MADAME IZAN 123 
 
 to know that Kencho had a testimonial from a 
 Minister of State — though for her, she said, the 
 letter might as well have been written in Greek 
 as Japanese, since she didn't understand either 
 language. 
 
 Yamasaki, to Julia's intense appreciation, proved 
 himself also a man of a delicate consideration and 
 the higher chivalry. It was in keeping with the 
 fine Japanese instinct that he should sign to the 
 coolies to halt before a shop in the main street, a 
 grocery and wine shop of hybrid nationality, with 
 a bottle of Hennessy's brandy and some tins of 
 Brand's Essence and sundry specimens of Lea and 
 Perrin's manufactures taking the place of honour 
 in the window among a variety of products strictly 
 Japanese. 
 
 ' One leetle sit still, if ladies please, or get down 
 see my shop,' said Yamasaki, flourishing his sailor 
 hat. ' I haf my wife, and I haf my leetle chil'. 
 But now the chil' is walk.' 
 
 Whereupon the ladies graciously descended, and 
 Madame Yamasaki, in a soft gray kimono and 
 knapsack obi, advanced and saluted, Japanese 
 fashion, with much grace and dignity. And having 
 shown incontrovertibly that he was a man of 
 substance and of the domestic virtues, Yamasaki 
 wasted no more time on sentiment, and they trotted 
 on once more.
 
 i2 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Madame Izan had been a little depressed and 
 pensive, but, as at Nagasaki, it seemed as though 
 the magic of Japan restored her vitality and zest 
 for enjoyment, and dispersed the vague shadow 
 which had haunted her on arrival. She lost her 
 look of timid alarm ; her gray eyes darted hither 
 and thither at every new sight and sound, till in 
 laughing bewilderment she put her hands over 
 them, and said she must be dark for a minute to 
 take the whole in. 
 
 How odd and full of charm it all was ! — the 
 cardboard houses, the floating banners, the strings 
 of lanterns, the boat bridge, the tripping tea-tray 
 figures, the piles of clogs and umbrellas at the 
 entrance to tea-house and temple, the waterless 
 river of sand with its shadowing trees and many 
 booths and imp-like, naked children diving into its 
 dusty bosom ; and, joy of joys ! the tea-pavilion on 
 the top of the tower, where respectable fathers and 
 mothers drank saffron tea, and smoked lilliputian 
 pipes, and shovelled strange brown and white messes 
 with chopsticks down their throats ; where sweet 
 mousmes fluttered and ogled and played — but only 
 played — with tea and pipes and vermicelli in baby 
 bowls, and whispered to each other ' Yuroshi !' at 
 sight of the beautiful European lady who was so 
 frankly interested in their proceedings. How 
 unreal and topsy-turvy it seemed ! — the pagoda-
 
 MADAME 1ZAN 125 
 
 roofs, the decorative mountains — all looking as 
 though they had been ' placed ' by a landscape 
 gardener — the screen-trees and the queer people, 
 with their draperies narrowed at the shoulders and 
 the ankles, and bulging in the middle, and their 
 heads and fans at irresponsible angles. Yet they 
 were real trees and bridges and mountains and real 
 people, whom each one of the party, except poor 
 blind Madame Izan, had known from the beginning 
 of life, and had never believed in. 
 
 They went to a fair on their way home, and 
 bought quantities of beautiful-looking doll-cakes, 
 which were excessively nasty when they began to 
 eat them, and yards of variegated ribbon, and pins 
 and trifles by the score. The drums and gongs 
 were beating, and there was a theatrical performance 
 going on — fan-tableaux of figures in grotesque 
 attitudes, with gold devils embroidered on their 
 black kimonos, and fiercely accentuated eyebrows 
 and portentous wigs. 
 
 Madame Izan was so fascinated that they could 
 hardly draw her away. Indeed, Kencho made no 
 attempt to do so, though Yamasaki protested : 
 
 ' No good store Kobe ; plenty good store Kioto. 
 No buy Kobe.' 
 
 But Kencho made no effort to guide the exuber- 
 ance of Madame Izan's instinct for the acquiring 
 of rubbish. He stood riveted, as it were, by her
 
 126 MADAME IZAN 
 
 vivacity and brilliant beauty, gazing at her through 
 his blue goggles in a posture of silent melancholy. 
 Julia Eugarde, professionally alert, began to suspect 
 that his English visit had left behind it tragic 
 memories of a misplaced attachment. They would 
 not have got away in time for table d'hote, but 
 for Yamasaki and a temple whither he was bent on 
 taking them. 
 
 There was the prehistoric survival of a gate- 
 way, as at the O-Suwa, but this temple was only 
 the tomb of a holy man and the shrine of a 
 degenerate Buddha. A straw rope, with a cracked 
 brass bell at the end of it, hung at the gateway. 
 
 ' You pull, call the god,' explained Yamasaki ; 
 and Madame Izan set the bell jangling. And then 
 came up a pious Jap and pulled too, making his 
 ducking obeisance and clapping three times, after 
 which he muttered a prayer and departed with 
 another obeisance. Yamasaki lingered behind to 
 perform his own particular act of devotion, which 
 raised him still more in Mrs. Bax's estimation ; 
 and she could not help again regretting that Fate 
 had not apportioned to her the cheerful, com- 
 municative and simply human Yamasaki instead 
 of dignified, apathetic Kencho. 
 
 It was Yamasaki who explained the flying carps 
 on the house-tops, which had excited Madame 
 Izan's wonder
 
 MADAME IZAN 127 
 
 ' That son. . . . Suppose new son, put up fish. 
 Very old custom. Country people keep up old 
 custom — Government no care. That want new 
 European custom. Plenty old custom go, but 
 plenty, too, stop.' 
 
 Perhaps it was the attraction of Yamasaki, 
 perhaps a feeling of loneliness without the grim 
 but ever constant attentions of Dr. Duppo, that 
 caused Herminia to accept the joint travelling 
 arrangement without the demur which Mrs. 
 Eugarde had expected — nay, even hoped for. 
 There seemed little enough prospect of a di- 
 vergence in different directions. Windeatt and 
 Madame Izan spent the evening poring over 
 Murray and planning expeditions, so that every- 
 thing was cut and dried before the two guides 
 appeared for the morrow's orders. Telegrams 
 engaging rooms at Yaami's Hotel in Kioto were 
 sent ; and it appeared certain that during the next 
 three weeks or more Windeatt and Madame Izan 
 would spend very few hours of the day apart. 
 Julia Eugarde was extremely uneasy. Windeatt 
 took the tone to her of an armed neutrality, tacitly 
 established between them on the subject of Madame 
 Izan. Julia, in her perplexity, ventured upon a 
 renewal of her previous remonstrance with Mrs. 
 Bax. To no effect, however.
 
 128 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' She has refused him,' declared Herminia. 
 
 ' Refused him !' Julia echoed, at once relieved, 
 wounded by her brother's reticence, and yet highly 
 incredulous. ' I don't see how that is possible. 
 They seem such very good friends,' 
 
 ' That's just it,' said Mrs. Bax, ' Izo told him 
 the other thing was all nonsense, and they settled 
 to be friends.' 
 
 Julia suspected a lover's stratagem on her 
 brother's part — on Izo's an evasion of fact. 
 
 'Do you mean that he has actually asked her 
 already to marry him?' she said. 
 
 ' Well, I'm not sure that it went actually as far 
 as that,' answered Mrs. Bax ; ' but it meant the 
 same thing. I know something rather definite 
 happened. Izo confessed so much last night. I 
 believe it was in the Inland Sea. Izo wouldn't 
 tell me what occurred, but one can guess that it 
 was the usual thing.' 
 
 ' The usual thing !' repeated Mrs. Eugarde in 
 quiet derision. ' No doubt you are more versed 
 in such matters than I am,' 
 
 * Perhaps I am,' complacently simpered Mrs. 
 Bax ; ' I'm younger, you see. It's very curious,' 
 she went on reflectively, ' that men always go the 
 same way to work when they begin to make love, 
 no matter how different they may be in other 
 respects. I've observed it over and over again ;
 
 MADAME IZAN 129 
 
 and Dr. Duppo was saying only the other day ' 
 — Mrs. Bax sighed — ' that you can follow the 
 stages just as you might an attack of measles. 
 Seems a kind of universal law, like religion, and 
 fetiches, and the immortality of the soul, and all 
 that.' 
 
 Julia received Herminia Bax's profundities with 
 an impatient gesture. 
 
 ' What I should like to know,' she said, ' is 
 whether Madame Izan told Jack the truth.' 
 
 ' The truth !' 
 
 ' About her being a married woman with a live 
 husband. That's all that concerns me, and I take 
 the fact on your authority.' 
 
 'Oh, I told you I had no authority!' cried 
 Mrs. Bax in trepidation ; ' Izo would never 
 forgive me if I assumed an authority. And, 
 besides, I don't know that it is the truth.' 
 
 1 1 should think,' replied Mrs. Eugarde severely, 
 ' that, even if you don't know, Madame Izan 
 must surely be aware whether she is married or 
 not.' 
 
 ' But she isn't. She says she isn't — married, I 
 mean. There ! I have been telling more than I 
 ought. Really, I promised Izo, Mrs. Eugarde, 
 that I wouldn't allude to the subject again till we 
 got to Tokyo, and you'll agree that I'm bound to 
 keep my promise. Izo said that if I mentioned 
 
 9
 
 i 3 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 it to her or to anybody else she would travel on 
 and leave me ; and she has got all the money, you 
 know, and is quite capable of doing it. She'd go 
 on with you and Yamasaki, and I should be left 
 with Kencho ; and,' concluded Herminia piteously, 
 ' what good would that do to any of us ? And it 
 wouldn't be respectable, besides, for me. I really 
 couldn't travel round with Kencho, Mrs. Eugarde: 
 he's too much of a gentleman. I don't care for 
 Kencho ; he never says a word to me if he can 
 help it, and he won't look me in the face ; though, 
 of course, with those horrid blue glasses, it is 
 not easy to see whether he is looking at you when 
 he does look you in the face.' 
 
 ' Then,' said Mrs. Eugarde, ' there's nothing 
 more to be said, and I *can only apologize for 
 intruding upon your private affairs. I assure 
 you, Mrs. Bax, that I shouldn't trouble myself 
 in the least degree about your feelings towards 
 Kencho, or your obligations to Madame Izan, if 
 it were not that my brother's happiness is in 
 question, and that this might be destroyed for 
 ever by his continuing to delude himself with 
 false hopes.' 
 
 ' Well, that's his look-out, isn't it ?' said Mrs. 
 Bax ruefully. * I'm dreadfully sorry for Mr. 
 Windeatt. I'm always intensely sympathetic with 
 men who are in love — I can't help it ; and my
 
 MADAME IZAN 131 
 
 sympathy does seem to produce a sort of affinity, 
 you know, so many have come to me for advice 
 in their difficulties, and for help and consolation. 
 I shouldn't wonder if Mr. Windeatt did, too, and 
 then I might be able to say a word, and if I could 
 
 conscientiously further his cause But, oh 
 
 dear, what am I saying? I mean, if it were to 
 turn out that she isn't married, or that he isn't 
 married — Izan, you know — why, then ' 
 
 ' Dear me, you seem to be giving forth very 
 shifty and immoral sentiments,' grimly observed 
 Mrs. Eugarde ; ' and after what you have told 
 me about your promise to Madame Izan, I can't 
 presume to ask any further questions, unless 
 it would be no breach of confidence in you to 
 tell me whether since your conversation with 
 Madame Izan about the — the recent occurrence, 
 you feel any uneasiness on the score of her 
 feelings.' 
 
 ' Oh dear no !' briskly replied Mrs. Bax, de- 
 lighted to be eased from the burden of her in- 
 voluntary revelation. ' I put it to Izo that way, 
 and she assured me there was no cause for un- 
 easiness whatever ; in fact, the last thing she wants 
 or thinks about is falling in love or getting married. 
 It's my solemn conviction, Mrs. Eugarde, that 
 dear Izo is incapable of being in love ; she hasn't 
 got the ordinary feelings of a woman. If you 
 
 9—2
 
 1 32 MADAME IZAN 
 
 knew her as well as I do, you'd understand what 
 I mean. Supposing ' 
 
 Mrs. Bax's blue eyes wandered round the land- 
 scape in search of a simile, and found it suggested 
 by the roof of a pagoda. 
 
 ' Supposing that the Grand Llama of Thibet 
 were to go down on his knees to her, she'd only 
 look at him like a babv and wonder what he could 
 possibly be doing it for.' 
 
 It was while walking up and down the platform 
 of the railway-station that Mrs. Bax thus delivered 
 herself. They had arrived betimes at the station, 
 which was no doubt owing to Yamasaki's desire 
 for an affectionate and prolonged farewell to his 
 family. He now appeared accompanied by 
 Madame Yamasaki, leading his offspring, and 
 followed by a retainer in a blue kimono, with 
 white lettering on its lapels, who carried his 
 master's luggage. This consisted of an English 
 carpet-bag, having a pattern of huge green leaves 
 and gigantic roses and brilliant steel clasps. There 
 was also a compressible Japanese basket. Of 
 Yamasaki the Japanese, however, nothing now 
 remained except his teeth — the most notable 
 object in his little brown face — and his sailor hat, 
 which was not Japanese. For he had discarded 
 his kimono and clogs, and to-day was dressed in 
 the neatest of blue serge coats and gray trousers.
 
 MADAME IZAN 133 
 
 A courier's bag was slung across his shoulder, and 
 he wore shiny patent-leather boots and tan gloves, 
 and carried a cane. 
 
 In his excitement and emotion he moved as 
 upon wires, and was an odd contrast to the 
 stately and impassive Kencho, who, in charge of 
 the jewel-box, walked close behind Madame Izan 
 and Windeatt. How strange it seemed to be 
 starting on a railway journey in Japan ! It would 
 have seemed more natural, thought Julia Eugarde, 
 to be borne aloft on the backs of winged dragons. 
 And what a monstrous incongruity were those 
 common pasteboard railway tickets, printed though 
 they might be in hieroglyphic characters, while the 
 Japanese lettering, which Mrs. Bax declared to be 
 * so decorative ' — she had imbibed art phrases from 
 an Impressionist fellow-lodger in West Kensington 
 — did not counteract the jar of seeing ' Booking 
 Office,' 'First-class,' and so on, printed in crude 
 English beneath it. 
 
 Mrs. Bax was aggrieved because, shortly before 
 the train started, Kencho disappeared, and allowed 
 Yamasaki to perform his duty of ushering her and 
 Madame Izan into their seats. Herminia's dislike 
 to Kencho was becoming a definite emotion. She 
 complained that he was never at hand when she 
 wanted him, that he gave himself airs and ignored 
 her observations ; and what, she plaintively ex-
 
 134 MADAME IZAN 
 
 claimed, was the use of paying two dollars a day 
 for a courier if no one could see that you had got 
 one ? 
 
 There was a good deal of bustle on the plat- 
 form. Two Japanese Generals recently returned 
 from Port Arthur were travelling in the train, 
 and all the railway officials drawn up in line were 
 tendering deferential homage to the victorious 
 heroes. They were fine-looking men ; these 
 Generals made impressive figures in their heavily 
 gilt uniforms and the array of medals on their 
 breasts, and Windeatt could not help admiring the 
 mechanical dignity of the military salutes with which 
 they acknowledged the obeisances from the platform. 
 In the carriage with the Australians and Mrs. Bax 
 were two younger officers. These wore moustache 
 and imperial, looked well groomed, and had very 
 white teeth and a pleasant smile, while one opened 
 the window for Madame Izan with an unexag- 
 gerated courtesy which was distinctly of European 
 origin. Windeatt and his sister were struck by 
 the expression of Madame Izan's face as she 
 furtively watched the two Japanese men. It 
 showed at once relief, puzzlement, and a vague 
 pain, and both brother and sister wondered within 
 themselves what could be the cause of her un- 
 doubted perturbation. Mrs. Eugarde, however, 
 reflected very justly that Madame Izan's was a
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 l 3S 
 
 face upon which every passing feeling wrote itself 
 in large letters. No doubt she, like some others 
 of the party, was beginning to realize the necessity 
 for reconstructing preconceived notions on things 
 and persons Japanese.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ' Ho, ho !' shouted the runners as the file of six 
 rickshaws scampered through the streets of Kioto 
 up towards the Maruyama hill on which Yaami's 
 Hotel stands. 
 
 It was dusk, and in front of, and above, and 
 around the little brown houses soft red and pink 
 lanterns glowed and swayed in the gentle breeze. 
 A mousme, peeping out from a fretwork house- 
 front as the rickshaws clattered by, waved a hand 
 in smiling salutation as Madame Izan looked up 
 and met her eyes, and Windeatt thought he had 
 never seen any gesture so pretty and appropriate 
 as that with which Izo kissed her hand in return. 
 The mousme's tinkling laugh floated after them, 
 and Izo turned delightedly. 
 
 • Now I have had a real welcome to Japan !' 
 she exclaimed, and blushed and averted her face 
 as she perceived that it was not Windeatt she was 
 addressing, but Kencho the guide, whose rickshaw 
 had somehow crept up beside hers and displaced 
 that of the Australian. She was too gracious not 
 
 [ 136 ]
 
 MADAME 1ZAN 137 
 
 to try and repair the slight act of discourtesy, and 
 turned again. ' Is that a Japanese custom — one 
 of the old customs Yamasaki talks about — this of 
 greeting strangers so prettily ?' she asked, and 
 wondered a little at the hesitation he showed in 
 replying to so simple a question. But he spoke 
 with an unexpected gallantry, ' When they are 
 strangers such as you, madame/ and added, with, 
 as Julia Eugarde noticed, a tremble in his voice, 
 ' You seemed pleased. I hope that you like my 
 country.' 
 
 1 1 don't know yet,' she answered. ' I have not 
 thought about it. I want to see everything first, 
 and I shall think afterwards.' 
 
 ' What a singular creature it is !' thought Julia 
 to herself, ' and what an objection she seems to 
 have to mental processes ! I wonder whether 
 they will read me the riddle at Tokyo.' 
 
 And now they were toiling up a steep road, the 
 coolies panting and grunting good-humouredly, 
 and bursting into grateful laughs, as other coolies, 
 of whom it was no concern at all, stepped amiably 
 forward to help their brethren of the shafts by 
 pushing beside and behind. Windeatt, who could 
 not reconcile himself to the dragging of his bulk 
 and inches by his own kind, had long ere this got 
 down, but it had not seemed to occur to either 
 Kencho or Yamasaki that they might do likewise.
 
 138 MADAME IZAN 
 
 There was a temple gateway with an ornate arch 
 at the end of the road, and a garden beyond, and 
 zigzag paths leading to the quaintest cluster of 
 gray-roofed buildings at different levels, joined 
 together by bridges and balconies and promiscuous 
 outer stairways, the whole making one rambling 
 edifice — a cross between a temple and a bunch of 
 Swiss chalets. Well, they learned afterwards that 
 the hotel had once been a monastery in the times 
 when Yaami's and English globe-trotters were not. 
 
 And now, what was this great sonorous 
 hammer-stroke which smote the air, and that 
 wonderful reverberation, lingering, as it seemed, 
 for minutes — that deep, glorious bell, so rich, so 
 pure, so altogether heavenly ? 
 
 ' That temple bell,' said Yamasaki in his queer 
 English. 'Many temple all over. This sacred hill.' 
 
 And there was another sound, too, which fell 
 fresh upon their ears as they sipped pale tea on 
 the balcony outside their rooms. For almost 
 facing the balcony there was a Japanese bath- 
 house fronting a stair street, up and down which 
 pattens clacked, and umbrellas bobbed, and lanterns 
 moved like fat glow-worms — a bath-house with 
 many lanterns, too, and banners and balconies and 
 sliding doors, in and out of which strange figures 
 flitted. That was where that eerie twanging came 
 from — the music of the samisen.
 
 MADAME IZAN 139 
 
 Were the strange happenings of that day never 
 to cease ? The ladies had bidden Windeatt good- 
 night, and the three of them were together in 
 Julia Eugarde's room — their chambers adjoined — 
 gossiping as women do at bedtime in dressing- 
 gowns and curling-pins — which last item suggests 
 a libel on Madame Izan, for her wavy brown locks 
 needed no artificial crimping — when a slowly 
 repeated knock sounded. Julia rose to answer it, 
 and as she did so the door softly opened, and in 
 the opening there appeared a brown man in a 
 kimono, whose head was on a level with his knees, 
 and with a great yellow bundle, which he carried 
 on his shoulders. He prostrated himself lower 
 still, with his forehead on the matting, then crawled 
 a little further, and again knocked his forehead ; 
 on again, till he had reached the centre of the 
 chamber. And, lo! behind him were other crouch- 
 ing forms, who also made obeisance, to the number 
 ot five, each one bearing a yellow bundle, which 
 he deliberately removed and placed upon the floor ; 
 after which they all five stood upon their feet. 
 Then the first handed Herminia a card, and the 
 others held out their cards also. 
 
 ' I Curios,' said Number One. ' Shioda Curios,' 
 said Number Two, and ' Kwambi — Curios ' was 
 Number Three. Nobody got any further, as at 
 this point Julia Eugarde protested — courteously,
 
 i 4 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 it must be stated ; for how is it possible to address 
 even an intrusive vendor in any but the language 
 of courts in a land where abuse is couched in such 
 terms as ' O yoshi nasai ' (Honourably abstaining 
 deign), and a gentleman conveys that he is hungry 
 by stating that his honourable inside has become 
 empty ? 
 
 ' My friends, this haste is unseemly. We are 
 tired ; we wish to go to sleep,' said Julia. And 
 Mrs. Bax made a sympathetic pantomime with 
 her eyes closed and her arms extended towards 
 the bed, and Madame Izan tragically ejaculated : 
 
 ' Oh, Herminia, I did say that I'd wait till to- 
 morrow, when Yamasaki said he'd show us first- 
 class store !' 
 
 It was of no use protesting, so beguiling were 
 the Curios, so heavenly were their smiles, so art- 
 lessly enthusiastic was their speech. 
 
 ' One — only one.' Kwambi was holding up 
 a cloisonne vase. ' I myself make. Fifteen days 
 I make. I come show you. I very cheap Curio.' 
 
 And then Shioda Curios, breathlessly displaying 
 a gold-embroidered kimono: 
 
 ' I bring show you. Very good kimono. Once 
 belong Daimio. Give present Japanese lady 
 husband. Japanese lady buy European dress. 
 Must money. I sell.' 
 
 And so it was that frail womanhood succumbed
 
 MADAME IZAN 141 
 
 to temptation. From out the yellow wrapping 
 came little square boxes, and from out the boxes 
 bags of costly silk, and from out the bags ivories 
 and cloisonne and Satsuma and the like. And 
 when at last the ' I Curios ' wheeled round and 
 retired backwards, their faces to the ground, they 
 had good reason to adore the Number One Daimio 
 lady who had bought so liberally of their wares. 
 
 And if Windeatt could have beheld Madame 
 Izan clad in the kimono — which was a very 
 gorgeous affair of red crape with gold-embroidered 
 Shogun's crests and Imperial chrysanthemums, 
 and with a long wadded train that made it fall not 
 amiss on Izo's tall form — he would have been 
 amply satisfied in the fulfilment of his speculations 
 concerning her appearance in such garb. 
 
 Then it was decided among the ladies that the 
 costume should be completed in all its accessories, 
 and that on the morrow Yamasaki should be con- 
 sulted as to local tailors. And so it was that the 
 great temple bell boomed out its call to the first 
 morning orison before these three alien heads — 
 pepper and salt and flaxen and glossy — were 
 pillowed in their Japanese beds. 
 
 The sun was shining, the birds were singing, 
 and the grasshoppers whirring, when Julia Eugarde 
 came out dressed upon her balcony to take her
 
 1 42 MADAME IZAN 
 
 first real view of that jewel of cities, the sacred 
 capital Kioto. There it lay, almost like a lake, 
 broken by rocks and green islets, all gray and 
 misty, the night vapours still clinging round it, 
 with a faintly yellowing streak of wheat-fields 
 making the lake's shore, and all round the great 
 plain mountains of shadowy purple. 
 
 Close below spread the Yaami gardens, a land- 
 scape in itself : rocks, and bridges, and miniature 
 caves, and old stone lanterns, and deformities of 
 trees, and masses of azalea bloom. From outside 
 the ornate gateway floated up the chattering of 
 the rickshaw-runners as they waited, with their 
 perambulators drawn up, for the hotel to be astir. 
 Then through all the little clatter and burr 
 boomed out the sweet, stupendous bell note, 
 making the whole air one vast and melodious 
 vibration. It came from the gray temple on the 
 right, just showing among the dense foliage of a 
 grove of trees. Was ever any sound more solem- 
 nizing ? Slowly the resonant waves died away, 
 and following upon them came a woman's laugh. 
 Horror of horrors to Julia Eugarde ! She knew 
 that silvery tinkle, and she knew also the manly 
 voice, with its touch of acquired Australian drawl, 
 which replied to it. Here already were Windeatt 
 and Madame Izan pursuing their nefarious flirta- 
 tion.
 
 MADAME IZAN 143 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde leaned over the balcony, and sure 
 enough there beneath her were the two, with 
 ' I Curios ' in waiting, his precious embroideries 
 spread out upon the gravel at their feet. He 
 must have slept in the veranda, prepared to 
 pounce at any moment upon his easy prey. No 
 Mrs. Bax was visible. As a matter of fact, Her- 
 minia still slept, and dreamed rosy dreams, perhaps, 
 of the lost P. and O. surgeon, or possibly of 
 Dr. Duppo, now arriving in Yokohama. Julia 
 observed, however, with satisfaction, officially 
 speaking, that Madame Izan was not entirely un- 
 chaperoned. Kencho the guide, who might not 
 unnaturally have imbibed some English notions of 
 propriety, stood a little back from the two. He 
 was leaning against a pillar something in the 
 attitude of a villain in a melodrama, one arm 
 folded below the other, his right hand nursing his 
 moustache, his hat pushed slightly forward upon 
 his head, while his eyes, obscured by their blue 
 goggles, were fixed upon Madame Izan. His air 
 was moodily alert, and it seemed almost to Julia 
 that he was trying to overhear what her brother 
 and the lady were saying. There could have been 
 no mystery about that, at any rate, for as the 
 thought crossed Julia's mind Windeatt, becoming 
 aware of the guide's presence, called out ' Kencho!' 
 
 The Australian, with no intention whatever of
 
 i 4 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 giving offence, had rather an autocratic way of 
 speaking to those he considered beneath him, the 
 result, probably, of dealing with obdurate black- 
 boys and shearers in branding-yards and wool- 
 sheds, and obtuse Mongolians. It was quite 
 apparent to Julia above that the curt summons 
 had jarred upon the sensitive Japanese. She could 
 tell this by the slight angry shake Kencho gave to 
 his shoulders, and his obstinate immovability when 
 Windeatt repeated his name. Clearly, he did not 
 recognise the Australian as his master. Mrs. 
 Eugarde left the balcony, and ran down the outer 
 stair. She had no mind to leave her brother any 
 longer exposed to Madame Izan's dangerous fasci- 
 nations, and, moreover, she intended to give him 
 a hint of a discovery she had made by her own 
 intuition: that Kencho Hiro-Kahachi was assuredly 
 no lowborn servant, but a gentleman, probably of 
 as good lineage as Windeatt himself, and maybe 
 better. 
 
 Very likely the same thought had occurred to 
 Madame Izan — women are quicker than men in 
 such matters — for she had advanced to the guide, 
 a piece of embroidery in her hand, and, with that 
 halt-hesitating, jerky manner which was withal so 
 pleasant and girl-like, said : 
 
 ' Will you tell me, please : Do you think that 
 this is really from an old temple?'
 
 MADAME IZAN 145 
 
 In a second Kencho was transformed. He had 
 taken off his hat and made such a bow to Madame 
 Izan as he might have made to the Oueen or to 
 his own Emperor, supposing it were consistent 
 with the traditional reverence exacted by that 
 august personage to receive a bow from an 
 ordinary subject. All the man's fierce surliness 
 had vanished ; he looked shy, overwhelmed. 
 
 'What is the witchery of the creature,' said Julia 
 inwardly, ' that it can strike an emotional chord 
 in the breast even of Kencho ?' 
 
 The guide took the piece of embroidery from 
 Madame Izan, examined it deferentially, and 
 almost shrinking in his humility when she, 
 coming a little nearer him, laid her finger also 
 on the silk tissue. Finally he pronounced it an 
 imitation, and delivered a little lecture on Japanese 
 needlework, ancient and modern, to which ' I 
 Curios,' catching its drift, listened with no ap- 
 proval. 
 
 ' Thank you so much,' said Madame Izan. 
 
 It was characteristic of this young woman that 
 she was more womanly and gentle in her way 
 with those who might be supposed beneath her 
 than with such as stood upon a social equality. 
 It was as though she had some special sympathy 
 with these persons, as though she had herself 
 known what it was to be oppressed and looked 
 
 10
 
 146 MADAME IZAN 
 
 down upon, and was therefore determined that 
 no one should suffer through her in like fashion. 
 
 ' I wish I had asked your advice,' she went on, 
 ' before buying all the things I bought last night. 
 I'm afraid that I have been very foolish ; but 
 I hope that you will be kind enough to help me 
 in future.' 
 
 And Kencho seemed so overcome by this 
 graciousness on the part of the beautiful lady as 
 to be hardly capable of replying in suitable terms. 
 Julia Eugarde felt certain that the tenderest 
 gratitude would have beamed from his eyes had 
 not the blue goggles effectually dimmed them. 
 
 ' I shall be Oh, of course, you know it 
 
 will give me the greatest pleasure,' he stammered, 
 and added, pulling himself as it were together, 
 ' It is only my duty, madame.' 
 
 ' Oh, but " one's duty " !' she returned with a 
 pettish shrug. ' If the world were all duty — well, 
 one wouldn't want to have one's self turned into a 
 peg for having dutiful actions hung upon. Duty 
 is a bore, Mr. Kencho, and I like kindly feeling 
 much better, and a love of art better still. You 
 understand about these things — art and the rest. 
 Not that I am artistic — oh, I am not like 
 Mrs. Bax — but I should hate to be laughed at as 
 having made mistakes. You don't talk much, but 
 I can see that you understand.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 147 
 
 ' And how can you have discovered that, 
 madame ?' 
 
 ' I watched you yesterday, when Yamasaki was 
 telling us about the different shops in Kioto, and 
 the kind of things we ought to buy. You did not 
 want to hurt Yamasaki's feelings — I observe that 
 you Japanese are very careful not to hurt people's 
 feelings ; oh, you didn't want to hurt him at all, 
 or to seem to know better. And, besides, I dare 
 say you thought, for a set of mere ignorant tourists, 
 what did it matter? But — I am certain that you 
 are an artist, Mr. Kencho, while Yamasaki is just 
 a showman.' 
 
 ' Madame,' said Kencho — and his voice seemed 
 huskier even than usual — ' for a mere tourist, as 
 you call yourself, you are exceedingly observant.' 
 
 She looked at him with her clear, straight look, 
 »in which there was an expression plaintive and 
 childlike. ' If you had lost your eyes for twenty 
 years, and had been led, through having no eyes, 
 into errors and wrong ideas about life,' she said, 
 ' you would, when your eyes were given back to 
 you — well, you would be observant, too, of things 
 — and men.' 
 
 Kencho's aspect and demeanour struck Julia as 
 in keeping with all that she had heard of Japanese 
 delicacy. He stood silent, but from every feature 
 there radiated a sympathy and a respectful com- 
 
 10 — 2
 
 148 MADAME IZAN 
 
 passion, more eloquent than words. It was not 
 for him to ask a question, to presume upon her 
 artless confidence, but — well, Julia fancied to her- 
 self that if any designing ' I Curios ' attempted in 
 future to impose on the innocence of Madame 
 Izan, he would find his match in Kencho Hiro- 
 Kahachi. 
 
 At the present moment he went up to ' I Curios,' 
 who was malevolently regarding him, restored the 
 rejected embroidery, and said a few words in 
 Japanese, with the result that ' I Curios ' shouldered 
 his yellow bundle at once, and, after the customary 
 prostration, departed to seek other prey. 
 
 Windeatt was cross over the episode. What 
 right had Kencho to send the man away? He 
 was an ill-conditioned fellow, that guide, and 
 Madame Izan's condescension had turned his 
 head. 
 
 But Izo only laughed. 
 
 ' I think I am going to like Kencho,' she said. 
 ' I feel as if I knew how horrid it must be for him, 
 having to trot round about and show off his 
 country to a set of stupid foreigners. He is obliged 
 to tolerate us. I sympathize with him.' 
 
 ' He is paid for his toleration,' said Mrs. 
 Eugarde. 
 
 1 Two dollars a day,' put in Herminia, ' and 
 travelling expenses.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 149 
 
 1 And, after all/ said Madame Izan, ' it doesn't 
 make any difference to you, Mr. Windeatt, does 
 it ? For you've always got Yamasaki.' 
 
 Which remark did not tend to soothe poor 
 Windeatt's irritation. Nor was he altogether 
 pleased — though it was to the profit of his sister 
 and himself — at the greater consideration ac- 
 corded to Kencho by those high officials whom 
 Yamasaki approached in vain for permission 
 to enter certain Imperial and holy precincts, not 
 usually profaned by tourist feet. Yet it appeared 
 that Kencho carried with him a talisman, some 
 document with no doubt a potent signature 
 appended, before which custodians at the gates and 
 the little gentlemen with chrysanthemum badges in 
 their caps, who demanded passports at every corner, 
 and even Buddhist and Shinto priests and digni- 
 taries in all abodes of light and learning, were bland 
 and subservient. Anyhow, these four foreign 
 persons passed through palace apartments closed to 
 the herd, inspected art treasures the like of which 
 are not often exhibited, entered shrines where sat 
 Buddhas unknown of the multitude, witnessed 
 dances sacred, rare, and altogether distinctive, were 
 initiated into the most esoteric rites of Cha-no-yu, 
 and were granted many a privilege such as does not 
 fall to the lot of less favoured travellers. 
 
 It was clear that Madame Izan's intuition with
 
 150 MADAME IZAN 
 
 regard to Kencho had not been at fault. He was 
 a man of knowledge and of artistic perception, 
 cultivated far beyond the ordinary standard. 
 There was about him, too, though showing quite 
 unconsciously — for he was singularly reserved — an 
 unexpected idealism and an elevation above the usual 
 levels of thought, which appealed oddly to Madame 
 Izan. It sometimes struck Julia Eugarde, who 
 was apt to ponder upon these things, that Izo's 
 very shrinking from the psychological side of life 
 proved rather a timid attraction on her part 
 towards it. Kencho on his part had no such 
 shrinking, and had evidently meditated deeply 
 upon problems touching his country's welfare. 
 He held the ancient customs and superstitions in 
 tenderest respect, and when he related some gro- 
 tesque Japanese legend would invest it with a 
 certain poetic value — unlike Yamasaki, whose con- 
 temptuous patronage of his country's traditions 
 jarred considerably upon Julia Eugarde. She, how- 
 ever, charitably excused this on the suspicion that 
 it might arise from an exquisite politeness. 
 
 But Kencho was very different. He knew all 
 about the old history and the old religion and the 
 old inner philosophy — at least, so it seemed to 
 Madame Izan, for it was she who, with her simple 
 knack of questioning, would lead him on to talk. 
 And very soon it became evident to the sore and
 
 MADAME IZAN 151 
 
 jealous Windeatt — though it was of course absurd, 
 he admitted, to feel jealous of a mere guide — that 
 Kencho did not care in the very least what he 
 thought about the matter, if only he might bring 
 the dreamy light into Madame Izan's eyes, and 
 the little interested pucker between her brows. 
 Yes, Kencho was an artist in his thinkings. He 
 seemed to regard the whole art-evolution process 
 from a point outside chronological and geo- 
 graphical limitations. He was fond of draw- 
 ing parallels between Occident and Orient, and 
 would declare that the same spirit animated alike 
 the early Florentines and the Japanese Hokusai. 
 He had fixed ideas as to an Asiatic-European 
 renascence, by which the whole world should be 
 lifted higher along an evolutionary spiral. He had 
 theories, too, in regard to the religious develop- 
 ment of Japan, and would speculate upon the 
 future place she should take in the procession of 
 nations. 
 
 It was his belief that the seclusion of Nippon 
 for all her two thousand years had been no mere 
 accident of national temperament, but had been 
 inspired by Divine command, in prevision of the 
 destiny that awaited her. To him the badge of 
 the rising sun was a truth, a symbol of future 
 glory, and emblematic of the dawn of a new civi- 
 lization in which East and West should blend art
 
 152 MADAME IZAN 
 
 and religion. ' All faiths,' he said, ' come from the 
 One, and to the One they shall go back again. In 
 all are the same truths expressed in different lan- 
 guage ; and creeds are but as vestures to be changed 
 according to climate and geographical conditions. 
 So our Kwannon, Goddess of Pity, is no other than 
 your own Lady of Intercession ; and see, what 
 great difference can you find between the cere- 
 monial of the Hongwanji here, and High Mass in 
 your Oratory at Brompton?' 
 
 This was when they were visiting the great 
 temple. They had wandered through open 
 pillared courts, with their wonderful ornamenta- 
 tion of pediment, eave, and cornice, and through 
 presence-chambers gorgeous with grotesque paint- 
 ings on gold leaf, with lacquer and damascening ; 
 and now they found themselves in that part of the 
 building where a Buddhist service was going on. 
 The chancel was a splendid confusion of gold 
 tracery, of brilliant arabesques, of bronzes, gilded 
 lotuses, incense - burners, flowers, and lighted 
 candles. The incense rose in clouds ; the priests, 
 in brocade vestments, moved with impressive 
 gestures, chanting musical prayers ; the bell rang, 
 the golden shrine was opened, and every knee was 
 bent and every head bowed to the soft clink of 
 rosaries, as the invocation went up — ' Nam-ami- 
 dabutzu ' — in one long, gentle wail.
 
 MADAME IZAN 153 
 
 Madame Izan, being a Catholic, made in- 
 voluntary reverence, and, when she raised her head, 
 perceived that Kencho had kneeled down by her 
 side. The others were somehow withdrawn into 
 the background. These two lingered for several 
 minutes, and then passed out in silence. Presently 
 she reminded him of what he had said, and re- 
 marked : 
 
 ' No, there is no great difference.' 
 
 Then he seemed to forget for the moment that 
 he was merely the guide, and began to talk to her 
 after the manner of a scholar and a friend, telling 
 her of Nichiren of the New Dispensation, of 
 Sontok the peasant saint, of Toju the teacher in 
 Omi, so humble that he would scarce accept the 
 title of Master from that samurai who, searching 
 Japan for a saint, and having found the way to 
 Toju's dwelling, waited three days and nights 
 on the threshold in silent supplication to be 
 received as a disciple. Yet so proud was this same 
 saint that he would keep the greatest of the 
 Daimios unanswered at his door, rather than 
 interrupt a lesson to the village children. 
 
 Madame Izan was deeply interested. Her 
 imagination took fire at the picture he drew of 
 the old times, when, even in feudal Japan, sacer- 
 dotalism had corrupted faith, and there had been 
 need of a new teacher of the type of the Fisher
 
 *54 
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 of Galilee to bring the Gospel of holiness to the 
 
 land. 
 
 ' And are there no teachers now in the temples?' 
 she asked. 
 
 Kencho hesitated for a moment before he 
 replied. 
 
 ' Madame,' he answered, ' you must not judge of 
 Japan by what tourists tell you, and by what you 
 read in pretty story-books of the nation of dolls 
 and good children. There are great masters in 
 the temples still, and the Keepers of Wisdom are 
 always ready to give forth of their stores to the 
 humble and sincere ; but they wait to be sought, 
 they do not come out and court the crowd.' 
 
 Whether by accident or design — and this would 
 be hard to decide, for certainly Kencho had a much 
 better acquaintance than Yamasaki with the inner 
 courts of the temple — the two guides separated, 
 and Kencho and Madame Izan, having lost the 
 rest of the party, found themselves alone together. 
 It was upon this occasion that Madame Izan first 
 realized the extent and variety of Kencho's intel- 
 lectual resources. He took her to the temple 
 library, and afterwards to a sort of inner library, 
 where he introduced her to a most dignified and 
 sweet-voiced old man in priest's dress, who spoke 
 English perfectly and was evidently an intimate 
 friend of Kencho's. Indeed, Madame Izan learned
 
 MADAME IZAN 155 
 
 that Kencho had been his pupil, and she wondered 
 whether he could be one of the masters of whom 
 the guide had spoken. 
 
 The old priest smiled benevolently on the 
 beautiful Australian girl, and seemed to take a 
 personal pleasure in drawing out her ideas and 
 experiences and impressions of this new people. 
 Oh yes, certainly, she thought to herself, the Japan 
 of the priest and of Kencho Hiro-Kahachi was 
 not the frivolous pleasure-land of the tourists. 
 The priest, too, was enthusiastic as to the future 
 greatness of his country — ' the Asiatic Greece,' 
 he called it, which should leave such an impress 
 on ages to come as Greece had left on ages 
 past. 
 
 Thinking over his talk afterwards, Izo remem- 
 bered that he had been quite aware of her long 
 blindness, and wondered if she had herself uncon- 
 sciously told him, or if it had been Kencho who 
 had given him particulars of her history. It was 
 all odd, she thought, and vaguely exciting ; and 
 afterwards, pondering things over, she remained 
 for a long time pensive and perplexed ; for, indeed, 
 as Kencho had said, this Japan, which he was now 
 making known to her, was not the Japan her uncle 
 had derided to her — not the Japan, even, of fans 
 and comic operas. It was a country and a people 
 to be taken seriously, and she was beginning, in
 
 156 MADAME IZAN 
 
 fact, to take them seriously — more seriously than 
 any of the party had the least notion. 
 
 John Windeatt and Mrs. Bax were both in a 
 bad humour when, after having waited for a con- 
 siderable time among the clogs and umbrellas 
 outside the Hongwanji, they at last saw Madame 
 Izan on the topmost step of the great flight, with 
 Kencho on his knees before her, untying the blue 
 socks she had worn in the temple. More than 
 once during their various excursions had Windeatt 
 envied the guide his agreeable task of covering and 
 uncovering those shapely feet. Mrs. Eugarde, 
 looking up from her ' Jottings,' appeared, on the 
 contrary, whimsically jubilant. She had begun to 
 see daylight through the emotional complications, 
 and her brother's discomfiture was not at all un- 
 pleasing to her. 
 
 'Really, Izo, it's too bad of you. We have 
 been here for hours,' fretfully exclaimed Herminia ; 
 and Windeatt vented his annoyance on Kencho. 
 
 ' Did you not understand that we were all to keep 
 together? You should be more careful. When you 
 saw that Madame Izan was separated from her party, 
 you should have waited or come back to look for us.' 
 
 ' Pardon me,' replied Kencho, ' I received no 
 orders to that effect from Madame Izan.' 
 
 Windeatt bit his moustache in anger, but said 
 no more. He turned to Madame Izan.
 
 MADAME IZAN 157 
 
 ' It was of you I was thinking, and of how tired 
 you must be with that aimless wandering. I don't 
 know how the blunder could have occurred. It 
 does not say much,' he added in a lower tone, ' for 
 your guide's efficiency.' 
 
 ' But where were you, Izo ?' asked Herminia. 
 ' We have been everywhere searching for you. 
 We have seen the tree that squirts water when the 
 temple is on fire ; and I am quite disgusted with 
 Yamasaki, for he turns up his nose, and says, " That 
 only Japanese story." We've seen Hideyoshi's 
 garden ; we've seen the library.' 
 
 ' It's a pity you missed that,' said Mrs. Eugarde. 
 
 ' But I didn't,' returned Madame Izan ; ' we've 
 been there all the time.' 
 
 ' Impossible !' cried Windeatt. ' I was watching 
 the door. I poked into every corner.' 
 
 ' Not into my corner. I've been specially 
 favoured.' 
 
 And then she stopped for some unaccountable 
 reason ; perhaps she found Kencho's eyes fixed 
 upon her, and she never said a word to the others 
 about the old priest, which one might naturally 
 have supposed she would do.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 At Kioto, in the month of May, life passes after a 
 story-land fashion. One awakes in the morning 
 to glorified spring, and with the certainty that 
 whatever one may see or feel or do is bound to be 
 very good, and that, in any case, mere existence 
 in one of the balconies at Yaami's must be more 
 or less beatitude. The crickets whir merrily ; 
 there is a gentle murmuring of cicada 3 , and 
 the rustling of wings and chaffering of small 
 birds. 
 
 Just below the balcony the azaleas were in full 
 bloom, and a gardener in a mushroom straw hat 
 trimmed the hedge or tended the dwarf plants on 
 the border of the miniature lake. Beyond the 
 garden were the groves of camphor and cryptomeria, 
 among which were set the pagoda roofs and great 
 gateways of the temples along the Maruyama 
 slope. There was a strange dreaminess in the air, 
 and the faint blue haze floating over gray town 
 and green wheatfields and blue mountains seemed 
 to wrap all things moral and physical in a veil of 
 
 [ 158 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 159 
 
 poetry. Nothing jarred ; all was soothing to the 
 nerves and grateful to the senses, and it sometimes 
 seemed to Julia Eugarde as though one were 
 taking minute doses of opium with no baneful 
 after-effects. «fc 
 
 There were dream-days on which these four 
 new-comers and their guides would start forth in 
 jinrikishas, two runners apiece, and were whirled 
 through what indeed seemed like a landscape in a 
 story-book. Between the gray-coped walls of 
 temple enclosures they would go, past fields of 
 yellowing corn, of blooming poppies and young 
 rice-blades ; past little gray villages embedded in 
 cherry-orchards, by red temple gateways with their 
 barbaric turned-up architraves, by lacquer pagodas 
 and picture farmhouses, and along hill-slopes that 
 were vivid green and pinky mauve with young maple 
 and flowering azalea. Yes, dream-days these, in 
 which the air shed drowsy delight and had in it a 
 sort of mystic hush, through which the cries and 
 calls and chirpings, the temple drums, the mono- 
 tonous samisen, and the rich reverberation of the 
 great bronze bells, came muffled as from a long 
 way off. 
 
 1 Oi ! Oi !' the jinrikisha-runners would shout 
 continuously while they trotted briskly along — 
 nice merry-faced brown humans who, every now 
 and then, would fling back a laugh at each other
 
 160 MADAME IZAN 
 
 as though the whole affair were an excellent joke 
 Even when, at mid-day, the perspiration streamed 
 down their faces, and they would stop to take 
 off their hieroglyphically - marked blouses and 
 wipe themselves dry with queer blue cotton 
 handkerchiefs, they would still laugh, and never 
 slacken or grow weary. And now they would 
 clatter down the narrow street of some quite big 
 town — all brown houses, doll interiors and bright- 
 sashed moving figures — Otsu it might be, or per- 
 haps another ancient capital. There are so many 
 ancient capitals and sacred cities in Japan. 
 
 It was almost always Kencho who planned these 
 dream-excursions. And might not this have been 
 because he had observed that in the temples and 
 shops and fairs and shows Madame Izan some- 
 times seemed perplexed and a little dazed and 
 world-tired, whereas out in the open the free, 
 frank, ' goddess ' look would come back to her 
 face, and she would be once more the irresponsible 
 Nature-joying creature, whose every glance and 
 smile suggested triumphant revolt against the 
 commonplace burdens of existence ? 
 
 A curious difference might have been noticed 
 between the two guides in their several tendencies 
 towards places of tourist resort. The temples 
 Yamasaki evidently regarded as a patriotic duty, 
 a solemn obligation, which he discharged, neverthe-
 
 MADAME IZAN 161 
 
 less, in a somewhat perfunctory manner. To 
 Yamasaki, on these occasions, Kencho usually left 
 the guide-book business, while he himself, as has 
 been seen, indulged Madame Izan in scraps of 
 more recondite information and in access to secret 
 shrines, apparently beyond the range of Yamasaki's 
 influence. And no one could openly resent this, as 
 it was quite impossible to say whether or not his 
 evasions of the rest of the party were deliberately 
 planned — more especially as they appeared to give 
 Madame Izan, for whose benefit they were con- 
 trived, perfect satisfaction. 
 
 After the temples and palaces, the curio stores 
 came next on Yamasaki's programme, or the 
 workshops of Tashimura and Namigawa, and 
 such eminent purveyors of embroideries and 
 cloisonne, of cut velvet, and porcelain and cherry- 
 wood cabinets and other fascinating products of 
 Japan. And here Yamasaki was genuinely en- 
 thusiastic, taking the deepest interest in Windeatt's 
 purchases and proffering much worldly advice in 
 the matter of their selection. The beauties of 
 Nature, on the other hand, awakened no enthusiasm 
 in Yamasaki's breast, and he scorned the traditions 
 of his country, which were not saleable. He was, 
 in his way, an exponent of Marquis Ito's masterly 
 policy, which aims at the supplanting of Orientalism 
 by the amenities of European civilization, and 
 
 1 1
 
 1 62 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Yamasaki would drag forward his convictions that 
 ' English fashion very much number one best ' 
 with a polite insistence that became at times 
 oppressive. It was not clear to Yamasaki why 
 Europeans, who had finer examples at home, 
 should want to come and gaze at Japanese moun- 
 tains and lakes and study old-fashioned village 
 customs, and he and Kencho had words occasion- 
 ally on the subject of those dream-day expeditions. 
 Windeatt explained Yamasaki's want of apprecia- 
 tion in regard to landscape and social ways on 
 the ground that mountains and lakes and farm- 
 labourers paid no commission. But Yamasaki had 
 no doubt whatever as to the superiority of 
 Japanese curios. That was the one branch in 
 which, according to him, his country stood un- 
 rivalled. For it was not long before he dis- 
 covered that, in spite of their not being ' Lega- 
 tion people,' the Australians had long purses, and 
 were without subtlety in the making of bargains ; 
 and many a grudge did he owe Kencho for inter- 
 fering with his little plans and preventing him 
 from taking full advantage of these peculiarities. 
 
 Kencho did not, however, throw obstacles in 
 the way of Madame Izan's equipment as a 
 Japanese lady. She might not have the long 
 sleeves, he explained, as she was no longer an un- 
 married girl ; and at this bald statement of fact,
 
 MADAME IZAN 163 
 
 which he delivered with a certain deliberateness, 
 his spectacles fixed on her at the time, poor 
 Madame Izan blushed deeply, and for several 
 minutes said nothing. Fortunately, however, the 
 Shogun's chrysanthemum kimono had been the cere- 
 monial garment of a matron. But in the matter 
 of the obi Kencho took infinite pains, and the 
 gold-threaded strip of brocade was a marvel of 
 beauty in colour and design. Then there was the 
 white silk under-kimono to be considered, and 
 the further one of delicate crape and the crimson 
 crape skirt, and the lacquered clogs and white 
 socks — not such an easy matter, these last, to pro- 
 vide, for, slender and well-formed as were Madame 
 Izan's feet, they were considerably larger than 
 those of Japanese women. 
 
 This was a dress rehearsal of the part : and there 
 she stood, a quaint vision of loveliness, which made 
 Windeatt's heart throb, and must have cost Kencho 
 also an emotion, for his hand trembled visibly 
 when at Izo's artless request he adjusted the loops 
 of the famous obi. The nezans, who had arranged 
 her hair, bubbled over with laughter and delighted 
 admiration. They touched her face with an in- 
 fantile gesture. ' Verai — nice,' they stammered. 
 ' White . . . ichi-ban ! Japanese not white — like 
 this !' and they stroked the brown chair first and 
 then their own cheeks, and pouted in amused selr- 
 
 11 — 2
 
 164 MADAME IZAN 
 
 depreciation. After the essaying of this ceremonial 
 robe, nothing would content Madame Izan but 
 the possession of a complete everyday costume — 
 the soft gray-blue kimono and dainty obi and 
 delicate neckfolds, which Windeatt thought suited 
 her better even than the crimson vesture gorgeous 
 with gold. 
 
 ' And is that all I need?' she asked, turning to 
 Kencho. ' Are there any other costumes which a 
 Japanese lady wears ?' 
 
 ' There is the Court costume,' he answered, 
 ' which is the most beautiful of all, and which, 
 though it is no longer worn at Court, madame may 
 see exhibited at the noble girls' school at Tokyo.' 
 
 ' Oh dear !' put in Herminia Bax ; ' I suppose 
 that, to wear that, one must be at least a " Legation 
 person." ' 
 
 Kencho smiled. Herminia was also attired in a 
 kimono, a splendid sky-blue affair, and she had 
 risen superior to national etiquette in the question 
 of hanging sleeves. But the dress did not go well 
 with her fair, freckled face and blue eyes and 
 flaxen hair. 
 
 ' In feudal days, madame, and according to the 
 sumptuary laws of Japan, only the Court circle 
 might wear the Court costume — the wives and 
 daughters of nobles,' he replied. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho,' said Madame Izan to him later,
 
 MADAME IZAN 165 
 
 1 1 can tell by the tone of your voice, when you 
 speak of the feudal lords, that you attach great 
 importance to being of noble birth. Do you wish 
 that you had been born of a Daimio family? But, 
 perhaps,' she added, ' you do belong to some great 
 Japanese family, and I was wrong to say that. I 
 have often wondered about you — whether ' 
 
 She stopped in her pretty, hesitating way. 
 
 ' What have you often wondered — about me, 
 madame ?' 
 
 Kencho spoke with a catch in his deep voice, 
 which struck upon Madame Izan's ear, and made 
 her glance at him from the camera she was 
 handling. She saw that his lip trembled, and that 
 he was bending towards her with an evident 
 anxiety as to what she should answer — an anxiety 
 which caused her a qualm of uneasiness. She 
 evaded the question. 
 
 1 1 don't think I shall take any more photographs 
 to-day,' she said irrelevantly. ' Let us sit down 
 and watch the pilgrims.' 
 
 They were in the court of the Chionin Temple 
 — they two alone, for Windeatt, to his chagrin, had 
 been carried off bodily by his sister and Mrs. Bax 
 to decide upon an ivory carving Julia wished him 
 to buy, now at the Fine Arts Exhibition which 
 was being held in Kioto. At the last moment 
 Madame Izan had declined to accompany him.
 
 1 66 MADAME IZAN 
 
 She had not felt in the mood for exhibitions, or for 
 the shopping and bargaining which she knew 
 would follow, since Yamasaki was in command of 
 the forces. In her present mood there was some- 
 thing peculiarly soothing in the atmosphere of 
 these gray old temple courts shadowed by the 
 great camphor-trees, and with scarcely any sounds 
 to break their dreaminess but the beat of the gongs 
 within, and the clack of clogs upon the line of 
 paving-stones which led between sentinel rows of 
 lanterns to the broad flight of steps at the entrance, 
 where worshippers were coming and going and 
 prostrating themselves. 
 
 Kencho repeated his question, as they placed 
 themselves upon a stone platform at the foot of 
 one of the outer shrines. ' I wish I knew what it 
 is that you wonder about me,' he said. 
 
 ' I wonder,' she replied, ' that you, being what 
 you are, should do the kind of work that you do. 
 Now, can you understand?' 
 
 ' Yes ; I suppose that I understand. You think 
 that I might be something better than a guide to 
 English tourists. But perhaps I have a good 
 reason for acting in the capacity in which you find 
 me, a reason that you will know some day.' 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho,' she exclaimed impulsively, ' if I 
 were as romantic as my friend Mrs. Bax, I should 
 jump to the conclusion that you are a sort of
 
 MADAME IZAN 167 
 
 dethroned Prince — some dispossessed Daimio, and 
 not in the very least what you seem to be.' 
 
 ' Oh no !' he replied with melancholy derision, 
 ' It is much more reasonable for you to accept 
 what you see, as plain matter-of-fact, and to believe 
 that I am just everything I seem to be, which is 
 certainly nothing remarkable or romantic. Yet 
 why,' he added, ' should you so scorn the idea of 
 romance?' 
 
 ' Perhaps,' she said in a very low voice, ' because 
 I have suffered from it.' 
 
 He took no notice of her interruption, but 
 went on : 
 
 1 And why should not Japan have her romances 
 as well as any other country ? I assure you that 
 in the Guides' Association there are a great many 
 well-born men forced to earn a livelihood, and 
 glad to find such a pleasant and easy way of doing 
 it. No, Madame Izan, my grandfather was not a 
 Daimio ; but it is true, nevertheless, that he clung 
 to the old feudal traditions he had inherited, and re- 
 sisted the Restoration, as it is called. Old man as 
 he was, he joined the Tokugawa party, fought at 
 Fushima, and later on was in the confidence of the 
 great rebel Saigo. As you can understand, there 
 was no favour for him under the new Constitution.' 
 
 Madame Izan had learned enough about Japanese 
 history to follow the explanation.
 
 1 68 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' And is it from your grandfather that you got 
 all your feudal ideas?' she asked. 
 
 ' I admired and reverenced my grandfather,' 
 Kencho answered, ' and he stands out the most 
 prominent figure in my boyhood. It is not so 
 very long since he died. I can see him now in his 
 simple dress of Satsuma cotton-stuff, with his calico 
 obi and wooden clogs, which would be laughed 
 at as the costume of a gentleman in these days. 
 Many of his noble sayings have remained with me, 
 and comforted me in hours of sadness. His living 
 was low, but his thinking was high. He had 
 great ideals. On himself in his richer days he 
 spent nothing ; for the good of his people he 
 would cheerfully have given all that he had. The 
 great Lord Yozan of Yonezawa was his model, 
 and he copied him in all his ways.' 
 
 ' Tell me about the great Lord of Yonezawa,' 
 said Madame Izan with the simplicity of a child 
 eager for a story. 
 
 Then, as they sat in the court of the temple, 
 Kencho related to Madame Izan tales of the old- 
 time Daimio — the poorest of the Daimios — who, 
 nevertheless, by his self-sacrifice and wisdom and 
 industry, made his people the noblest and his land 
 the richest of all the peoples and lands in Japan ; 
 who was indeed ' tender to his people,' after the 
 vow he had made in boyhood, ' as to a wound in
 
 MADAME IZAN 169 
 
 his own flesh.' Kencho told her of Yozan's 
 splendid engineering works ; of his foresight and 
 the broadness of his schemes ; of his plantings of 
 mulberry and lacquer trees ; of his administration 
 of justice in his wonderful institution of the 
 Companies of Fives and Tens, so that — and 
 Kencho quoted from the great lord's own words — 
 if there was one among them who was old and had 
 no child, or young and without parents, or poor 
 and unable to adopt sons, or widowed, or a cripple, 
 or sick, or dead and left without burial, then 
 should he be succoured by his company of five 
 families ; and if these were not able to support 
 him, then should the company of ten families come 
 to their assistance. Kencho told, too, how the 
 Lord Yozan had by the law of Love suppressed 
 vice and abolished theft from the land, so that on 
 the wayside were stalls with labelled goods and no 
 custodian, from which the people took, laying 
 down the money, and robbed not. And he told, 
 too, how, when the Lord of Yonezawa died, the 
 nation mourned, and how to this day the silks of 
 Yonezawa are famous, and its people known as 
 most honest and truest in Japan. 
 
 Kencho's deep voice seemed to change from its 
 habitual huskiness, and to become soft and ringing, 
 as he talked on, forgetting himself in his en- 
 thusiasm. But he was called back by a sudden low
 
 1 7 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 exclamation from Madame Izan, and, as he turned, 
 was startled himself by the bewildered, almost 
 frightened, expression he beheld on her face. He 
 checked his eager speech and drew back, constrained 
 and ill at ease. 
 
 ' What is it?' he asked, and his voice sounded 
 deep and harsh again. 
 
 ' I don't know,' she answered, still looking 
 dazed. ' I did not mean anything. It was only 
 as you talked I was carried back — I seemed to 
 have heard something of the same kind before — 
 and yet not like it, either. Perhaps it was your 
 voice which reminded me of — she faltered a 
 little — 'of somebody I knew long ago, who cared 
 too for Japan.' 
 
 * Was that person in the least like me ?' said 
 Kencho deliberately, and he seemed to put himself 
 forward, as though challenging comparison. 
 
 'How can I tell?' she said, 'and why should 
 he be like you? No, of course not. He was 
 young, I believe. . . . But I never saw him.' 
 
 * Ah !' There was again a catch in Kencho's 
 breath. Any allusion to her blindness always 
 affected him oddly. A silence followed. He sat 
 immovable, all his eloquence quenched. The 
 great bronze bell of the Chionin, the magic bell, 
 boomed forth its glorious note. 
 
 ' Go on,' said Madame Izan presently. ' I am
 
 MADAME IZAN 171 
 
 sorry I interrupted. I like hearing you. Tell 
 me more — about the Daimios and about your 
 country. Do you remember how the old priest 
 talked that day at the Hongwanji temple?' 
 
 ' Yes, I remember. You were impressed by 
 that priest ?' 
 
 1 It seems to me that you echo him. I think 
 he, too, must be like your Lord of Yonezawa. 
 Yes, he interested me, and he made me feel that 
 we people over there have very false ideas about 
 you all here. It is just what he said. Nobody 
 takes you seriously. He made me believe a little, 
 while he spoke, in the mission of Japan.' 
 
 * And what did he say was the mission of 
 Japan ?' 
 
 ' Don't you recollect ? Why, I can almost 
 repeat his words. He said that Japan's mission 
 in the history of the world was to reconcile the 
 East and the West, morally, and intellectually, and 
 religiously. Yes, I remember his saying — because 
 it was quite a new idea to me, and it seized me — 
 that when civilization started, at the beginning of 
 all things, in Central Asia, there were two currents, 
 one flowing west, by Babylon and Greece and 
 Rome, and culminating in England and America, 
 and the other east, through India and Thibet, and 
 ending in China. Now, am I reporting him rightly, 
 Mr. Kencho?'
 
 172 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' Yes,' he answered, his whole face beaming with 
 pleasure. ' I had never expected that you would 
 grasp and appreciate the idea so fully.' 
 
 ' I've thought of it more than I wanted to,' she 
 said. ' It took hold of me, somehow, that notion 
 of a magnetic circuit — that was how he put it — 
 of which Japan is to join the two poles. I think 
 of it when I see your electric light, and your rail- 
 ways and telephones, and all your other Western 
 reforms, and I think of it when I see the Mass 
 going on in the Hongwanji — I mean your Mass — 
 and compare your Kwannon — as you said, the 
 Lady of Mercy — with our Virgin Mary. Well, 
 that priest's ideas are what you believe in, aren't 
 they?' 
 
 'Yes, that is what I believe in,' he answered 
 dreamily — * the mission of Japan among nations. 
 It is we who will guard the sacred East by marrying 
 her to the West ; it is our rising sun which shall 
 illumine both hemispheres. Japan will make the 
 completion of the circuit, and become the central 
 point of civilization. But first she must unite 
 within herself the Lord Yozan's law of love and 
 Marquis Ito's policy of progression. And this work,' 
 Kencho went on, making a little fervid gesture, 
 ' will be accomplished by us, the new generation 
 of Japanese, who have imbibed the feudal instincts 
 with our mothers' milk, but who have gone to
 
 MADAME IZAN 173 
 
 school in the utilitarian West. That is the mission 
 of this, our younger generation, which in Japan, 
 too, as your Ibsen says, is "knocking at the door." 
 
 Madame Izan's gray eyes glowed, and then 
 rested on Kencho's silver hair and young-old face, 
 and a faint shade of disappointment crossed her 
 features. 
 
 ' But you,' she said — ' are you of the younger 
 generation, Mr. Kencho ? Is this your mission, 
 too?' 
 
 1 Yes,' he said ; ' I, too, wish to be a unit 
 among the growing numbers, and to add my 
 strength to the new force which shall lift my 
 people higher.' 
 
 Again there was a pause. After a minute or 
 two Kencho resumed : 
 
 ' And you also, Madame Izan. Now that you 
 are beginning to get a glimpse of my country as 
 it really is for such men as my master and friend, 
 the priest of the Hongwanji, and not as the 
 frivolous playground of your idle, pleasure-seeking 
 English and Americans — well, does it not strike 
 you ' He hesitated, his voice giving. 
 
 ' Well,' she repeated, ' how ? What is it that 
 should strike me ?' 
 
 ' Does it not seem to you that it might be no 
 unworthy destiny for a Western woman to stand 
 by her Eastern husband's side, stimulating him to
 
 174 MADAME IZAN 
 
 patriotic endeavour, quickening his faculties by her 
 own intellectual appreciation and feminine intuition, 
 helping him to realize his ideal of a world-spread- 
 ing empire, forming in her own person the ideal 
 towards which Japanese women should strive, and 
 the link in the home between those two magnetic 
 currents of which the priest spoke ? Ah, do you 
 not think ' 
 
 ' No, no !' she cried, half rising, deeply agitated. 
 ' I don't want to think ! I will not think ! What 
 do you mean? Why should you say this to me? 
 You don't know anything about me, about 
 
 my ' She stopped, with an almost angry 
 
 movement of her head. ' Why should you worry, 
 disturb me, by speaking of such things? You 
 have no right to do so, Mr. Kencho.' 
 
 He had risen, too, and they stood facing each 
 other, and she fancied that even through the blue 
 spectacles she could see the gleam of his eyes. 
 
 ' No,' he said, ' certainly I have no right. 
 Allow me to say that I am sorry for having 
 annoyed you, and that I will not offend in this 
 way again. For the moment I thought of myself 
 as a Japanese gentleman, and forgot that I am 
 Kencho, of the Guides' Association.' 
 
 He took up her camera, and with a low bow 
 waited, his hat in hand, till she passed before him 
 towards the temple gateway.
 
 MADAME 1ZAN 175 
 
 They went in silence up the stony street leading 
 to Yaami's, till they had reached that particular 
 photographer's shop among the line of little houses 
 on their left, as they mounted, where Madame 
 Izan had established friendly relations, and where 
 her negatives were developed. Here she made an 
 involuntary halt, but evidently hesitated to express 
 her wishes, and Kencho, now the impassive guide, 
 and nothing more, anticipating these, stepped 
 forward, and asked in his usual manner if she 
 would not like to go in and leave the plates, and 
 get those she had given to be developed the day 
 before. It was a peculiarity of Madame Izan's 
 childlike nature that a pleasant impression would 
 speedily efface one that had been disagreeably 
 upsetting, and in her excitement over the photo- 
 graphs, which had turned out exceptionally well, 
 she threw off the embarrassment of the temple 
 episode, and was her smiling, sunny self again. 
 
 ' You see,' she cried triumphantly, pointing to a 
 print of one she had taken of the Yasuka Pagoda, 
 and of which she felt extremely proud, ' it is not 
 over-exposed after all. You said it would be, 
 and it is not. It is quite perfect, Mr. Kencho.' 
 
 ' Yes,' he replied, smiling good-humouredly too, 
 ' it is quite perfect, and I congratulate you. This 
 one is far better than those you took of Nagasaki 
 from the steamer.'
 
 176 MADAME 1ZAN 
 
 ' Oh, of course !' she answered. ' The steamer 
 was the steamer, you see, and this is Japan, and 
 in Japan everything must go beautifully/ Then 
 she remembered and reddened and seemed un- 
 comfortable for a moment. But when they had 
 got within the gateway of Yaami's she turned 
 upon the guide with her straight gaze, kindly 
 compunction and bashful courage showing on her 
 face. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho, I am afraid ... I think I 
 spoke a little crossly just now. Naturally, you 
 could not have meant anything personal, and it 
 was my stupidity in taking things so. Please 
 forget what I said.' 
 
 He bowed silently in his ceremonious fashion. 
 
 1 And I hope,' she said, ' that you'll go on 
 telling me your delightful stories still — all about 
 your ideas, and the new generation, and the rest 
 that the old priest was talking about. It interests 
 me — indeed, it interests me very much. I hope 
 you will tell me more about the feudal times, 
 Mr. Kencho.' 
 
 ' Certainly ! It will be the greatest pleasure to 
 me to do so,' he answered. ' And again I ask you 
 to pardon me for what was an involuntary im- 
 pertinence, and for presuming upon your kindness 
 so far as to forget my position towards you.' 
 
 ' Oh, please,' she cried — ' please, Mr. Kencho,
 
 MADAME IZAN 177 
 
 don't talk about positions. Your grandfather 
 wouldn't have thought of anything so petty as 
 positions. And I am sure that is not in the 
 manner of your model, the great Lord Yozan.' 
 
 And she laughed her soft girlish laugh as 
 she tripped up the steep stairway to Yaami's 
 veranda, where Herminia and Windeatt, outside 
 the reading-room, were awaiting her. And she 
 did not notice — how should she, indeed? — the 
 glance of despairing devotion which Kencho Hiro- 
 Kahachi sent after her through his disfiguring blue 
 goggles. 
 
 12
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 After this episode Madame Izan seemed to have 
 more frequent fits of pensiveness, but through her 
 pensiveness there shone a certain radiance, and her 
 April-day moods were often just now illuminated 
 with a sunny smile. She was so amiable — it is 
 true, in rather remote fashion — towards Windeatt 
 that his gloom was not quite explicable. As for the 
 others, Herminia included, they were thoroughly 
 enjoying Kioto, and it seemed to Julia Eugarde 
 that her brother's too evident dissatisfaction with 
 himself and some of his companions was the only 
 discordant note in the general harmony. 
 
 ' How can you be so ill-tempered ?' she said. 
 1 Nobody ought to be ill-tempered in Japan. It's 
 an incongruity. Do you imagine that this sweet 
 and smiling nation could, even in domestic privacy, 
 permit itself the luxury of a good old row ? 
 Why, the open house-fronts and the rice-paper 
 walls protest against the bare notion !' 
 
 ' Are you quoting from your " Jottings," Ju ?' 
 inquired Windeatt sulkily. 
 
 [ 178 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 179 
 
 ' And if I am !' she returned unabashed. ' Why 
 shouldn't my nicely-turned reflections have an 
 airing before they go into print ?' 
 
 They were on the platform of the Kiomidzu 
 temple — that one built over the brow of the hill, 
 whence jealous Japanese husbands used to hurl 
 their faithless wives — and a certain vague associa- 
 tion of ideas may have suggested the fierce and 
 irrelevant remark Windeatt now made. 
 
 ' I wish to Heaven that there was somebody to 
 keep that courier fellow in his place !' 
 
 ' Do you mean Yamasaki ?' asked Julia with 
 malicious innocence. ' I should not like Yamasaki 
 to be suppressed ; he is so extremely amusing.' 
 
 ' No ; you know I don't mean Yamasaki ; it's 
 the other one who annoys me. I shall be obliged 
 myself to put him in his place some day.' 
 
 ' Well, I presume that he is in his place,' said 
 Julia. ' He is paid two dollars a day for instilling 
 Japanese knowledge into Madame Izan, and I'm 
 bound to say that he is faithful to his obligations, 
 for he doesn't lose an opportunity for private in- 
 struction.' 
 
 ' He is always hanging round,' grumbled 
 Windeatt. ' One can never get in a word. I 
 shan't stand it any longer.' 
 
 ' Don't, then, Jack ; they've settled with Kencho 
 to go on to Miyanoshita after this. Let them go, 
 
 12 — 2
 
 180 MADAME IZAN 
 
 and you and I will take a trip on our own account. 
 I really do want to write about the Ize temples, 
 and Mrs. Bax declines the expedition ; she says 
 she has had enough of temples.' 
 
 ' No, thank you,' replied Windeatt ; ' I'm of 
 Mrs. Bax's mind : I've got temple indigestion, too.' 
 
 But Julia Eugarde knew well enough that there 
 would have been no question of temple indigestion 
 with Windeatt here at the Kiomidzu, had he only 
 been permitted to wander with Madame Izan 
 in and out of the shrines, through the camphor- 
 groves, and among the moss-grown stone lanterns, 
 and to talk sentiment to her, undisturbed by 
 Kencho's haunting presence. For it was quite 
 true that Kencho seemed to conceive it his duty 
 to remain always within earshot of Madame Izan, 
 and though Windeatt had to own that she was 
 graciously accessible to every commonplace atten- 
 tion on his part, and ready enough to accept his 
 escort, the guide was invariably just a little behind 
 her elbow, and certainly in his English studies did 
 not appear to have read the adage that ' Two is 
 company, and three is none.' So Windeatt got 
 very slight opportunity for any communication of 
 a personal nature. 
 
 It was Madame Izan's humour just now to 
 want to know everything she could learn about 
 Japan, and to be absorbed in its history, its ro-
 
 MADAME IZAN 181 
 
 mance, its heroes — were they not going to see 
 thepJayof the 'Forty -seven Ronins' at the theatre 
 that evening ? — its Shoguns, and all the rest which 
 Kencho could impart to her. And, as everybody 
 knows, there is a good deal of history tacked on 
 to the Kiomidzu. Kencho was only too eager to 
 gratify his young mistress's desire for information, 
 and so it had followed that Windeatt had found 
 himself very much out in the cold, and was not 
 overpleased with the sensation. 
 
 Apart from these aggravating conditions, no 
 more suitable background for sentiment could be 
 imagined than this old red- brown temple, set half- 
 way up the mountain-side amid the forest greenery. 
 
 It is an enchanting place, Kiomidzu, with its 
 cool dark cloisters and the great shrine, where 
 Kwannon of divine compassion rears her gilded 
 majesty amid clouds of incense, and round her the 
 bowed forms of her priests chanting their deep- 
 toned prayers to the beat of the gongs. And 
 then there are the many other shrines, fragrant 
 and mysterious, with their lighted tapers and 
 lamps, and banners and lotus-blooms and golden- 
 tongued gongs. And there are the outer courts, at 
 their different levels connected by stone stairways, 
 with their rows of lichen-stained lanterns and 
 ancient monuments and gray pillars ; and the 
 fountains, where water pours from dragons' mouths;
 
 1 82 MADAME IZAN 
 
 and the pilgrim altars, whose canopies are upheld 
 by strange-shaped gods, and where thousands of 
 votive flags wave against the dark-green firs. . . . 
 How beautiful and fantastic it all is ! 
 
 The clank-clank of the clogs sounded con- 
 tinuously as the worshippers stepped along the 
 pavements. The working people came and went. 
 Some poor woman with lined yellow face and 
 blackened teeth would set down her bundle and 
 umbrella, knock her head upon the ground, count 
 her beads, and get up spiritually refreshed, to 
 resume once more her umbrella and clogs and 
 bundle, as well as the duties of life ; or else a 
 farm labourer would pull at the straw rope, rattle 
 the brass gong, clap his hands and call his god, 
 and then go about his affairs the better fitted, no 
 doubt, by his little prayer, to make a good bar- 
 gain in the market-place. There is a funny mixture 
 of piety and barter in the courts of the Kiomidzu 
 — a red Buddha face to face with a vendor of 
 cheap cigars, and a good tea-house business going 
 on in front of the shrine of Goddess Kamnosube- 
 ne-Kami, the friend of unhappy lovers. 
 
 Now, Windeatt had studied his guide-book, 
 and, as his methods of courtship were not exactly 
 subtle, he had determined that he, too, would try 
 and propitiate the goddess by adding to the many 
 fluttering scraps of paper which almost hid that
 
 MADAME IZAN 183 
 
 mystic grating. And he had resolved that Madame 
 Izan, and Madame Izan only, should be witness of 
 the charm. Accordingly he had bribed Yamasaki, 
 and had manoeuvred that Herminia Bax and Julia 
 the unsympathetic, should be conducted towards 
 the tea-house, he and the lady of his choice re- 
 maining in the rear. There's no knowing what 
 might have resulted from this strategy, and 
 whether the impassioned declaration he contem- 
 plated might not have stirred Madame Izan's 
 pulses to a degree that would have altered the 
 whole course of her destiny, were it not that, at 
 the critical moment, Kencho, whom Windeatt had 
 believed safely disposed of, stepped out from a side- 
 chapel, and stood grim and impassively courteous, 
 his eyes fixed on the Australian through their blue 
 coverings, so that the lover's ardour turned to 
 a most unloving fury, and that fateful strip of 
 paper, instead of being affixed to the grating with 
 thumb and forefinger, following the cabalistic 
 directions, was torn to angry shreds which the 
 breeze carried away. 
 
 The worst of it was that Madame Izan seemed 
 quite unconscious of these underworkings, and 
 smiled impartially both on him and the offending 
 guide. Being desirous of obtaining full particulars 
 of Kamnosube-ne-Kami, she left Windeatt again 
 with a maddening smile, and disappeared in
 
 184 MADAME IZAN 
 
 company of Kencho into the obscurity of the 
 great Hondo ; nor had she reappeared when 
 Mrs. Eugarde and her brother joined Herminia 
 Bax, who, in one of the open compartments of the 
 tea-house, was under Yamasaki's guidance making 
 experiments in Japanese food. 
 
 The tea-house overlooked the valley, the wind- 
 ing white roads, and the gray roofs of the dwell- 
 ings among the trees. From one of these floated 
 a baby's cry, which gave a touch of homeliness to 
 the scene. The rice-paper partition of the next 
 compartment was drawn, and within, a Japanese 
 family squatted beside a repast of macaroni and 
 other condiments which were shovelled out of 
 tiny flat boxes on the matting, into lacquer bowls 
 set about on wee tables. They were a merry set 
 of persons, and laughed and chattered in the 
 intervals of eating and smoking. Mrs. Bax had 
 expressed the wish for a flat box on her own 
 account, and Yamasaki forthwith produced a mess 
 which turned out to be composed of pounded 
 onion, radish, vermicelli, soy and little fishes, not 
 altogether agreeable to Herminia's palate. She 
 repented of her curiosity, and sentimentally re- 
 minded herself of Dr. Duppo's warning. Her- 
 minia had a tendency to become sentimental when 
 she thought of Dr. Duppo. Yamasaki waited his 
 opportunity to mix up the concoction deftly with
 
 MADAME IZAN 185 
 
 a pair of chopsticks, and pitchforked it in a half- 
 surreptitious fashion into his capacious mouth. 
 But he affected to despise it, all the same, putting 
 it down contemptuously with the remark, ' That 
 only Japanese food. No good make fight 
 Japanese soldier.' 
 
 ' Yamasaki,' said Mrs. Eugarde, 'do you think 
 Japan is going to fight Russia and become a great 
 nation ?' 
 
 Yamasaki heaved himself up on his haunches, 
 made play again with the chopsticks, and delivered 
 himself in his quaint English : 
 
 ' Some time. Suppose Russia by herself, Japan 
 not frightened. Suppose France and Germany — 
 that too much ; no try ; not ship enough. Japan 
 wait ten year, perhaps. Then, no little war like 
 China. Then all Japanese man fight. Beforetime 
 Japanese soldier no good — very young peoples. 
 Fourteen year ago, Japan quite savage ; difference 
 very much. Every year more better. That China 
 war for soldier practice. Every day, Japanese small 
 man practise catch big man, kick up, take throat, 
 learn gun ; Japan all right now ; very quick 
 nation, order very much. Suppose no order, get 
 drunk — no good. I not learn gun,' pursued 
 Yamasaki. ' Never before. I wife, I child. But 
 I pleased very. I go. I give my bloods for my 
 State.'
 
 1 86 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Yamasaki's little brown face glowed all over 
 with martial enthusiasm ; his tusks seemed to 
 bristle, and he plied his chopsticks with an amazing 
 energy. It was just then that Madame Izan, with 
 Kencho, came along, her arms full of photographs, 
 and pins, and fans with Kiomidzu views, and such 
 trifles, that she had been buying. And she was 
 most sweet and winning, and made poor Windeatt's 
 heart bound anew, and restored him again to 
 happiness, by seating herself on the edge of the 
 platform beside him, and showing him her photo- 
 graphs, and telling him that he would have to 
 escort her down Teapot Hill, and take charge of 
 the hundred-and-one teapots she meant to buy 
 there and have packed and sent home as a present 
 to Aunt Sophia. 
 
 ' For, do you know, Mr. Windeatt,' she said, 
 ' Aunt Sophia has two particular and pet economies 
 — and they are, string and teapots. It was a capital 
 crime to throw away the tiniest bit of string, and 
 no matter whether you wanted one cup of tea or 
 twenty, it all had to be brewed in the only teapot 
 which the establishment provided, a great clumsy 
 
 nickel thing which felt ' Madame Izan's 
 
 gesture with her fingers was eloquent. ' Of course, 
 I couldn't see it, but it gave me the creeps. And 
 when I asked Aunt Sophia if I mightn't have a 
 little china pot just for our two selves, she would
 
 MADAME IZAN 187 
 
 say I was a wicked, extravagant young woman, 
 and deserved to live in China, where I might have 
 as many teapots as I pleased. So now I am in 
 China, or next-door to it, and actually walking 
 down Teapot Hill — for I'm going to walk, and 
 you must walk with me — I shall buy up all the 
 monstrosities of teapots that I can find, and take 
 my little revenge on Aunt Sophia by giving her 
 the trouble of unpacking them.' 
 
 Windeatt lent himself enthusiastically to Madame 
 Izan's small scheme of good-natured malice, and 
 as they went down Teapot Hill, the whole four, 
 perhaps not including Kencho and Yamasaki, had 
 a most amusing time over the purchase of these 
 same monstrosities. Upon this occasion Kencho 
 did not obtrude himself unpleasantly to Windeatt. 
 Probably he thought there was no great danger to 
 the fair lady, and not a too favourable opportunity 
 for amorous declaration among the open booths 
 of teapots that lined the way. 
 
 It happened to be a Matsuri, and the crowd 
 was great, and little children fluttered about like 
 swarms of butterflies in gay- coloured crapes and 
 painted sashes. All the buildings were decorated 
 with swaying lanterns and banners. Priests sat 
 under their canopies beating gongs and waiting 
 for alms, and all the ' go-downs ' were on the alert 
 for trade. Here was doll-land, and for the
 
 1 88 MADAME IZAN 
 
 moment Madame Izan forgot the more serious 
 aspect of Japan. But that was recalled again at 
 the Dai-Butsu Temple, which Mrs. Bax flatly 
 refused to enter, and the grim monument to those 
 thousands of human ears, the trophies of Hide- 
 yoshi's blood-stained fame. Then they wandered 
 through the hall of that vast host of many-armed 
 Buddhas — the god-market, as Windeatt called it, 
 and he made an irreverent joke on the plethora of 
 deities, to which, somehow, Madame Izan did not 
 respond as graciously as was her wont. 
 
 But what could be more tenderly poetic or 
 inspiring than the lotus-pond seen in the dying 
 daylight ? — though, alas for Windeatt ! here again 
 was Kencho vigilantly attentive. And how 
 strangely solemnizing seemed the gray walls of 
 the temple enclosures, and the colossal gateways 
 which they passed on the Maruyama, and the un- 
 earthly vibrations of those big bronze bells ! 
 
 Three of the Makara young men turned up at 
 the next table in the dining-room at Yaami's that 
 evening, the melancholy Mr. Barradine making a 
 fourth of the noisy party. He was on his way to 
 the baths of Miyanoshita, whither Dr. Duppo had 
 recommended him to betake himself. 
 
 ' They say the hotel is cleanly, the air salu- 
 brious, and the baths agreeable, and that, as the 
 kitchen adjoins the dining-room, you have a
 
 MADAME IZAN 189 
 
 chance of saving yourself from the perpetration of 
 any culinary atrocity,' he bleated resignedly. ' I 
 shall remain at Miyanoshita till it is time for me 
 to take the Empress boat. Now I shall retire to 
 bed. No, thank you, Madame Izan ; it is very 
 kind of you to ask me to accompany you to the 
 theatre, but I am not interested in the Japanese 
 drama. As for these wild young men, they may 
 go henceforth their own inartistic way. I took 
 them to Icheda's curio store this morning, and 
 they said they had never seen such a collection of 
 rubbish.' 
 
 ' The fact is, Madame Izan, we are suffering 
 untold agonies, and our minds need distraction,' 
 said the Irrepressible Young Man, and he certainly 
 did look a little more subdued than usual. ' We've 
 been tattooed. Don't you try it ; it hurts like red- 
 hot pokers — that chap over there cried all through 
 it. But we're lovely. Do look ;' and he pulled 
 up his sleeve. ' The stork is a little inflated at 
 present, but he'll tone down in a day or two.' 
 
 Kencho was waiting in the garden outside the 
 dining-room. Maybe he had been studying the 
 tourist crowd through the open windows and 
 renewing recollections of festive evenings in 
 Europe. Over his arm he carried Madame Izan's 
 wrap, which never upon these occasions did he 
 forget, or any other small property which might
 
 i 9 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 contribute to her comfort. It was a dainty feathered 
 thing, and he seemed to handle it with more 
 caressing love than he gave to Mrs. Bax's service- 
 able chuddah. Down by the gateway Yamasaki 
 chaffered with the rickshaw-coolies. Windeatt 
 would fain have guided Madame Izan, but it 
 was Kencho who adroitly stepped forward and 
 helped her in, and tucked her round, and then 
 contrived that his own rickshaw should be within 
 hand's-touch of her, so that Windeatt was forced 
 to take a backward place in the procession. To 
 be sure, Kencho had the advantage of speaking 
 Japanese and could give his own private instruc- 
 tions, while Windeatt was obliged to wait for 
 Yamasaki to interpret his desires. So presently a 
 string of overgrown perambulators flew down the 
 steep incline, between the flaming cressets set 
 at intervals by the roadway and the myriads of 
 lanterns — elongated globes of light, the white ones 
 pale blurs, grotesquely cut into patterns by the 
 lettering upon them ; and others yellow and 
 vermilion and parti-coloured. Everywhere they 
 swung and swayed — all over the tea-houses, the 
 booths and temples and trees, at the end of long 
 poles borne by squads of army schoolboys in 
 blue coats and scarlet hoods, who sang patriotic 
 songs as they marched along. The lanterns flew 
 at the end of strings, like kites hovering over
 
 MADAME IZAN 191 
 
 clusters of gaily-attired children. There were 
 arches of lanterns across the narrow streets ; they 
 crept beneath rickshaws like fat glow-worms, and 
 wobbled with the jerky motion of the foot-people. 
 Oh yes ! to be whirled in a rickshaw on a feast- 
 night through the streets of Kioto is to be an 
 abnormally big baby rushing in a child's carriage 
 through some glorified pantomime-land. Never, 
 surely, had Madame Izan's long-darkened eyes 
 gazed upon so bewildering a scene. 
 
 They stopped on one of the bridges to survey 
 it, and the moony radiance of two high electric 
 lamps served only to enhance its fantasy. The 
 lanterns were reflected in the shallow streams 
 dividing the river's pebbly causeway. To and 
 fro they bobbed as fan - figures moved in and out 
 threading the booths set about with gaudy wares, 
 and the booths where drums beat, and samisen 
 and koto sounded. Every brown house on either 
 side had its giant cylinder of light, inscribed with 
 the sign of its calling in big strange lettering, 
 besides all the many dozens of yellow and pink 
 lanterns hung from eaves and lintels, and festoon- 
 ing the windows and balconies, where eccentric 
 forms exhibited themselves. The whole place 
 seemed one vast Will-o'-the wisp playground, only 
 that the fireflies had upright bodies, most of them 
 curiously variegated and with gorgeous middle-
 
 192 
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 bands, like the stripe of some tropical beetle 
 while their heads were big with shiny loop pro- 
 tuberances, and antennae, as it were, of gold and 
 coral. And there, away back, the Maruyama hill 
 seemed one vast resplendence, for the green slope 
 was bejewelled with bonfires, and from a great 
 gilded flagstaff on the summit hung strings of 
 banners as from a gigantic maypole. 
 
 ' Japanese people go up and make feasts ; give 
 thanks for war,' devoutly explained Yamasaki, 
 who was uplifted by the fact of having impressed 
 these Europeans. 
 
 But Theatre Street was the one for which the 
 party was bound, and many tourists know the 
 long, narrow arcade — a confusion of lanterns and 
 banners and stalls and cheap shows — down which, 
 on a gala night, it is no very easy matter to make 
 one's way to the big building at the end, where, 
 under a row of electric lights, hangs the huge 
 illustrated programme of the evening's perform- 
 ance. Yamasaki had had conventional scruples 
 about this expedition, in which he had had no 
 particular part : for Kencho had been quite 
 anxious to arrange the affair, and had taken great 
 pains to secure a suitable box, and to cater as 
 luxuriously as might be for his two ladies. 
 Yamasaki was contemptuous. 
 
 ' This only second-class theatre,' he said. ' No
 
 MADAME IZAN 193 
 
 first-class here. First-class at Tokyo. Ministers 
 and high-class people go. Here, only common 
 people.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax was deeply impressed by Yamasaki's 
 high-class standard. Sometimes, when she admired 
 a pretty Japanese woman, she would ask Yamasaki 
 whether that were a high-class lady ; but he would 
 waive the question disdainfully aside : ' No, that 
 not high-class lady ;' and it appeared that no 
 high-class personages moved about in Kioto. 
 Julia Eugarde gravely mooted the doubt as to 
 whether they themselves were considered by 
 Yamasaki high-class people, for he had been sad 
 and silent when, in answer to his oft-repeated 
 inquiries as to communications to or from the 
 Legation, and tentative suggestion as to certain 
 privileges and immunities possible only to ' Lega- 
 tion friends,' Windeatt had told him that the 
 Legation might go to the devil, for all that it 
 concerned his sister and himself. Yamasaki had 
 retired abashed, but the next morning, with many 
 deep bows, demanded an advance, on account of 
 his railway-fare home from Tokyo, when Windeatt 
 should have further need of his services. Only 
 Julia's calm philosophy and Mrs. Bax's tearful 
 entreaties had restrained Windeatt from despatch- 
 ing the guide there and then home to the bosom 
 of his family. As it was, he hurled a bank-note 
 
 13
 
 1 94 MADAME IZAN 
 
 at Yamasaki, who was thereafter trustfully obse- 
 quious. Windeatt reflected that Herminia Bax's 
 preference for Yamasaki constituted a link between 
 the two parties which it was as well not to break. 
 
 To-night he welcomed the blessed chance which 
 removed Kencho from his post for a moment, and 
 enabled the Australian to fold Madame Izan's 
 sensitive fingers securely within his coat-sleeve. 
 This young creature, in spite of her Jove of ad- 
 venture, was always timid in a night crowd, when 
 the lights danced, and distances were incalculable, 
 and eyes and . brain were dazzled. Upon such 
 occasions, when he had the good fortune to be 
 her pilot, Windeatt's whole soul would glow and 
 expand in the ardour of his protective tenderness. 
 Now, as the stream bore them along, and an occa- 
 sional obstruction blocked their course, he had an 
 opportunity for some tender whisperings. 
 
 ' If you only knew how happy it makes me to 
 be allowed to take care of you once more!' 
 
 She gave a faintly embarrassed laugh. 
 
 ' But one doesn't really want any special taking 
 care of in Japan ; everybody is so amiable and 
 considerate, and sight-seeing is made so easy.' 
 
 ' I wish,' went on Windeatt, ' that I could be 
 your guide instead of Kencho. For, certainly,' 
 he added, after a pause, a little irritated by her 
 silence, ' I don't see the use of all this retinue —
 
 MADAME IZAN 195 
 
 two couriers between us — who want to manage us 
 entirely. I am sure we should do quite as well — 
 in fact, feel freer and less in the globe-trotting 
 category — if we had no guides at all. That's what 
 I have been saying to Ju, and I fancy she agrees 
 with me,' said the mendacious young man. ' You 
 see, we have always Murray and Chamberlain and 
 Hearn and Conder, and all the rest, if we only take 
 the trouble to read them. And, then, the people at 
 Yaami's are so obliging, and there are so many 
 rickshaw-coolies who speak English. What do 
 you think, Madame Izan ? Suppose we get rid 
 of our guides, who are just tacked on to the 
 Legation and judge us by Legation notions. And, 
 you know, in all these foreign places, if you want 
 to get into the real spirit of the country, you must 
 avoid Legations and all that British snobbery. 
 Suppose we start on our own hook ? I'm quite 
 prepared to undertake the job, if you will allow 
 me to perform the functions of your courier.' 
 
 Again there was a little silence, which to an 
 eager listener behind seemed breathless — indeed, to 
 two eager listeners, for Herminia Bax was most 
 curious to know what Izo would answer. 
 
 ' Well, I don't know about that,' she said. ' I 
 think I would much rather keep you as a friend. 
 That was what we settled, wasn't it ? I don't 
 think you'd do as a courier.' 
 
 13—2
 
 196 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'And why not?' he asked, considerably piqued 
 at her business-like way of considering the matter. 
 ' Why not ? There are plenty of books, and every 
 tourist goes just on the beaten track. I can't see 
 any great difficulty in getting at the ins and outs 
 of Japan.' 
 
 ' Don't you ?' And she laughed again. ' Oh, but 
 I know much better — now. Have you any idea 
 how conceited you are? Could you tell me the 
 true history of the Forty-seven Ronins ; no, you 
 know you couldn't, though it's just as elementary 
 here as the history of our Ali Baba and the Forty 
 Thieves. And as for Hideyoshi the Shogun, you 
 had to read him up in Murray. And you had 
 never heard of the Lord Yozan, or of the great 
 Saigo, the last of the Samurai, or of the Master 
 Nichiren, or of any of those others Kencho tells 
 me about. I delight in listening to Kencho: he 
 doesn't talk " guide-book." Now, do you call this 
 sort of thing getting at the ins and outs of Japan?' 
 continued the young lady, with a fine scorn that 
 fascinated and half amused her unseen auditors. 
 ' Why, it's nothing but Gilbert and Sullivan — a 
 burlesque, that's all. It's no more the true Japan, 
 the grand Japan, the feudal Japan ' 
 
 And here she broke off" suddenly, for one of 
 those blocks occurred which separated the whole 
 party, and Madame Izan and Windeatt were
 
 MADAME IZAN 197 
 
 stranded and alone in a surging crowd, breaking 
 back from the theatre doors which they were ap- 
 proaching. Something had happened, but it was 
 impossible to tell what. And yet it was a gentle, 
 well-meaning mob, which would not for the world 
 have done any wrong to inoffensive strangers, and 
 was only turning back disappointed from its own 
 national theatre, and making its own little grum- 
 blings at a change of programme in its own sweet 
 language, which has no swear-words whatsoever. 
 
 But Madame Izan did not know this, and was 
 frightened and clung closely to Windeatt, and 
 appealed to him in just such a fashion as turned 
 the head of the young man from the Bush, who 
 regarded all foreign nations, and especially any 
 one distantly related to the heathen Chinee, 
 abhorred of Australian policy, as fiends let loose 
 for his particular aggravation. 
 
 ' Oh, Mr. Windeatt,' cried Madame Izan, ' I 
 don't like this at all. I'm quite terrified. I wish 
 Kencho hadn't left us to look after ourselves. Oh, 
 Mr. Windeatt, my poor head is so worried, and 
 my poor eyes see everything anyhow. Oh ! do 
 get me out of it, if you can.' 
 
 Then Windeatt, moved by his deep devotion 
 and anxious at all hazards to allay her alarm, 
 braced up his great body and — instead of merely 
 shadowing her with his bulk, as he might have
 
 198 MADAME IZAN 
 
 done, and waiting till the human eddy had widened 
 out — pushed his strong frame forward, clearing 
 a way by mere brute strength, and thus arousing 
 angry murmurs amid the swarm of chattering little 
 people. This cross complaining incensed the 
 Australian, whose native contempt for yellow 
 men got the better of him ; and as the mob 
 grew angrier, he pushed more strenuously, and 
 at last knocked two or three poor little Japs 
 altogether off their balance. It was then that 
 Madame Izan might have seen, if she had not been 
 too terrified to think about anything, an ebullition 
 of the old barbarian element — that of the feudal 
 Japan she had been talking about. The fierce looks 
 and fiercer gestures startled her, and she called 
 out involuntarily, in shrill appealing, 'Kencho!' 
 Whereat there sounded another voice in return. 
 Then a lull followed and a sudden break in the 
 human block. Some more authoritative words 
 that none of the Europeans could understand were 
 pronounced in a voice that was Kencho's, and yet, 
 somehow, did not seem like the voice of Kencho ; 
 and then the guide himself appeared, his pale face 
 — pale through its brownness outside the blue 
 goggles — parting, as it were, the dense mass of 
 men, as he darted to Madame Jzan's side, and, 
 taking her arm from within that of Windeatt, 
 pressed it close to his own heart. 
 
 ' Sir,' he said, addressing the Australian, ' you
 
 MADAME IZAN 199 
 
 don't know how to deal with my people. Treat 
 them courteously and they will be courteous. 
 But offer them insult and, physically inferior as 
 they may be, you will find that they can avenge it. 
 Come, madame. Everything will be quite clear 
 before you. You will see that the Japanese can 
 respect a lady. It was merely that another piece 
 has been substituted, and that many who were going 
 to enter have changed their minds. The altera- 
 tion,' he added, ' has been made for political 
 reasons. Party spirit runs high ; the populace 
 does not approve of concessions to the Powers 
 after a victorious war ; and it is considered unwise 
 to rouse old Japan.' 
 
 The strength and dignity of this small man had 
 a curious effect on Madame Izan, which, thinking 
 it over afterwards, she could hardly account for. 
 All her tremors vanished, and with perfect content- 
 ment she allowed Kencho to lead her out of the 
 crowd, which made way before him, casting just 
 one uneasy glance back towards Windeatt, whom 
 she felt guiltily that she was leaving to his fate. 
 
 , * He is quite safe,' said Kencho reassuringly ; 
 ' he will follow us in a moment. I have ex- 
 plained that he is not a Russian, for you under- 
 stand that there is great ill-feeling against Russia 
 here at present ; nor even an Englishman, but that 
 he comes from a land of savages who deserve pity 
 and toleration.'
 
 200 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'Oh dear me!' exclaimed Madame Izan. 'Is 
 that how you look upon Australia ? But I am a 
 savage, too.' 
 
 * You are quite different, and even were you a 
 Russian, madame, you would find that in Japan 
 you would be powerfully protected.' 
 
 His words and the tone in which they were 
 uttered struck strangely upon the Australian 
 woman's ear. She withdrew her arm, for they 
 were now in the long wooden corridor of the 
 theatre, and at a little distance she discerned 
 first Yamasaki's tusks protruding from his anxious 
 little brown visage, and then the familiar forms of 
 Herminia Bax and Mrs. Eugarde. Presently she 
 said to Kencho, as they were moving on to the 
 places assigned them, ' Why do you so dislike 
 Mr. Windeatt?' 
 
 The expression of the guide's face, as far as the 
 blue spectacles permitted it to be seen, troubled 
 her anew. 
 
 ' Perhaps it is because he is always with you,' 
 exclaimed Kencho recklessly ; then corrected him- 
 self, speaking in a quieter tone : 'lam wrong. I 
 don't dislike Mr. Windeatt for any particular 
 reason: it is as I said, that he comes from a crude, 
 unpolished nation, which has no sympathy with 
 Japanese subtleties.' 
 
 'That is true,' replied Madame Izan.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Kencho stood respectfully behind the row of stools 
 which, in consideration of European peculiarities, 
 the management had provided ; while every now 
 and then the tea-house attendant, subsidized for 
 the evening, appeared with the customary refresh- 
 ment and the customary obeisances. Windeatt, 
 who had joined them in the corridor, sat next 
 Madame Izan, and no doubt had Kencho, like 
 Yamasaki, betaken himself for short periods to 
 more congenial society, the Australian would have 
 emptied his heart of its bitterness and its wounded 
 love. But the guide was there, and Windeatt 
 remained tongue-tied, sitting gloomy and morose 
 under the unpleasant consciousness that he had 
 not cut an altogether heroic figure in the defence 
 of his lady-love, and that for this time, at any rate, 
 the heathen Jap had got the better of him. As 
 for Madame Izan, she, too, was silent and pre- 
 occupied, and the frightened look had come back 
 to her face. She took no interest in the perform- 
 ance, which, in truth, to most of them seemed a 
 
 [ 201 j
 
 202 MADAME IZAN 
 
 grotesque and unnatural affair. No doubt there 
 was justification of Yamasaki's contempt, for here 
 was not Danjiro nor any other theatrical star, 
 and Julia Eugarde and Mrs. Bax, who had studied 
 up the ' Forty-seven Ronins,' and were disappointed 
 at the change of piece, frankly confessed them- 
 selves bored, and unable to comprehend in the 
 very least what was going on. 
 
 The whole thing seemed to these Europeans 
 as unreal as a dream : the strange music ; the 
 fantastical figures of the actors and their uncouth 
 gait, as they tripped to and from the stage by a 
 long passage which ran level with the heads of 
 the spectators, cheered or derided as they went ; 
 the vast auditorium, with its sunken pit ; the 
 matted pens where groups of men and women 
 squatted and smoked and joked and ate, carrying 
 on a sort of vie intime, to the accompaniment of 
 much tea and of a kind of chorus sounding 
 through merriment and applause — the thunk- 
 thunk of tiny pipes against the small boxes of 
 glowing charcoal with which each pen was fur- 
 nished. Then the stage, with its revolving centre, 
 on which at moments of crisis the heroes stepped, 
 to disappear as in a whirligig ; the posturing and 
 grimacing with sword and umbrella ; the queer 
 decorations and the curious mixture of bizarrerie 
 and realism. This was intensified by the flickering
 
 MADAME IZAN 203 
 
 illumination shed on the actors' faces by candles 
 in iron sconces, that were changed by mutes 
 hither and thither as the performers crossed from 
 right to left, and by the effect of a great electric 
 ray streaming down from a hole high in the 
 ceiling ; also by the thud of the stick heralding 
 the rise of the curtain and the entrance of each 
 principal performer, so that there arose in the minds 
 of some of these foreigners alternating associations 
 with Paris theatres and the backs of playing cards. 
 
 Madame Izan had never been to any French 
 theatres, but maybe her long darkness had stimu- 
 lated rather than quenched the play of her imagi- 
 nation, and now an indescribable and melancholy 
 sense of tragi-comicality and of travesty of the 
 common emotions of life came over her — a feeling 
 which, though she knew it not, was shared by that 
 still and apparently self-contained man in the blue 
 spectacles standing close behind her. Kencho, too, 
 was in a dream. 
 
 As for the play, what was it all about ? Nobody 
 knew, unless it were Yamasaki. Here were two 
 young women in trailing and extremely gorgeous 
 kimonos and wonderful black wigs, having much 
 paint and powder on their long oblique-eyed faces. 
 They sat on their haunches and talked in high- 
 pitched falsetto, and knocked their heads upon 
 the floor, weeping between whiles into large pink-
 
 20 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 embroidered pocket - handkerchiefs. And there 
 behind them, on a sort of tea-house dais, divided 
 into tiny compartments, were various groups of 
 ladies and gentlemen engaged during the entire 
 act in the silent making and drinking of tea. 
 They seemed altogether indifferent and oblivious 
 to the woes of the harrowed damsels, and so, too, 
 was an elderly gentleman sitting apart absorbed in 
 a book, till suddenly, for some reason inexplicable 
 to the Europeans, he threw away his book, and in 
 an access of rage drew his sword, leaped down 
 and belaboured the damsels, who fled shrieking 
 down the causeway the length of the pit, followed 
 helter-skelter by the irate gentleman and all the 
 rest of the dramatis persona ; and then a green 
 curtain fell over the horizontally-striped one with 
 the Emperor's chrysanthemums upon it, that had 
 already been drawn incontinently several times, 
 and they supposed that the act was ended. 
 
 ' Never before I see green curtain happen,' re- 
 marked Yamasaki. ' That not been Daimio time. 
 I suppose that European custom ;' and he turned 
 to question Kencho, and to hold with this grave 
 person a short conversation in Japanese. 
 
 There was a chattering down below as of 
 hundreds of parrots let loose, and which took the 
 place of the samisen's twanging. Attendants 
 handed round sweetmeats and oranges, and some
 
 MADAME IZAN 205 
 
 of the audience clambered over partitions and dis- 
 ported themselves on the stage. The Makara 
 young men came crowding into the box. 
 
 ' And what do you think of that for tommy- 
 rot, Madame Izan ? And can you have patience, 
 now, with those asses in London who write to 
 the papers and say we don't know how to stage a 
 play in England, or to act one, either, and that 
 Henry Irving ought to come over to Japan to 
 study his business? It's a fact, I assure you. I 
 know one of them, have read his articles and 
 heard him hold forth. Well, all I can say is: give 
 me a good old music-hall and " Her golden hair " 
 — or the " Mikado," if you must have genuine 
 Japanese — and I certainly shan't ask leave to see 
 a play in Kioto again.' 
 
 ' Mrs. Bax !' exclaimed another of the tourist 
 young men, ' you can't stand this sort of infliction 
 any more than we can, I'm certain : though you 
 are not suffering agonies from a dragon on your 
 back and a stork below your elbow. I say, do 
 persuade Madame Izan, and let us clear out of the 
 place and inspect the penny shows outside. There 
 are any amount of them outside, and stunning 
 good ones, too, I can tell. We saw a white snake 
 that will give you the creeps, and there's a dwarf- 
 devil who is simply ripping.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax was taken by the superior attractions
 
 206 MADAME IZAN 
 
 of the dwarf-devil and the white snake, so was 
 Mrs. Eugarde. Izo, when appealed to, awakened 
 out of her dream, and was eager to leave the 
 theatre ; while Windeatt was delighted to go any- 
 where or to do anything which might deliver him 
 from his wretched broodings, and give him the 
 chance of a word with Madame Izan. So pre- 
 sently they all went down the steep wooden 
 staircase and along the narrow passage, and again 
 they were outside, in the noise and dazzlement of 
 Theatre Street. But it was much less crowded 
 now than when they had entered the theatre. 
 
 Windeatt pushed almost rudely past Kencho 
 Hiro-Kahachi ; but, then, it was not to be supposed 
 that the guide would under ordinary circumstances 
 presume to offer Madame Izan his arm. 
 
 ' Please !' Windeatt said beseechingly. ' If vou 
 send me away, I shall think that you are angry 
 with me.' He ventured to take her unresisting 
 hand. ' I will promise not to get into rows : 
 though you must have seen that I didn't really 
 mean to knock the fellow down, and that it was 
 all out of my intense anxiety to get you away. I 
 am not naturally a belligerent person, except out 
 in the Never-Never Country.' 
 
 ' But we are not in the Never-Never Country, 
 which I know all about, Mr. Windeatt ; for Uncle 
 O'Halloran used to describe it to me.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 207 
 
 ' Well,' said Windeatt ruefully, ' I must say that 
 I never felt so thoroughly bushed, anyhow, as 
 when I'm talking to you here in Kioto.' 
 
 ' I don't think that even in the Bush people 
 knock each other down without having a very 
 good reason for it,' replied Madame Izan, evading 
 the personal inference. 
 
 ' And what better reason could anybody have 
 than wanting to get you out of a nasty Chinese 
 crowd ?' cried Windeatt. 
 
 ' This is not a nasty Chinese crowd. Japan isn't 
 China,' objected Madame Izan distantly. 
 
 ' It's next door to it — you said so yourself on 
 Teapot Hill,' returned Windeatt. 
 
 ' I didn't mean it — not in that sense ; and you 
 don't understand Japan and the Japanese, Mr. 
 Windeatt, and it's no use arguing,' said Madame 
 Izan, remembering Kencho's strictures on the in- 
 habitants of the Never-Never Country. Then 
 unconsciously she quoted him : ' It's really impos- 
 sible that you can enter into Japanese subtleties.' 
 
 1 I've had enough of Japanese subtleties — in 
 private life, at any rate,' said Windeatt un- 
 graciously. ' Madame Izan, I hate you to go 
 down on your knees as you do before everything 
 Japanese. It — it's un-British. But, as you say, 
 there's no use arguing about it, especially when 
 those same subtleties are jostling one very
 
 208 MADAME IZAN 
 
 materially all the time. Look here : Yamasaki is 
 ever so much better as a showman than your 
 superior Kencho. Let him look after us two, and 
 Kencho can take charge of Mrs. Bax and Ju. I 
 beg your pardon ' — he had suddenly discovered the 
 guide's proximity—' I didn't know you were so close. 
 There's Mrs. Eugarde waiting by the entrance.' 
 
 But Kencho firmly addressed himself to his 
 mistress. 
 
 ' Unless you desire it otherwise, madame, I think 
 it will be best that I should take you into these 
 places. They are not all of them quite fit for an 
 English lady to enter.' 
 
 ' Well, I should imagine that Yamasaki is as 
 competent a judge of Japanese proprieties as you 
 can be, Mr. Kencho,' retorted Windeatt, and felt 
 ashamed of himself, for Kencho met his remark 
 with a bow of exquisite politeness. 
 
 He make no other answer, but waited stock-still 
 for Madame Izan to issue her commands. 
 
 ' Oh, Mr. Windeatt,' she said with slight hesita- 
 tion, and Windeatt did not know how to interpret the 
 little tremble in her voice, but was vain enough to 
 construe it to his own advantage — ' oh, thank you. 
 I shall be very pleased to have your arm again, and 
 I think I should like Mr. Kencho to keep by us — 
 quite close by, please — and to decide what we are 
 to see. I am sure that he must know best.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 209 
 
 1 The snake comes first, Madame Izan,' called 
 out one of the Makara young men. ' We know 
 all about it. This way — to the left. Do take my 
 arm, Mrs. Bax.' 
 
 Thus it happened that there was no separation 
 of the party this time, for the whole seven of them 
 and their guides kept close together ; and, indeed, 
 such an invasion by these foreigners of lofty stature 
 and peculiar ways created no little flutter and 
 diversion in certain places of cheap entertainment 
 on that night of war rejoicings in Kioto. In fact, 
 the victory over China in comparison faded for the 
 moment into insignificance. 
 
 It was all very amusing, and delighted the 
 tourist young men, who flung about sen, and even 
 yen, pieces right royally. The white snake writhing 
 in its oblong basket was truly an uncanny object ; 
 and then there was a marionette representation, 
 where white skeletons descended through a grating 
 into the hands of a host of red devils, who sawed 
 their heads, pounded them in mortars, impaled, 
 racked, and otherwise ingeniously tormented them, 
 which was most grim and suggestively horrible. 
 It reminded Julia Eugarde of certain Florentine 
 pictures of the Limbo of departed spirits, as well 
 as of the frescoes outside the Temple of the Sacred 
 Tooth, and she observed to Madame Izan that 
 the crude idea of purgatory seemed pretty much
 
 210 MADAME IZAN 
 
 the same in all ages and among all races ; whereat 
 Izo remembered Kencho's art theories and the 
 discourse of the priest at the Hongwanji, and 
 found fresh food for reflection. 
 
 And besides these peep-shows there was a 
 panorama of the storming of Port Arthur, which 
 aroused more martial enthusiasm in the breast of 
 Yamasaki ; and there was the dwarf, now rein- 
 forced by a female dwarf-demon, and by a chorus 
 of bigger demons in black satin kimonos em- 
 broidered with gold monsters, who sang behind 
 and played on the samisen and other instruments. 
 They stayed quite a long time at this show, where 
 they were brought blue cotton futons to sit upon, 
 and tea and pipes and charcoal boxes at which to 
 warm themselves. For the dwarfs were followed 
 by a Japanese Chevalier who sang, doubtless, 
 Oriental coster melodies, and changed his mask 
 and costume with a lightning rapidity ; and after 
 that there was conjuring, and actually a Japanese 
 parody on ' Her golden Hair,' which worked 
 the tourist young men up to a pitch of ecstasy, 
 and seemed for the moment to allay effectually the 
 gnawing torture of stork and dragon. 
 
 ' Izo,' said Mrs. Bax, as later that night she 
 came into hei friend's room arrayed in the wadded 
 kimono which she adopted as a dressing-gown,
 
 MADAME IZAN 211 
 
 and which went badly with her blue eyes, fair 
 crimped hair, and freckled countenance — ' Izo, I 
 don't feel at all comfortable about Kencho. I've 
 got quite an uncanny feeling about him. He is 
 not what he seems.' 
 
 Madame Izan had been brushing her long, dark 
 locks, staring dreamily the while at her reflection 
 in the glass. She started so violently at Herminia's 
 remark that the brush dropped from her hand, and 
 the ivory handle was broken in two. She picked 
 up the pieces, and examined them with an expres- 
 sion of dismay that covered any other emotion 
 which might have assailed her. 
 
 ' There now, Herminia ! You know I can't 
 bear having my nerves shaken like that. How 
 am I to get another brush?' 
 
 ' Well, I suppose there are Englishwomen in 
 Tokyo who use brushes,' returned Herminia un- 
 sympathetically. ' Now listen, Izo, and don't go 
 off into a tantrum. You don't understand men as I 
 do. Of course you haven't had the same experi- 
 ence. Well, it was that horrible white snake this 
 evening which put the idea about Kencho into my 
 head. . . . And the way you broke your brush ' 
 
 * I can't see the connection between men and 
 my brush, and white snakes and Kencho,' returned 
 Madame Izo. 
 
 1 Well, if you take it that way, the back of the 
 
 14 — 2
 
 212 MADAME IZAN 
 
 brush and the snake are both white, and Kencho 
 is a man ; though, to be sure, one doesn't naturally 
 consider Japanese men — as men — at least, not in 
 Japan.' 
 
 ' And why not in Japan ?' asked Izo, speaking 
 with slow deliberation. ' It seems to me, Her- 
 minia, that here in Japan there is a reality, a 
 dignity, about men — who are men, and not 
 grimacing monkeys — a depth and a knowledge 
 which one had never thought of before. And if 
 you want to know who has made me feel that — 
 well, then, I don't mind telling you that it is 
 Kencho Hiro-Kahachi. I will tell you, too, 
 Herminia, the reason why you say he is not what 
 he seems. That is because he is what he is — a 
 gentleman, a learned, courteous and most simple 
 gentleman of the true Japan, the Japan of the 
 Samurais and the Daimios and all the old grand 
 people — and not what you imagine him, a common 
 courier person like Yamasaki. I will not have 
 you talk about him in that way, Herminia.' 
 
 ' Izo !' Mrs. Bax ejaculated, completely taken 
 aback by the outburst, which was so unexpected 
 and so unlike Madame Izan. ' Izo, what do you 
 mean? Oh, it can't be — it can't surely be that 
 you have fallen in love with Kencho ?' 
 
 ' I will not have you talk in that way,' in- 
 dignantly repeated Madame Izan. ' You are de-
 
 MADAME IZAN 213 
 
 grading yourself — and me. You are common, 
 Herminia — vulgar — impossible.' 
 
 ' Izo, Izo !' moaned poor Herminia, too 
 astonished for the moment to be properly angry. 
 ' I see what a terrible mistake I have made. Oh, 
 I knew it wasn't right of me to let you go about 
 as you do, and talk so familiarly to Kencho, whose 
 head you must have turned. You can't realize, 
 Izo, the effect your manner has on men, and how 
 upsetting it is to all the ordinary notions of 
 propriety. Then, too, making a jealousy between 
 him and Mr. Windeatt — I've seen it ; I saw it 
 plainly enough this evening, and that day at the 
 temple when you went off for more than an hour 
 alone with Kencho. And Mrs. Eugarde has seen 
 it, too. Oh dear ! oh dear ! you'll get us into the 
 most dreadful complications. I ought never to 
 have agreed to all this mixing up together, and I 
 ought to have trusted in my intuition about 
 Kencho at the very first. What are intuitions 
 given us for, if we are not to trust in them ? I 
 felt that Kencho had designs upon you — a man 
 that won't look you in the face ! I don't believe 
 in those goggles : his eyes are as right as mine ; I 
 asked Yamasaki. And I can't get over the queer 
 feeling I have about Kencho — the sort of feeling 
 that Plato — wasn't it? — I'm sure it was Plato — 
 wrote about. My poor dear Mr. Bax used to say
 
 2i 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 that kind of feeling should be taken as a warning — 
 he was a student of Plato — the feeling that you've 
 done the thing somehow before, and yet that 
 somehow you haven't done it. It's just one of 
 those mysteries one can't describe. But I had the 
 feeling about Kencho, and that was why I was so 
 particular in inquiring if he had any testimonials. 
 How should I know that the testimonial wasn't 
 forged ? How do I know, even, that there is a 
 Minister of Justice in Japan ? But I was all 
 alone ; I had no one then to consult. And I 
 trusted in what Dr. Duppo said, and I thought 
 that if I did just give you your head ' 
 
 * Herminia !' Madame Izan interrupted in 
 deepest wrath ; and she rose to her splendid 
 height and gazed sternly down on the incongruous 
 little figure in the blue kimono. ' Herminia, is it 
 possible that you have dared to talk about me with 
 Dr. Duppo?' 
 
 ' Oh, Izo ! I didn't mean to tell you, for, of 
 course, you couldn't understand. A doctor is so 
 different from anybody else ; and you must know, 
 Izo, with what a peculiar sentiment I must always 
 regard a P. and O. doctor. I don't know how to 
 express it — I might almost say a sentiment of 
 sanctity. You went with me, Izo, to the grave in 
 Hong Kong.' 
 
 ' Yes, I did,' replied Madame Izan grimly. 
 ' And I don't like graves, or dead husbands, or
 
 MADAME IZAN 215 
 
 living ones, either, or P. and O. doctors. And if 
 I did, Dr. Duppo isn't a husband — yet, at any 
 rate ; and he isn't dead in a Hong Kong grave. I 
 wish he had been, before you insulted me by taking 
 him into your confidence about my concerns.' 
 
 ' Oh, how unkind you are, Izo — how unsym- 
 pathetic !' Mrs. Bax's tears now flowed freely. 
 ' And you mustn't think that I betrayed any 
 secret ; I only spoke generally. I was terribly 
 perplexed ; my responsibility weighed upon me, 
 for Mrs. Eugarde had been speaking to me about 
 her brother. And I told her — yes, I did tell her, 
 Izo — that I must decline to pursue the subject any 
 further, because I was bound by a promise to you 
 not to discuss your private affairs with anyone.' 
 
 ' Except Dr. Duppo !' scornfully interposed 
 Madame Izan. 
 
 ' I spoke generally,' pleaded Mrs. Bax. ' It was 
 on my own account that I consulted Dr. Duppo. 
 I am very dependent upon sympathy ; I can't 
 help it — it's my nature ; I don't know how to get 
 on without it. I don't know how I should have 
 got on on the Makara unless I had received con- 
 solation from Dr. Duppo. What he said was, 
 " Don't you worry yourself, Mrs. Bax. Give her 
 her head until you get to Tokyo, where you won't 
 feel so lonely and deserted and apart from your 
 
 own countrymen." For he ' Mrs. Bax 
 
 faltered and blushed. ' I should not be at all sur-
 
 216 MADAME IZAN 
 
 prised if we found Dr. Duppo at Tokyo when we 
 got there ; it would be about time for the Makaras 
 return voyage. And he might be there for some 
 time. He — he was thinking of giving up the 
 service, and settling — perhaps going back by an 
 Empress boat. I did think it would be such a 
 comfort and satisfaction to know that there was 
 an English gentleman in this country of heathens 
 whom one could depend upon, supposing that there 
 were legal difficulties or troubles of any kind. I 
 see plainly now — if it's only by the way Yamasaki 
 looks at things — that we ought to have provided 
 ourselves with letters to the British Legation. 
 You can see for yourself how much more Japanese 
 people think of you when you have Legation 
 letters. If your uncle had been alive, he would 
 have thought of that.' 
 
 4 If my uncle had been alive — my dear, kind 
 uncle, who only wished that justice should be 
 done, and that my happiness should be secured in 
 the best way possible,' said Izo, her voice breaking 
 in an emotion that was quite unwonted in her — 
 ' if he had been alive, he would be here now to 
 protect and advise me and to save me— from you, 
 Herminia — you and your folly and disloyalty !' 
 
 ' Izo ! Oh, to say that to me, who have devoted 
 myself to you !' 
 
 ' Yes, you have, Herminia ; I'm not forgetting
 
 MADAME IZAN 217 
 
 it. You are the only woman friend I ever 
 possessed, except my dead mother. And you 
 were very kind to me in my dark days — I don't 
 deny it, and I'm grateful to you for it. I dare say 
 you thought that you were acting well by me in 
 persuading me to— you know what. But that 
 doesn't prevent you from being foolish, Herminia. 
 It was your romantic folly that wrecked me ; 
 and now — now you are adding on more folly — 
 and disloyalty as well. I shall never forgive you, 
 and I shall never trust you again.' 
 
 ' Do you mean, Izo, that you wish me to leave 
 you ?' said Mrs. Bax with an injured dignity which 
 struggled through her genuine heart-break. ' Do 
 you mean that you intend us to part company, 
 and that you will henceforth manage your affairs 
 as best you can without me ? Very well. It is 
 you who are the rich woman and the mistress. I 
 suppose that, in reality, I am nothing better than 
 your paid companion. I believe that, in such 
 case, a notice of three months of the termination 
 of the engagement is customary ; it would, in- 
 deed, be courteous. But I don't stand upon 
 such formalities,' she added witheringly. ' And 
 happily, though I may be poor in comparison with 
 such wealth as yours, I have my independence, 
 and it is a matter of no importance to me that I 
 should be stranded thus in a strange land among
 
 218 MADAME IZAN 
 
 heathen people. I have a sufficient competence to 
 cover my expenses in Japan, and to take me home 
 in comfort by the Empress line, as I had originally 
 intended. I am ready, if you wish it, Izo, to bid 
 you — good-bye.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax dissolved into sobs ; and Madame 
 Izan, really touched, went up to the poor little 
 soul, and laid her hand on her heaving shoulder. 
 
 ' You know perfectly well, Herminia, that I 
 never meant anything of the kind ; and it is 
 you now who are cruel to talk about terminations 
 of engagements, and three months' notice, and all 
 that nonsense. How could there be any such 
 ridiculous questions between you and me, and if 
 you weren't utterly foolish, they would never come 
 into your head.' 
 
 ' You s-said that you never meant to trust 
 me a-g-gain !' sobbed Herminia. 
 
 ' That is quite true,' frankly replied Madame 
 Izan. ' I don't mean ever to trust you again with 
 any secret that I don't want repeated to Dr. Duppo. 
 But that needn't hinder us from being good friends. 
 What I do want you to understand, Herminia — 
 and I was thinking about it while I sat brushing 
 my hair when you came in this evening — is that I 
 am not in the very least the girl I was in my blind 
 time five years back ; no, nor even the girl I was 
 six months ago. For I've gained something just
 
 MADAME IZAN 219 
 
 lately that I never had before — is it a soul, do you 
 fancy, or a heart, or a sense of what a woman's 
 duty may be ? Anyhow, I've altered even since 
 I landed in Japan. And I was thinking that in 
 future I must undertake my own responsibilities. 
 Why should you be responsible for me, you poor 
 little thing, who can't get on without consulting 
 Dr. Duppo, or anybody else who might come 
 handy ? No. Here I am, twenty-six years of 
 age, a helpless baby no longer. My life is mine, 
 not yours ; and I mean to manage it according to 
 my own lights. For I'm not blind now. I've 
 got my eyesight, and am every day becoming more 
 accustomed to it, and less afraid of knocking up 
 against a wall or tumbling down a precipice. And 
 my head is clear, and I can see the world — and men 
 and women in it — more as it all is, and less as I 
 fancied it should be. The feeling has come over 
 me here in Kioto that I've got to be prepared for 
 anything that may happen at Tokyo ; and that life 
 isn't just dancing round and amusing one's self 
 and seeing sights, but that I must somehow work 
 things into a scheme for myself, so as to make the 
 best of it. Well, I am going to work things out 
 all alone ; I shall not tell you as I go along what 
 conclusions I come to. You may think what you 
 please — you and Dr. Duppo, and Mr. Windeatt 
 and Mrs. Eugarde — and Yamasaki : for I have no
 
 220 MADAME IZAN 
 
 doubt that you would be very glad to consult 
 Yamasaki, perhaps as to the steps necessary for 
 winning the favour of first-class Legation people. 
 But I am not going to ask advice of anybody — 
 except, when the time comes, of one person.' 
 
 1 Izo, you don't want to tell me that one person 
 is — Kencho?' 
 
 Mrs. Bax had ceased sobbing while Izo's strange 
 eloquence had poured forth, and now stood looking 
 with bright wondering eyes at this stately and 
 transformed young woman. 
 
 ' I don't want to tell you anything whatever, 
 returned Madame Izan ; ' but I will tell you that, 
 though not Kencho, this person is one whom 
 Kencho has made me feel differently about from 
 what I felt when I started out to see the world.' 
 
 ' Is it — is it — your husband ?' asked Mrs. Bax 
 in an awe-stricken voice. 
 
 But Madame Izan turned away, and began pre- 
 paring for the night in obstinate silence. Her- 
 minia waited, still staring and overwhelmed, and 
 at last Izo condescended to go up and kiss her. 
 
 ' There, that's for bye-bye, and the seal of 
 oblivion likewise. Oh, the beautiful bell ! I'd 
 live in Japan just for the sake of the temple bells. 
 Listen, Herminia! Do Buddhists have matins, and 
 is that to call the priests ? And how much sleep 
 shall we two get before we start for Lake Biwa ?'
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 While Madame Izan and Herminia Bax were 
 establishing an amicable divergence of opinion at 
 one end of the wing at Yaami's in which the 
 party had been installed, Julia Eugarde and John 
 Windeatt, in their part of the balcony running 
 along the building, were arriving at more har- 
 monious conclusions. A late moon had arisen to 
 vie with the war illuminations, now more scattered 
 and dimmer than at the beginning, and the effect 
 of the pale orb as it shone over the sacred city 
 and great plain, in its slow mount above the girdle 
 of hills, had drawn Julia from her chamber, and 
 she had stumbled upon her brother, who was 
 leaning upon the railings smoking ruminatively. 
 
 * Moon-gazing, too?' she said. 
 
 ' Is there a moon ? Oh, I see,' he rejoined 
 absently. ' Let us sit down, Ju ; there are some 
 chairs somewhere. I'm abominably wakeful to- 
 night.' 
 
 ' So am I. I've finished my weekly instalment 
 of "Jottings."' 
 
 [ 221 ]
 
 222 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'Oh, confound the "Jottings"! It is so 
 absurd, your playing quill-driver.' 
 
 ' Well, I don't know about that,' she objected 
 amiably, placing herself in the basket-chair he had 
 drawn up for her. ' It appears to me that, as 
 a resource against boredom and ill-temper, my 
 " Jottings " are to be commended. I assure you 
 that I found them so at the Hongwanji, when you 
 and Mrs. Bax were so cross and hungry, and also 
 the other day at the Shogun's palace, while Her- 
 minia and you spent a good half-hour mournfully 
 contemplating the gold-fish in the pond from the 
 summer-house balcony, till it pleased Madame 
 Izan and Kencho to return from that mysterious 
 Cha-no-yu ceremony in Yoshimitsu's tea-house.' 
 
 ' Do you suppose they were drinking tea all 
 the time?' jealously remarked Windeatt. 'And 
 why weren't the rest of us invited ?' 
 
 ' Dear Jack, the rite of Cha-no-yu can only be 
 performed by a limited number of votaries,' sen- 
 tentiously explained Mrs. Eugarde ; ' and this 
 particular high-priest of tea is a friend of Kencho's, 
 and a highly aristocratic and first-class personage, 
 Yamasaki informs me. No doubt he would 
 consider it sacrilege to admit the common or 
 garden tourist to such hallowed observances. 
 Madame Izan, by grace of Kencho, was specially 
 favoured.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 223 
 
 1 I should very much like to know,' pursued 
 Windeatt acrimoniously, ' whether Kencho loses 
 Madame Izan on purpose.' 
 
 ' Well, I must admit that view of the matter 
 has occurred to me,' candidly observed Mrs. 
 Eugarde. ' But I suppose that Kencho wouldn't 
 lose Madame Izan unless Madame Izan did not 
 object to being lost. And, you see, Mrs. Bax 
 doesn't like Kencho, but clings to Yamasaki ; so 
 it's natural, after all, that Kencho should consider 
 his obligations limited to Madame Izan, which 
 seems satisfactory enough from his point of view. 
 We, anyhow, have no right to claim his services.' 
 
 ' I suggested to Madame Izan this evening that 
 she should send him away, and appoint me courier 
 in his stead,' said Windeatt. 
 
 'And, of course, she promptly refused to 
 entertain the suggestion. I can't say, Jack, that 
 I think it was made at an opportune moment. 
 You didn't exactly distinguish yourself in the line 
 of diplomatic courier when you knocked down 
 those two poor little Japs. We should have had 
 a row if it hadn't been for Kencho. They took 
 you and Madame Izan for Russians, and were 
 preparing to make themselves extremely disagree- 
 able.' 
 
 ' How do you know that ?' 
 
 ' Oh, I've picked up a few words of Japanese.
 
 224 MADAME IZAN 
 
 I studied Theodosia Gotch's dictionary on the 
 Makara. What has become of her, I wonder? 
 . . . Well, you didn't succeed in dislodging Kencho ?' 
 
 ' No. She laughed at the notion — said I knew 
 nothing about the real Japan, or about the 
 Shoguns and Daimios and saints and all the rest 
 of those old bounders Kencho stuffs her with. I 
 can't understand the meaning of this extraordinary 
 enthusiasm about Japan.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde was silent for a moment or two. 
 
 ' It is clear, at any rate,' she said, ' that Australian 
 squatters are not in it with Japanese Daimios. 
 What do you mean to do, Jack?' 
 
 ' I am going to challenge Fate and put all to 
 the test,' he returned melodramatically, ' and that 
 very soon. I believe she likes me, Ju — there was a 
 
 moment on the Makara ' and he sighed and 
 
 gave his great shoulders a shake as though rousing 
 himself out of a dream. ' Yes, I really do think 
 she likes me as much as she likes anyone. I 
 believe that if it weren't for Kencho and his 
 impertinent assiduities I could make some fair 
 running.' 
 
 ' I think,' said Mrs. Eugarde gravely, ' that 
 before attempting to make running, as you call it, 
 I'd find out for certain whether Madame Izan is 
 really married, and, if she is, where this mysterious 
 husband has his abiding-place.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 225 
 
 ' That's exactly what I mean to do. I'm glad 
 we're agreed so far, Ju. You have been beastly 
 unsympathetic since we landed. I mean to do it 
 on the very first opportunity. Try to make one 
 for me at Lake Biwa to-morrow.' 
 
 ' I'll try,' she answered. ' But it's rather diffi- 
 cult on these expeditions.' 
 
 ' Oh, I know that well enough,' said he. ' I 
 should have spoken before this if I had had a 
 chance. But how can I ? You know what time 
 we get in the evening — no nice balcony loungings 
 like those at Hong Kong. Then, we don't meet 
 till breakfast-time, and there's Kencho waiting 
 outside with the wraps and counting every 
 mouthful we eat through the windows. And how 
 can you propose in a jinrikisha ? And when you 
 are out of the rickshaw, and have managed to 
 shirk a temple and are enjoying the beauties of 
 Nature, one of those little men with chrysanthe- 
 mums on their caps turns up and bothers you about 
 your passport, which gives Kencho a fresh innings. 
 Then, you know how it is in the temples. Oh, Lord, 
 how sick I am of temples ! Some Buddha that is 
 degenerate, or not degenerate ! As if it mattered ! 
 And as if one wanted Kencho's opinions on the 
 subject. Or else some hideous screen or kakemono 
 that Hokusai or Hideyoshi painted.' 
 
 'Not Hideyoshi, Jack. He wasn't a painter.' 
 
 J 5
 
 226 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' Whatever he may have been, he is a most 
 confounded nuisance ; and I don't intend to stand 
 him any longer. I shall be thankful when we get 
 to Miyanoshita. Yamasaki says there are no 
 temples there, which is something to be thankful 
 for. When are they going to Miyanoshita, Ju ? 
 Have you heard ?' 
 
 ' Mrs. Bax was talking about it yesterday. 
 She thinks they will stop at Kioto another fort- 
 night. You see, one has a great deal to do here 
 yet. There's Osaka, and there's Nara, and there 
 are the Rapids to be shot. I do think, Jack, 
 as far as I can make out from the guide - book, 
 that you might manage to give Kencho the slip, 
 and lose yourself with Madame Izan in the groves 
 of Nara.' 
 
 ' It will have to come off before that,' declared 
 Windeatt resolutely. ' I can't stand the suspense. 
 I shall challenge Fate to-morrow.' 
 
 And somehow, in the earlier part of the next 
 day's expedition, it seemed as though Fate were 
 going to smile on the young man's wishes. First, 
 at the breakfast-table, it struck Windeatt that 
 there was an indefinable difference in Madame 
 Izan's air and manner. She was paler than her 
 wont, and looked timid and faintly distressed ; 
 indeed, he noticed particularly just now that 
 there had gone from her much of that exuberant
 
 MADAME IZAN 227 
 
 vitality and goddess-irresponsibility which had so 
 struck him in Hong Kong. The notion occurred 
 to him that since that first meeting she had been 
 gradually becoming more the woman, and turning 
 back to his Undine theory concerning her, his 
 sore soul took comfort in these signs of feminine 
 weakness and perturbation. He fancied that she, 
 too, in the watches of the night must have been 
 reviewing the events of the last few weeks and 
 making up her mind as to a certain course of 
 conduct. Perhaps she was beginning to see that a 
 man's heart is not the most convenient implement 
 with which to play battledore and shuttlecock. 
 Certainly, he said to himself, there was a sweet 
 resolution in the tightening of her beautiful lips 
 and a strange suggestion of high heroism in the 
 set of her head and in the gaze of her brown eyes, 
 which had, too, a tinge of sadness. She was 
 rather silent, made no small jokes with Herminia, 
 and did not issue little edicts for the day in her 
 pretty imperious fashion. Nor did she make any 
 show of interest in what they were going to see, 
 or inquire as usual the result of Mrs. Eugarde's 
 nightly study of Murray and Dresser and other 
 Japanese authorities, which it was the habit of 
 that literary lady to retail at breakfast for the 
 benefit of lazier members of the party. But she 
 smiled very graciously, and penitently, too, he 
 
 15—2
 
 228 MADAME IZAN 
 
 fancied, upon him, and delivered over into his 
 charge her little field-glasses, which was a tacit 
 permission that he might consider himself her 
 escort. Further, to his surprise and joy, she 
 took no notice of Kencho, who waited in the 
 garden with her wraps, but laid her hand on 
 his — Windeatt's — arm to steady her steps down 
 the uneven stairway, and allowed him to put her 
 into her rickshaw and to fasten the apron over 
 her dress. 
 
 But it was not very far they went now in the 
 rickshaws, not farther than to the canal bank, 
 where a boat was awaiting them — a sort of gondola 
 which had a wooden canopy and paper lanterns 
 wobbling from the roof, and an oarsman at the 
 prow. They put themselves on the floor of the 
 sampan on mats and cushions, Yamasaki and 
 Kencho taking places further forward, and so 
 glided along the narrow waterway. Now, through 
 a plain bordered by green slopes which were 
 patched with blossoming azaleas and the dark 
 green of firs, with the crinkled roof of a pagoda 
 here and there, or a barbaric gateway, showing 
 through the serrated pine-tops ; now by a gray 
 village, set in the hill - bend, or among bamboo 
 thickets, or now between high banks gorgeous 
 and perfumy with pink azaleas. There were 
 many other sampans and barges, in some of them
 
 MADAME IZAN 
 
 229 
 
 gay pleasure-parties making music with song and 
 samisen. Windeatt wanted to get out and walk 
 along the towing-path, hinting to Madame Izan 
 that there would be a fine opportunity for putting 
 the Kodak to its uses. But she shook her head, 
 and, silent and preoccupied, leaned back with half- 
 closed eyes against the side of the sampan, her hat 
 in her lap, and the wind playing at will among 
 the classic coils of her hair, which Windeatt 
 admired so much. 
 
 ' I am afraid you tired yourself last night,' he 
 said, bending nearer and arranging her cushions 
 with the most tender solicitude. 
 
 ' No,' she answered ; ' but I think that I should 
 like to go on like this for ever and ever, just 
 dreaming one's life away,' which seemed a strange 
 sentiment for Madame Izan to give forth. 
 
 Presently there appeared in front of them a 
 cavernous mouth in the side of an azalea-clad hill 
 which blocked the stream. The sampan darted in, 
 and now its occupants were plunged into the Cim- 
 merian gloom of that long underground canal which 
 pierces the mountains between Kioto and Otsu. 
 Yamasaki lighted the paper lamp which hung 
 from the edge of the canopy, but it gave so feeble 
 a glimmer as scarcely to make a luminous spot in 
 the blackness — blackness above and beside, dense, 
 noxious, sending out damp drippings and un-
 
 230 MADAME IZAN 
 
 wholesome exhalations, while below spread a more 
 shining blackness of turgid water, with lurid gleams 
 upon it as of suns in eclipse, made by the lantern 
 reflections of moving craft. Slowly and phan- 
 tasmally these glided by, each with its flickering 
 light, blotted out every moment or so by the 
 swaying form of a man at prow or stern, bending 
 to and fro over his oar. Now a barge of mer- 
 chandise appeared and disappeared, more redly 
 illuminated, the naked figures of the rowers giving 
 the suggestion of a demoniac crew ; and now 
 a little ghost gondola, as it seemed. And how 
 strange and unearthly sounded the wailing music 
 from a pleasure-boat ! And had the samisen ever 
 twanged so eerily as here, with its echoes given 
 back from the brick walls and vibrating through 
 the murk ? Yes ; it was rather a Stygian sort of 
 business, and lasted the length of nearly three 
 miles. 
 
 Madame Izan's easily wrought imagination was 
 impressed by it. She shivered and gave a little cry 
 of alarm as the monster shape of a sampan laden 
 with cylinders of rice, and its big red eye winking, 
 loomed close to her elbow. Involuntarily her 
 frightened hand groped out, and, as might that of 
 a nervous child, yielded itself with comforting 
 trust into the man's strong grasp which closed 
 round it. She did not want to withdraw her
 
 MADAME IZAN 231 
 
 hand, though, no doubt, she had scarcely expected 
 it would be thus seized. 
 
 Not a word was spoken. How could Windeatt 
 speak when Herminia and Julia Eugarde were 
 within a few inches of them? But surely the 
 longing and the devotion which expressed itself in 
 that warm enfoldment — surging up in him and 
 setting his pulses to a quick throb — must have 
 thrilled through Madame Izan ; and surely, too, 
 it did not vex or appal her, for he could feel the 
 fluttering of those bird-like fingers stilled as 
 under a quiet contentment, and he knew that if 
 she had been beset by any vague girl-tremors or 
 disquieting emotions, this firm, caressing clasp was 
 doing something towards their assuagement. 
 
 It might have been a quarter of an hour — a 
 blissful quarter of an hour to Windeatt — that her 
 hand rested thus in his. By-and-by, a small silver 
 half-moon came in sight afar off at the end of the 
 passage, and this widened a little till a soft dawn 
 rose upon the night of the canal. Gently Madame 
 Izan took away her hand ; but was it before Julia 
 Eugarde's sharp eyes had noticed the caress, or 
 before another pair of eyes further down the 
 boat had seen it as well ? And did the other 
 eyes observe also that Izo's withdrawal was not 
 done angrily, but even with a kind of tender 
 lingering — a suggestion of regret?
 
 232 MADAME IZAN 
 
 There is no excuse whatever to be made for 
 Madame Izan, beyond this, that, in her curious 
 childlikeness, she did not realize the significance 
 of what she had done. To Windeatt it seemed 
 that the long pressure had established an under- 
 standing between them, and that now he might 
 hope as audaciously as he pleased. She must know 
 from it that he loved her, and, had she wished to 
 rebuff him, it would have been easy for her to 
 show her displeasure. But she had not done so, 
 and he might draw his own inferences. More- 
 over, when they emerged into the broad daylight 
 of the lake, and his eyes, full of daring entreaty, 
 met hers, her brown orbs did not shoot out fires of 
 wrath, but had in them a dreamy consciousness as 
 of newly-awakened feeling, and lowered in maidenly 
 manner, while a delicate blush suffused her cheek. 
 All this was sufficient warrant for Windeatt's eager 
 whisper to his sister as they alighted at the tea- 
 house, where they were to have luncheon. 
 
 ' Ju, you must try and manage my opportunity 
 for me, somehow. It is a favourable moment. I 
 am sure — at least, I hope — that she likes me a 
 little.' 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde looked at him in some consterna- 
 tion, her ideas of propriety startled by this 
 unexpected development. She had been so 
 convinced that Izo was quite indifferent to her
 
 MADAME IZAN 233 
 
 brother. But she was a sensible woman, and of 
 Lady Macbeth's opinion, that, if things had to be 
 done, it were better for them to be done without 
 shilly - shallying. And then, besides, she had all 
 the interest of the professional novelist in an 
 impending crisis. 
 
 ' All right,' she said ; ' I'll do my very best. 
 But it's no use trying till we get to Miidera 
 temple. I'll see if I can't pull it off there. I 
 don't suppose it's possible at the tea-house.' 
 
 That was a sweet little house, all brown and 
 scented, with a bewilderingly complicated doll's 
 garden, and queer little balconies connected by cross- 
 bridges. It seemed a most appropriate setting for 
 a love scene, till the proudly tripping nesan ushered 
 them into a room with a hideous striped Kidder- 
 minster carpet, and abominable chairs in rep, 
 and a German-gilt chimney-glass, to which Yama- 
 saki complacently called attention as furnished 
 ' European way.' Then all the romance of the 
 Japanese garden and of the dainty nesans was 
 gone, and there was nothing to do but unpack 
 the flat boxes and china pots, in which their 
 luncheon was stowed, and to uncork the wine 
 from Yaami's, in which proceedings Kencho took 
 the lead with a strange grimness, and in absolute 
 silence. Presently the nesans came back again with a 
 smoking omelet and some coffee, and Kencho was
 
 234 MADAME IZAN 
 
 about to withdraw. But the nesans did not want 
 to go ; they were far too interested in these 
 European women — in their bracelets and gewgaws, 
 and the fashions of their dress, and, beyond all, in 
 the beauty of Madame Izan. They stroked her 
 garments, and went round behind her chair to 
 examine her hair, babbling softly to each other, 
 and smiling artlessly at Kencho. 
 
 ' Yuroshi !' they exclaimed, in an ecstasy of 
 feminine delight. ' Yuroshi ! ichi ban !' 
 
 And Izo, with corresponding simplicity, appealed 
 also to Kencho : ' I wish you would explain to me 
 why they always say " Yuroshi !" when they look 
 at me,' she said. 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde laughed, and so did Herminia, 
 more loudly. She had recovered from her 
 depression of the previous evening, and looked 
 upon the quarrel with her friend as wiped out by 
 the forgiving good-night. 
 
 ' Oh dear, Izo, you are too funny ! Fancy 
 your not having discovered by this time what 
 " Yuroshi " means !' 
 
 ' I meant to look, and forgot,' she answered. 
 ' Please tell me, Mr. Kencho.' 
 
 The guide seemed to hesitate, and then said, in 
 an odd, repressed voice, and with a slight and 
 formal bow : 
 
 ' It is an expression of admiration.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 235 
 
 Madame Izan blushed, and, struck by his 
 manner, looked at him, as if to ask what was the 
 matter. But he moved to the door, again making 
 the deferential gesture, which, with its blend of 
 the Japanese, seemed a sort of shadow of Yama- 
 saki's elaborate obeisance on entering and quitting 
 the presence of his employers. 
 
 ' Madame will probably be ready to set off for 
 the great pine at Karasaki in about half an hour. 
 I shall be here then to take orders,' he said, and 
 departed. 
 
 Herminia, who announced herself as ravenous, 
 spread out one of the sheets of rice-paper pro- 
 vided with the luncheon-boxes, remarking : 
 
 1 Why don't we have rice-paper napkins in 
 England?' 
 
 ' Because there's no rice,' said Windeatt. 
 
 ' Yamasaki,' irrelevantly exclaimed Herminia, 
 arresting the little man in his progress towards 
 the door, ' what makes Kencho so different from 
 you other Japanese?' 
 
 Yamasaki was evidently not quite sure as to 
 whether he ought to feel offended at this rough 
 generalization. He screwed up his little eyes with 
 a ' would an 1 could ' expression, and answered 
 stiffly : 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho not same as commercial Japanese. 
 Mr. Kencho, he very high-class learn — European
 
 236 MADAME IZAN 
 
 education. Mr. Kencho have high-class friends in 
 Tokyo. There, all European custom.' 
 
 ' Well, I should really like to know what the 
 mystery is about Mr. Kencho ; and so would you, 
 I am sure, Mr. Windeatt, for I am certain there is 
 a mystery. No, you needn't look cross with me, 
 Izo. I suppose it is not exactly unlawful for me 
 to wish to satisfy a natural curiosity. Now, 
 Yamasaki, if Mr. Kencho is so very high-class 
 and has such high-class friends in Tokyo, why 
 don't he earn his living in a more high-class way 
 than going out as a guide to European tourists, 
 whom he despises? Now, you know he does 
 despise us, Yamasaki.' 
 
 Yamasaki shook his head. Perhaps he had 
 already mooted to himself the problem, without 
 finding any satisfactory solution thereto. Perhaps 
 he had suspicions which he did not want to dis- 
 close to Mrs. Bax, Kencho having an honourable 
 claim as his own countryman, and Herminia not 
 entirely representing to his mind the European 
 equivalent of a first-class or otherwise ' Daimio ' 
 lady. Perhaps he knew the truth, and was bound 
 over to secrecy. He politely evaded Mrs. Bax's 
 second accusation, and, anyhow, there was no 
 getting more out of Yamasaki. 
 
 Nor did Windeatt find an opportunity at the 
 tea-house for putting the important question to
 
 MADAME IZAN 237 
 
 Madame Izan. He was, however, consoled by 
 observing that she avoided meeting his eyes, and 
 that, when forced to do so, the same delicate flush 
 which had been revealed by the glare of the lake 
 after the obscurity of the canal again mantled her 
 pale cheek. So he possessed his soul in what 
 patience he had at command during the rickshaw 
 course along the banks of Biwa, and their inspec- 
 tion of the Karasaki pine, which, as everybody 
 knows, is one of the wonders of Japan. After- 
 wards, while Madame Izan accomplished her usual 
 purchases of local products, and Windeatt started 
 the small boys diving for copper coins, Mrs. 
 Eugarde, in part fulfilment of the mission with 
 which her brother had charged her, made an ex- 
 cuse for drawing apart with Kencho. 
 
 The guide had been following Madame Izan 
 with his eyes, as she moved away by the side of 
 Windeatt. It was always a little difficult to judge 
 the expression of Kencho's face, so large an area 
 of it did the blue goggles cover ; but Julia Eugarde, 
 who had a professional aptitude in her notice ot 
 trifles, was struck by the drawn, pained curve of his 
 mouth showing beneath his dark moustache, which, 
 in contrast to his silvery hair, gave not a trace 
 of gray. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho,' said Julia ; ' Mrs. Bax and 
 Madame Izan have got Yamasaki to look after
 
 238 MADAME IZAN 
 
 them, and I wanted to ask you a question or two 
 about the sights of Lake Biwa and the Miidera 
 temple.' 
 
 Kencho gave her a startled glance, but made 
 her his little formal bow. Mrs. Eugarde deliber- 
 ately seated herself on one of the red-blanket- 
 covered platforms by the Pilgrims' Pine, and 
 motioned him to take a place by her. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho,' she began, ' Mount Hieyzan 
 is a sacred mountain, isn't it, and the scene of 
 all kinds of romantic stories? And isn't Lake 
 Biwa famous in Japanese history ? And I wanted 
 to ask if there isn't a most delightful forest all 
 round the Miidera temple — a fascinating place to 
 wander in.' 
 
 Kencho dutifully launched into an account of 
 the traditions of Hieyzan, at which Mrs. Eugarde 
 chafed a little. 
 
 ' Yes, of course — that is in Murray ; and I know 
 about the castle of Hikone and the eight sights of 
 Lake Biwa.' 
 
 ' To see the eight famous sights of Lake Biwa, 
 madame, time is needed. No doubt you, being a 
 writer yourself, would feel an interest in the 
 memorials of our famous novelist Murusaki 
 Shikibu ' 
 
 ' Yes, yes ' 
 
 ' And the Miidera temple, where we are going?
 
 MADAME IZAN 239 
 
 Probably, too, you know all about Hidesato's 
 bell, and Benkei who stole the bell ?' 
 
 ' Ah, that is very interesting ; and I am certain 
 madame would like to walk to the tower of 
 Benkei's bell, and to explore the forest roundabout. 
 In fact, I believe that my brother has been reading 
 up Benkei on purpose to explain it all. And do 
 you think, Mr. Kencho, that they would have any 
 difficulty in finding their way to Benkei's tower, 
 supposing they started there alone — without a 
 guide, you know ?' 
 
 Kencho did not answer for a moment ; he was 
 pondering, perhaps, the bearings of this innocent 
 question. 
 
 ' It is not a difficult path to find, madame.' 
 
 ' Because, Mr. Kencho,' went on Julia boldly, 
 ' you are always so careful, you know, of Madame 
 Izan — and quite rightly — that sometimes my 
 brother, who made great friends with her on the 
 Makara, where he used to be her escort in her 
 deck walks, is apt to feel himself a little out in the 
 cold, and to be just a wee bit cross. You must 
 have noticed that.' 
 
 ' Yes, I have noticed that Mr. Windeatt resents 
 my presence in the performance of my duties to 
 Madame Izan.' 
 
 ' Very silly, isn't it ? but one has to make 
 allowances for young people. Yes, he is put out
 
 2 4 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 sometimes because of the few opportunities he 
 seems to get now — compared with the Makara 
 time — for talking in a confidential manner to 
 Madame Izan. Two is company, anyhow — isn't 
 it, Mr. Kencho ? — and three is not. And we shall 
 be parting company very soon now, and to-day 
 may be the last chance he will have of discussing 
 with Madame Izan a — some private matter that 
 was opened between them on board the Makara. 
 And so ' — Mrs. Eugarde faltered, a little discon- 
 certed by the steady glare of Kencho's goggles and 
 by his absolute immobility — ' and so, you see, 
 Mr. Kencho, I'm treating you like a friend, and 
 asking you to let him have the chance I've 
 promised to try and manage for him to-day.' 
 
 Kencho made another obeisance, which was 
 more elaborate in character and most distinctly 
 Japanese. 
 
 ' I am under the orders of Madame Izan, and, 
 subject to these, at Mrs. Eugarde's service.' 
 
 ' But, Mr. Kencho, these are not Madame Izan's 
 orders. How could she give orders on such a 
 matter to you ?' 
 
 ' To me !' Julia could not fail to remark an 
 underlying and curious bitterness in the guide's 
 tone. ' That is true. I am Madame Izan's 
 servant.' 
 
 ' Oh no, Mr. Kencho ; I am certain that she
 
 MADAME IZAN 24.1 
 
 regards you as her friend. And, if you will allow 
 me, so do I. And this is just a friendly hint, 
 which you must look upon as a sort of secret 
 between you and me.' 
 
 ' It shall be so considered.' 
 
 There was a silence, during which Kencho stared 
 out on the waters of the lake, and Mrs. Eugarde 
 appeared absorbed in the ascent of a pilgrim to the 
 shrine in the trunk of the great pine. 
 
 \6
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 That was how it came about that Windeatt 
 and Madame Izan found themselves pacing quite 
 alone together the sacred groves of Miidera, and 
 deeply grateful did the Australian feel to his sister, 
 who had accomplished for him this strategical 
 feat. 
 
 And could there be an atmosphere more pro- 
 pitious to a favourable hearing of love avowals 
 than this dreamy, scented atmosphere of Japan? 
 or any background more harmonious than the 
 forest of ancient pine and camphor trees that 
 closed them round, with its picturesque pavilions 
 and altars set here and there along the winding 
 way, and its little avenues of venerable lanterns — 
 votive offerings of the faithful, and all hoary with 
 lichen or green with moss — which they were con- 
 tinually threading ? Or could one have a view 
 more inspiring and beautiful than those glints 
 through the trees of Biwa's blue waters below, 
 their surface dotted with the white sails of sampans, 
 while along the slope the curved pagoda roofs and 
 
 [ 242 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 243 
 
 gray terraces, the strange gateways, and lacquer 
 ornamentation of the temple, showed in patches 
 among the greenery? 
 
 Madame Izan loved Nature, and all fair sights 
 and tender sounds, and when brought immediately 
 under the influence of these, quickly recovered 
 the childish gaiety which occasionally she lost, 
 if worried by the affairs of ordinary life. Now 
 she drew in deep relieved breaths of the perfumy 
 air ; her dark eyes glowed, her head reared itself 
 back in the old triumphant goddess fashion, and 
 never did Venus of old smile more sweetly and 
 enticingly upon her adorers. The smile turned 
 Windeatt's head. 
 
 ' Izo !' he cried ; and she turned with a start, 
 the ardour of his gaze checking her inconsequent 
 chatter, and arresting her in her buoyant climb up 
 the steep track. She blushed, and gave a helpless 
 look down through the mazes of foliage. 
 
 ' I don't think we ought to be going on so fast, 
 Mr. Windeatt. Where is everybody else ? And 
 I don't believe you have the least idea where the 
 famous bell lives. Really, I shouldn't like to get 
 lost on Mount Hievzan.' 
 
 • You can't do that,' he said, ' with the temple 
 down there for a sign-post ; and, besides, I'm 
 looking after you.' 
 
 ' But please don't forget that I refused your 
 
 16 — 2
 
 244 MADAME IZAN 
 
 obliging offer to engage yourself as my Japanese 
 courier.' 
 
 ' Well, I am your Japanese courier during this 
 little act, anyhow,' he answered ; ' for the others, 
 thank Heaven ! are safely got rid of for the 
 moment. And J mean to make the most of my 
 chance, Madame Izan. It's the first you've given 
 me of talking to you — seriously — since — since we 
 were on the Makara.' 
 
 ' It seems to me,' replied Madame Izan, with a 
 slightly embarrassed laugh, ' that I get a great 
 deal of your conversation one way and another. 
 Really, Mr. Windeatt, you are quite rude to 
 Herminia, and you neglect Mrs. Eugarde shame- 
 fully, and all just because you are so kind in 
 talking to me while we are on our expeditions 
 together.' 
 
 ' Oh ! with Kencho three steps behind, listening 
 to every word I say ! No, thank you ; that's not 
 the kind of talking I mean, and that I want. It's 
 now or never, Izo ; and you've got to listen to me.' 
 
 She laughed again at his bantering imperious- 
 ness. He could see, with joy, that to this tall, 
 stately, and rather wilful young woman there was 
 something pleasant in the affectation on his part 
 of mastery. And, in truth, as Izo shot a glance 
 at him standing there by her side, big, self-con- 
 fident, persuasive, and splendidly handsome, she
 
 MADAME IZAN 245 
 
 would have been less than woman and more than 
 goddess had he made no impression upon her 
 heart. Greatly daring, he put out his hand and 
 took hers in a warm, firm clasp, leading her up a 
 broken flight of steps, through some scattered 
 lanterns, to a drinking - fountain hung with 
 pilgrims' banners, and with little heaps of pebbles 
 all round it, which supplicants had tossed in test 
 of a response to sundry and various petitions. 
 Irreverently he cleared a place on the raised stone 
 platform. 
 
 ' Now, we are going to sit here for a little while, 
 and talk as I want to talk,' he said, ' which doesn't 
 mean banalities. Oh, Izo, my dearest ' 
 
 He still held her hand. She tried to take it 
 away, but he was tenderly persistent. 
 
 ' You let me hold it in the darkness of the 
 canal with all the others close to us,' he urged. 
 'Why not here, where we are alone together?' 
 
 ' It was so gloomy in the canal, I was 
 frightened.' 
 
 ' And involuntarily you stretched out to me for 
 protection, because I, who care for you so much, 
 seemed the natural person to give it. I knew 
 that, and in the knowledge I was so happy. 
 That was what I had wished and hoped for. And 
 ever since, I have felt that we belong to each 
 other. Oh, if I could only have made you under-
 
 246 MADAME IZAN 
 
 stand then how my whole heart thrilled to your 
 touch, and how ' — his voice lowered — ' how I 
 thought of that blessed moment in the fog on the 
 Makara when I had you close — as close as though 
 we were never more to be divided ; and how I 
 would have given everything for that to be true, 
 everything in the world.' Then, frightened at 
 his own temerity, he paused dumb-stricken for a 
 second. 
 
 ' Everything in the world,' she repeated dreamily; 
 and it was as if she, too, were under the spell of 
 emotion. ' Everything in the world.' 
 
 ' What is the world to me without you ?' cried 
 the young man. * If it hadn't been for the others, 
 I'd have taken you there in the canal, in the dark- 
 ness and strangeness, and I'd have held you again 
 in my arms close — close, and I'd have given you 
 many, many kisses — dear kisses — Izo.' 
 
 And this venturesome young man did in very 
 fact now draw her to his breast and kiss her, not 
 too boldly or hotly, but at first much as he might 
 have kissed his sister after some great danger 
 shared together, or after a parting of long 
 y ears — most tenderly and most respectfully. And 
 perhaps it was because of that tender deference 
 that she did not spurn him in anger, but allowed 
 him to hold her thus, with her head against his 
 serge-clad shoulder and her cheek upturned, his
 
 MADAME IZAN 247 
 
 fair beard brushing it. She was not thinking of 
 Windeatt as her lover or as her possible husband — 
 indeed, she was a strange, sexless sort of creature, 
 this Izo, to whom men did not appeal after that 
 fashion — but as someone strong and comforting 
 and devoted — her best friend, that was how she 
 liked to put it, someone whose affection would 
 take away the feeling of loneliness and insecurity 
 she had had since her quarrel with Herminia, and 
 who would perhaps help and advise her in the 
 complicated and forlorn position she had put off 
 facing, with the same silly instinct as that which 
 makes an ostrich fancy itself unnoticed when its 
 head is buried in the sand, but which now, as 
 Tokyo loomed nearer and nearer on her horizon, 
 she would be obliged to meet on her own re- 
 sponsibility. 
 
 ' You are very good to me,' she said with 
 grateful accents ; ' and, oh, Mr. Windeatt, I have 
 been so miserable ! I don't know what has come 
 to me lately. I can't put things away now as I 
 did. I used to be able always to make myself 
 happy in the passing hour while the sun was 
 shining and the birds singing and life was beauti- 
 ful. But now there seems a weight upon me, and 
 I haven't the power to shake it off. If I forget 
 for a little while, it comes back again. And last 
 night I felt so lonely, I cried half the night
 
 248 MADAME IZAN 
 
 through. Oh, I do want a friend ! I've got no 
 one, neither man nor woman, upon whom I can 
 rely — no one since uncle died. Ah ! Mr. Windeatt, 
 you did mean what you said, didn't you? And you 
 will be my friend, my real friend, my best friend?' 
 
 This was not the response Windeatt had hoped 
 for, and, infinitely as he was touched, it quenched 
 slightly the flame of his love. He had been 
 gazing down upon her lips — those Diana lips, 
 curved like a bow, so tempting to the young man 
 and yet so curiously virginal. He longed to press 
 his own upon them and drink in their sweetness 
 in long kisses ; but somehow, notwithstanding her 
 tender trust and the gladness, even, with which she 
 allowed him to enfold her by his embracing arms, 
 he felt instinctively the lack of any answering 
 thrill in her, and dared not obey his ardent im- 
 pulse. 
 
 1 Izo,' he said, 'of course I am your friend — 
 your real and best friend. But I want to be some- 
 thing more besides — something much more than 
 a friend — something which means friendship and 
 everything sweeter and dearer as well.' 
 
 She trembled a little, and, for all her stately 
 proportions, he had the fancy of her as a startled 
 bird, fluttering with vague uneasiness, and yet with a 
 half-confidence, in the hold of some kindly captor. 
 Then, in an appealing manner, looking up at him
 
 MADAME IZAN 249 
 
 the while, as if to deprecate his wrath, she slowly 
 unwound, one by one, the fingers of his right hand 
 which were clasped round her left hand, and 
 smoothed them out on his knee ; and having 
 performed this action, she removed his other hand 
 from about her waist, and drew herself a little apart 
 from him. 
 
 'Why is that, Izo ?' he asked sorrowfully. 
 'You did not seem to mind at first. Are you 
 angry with me for what I said?' 
 
 ' I had forgotten,' she answered — ' forgotten 
 that you arejyoa, and that I am /, and that we are 
 not related to each other in the very least, and 
 have no right at all to be — to be on terms so 
 affectionate. I was thinking all the time of my 
 dear uncle O'Halloran, who was always so tender 
 to me. Often, while I was still in my blindness — 
 and of course afterwards — he would gather me up 
 beside him, as if I had been a little child, and 
 croon over me, and call me pet names, and stroke 
 my hair and hold my hand in his, as you were 
 doing a few moments ago.' 
 
 Windeatt did not relish the comparison, which 
 under the conditions seemed certainly comic 
 enough. He gave an irritated, perplexed little 
 laugh. 
 
 ' 1 don't believe that you are a woman at all ; 
 and if you are a woman, and not a fay, there never
 
 250 MADAME IZAN 
 
 was one in the world like you. How can you put 
 our relation on the same level as that in which you 
 stood to your uncle O'Halloran? The thing is 
 ludicrous. He might have been your father — 
 and I ' 
 
 'You seem to me,' she answered simply, 'just 
 what my brother might have been, if I had had a 
 brother.' 
 
 ' Oh no, indeed !' he exclaimed. ' That is not at 
 all what I meant or what I wish. I was a stranger 
 to you till we met in Hong Kong.' 
 
 ' And Uncle O'Halloran was a stranger till he 
 came quite suddenly and took me away from 
 Aunt Sophia and from all my wretchedness.' 
 
 ' But he was an old man — gray-haired — a 
 patriarch. The instant you saw him, you must 
 have felt quite differently towards him from what 
 you might feel towards me.' 
 
 ' Ah,' she said, ' you forget. I never saw uncle 
 till a few months before he died.' 
 
 He was remorseful instantly. 
 
 ' My poor darling ! That's what is so pathetic 
 about you. And that's what makes you so abso- 
 lutely unlike all other women. But now, Izo — 
 now, you understand life as it is, and you must 
 see how dearly I love you — in quite another fashion. 
 You must know that the great hope and longing 
 of my heart is to win you for my wife.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 251 
 
 ' But that is impossible,' she replied gravely. 
 ' I have tried to make you realize the impossibility ; 
 but evidently you cannot, or will not, without my 
 telling you the whole truth. I had not wanted to 
 do that until I had got to Tokyo, where I shall 
 know better how I am situated.' 
 
 ' Do you mean,' he cried, ' that you have reason 
 to believe your husband is alive?' 
 
 ' I mean that he is alive.' 
 
 ' So you are really a married woman ?' 
 
 1 1 never pretended that I was not. Only I did 
 not wish to talk about it. Am I not called 
 Madame Izan?' 
 
 ' That is certainly true ; and I suppose that I 
 was an insane idiot to imagine, as I half did, that 
 you, a girl, were, for some private reason of your 
 own, masquerading under the style and dignity of 
 a married woman. This, or that you were a young 
 widow, separated from your husband at the church 
 door, which was, and is, the only theory I can 
 reconcile with you and the fact of your marriage.' 
 
 ' Perhaps it is a true theory. It was — it is 
 rather like that,' she answered hesitatingly. 
 
 ' I knew it. You are no more a married 
 woman, in the real sense, than those Japanese 
 babies down there ;' and he flung a pebble in the 
 direction of a far lower level, visible through a 
 rift in the foliage, a white road winding round the
 
 252 MADAME IZAN 
 
 hillside, where a company of Japanese children 
 were flying kites. ' If there was a ceremony, you 
 were in some way imposed upon, and it means 
 nothing. I know it, and you know it too. Why, 
 I have your word, and it was because of that I 
 didn't believe Ju's assertions, which she founded on 
 mysterious hints Mrs. Bax gave her. You told me 
 yourself on the Makara that you were free, and 
 that nobody in the world had any claim upon you.' 
 
 ' 1 don't think I ought to have said that, though 
 I believed then that I was free. And I am free 
 in my sense, though not perhaps in yours. I am 
 rich and dependent on nobody, and I can go where 
 I please and do what I choose. For my husband 
 would never claim nor control me against my will 
 — even supposing that he had the power legally 
 to do so.' 
 
 ' Then, there's a doubt about the legality of it 
 all ?' 
 
 ' Oh, I don't know — they say not — that isn't 
 the question. If uncle had lived, everything 
 would have been made clear. But he died just 
 as we were going to start for England — died 
 quite suddenly, and without having been able to 
 go properly into the matter.' 
 
 ' And your husband,' went on Windeatt, ' if he 
 is your husband? Where is he ? And what 
 has getting to Tokyo to do with him ? Are you
 
 MADAME IZAN 253 
 
 expecting to meet him there ? Is he as they said 
 — somebody on board said it — is he in the Russian 
 Legation ?' 
 
 1 Oh no.' 
 
 ' Is he at Tokyo?' 
 
 ' Yes,' she answered gravely. 
 
 ' Then, in Heaven's name, what is he doing 
 there, and what is his nationality?' 
 
 ' He is a Japanese.' 
 
 * A Japanese ! Good God !' 
 
 There was a silence. Windeatt stared down the 
 hill at the little kite-flyers in an angry horror, as 
 though they were responsible for the fact that 
 Madame Izan's husband was of their race. He 
 took up a handful of the pilgrims' pebbles and 
 sent them, one by one, crashing against an ancient 
 stone lantern some few paces distant. Then he 
 turned almost with wrath to Madame Izan : 
 
 * I can't stand this uncertainty. I've waited for 
 you to explain affairs, because I thought it rather 
 a caddish thing to harry you with questions. But 
 I must know the truth now. It is my right — the 
 right of a man who loves you honourably and 
 devotedly. I will not be played with and deceived 
 any longer. Tell me everything straight out, Izo.' 
 
 His masterfulness, as usual, had an effect upon 
 her which all his tenderness and his entreaties 
 failed to produce. She was, after all, a very weak
 
 254 MADAME IZAN 
 
 and impressionable young woman, and probably it 
 would have been easy enough for Windeatt, had 
 he been granted time and opportunity, to make 
 her in love with him as he would have wished her 
 to be in love. 
 
 ' I did mean to tell you ; and please do not be 
 angry. You will forgive me when you know all 
 about things, and will put the other thoughts out 
 of your mind, as I wanted you to do. I never 
 wished to deceive you. It is my friend that I 
 wanted you to be always, and that I want you to 
 be now — the man-counseller of whom I am, 
 indeed, sorely in need.' 
 
 * That may not be quite so easy for me as you 
 think,' he said grimly. ' You women have a queer 
 knack of asking hard things from the men who 
 love you. Well, I'll do my best to come up to 
 your expectations, however it may all end. Only 
 begin : let me have the whole tale.' 
 
 She did begin immediately, and with no beating 
 round the bush. ' You know, for I told you,' she 
 said, ' all about my blindness, and how I lived a 
 lonely, neglected orphan with Aunt Sophia. If 
 you had ever known Aunt Sophia, you would 
 understand my eagerness to take any way of 
 escape from her that was offered me. It really was 
 a terrible life. I never realized how terrible till 
 somebody did come and take me away from it.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 255 
 
 Windeatt gave an incoherent murmur of in- 
 dignant sympathy. 
 
 * Well, then, you know about Herminia — how 
 she lived next door, and made friends with me after 
 the poisoning of my cat. I told you about that.' 
 
 ' Yes, you told me about that.' 
 
 * Herminia was extremely romantic, as I see 
 now. It was not long after Mr. Bax died. The 
 dream of Herminia's life was to go out to Hong 
 Kong and see his grave, and visit all the places 
 he had sailed to and from. She loved the East, 
 and especially China and Japan, for it was on this 
 line of boats that Mr. Bax served. That seems 
 odd, doesn't it ? I do truly think that Herminia 
 will end by marrying Dr. Duppo.' 
 
 Windeatt laughed impatiently. The loves of 
 Herminia and Dr. Duppo were ludicrously outside 
 the question. 
 
 'So,' pursued Izo, 'it was not at all surprising 
 that, when a young Japanese gentleman came to 
 lodge in the same house, she should be deeply 
 interested in him.' 
 
 ' A young Japanese gentleman !' repeated Win- 
 deatt. 
 
 ' His name was Izan Shirazaka.' 
 
 ' Shirazaka !' 
 
 ' Yes. Why ? Do you know anything about 
 him ?'
 
 256 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' No. of course not ; but I saw something in 
 the Kobe Chronicle about a Shirazaka having been 
 ennobled by the Emperor the other day for ser- 
 vices in connection with the Chinese War. He 
 lent a ship, or built a railway, or presented a 
 powder magazine, or something — I forget what. 
 Anyhow, he is now Viscount Shirazaka, and I 
 thought how funny it sounded. Is it possible,' 
 he added, ' that you are Viscountess Shirazaka ?' 
 
 * Oh, how bitterly you speak ! What have I 
 done to so offend you ? I know nothing whatever 
 about my — about Herminia's friend. He was 
 always called Mr. Izan ; that is not so difficult to 
 pronounce. I had forgotten his other name till 
 Herminia reminded me of it, and then I asked 
 Kencho if he knew any Shirazakas.' 
 
 ' And what did Kencho say?' 
 
 ' That it is a well-known name in Japan, and 
 much respected, and that the old Shirazaka is 
 a wealthy man, and much in favour with the 
 Emperor.' 
 
 * Well,' said Windeatt, ' it may not be the same 
 family. And what does it matter? As well one 
 Japanese as another. The whole thing must be 
 illegal, and I don't intend to take it tragically at 
 present, dear Izo. Tell me, what was this young 
 man doing in England ?' 
 
 ' Eating dinners,' she said, ' in order that he
 
 MADAME IZAN 257 
 
 might be a barrister, and learning English. He 
 couldn't speak it very well when I knew him, and 
 his accent made him at first rather difficult to under- 
 stand. He used to make Herminia read to him, 
 and then afterwards he would read aloud to us, as 
 he improved in the language. He was studying 
 the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." I was very much 
 interested in the history he told me and the Greek 
 stories, but they bored Herminia. She used to 
 knit socks and count her stitches all the time, and 
 I am certain never listened in the least.' 
 
 ' But you listened, and you fancied the man, 
 and he fell in love with you,' said Windeatt 
 bluntly. ' Did you like his looks, Izo ?' 
 
 ' I never saw him,' she answered. ' How could 
 I have judged him by his looks ? I never dreamed 
 of such a thing as his caring for me, till one day 
 Herminia told me ' 
 
 ' Oh, Herminia told you !' wrathfully exclaimed 
 Windeatt ; ' Herminia fixed the noose for your 
 Japanese friend to tighten ! Poor little innocent, 
 confiding thing ! It makes me wild to think of it. 
 And yet Herminia had eyes ! What could her 
 object have been ? And what else did she tell you ?' 
 
 ' Herminia always said that he was quite good- 
 looking, and had charming manners, and that he 
 was not very different from any ordinary foreigner. 
 She tola me that he had conceived the most 
 
 17
 
 258 MADAME IZAN 
 
 romantic attachment for me ; that he used to 
 watch me out of his window, which looked upon 
 the garden, the same as Herminia's ; and that his 
 heart bled at seeing the treatment to which I was 
 subjected. Herminia said that he had the notion 
 of me as a sort of captive Princess whom he was 
 bound to deliver, and that he was ready to face 
 any number of dragons and go through any 
 dangers in order to carry me off. Certainly, Aunt 
 Sophia was as bad as the worst dragon one ever 
 read of.' 
 
 ' Oh, you poor child ! you poor, blind baby !' 
 
 ' But I was not a child,' said she with dignity. 
 ' I am a great deal older than I look. I was 
 twenty-one, and that, as he explained to Herminia, 
 was the whole point, for it made me a free agent, 
 notwithstanding my blindness.' 
 
 ' I see ; he wasn't studying law for nothing,' 
 remarked Windeatt grimly. 
 
 Madame Izan did not reply. She seemed to 
 be listening, her ears and attention strained : she 
 had that alertness of all her other senses peculiar 
 to the blind. 
 
 ' I thought I heard Herminia's voice,' she said. 
 ' Perhaps they are coming to look for us, and we 
 have not yet found the tower of Benkei's bell.' 
 
 ' Oh, how can you think of Benkei's bell, or of 
 anything else,' cried Windeatt, * with your whole
 
 MADAME IZAN 259 
 
 life at stake, and not yours only, but mine as 
 well ? Izo, tell me honestly : when this Japanese 
 scoundrel persuaded you into marrying him, did 
 you understand in the very least what you were 
 consenting to?' 
 
 A blush came over her face. ' I didn't think of 
 anything,' she said slowly, ' except that I wanted 
 to escape from Aunt Sophia ; and Japan seemed a 
 long way off, like a wonderful fairy-story. . . . 
 And he said that he loved me, and that he wished 
 to devote himself and everything that he had and 
 all that he could ever do to my service, which 
 seemed a strange and beautiful thing for a man to 
 fQQ\ t and a great offer for him to make to a poor 
 blind, lonely girl.' 
 
 ' But did you care for him — the tiniest bit ? 
 Did you have the faintest conception of what his 
 love and his magnificent offer of devotion really 
 meant?' She was silent. He came nearer to her. 
 ' Were you very intimate with this man, my dear ? 
 Did you respond to his protestations? Did he 
 sit with you and hold your hand, as I am doing? 
 And did his touch thrill you, as surely mine must 
 thrill you now ?' 
 
 She faltered. ' I . . . How can I tell?' 
 
 * Izo,' the young man went on fervidly, ' I don't 
 believe it ever happened. It's all some dreadful 
 mistake. You are not this man's wife ; you never 
 
 17 — 2
 
 2 6o MADAME IZAN 
 
 were his wife. It would have been impossible for 
 
 him to dare Izo, did he really make love 
 
 to you ? Did he ever hold you in his arms and 
 kiss you — like this, dear — like this?' 
 
 And, carried away by his passion, Windeatt 
 again wound his arms about her and pressed his 
 lips to hers. Again, too, she seemed to yield 
 to the personal spell he undoubtedly at such 
 moments cast over her, and her resistance was 
 so feeble and faint as to be a permission. But she 
 did at last determinedly withdraw herself, and his 
 arms dropped. 
 
 ' Izo,' he whispered, ' after that, you must tell 
 me. Did he kiss you — as I have kissed you?' 
 
 Her face grew crimson. ' No,' she murmured, 
 ' never — never !' 
 
 'Ah!' Windeatt's exclamation was exultant. 
 * Then I don't care what mummery he and Mrs. 
 Bax concocted. I have the true claim. He could 
 not have loved you in the way that I love you.' 
 
 ' Perhaps,' she said very low ; ' I have thought 
 sometimes — quite lately — that he may have loved 
 me better.' 
 
 She got up as she spoke, and stood, her eyes 
 averted, and with a deep and girlish embarrass- 
 ment on her face. Windeatt rose, too. He bit 
 his moustache, seeming strangely downcast and 
 disconcerted.
 
 MADAME IZAN 261 
 
 'Why do you say that?' he asked. 'You 
 know it can't be true.' 
 
 She flashed a glance at him, but as quickly, her 
 eyes were lowered again. 
 
 ' He gave me up at once,' she said, ' when it 
 was pointed out to him that it was for my good. 
 He has held to his compact scrupulously, and has 
 respected me.' 
 
 ' Do you mean that / do not respect you?' 
 
 ' No, no, it is all different. But I have felt of 
 late that I did not do him justice. He treated 
 me like a queen ; it was as though he thought 
 himself unworthy to touch my little finger. He 
 was very quiet. Herminia said that his self- 
 restraint was chivalrous. I did not understand it 
 then. I have only understood what it might have 
 meant since •' 
 
 'Since?' he said. 'Since when? Has it any- 
 thing to do with me?' 
 
 ' Yes; since I have known you.' She spoke with 
 perfect simplicity, evidently not realizing that her 
 words might bear an interpretation wounding to 
 him. 
 
 ' If you were a different kind of woman,' he said 
 bitterly, ' I should feel that the cruellest thing you 
 could have said to me. But I'd rather take it 
 as meaning something pleasanter. Anyhow, I'm 
 certain you didn't say it in unkindness.'
 
 262 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'No,' she answered, 'I did not say it in any 
 un kindness.' 
 
 They stood quite near, and yet apart, the faces 
 of both working with trouble and agitation, and 
 the silence between them full of vague promptings 
 and bewildering thoughts, when suddenly both 
 started further asunder, and in his confusion one 
 of the pilgrims' banners fluttering over the fountain 
 struck Windeatt upon the eyes, and for the moment 
 almost blinded him. 
 
 ' Madame Izan,' said a hoarse and curiously 
 stern voice on the other side of the fountain, ' I 
 am sent by Mrs. Bax to ask if you have found 
 your way to the bell-tower.' 
 
 It was Kencho who spoke, and there was some- 
 thing in his manner and in the expression of his 
 face — of all that was visible beneath his heavy 
 moustache and round his spectacles — which made 
 Madame Izan blush more redly even than before, 
 and filled her with uneasiness and shame. Could 
 he have witnessed that wild caress she had allowed 
 so unprotestingly, and for which she now, in an 
 odd revulsion of feeling, well-nigh hated herself? 
 
 And, strange to say, the simile which Windeatt 
 had applied to her occurred at this moment to the 
 Japanese guide. Kencho, in his bitterness, told 
 himself that Izobel Izan stood nearer now to the 
 finding of her soul than ever before in her
 
 MADAME IZAN 263 
 
 troublous sight-dimmed life. Yes, the Undine 
 was becoming human, but the Hildebrand who had 
 worked the transformation was, maybe, a con- 
 glomeration of two persons and the process a 
 mystery to which neither Kencho Hiro-Kahachi 
 nor John Windeatt held the key. 
 
 While Izo stammered something, she knew not 
 what, and waited abashed in her sweet agitation, 
 Windeatt recovered himself. He, too, attributed 
 the agitation to a wrong cause, but for him the 
 sight of it brought a feeling of intense elation, so 
 that he forgot the smart of his eye and his annoy- 
 ance at Kencho's untimely interruption in his joy 
 at this evidence, as he interpreted it, that Izo loved 
 him. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho,' he said stiffly, ' will you be 
 good enough to tell Mrs. Bax that I will bring 
 Madame Izan along presently if she doesn't mind 
 a delay of a few minutes? For you put yourself 
 into my charge, Madame Izan,' he added, turning 
 eagerly to Izo ; ' and I'm responsible for your 
 seeing the outside, anyhow, of Benkei's bell-tower; 
 we really mustn't leave without having done that.' 
 
 ' You are close to the tower,' replied Kencho, 
 still in that rasping voice which smote depressingly 
 on Madame Izan's ear. ' Mrs. Bax and Mrs. 
 Eugarde are there now wailing for you.' 
 
 And he strode off without further words.
 
 264 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Madame Izan followed him at a little distance, 
 taking no notice of Windeatt's effort to detain her. 
 
 'Izo!' he whispered, as he gained her side, 
 ' there is still a great deal that you have to tell 
 me. I beseech you, don't keep me in suspense. 
 When shall we be alone together again, so that I 
 may hear it ? 
 
 ' I don't know,' she answered helplessly. 
 
 * But I must hear it. Whether you really meant 
 it or not, you have given me the right to know 
 the whole truth. I cannot and will not believe 
 that you were lawfully married to that Japanese 
 villain.' 
 
 ' Don't,' she exclaimed, wincing; ' it hurts me 
 to hear you speak of him like that. He wasn't a 
 villain, though I have tried to believe everything 
 bad of him, and though I have hated him. Oh, 
 you don't know how at times I have hated the 
 very thought of him.' 
 
 Her words were as balm to Windeatt's heart. 
 
 ' You love me, Izo : you will confess that you 
 love me?' 
 
 She gazed at him with a perplexed, almost 
 frightened, expression. ' I don't know,' she said. 
 
 ' You must love me,' he persisted ; ' you have 
 proved it. Dear, if you didn't love me, you'd have 
 been angry with me — for what I did.' 
 
 ' I don't know,' she repeated.
 
 MADAME IZAN 265 
 
 And he laughed in exasperation at the parrot 
 phrase. ' Oh, if you weren't just your bewitching, 
 incomprehensible self, I feel inclined to lift you up 
 and carry you away, as the black fellows carry off 
 the lubras in Australia, and I'd kiss you as though 
 you were a great baby who wanted to be coaxed into 
 knowing its own mind. Don't play the coquette 
 with me, Izo. I'm only a rough Bushman, and I 
 don't understand subtleties.' 
 
 No more did she, that was evident. And at 
 the instant, there flashed across her Kencho's 
 remark, that Mr. Windeatt did not comprehend 
 Japanese subtleties. 
 
 ' I'm only saying what is true,' she answered. 
 ' I haven't any wish to deceive you. I don't 
 know why you should make so much fuss about — 
 about that? She blushed again. ' You give me 
 a feeling of having done something wrong and 
 improper, and I didn't mean it like that. It all 
 seemed — outside of me, somehow.' She spoke 
 slowly and hesitatingly, as if groping her way 
 through a mental labyrinth. ' I feel that I must 
 shut my eyes, or be alone in the dark to under- 
 stand. There's no good in running away from 
 things. I've been trying to do that for ever so 
 long, but it's of no use. Please, don't remind 
 me any more of — of that V 
 
 1 But you will tell me the remainder of your
 
 266 MADAME IZAN 
 
 story,' he urged. ' You'll tell me how that 
 abominable marriage came about — if it really did 
 happen, which I can't fully believe. You'll let 
 me advise you and act for you. And if the whole 
 thing is, as I suspect, a fraud and a mistake, and 
 you are free to choose once more according to the 
 dictates of your own heart, then you will let your 
 heart speak, Izo — you'll choose me, you'll marry 
 me .?' 
 
 ' Marry you /' she said in a low, dismayed voice, 
 as though that were a practical outcome of the 
 situation which she had never contemplated. ' Oh, 
 but I don't want to marry. I hate marrying. I 
 have had enough of marrying.' 
 
 Windeatt groaned within himself. Had ever 
 other ardent lover, he thought, been at the mercy 
 of a creature so wilful, capricious, and fay-like, so 
 illogical, so unpractical, and yet withal so full of 
 wrong-headed common-sense ? 
 
 But just then they came to a halt before Benkei's 
 lichen-covered tower ; and there was the rest of the 
 party grouped by the Brobdingnagian soup-sauce- 
 pan, which had contained that brawny priest's 
 unpoetic reward for the rape of the Biwa mermaids' 
 thank-offering to Hidesato, of legendary fame. 
 Mrs. Bax was looking cross, and wanted European 
 tea, but she did not dare to reproach Madame 
 Izan too loudly. Mrs. Eugarde, on the other
 
 MADAME IZAN 267 
 
 hand, had the serene complacency of one who has 
 fulfilled honourable obligations. She had given 
 her brother his opportunity ; and if he had not taken 
 due advantage of it — well, that was his look-out, 
 not hers. She was, on the whole, not particularly 
 anxious to be drawn into amatory complications 
 which might result in a divorce suit, and Madame 
 Izan, sweet, charming, and ill-used by fate as she 
 might be, was just a little doubtful as a sister-in- 
 law. 
 
 Julia searched Windeatt's face, but could not 
 find a satisfactory translation of the mingled 
 emotions it expressed. Nor did the countenance 
 of Madame Izan afford clearer indications of the 
 position of affairs. In fact, after prolonged 
 scrutiny of all three, it was upon the demeanour 
 of Kencho the guide that she founded certain 
 melancholy vaticinations.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The narrow little table d'hote room at Yaami's, 
 with its pale French wall-paper and long windows, 
 and its rows of little tables set as in any ordinary 
 English restaurant, was noisy and crowded that 
 evening. There had been a new importation of 
 travellers, and the tourist young men of the 
 Makara were at Kioto again, and, as the smart of 
 the tattoing was now considerably alleviated, 
 their spirits had risen accordingly. They were 
 planning all sorts of diversions and excursions 
 before moving on to join Mr. Barradine and 
 Captain Kelsey at Miyanoshita, one of these being 
 a Japanese dinner with geishas and maikos and 
 the best of everything, to which they now in- 
 vited Madame Izan and Mrs. Bax and the two 
 Australians. After that, as they too expressed 
 their intention of shooting the Rapids, there was 
 nothing for it but to ask them to join the Katsura 
 Gawa expedition that had been arranged for the 
 morrow. 
 
 268
 
 MADAME IZAN 269 
 
 All these plannings and the recital of the young 
 men's adventure in Nara, and their irreverent com- 
 ments on the No dance and other matters strictly 
 Japanese, made talk and laughter, and furnished a 
 cover to the evident embarrassment and preoccupa- 
 tion of Madame Izan and her Australian adorer. 
 Windeatt was wondering to himself when she would 
 vouchsafe to continue that strange story of which 
 he had as yet only had the prelude ; and his soul 
 burned with impatience to get particulars of the 
 marriage, in which, notwithstanding her statement, 
 he could not bring himself to believe, and with 
 indignation against the designing scoundrel, as he 
 termed him, who had inveigled Izo in her youth 
 and innocence. He hoped that in some way or 
 other he might manage a private conference before 
 she retired for the night, and was on the alert for 
 signs of her disappearance. There was no question 
 to-night of taking jinrikishas down to the town, 
 except for the tourist young men, who started off 
 after coffee to see the war illuminations that were 
 still going on. Japan, when it is her season for 
 rejoicing, knows how to rejoice thoroughly. 
 Kencho, as was his wont, appeared after dinner to 
 ask for orders, and was dismissed, not by Madame 
 Izan, but by Mrs. Bax. Windeatt bade his sister 
 interview Yamasaki, while he, having perceived 
 the flutter of Madame Izan's white serge dress,
 
 270 MADAME IZAN 
 
 and noticing the swing of her stately figure as she 
 passed over the bridge connecting the wing in 
 which they slept with the main building of 
 Yaami's, rushed unceremoniously in her wake. 
 He arrested her as she paused, attracted by the 
 tinkling of a samisen in the bath-house opposite, 
 to watch the silhouette upon the paper shutters of 
 a fan-figure within. 
 
 ' I am not going to let you lie down to-night 
 without telling me the rest of that story,' he said 
 abruptly. ' I shall go mad, or do something 
 altogether desperate, if I'm kept any longer in 
 suspense. I insist upon knowing whether you are 
 free or not for me to woo you as my wife.' 
 
 ' And if I am not free,' she said, ' will you go 
 away and leave me to my fate?' 
 
 ' No,' he answered determinedly ; ' I will not 
 go away. I shall never give up hope. I don't 
 believe that a marriage contracted under such 
 conditions as those I imagine could possibly be 
 legal according to the law of England, even if it 
 were so according to the law of Japan.' 
 
 1 I know that the marriage was legal according 
 to the law of Japan,' she answered. ' There were 
 certain formalities — I did not understand about 
 them at the time, but Uncle O'Halloran told me 
 afterwards that they had been complied with. It 
 was necessary to have the consent of the Japanese
 
 MADAME IZAN 271 
 
 Minister in London, and that he — Izan — had 
 taken care to obtain.' 
 
 ' Japanese law is not English law,' returned 
 Windeatt, ' and I don't care twopence about it. I 
 want to know the exact facts of the case, and then 
 I shall be in a better position to judge. Come with 
 me to a quieter place, Izo, where we can talk safely.' 
 
 She moved on to the balcony, but seemed to 
 hesitate, and would not, as he wished, sit down in 
 the long cane chair he had once before pulled 
 forward for his sister. Just now Mrs. Eugarde's 
 voice was heard in the opposite veranda, along 
 which she was walking with Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Well, I have my notes to write up,' Julia was 
 saying, ' and I shall bid you good-night.' 
 
 ' And I am going to bed, for I've had a very 
 tiring day,' said Mrs. Bax. ' I conclude that Izo 
 has taken herself to her room.' 
 
 She sauntered across, stopping also to listen to 
 the samisen ; while Mrs. Eugarde, whose quick 
 eyes had noticed the pair on the balcony, entered 
 her bedroom by a door facing towards the court. 
 Mrs. Bax was either not so observant or had no 
 scruples, for she crossed straight in the direction 
 of Windeatt and her friend. They were standing 
 by the railings, Izo's gaze fixed on the lights of 
 Kioto, the Australian watching her face in despair- 
 ing impatience.
 
 2 72 MADAME IZAN 
 
 i Izo, I'm going to bed,' said Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Very well, Herminia.' 
 
 ' I think you'd better come, too. I don't see 
 that you'll do any good standing here talking to 
 Mr. Windeatt. I should have thought you'd said 
 all you wanted to say the time we were waiting 
 up at that temple. I'm perfectly sick of temples. 
 It's a comfort to think that to-morrow, anyhow, 
 we're going to have Rapids and not temples, though 
 I'm not at all sure that I shall go on the Rapids. 
 Those young men were saying that the boats are 
 very apt to upset, and that you're as likely as not 
 to be drowned. I don't want to be drowned. . . . 
 Izo, are you coming to bed ?' 
 
 ' Yes, Herminia.' 
 
 Izo made an irresolute and weary movement, 
 but Windeatt stepped forward with an air of fierce 
 intention. 
 
 ' No, Mrs. Bax. I'm not going to let her go 
 to bed — not until she has told me whether she is 
 free or not to marry me.' 
 
 ' Gracious !' — Mrs. Bax gave a little scream — 
 ' I must say that you Australians do come straight 
 to the point, when you've found out a thing.' 
 
 ' It seems to me that I've been a long time 
 beating about the bush, without being certain of 
 my find,' said Windeatt. ' But when an Australian 
 has once pegged out his claim, he isn't going to
 
 MADAME IZAN 273 
 
 allow it to be "jumped " away from him without 
 knowing the exact reason why. I fought a fight over 
 the Wee-Waa, and went to law about it and got my 
 claim. And I am prepared to fight for the woman 
 I love, and go to law for her, too, if necessary ; 
 for I mean to win her, if she is to be won.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax'sblue eyes glowed sympathetically, and 
 her little figure expanded in a small gasp of admira- 
 tion. This kind of love-making appealed to all 
 her romantic instincts. 
 
 ' I'm sure you deserve to win her, for you go at 
 it like a man,' she said, ' and if I could help you 
 — why, you know I would.' 
 
 ' Just as you helped the other man,' put in 
 Windeatt sardonically. At this moment he was 
 considerably incensed with Mrs. Bax. 
 
 'Well, he was just as determined as you are,' 
 said Mrs. Bax, unabashed, ' and he talked beauti- 
 fully, though he was a Japanese. I suppose you 
 know he was a Japanese?' 
 
 Windeatt nodded. 
 
 ' And I couldn't help feeling for him,' Mrs. Bax 
 went on. 
 
 ' No doubt he was a plausible scoundrel !' said 
 Windeatt. 
 
 ' Herminia,' interrupted Madame Izan, ' tell 
 him that — my husband — wasn't a scoundrel. He 
 was a Japanese gentleman.' 
 
 18
 
 2 7 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' And since when,' cried Windeatt, losing 
 himself in his wrathful passion, ' have you learned 
 to feel such a sympathy with Japanese gentlemen? 
 
 ' Oh, you are jealous of Kencho,' put in Mrs. 
 Bax. ' I told Izo so ; and the idea is too ridi- 
 culous. I thought better of you than that. And, 
 Mr. Windeatt, you'll excuse my saying so, but 
 aren't you just a little rough and ready in the 
 Bush ? — in your dealings with ladies, I mean.' 
 
 ' I beg your pardon,' exclaimed Windeatt humbly ; 
 ' I deserve that rebuke. But you must make 
 allowance for a chap tortured beyond endurance, 
 and kept in the dark.' 
 
 ' Do you want me to go away ? Is she going 
 to tell you ?' asked Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' If she does not tell me, I beg that you will do so.' 
 
 ' Do you want me to go away?' asked Mrs. Bax 
 again. 
 
 ' No, Herminia ; stay, and tell him, if you 
 please,' exclaimed Madame Izan. ' You are re- 
 sponsible for it all : you arranged the marriage ; 
 you persuaded me to my undoing !' 
 
 Mrs. Bax sank upon the end of the deck-chair, 
 and, with her handkerchief to her eyes, bewailed 
 herself with tears. ' You hear her, Mr. Windeatt. 
 She is trying to drive me from her. That's how 
 she went on last night. And it's all your doing — 
 yours and Kencho's. I wish we had never seen
 
 MADAME IZAN 275 
 
 Kencho ! Izo and I never quarrelled before. 
 Mr. O'Halloran himself said I wasn't to blame. 
 Would he have kept me with Izo all through that 
 time of the operation and afterwards if he had 
 considered me an unfit person to be with her? 
 And I that have sacrificed the best years of my 
 life. . . . It's no use trying to stop me, Izo ; 
 I've got feelings as well as other people. And 
 you don't realize — indeed you don't — what I've 
 sacrificed for your sake. It was only the other 
 day I refused — I said I couldn't even think of 
 marrying till our Japanese trip was over and I 
 knew that you didn't want me any longer. . . . 
 And, after my devotion, to be scorned and flouted 
 and upbraided ! I can't stand it, Izo — no, I 
 c-can't ! As soon as we get to Tokyo I shall 
 leave you, though — my — my — heart will break.' 
 Mrs. Bax's sobs here became overpowering, and 
 Izo was visibly affected by her grief. 
 
 1 I'm very sorry, Herminia ; I did not mean to 
 upbraid you. What I meant was, that you can 
 tell him much better than I can all the circum- 
 stances of my marriage. It was you who arranged 
 it, and in whose advice I trusted.' 
 
 'And did I advise for my own advantage?' 
 cried Mrs. Bax, lowering her handkerchief with 
 a tragic air. ' Was it not out of love and pity 
 for a blind, penniless, and neglected — worse than 
 
 18—2
 
 276 MADAME IZAN 
 
 neglected— cruelly ill-used orphan that I did it ? 
 I did it to secure a home for her, Mr. Windeatt, 
 and if you could understand the sort of woman 
 her aunt was, you would understand, too, how it 
 was that every soul round compassionated poor 
 Izo, and longed to do something to help her find a 
 different sort of protector. Why, I shudder to 
 think of the fate she might have had, but for me 
 and Izan and her uncle O'Halloran turning up in 
 the nick of time to save her.' 
 
 ' I inferred that Mr. O'Halloran had turned up 
 a little too late to save her,' remarked Windeatt 
 now, with more regret than sarcasm in his voice. 
 
 ' That is true,' admitted Mrs. Bax, melted by 
 his sadness. « I hadn't thought of it in that light. 
 Of course, if he had come a week earlier the 
 marriage would not have taken place. But how 
 should I know that he would fall down like that 
 from the clouds, out of an Australian gold-mine — 
 though Izo does jeer at me for being romantic — 
 and that he'd take Izo away from her husband, so 
 to speak, at the church door !' 
 
 ' At the church door ?' repeated Windeatt. 
 
 ' That was the understanding, and you will 
 allow that it was quite an honourable one. Izo 
 is quite right, and Mr. Izan was a real Japanese 
 gentleman. He did not wish to take advantage 
 of the circumstances or to place Izo in an em-
 
 MADAME IZAN 277 
 
 barrassing position, which would have been the 
 case if he had carried her ofF at once. He was to 
 leave England very shortly, and in the meantime 
 was expecting a large sum of money, and he had 
 cabled to his father about his marriage, and pre- 
 ferred that the last step should be quite open and 
 aboveboard, and that he should claim Izo from 
 her aunt with no suspicion of their having lived 
 together in a clandestine fashion. You see,' con- 
 tinued Mrs. Bax, ' there were reasons for hurrying 
 the marriage, and for having a secret ceremony. 
 Izo's aunt happened to be away just at that time, 
 and so, naturally, it was more easy to arrange matters. 
 For that old Gorgon always makes me think of the 
 person with the hundred eyes or the hundred arms 
 — like those Buddhas in the god-market that we 
 went to see. If she had been anywhere handy, 
 you'd have had to be pretty cute for her not to 
 know what you were doing every minute of the 
 day. Wasn't that so, Izo?' 
 
 Izo took no notice of the appeal ; and Windeatt 
 writhed under Mrs. Bax's discursiveness, regretting 
 that she did not possess the Australian virtue 
 she had commended, of getting straight to the 
 point. 
 
 ' Please go on,' he said. 
 
 ' Well, now. I'll tell you the whole occurrence 
 right ofF, Mr. Windeatt. Mr. Izan lodged in the
 
 278 MADAME IZAN 
 
 same house with me, which was a boarding-house 
 West Kensington way, next door to Izo's aunt. 
 He was a very nice young man, who was studying 
 law, and not at all bad-looking for a Japanese, 
 though I never could afterwards persuade Izo ot 
 that. Of course, he had high cheek-bones, and 
 his eyes slanted a bit ; but I have seen bilious men 
 who were quite as yellow, and Scotch people with 
 equally high cheek-bones — and that was not con- 
 sidered a disadvantage to them. Besides, in regard 
 to his eyes, which I own were slanting, and his being 
 a Japanese, how was I to dream then that Izo would 
 ever be cured of her blindness ? And it really seemed 
 to me, since she couldn't see him, that it made 
 very little difference whether she married a Japanese 
 or any other foreigner, provided he had no disagree- 
 able heathen habits, and ate his food like a Christian, 
 and was kind to her. Mr. Izan wasn't in the least 
 like a heathen ; and as for sitting on his shins, and 
 eating rice with chopsticks, you simply couldn't 
 have imagined it of him ; he was quite English in 
 all his ideas and ways of eating. We always had 
 late dinner at the boarding-house ; it was a most 
 genteel establishment, and nobody was received into 
 it without references — Mr. Izan had a reference 
 from the Japanese Minister and from an English 
 banker, and you couldn't have anything more 
 respectable than that. You see, even here, what
 
 MADAME IZAN 279 
 
 is thought of being connected with the Legation !' 
 In moments of excitement or reminiscence Mrs. 
 Bax occasionally fell back upon the associations 
 of Suburbia. ' Oh, I assure you the boarders 
 were most genteel. I shouldn't have felt com- 
 fortable in introducing Izan to Izo, when he con- 
 fided to me his desperate attachment, if proper 
 inquiries had not been made. . . . Where are you 
 going, Izo?' 
 
 For Madame Izan, wincing, perhaps, at the 
 allusions to her blindness, perhaps at the train of 
 painful recollections Mrs. Bax's words aroused, had 
 made a sudden movement towards the French 
 window of her room. She stopped and turned 
 at Mrs. Bax's question. 
 
 ' I don't think that I want to hear all this, 
 Herminia. You can tell him. You know as 
 
 much about it as I do. Make him understand ' 
 
 She paused, and added: 'I should like him to 
 understand that Mr. Izan acted honourably.' 
 
 Windeatt went close to her, and, taking her 
 hand, kissed it in very respectful fashion. 
 
 ' For my part, I can quite understand your pre- 
 ferring not to be present at Mrs. Bax's explanation,' 
 he said. ' I thank you deeply for having per- 
 mitted it ; and you will let me say that I admire 
 your generosity.' 
 
 To his surprise, she burst into sudden tears.
 
 28o MADAME IZAN 
 
 Checking them after a moment or two, she ex- 
 claimed: 
 
 ' Oh, it isn't that. It is that I see now I did 
 not do him justice. I never understood him till I 
 came here. At that time, in the midst of all the 
 shock and wonder at the thought of getting 
 back my sight, my marriage seemed somehow a 
 secondary thing. My mind was all confused ; 
 and then Uncle O'Halloran was so kind, and 
 seemed to be so sorry for me, and to want so 
 much that I should see. It was a terrible dis- 
 appointment to him, what I had done, though he 
 was just in his way of looking at it, and blamed 
 himself for having left me so long without trying 
 to find out whether I was happy and taken care 
 of. . . . But later on, when he talked to me about 
 it all, he made me feel that I had done something 
 very dreadful indeed, and that I had married a 
 kind of monster. He told me the Japanese were 
 a cross between South Sea Islanders and Chinamen. 
 And he had also brought a South Sea Island servant 
 over with him, so that you can imagine the shock 
 I got when I saw this man for the first time. As 
 for Chinamen, he often told me stories of them on 
 the diggings, and of how the Government out 
 there had been obliged to pass a law to prevent 
 Chinamen from coming to the country, they did so 
 much harm and were such dreadful people. And
 
 MADAMF. IZAN 281 
 
 though he said Mr. Izan was a good specimen of 
 his nation, still, I could not dissociate him from 
 uncle's description of the others. Once at Wies- 
 baden, after I got back my sight, we happened to 
 see a horrible-looking Malay — he was some sort of 
 Prince who was taking the waters. He had great 
 thick lips, and a skin almost black, and eyes that 
 filled me with dread and horror. I pictured my 
 husband like that, and shuddered. Then I deter- 
 mined to put him out of my mind, and never to 
 let myself acknowledge his existence till I was 
 actually forced to do so. For, oh ! when I began 
 to see the world and all its beauty, and the Greek 
 statues in the galleries, and the clean, brave, 
 handsome Englishmen — I do think so much of 
 splendour of form and colour ; I cannot help it — 
 well, it seemed to me that I had tied myself to 
 something which was scarcely human ; and nothing 
 would reconcile me to my fate, except uncle's 
 assurance that he would do everything he could to 
 break my marriage. But he died — he died just 
 when he was about to consult lawyers, and before 
 anything at all had been settled. . . . Now can 
 you understand ?' 
 
 She had been speaking in rapid jerks, with little 
 agitated pauses here and there, half sobbing the 
 while. Windeatt's heart was moved by the deepest 
 and most chivalric compassion and sympathy, so
 
 282 MADAME IZAN 
 
 that for the moment he almost forgot his own 
 hopes and his own bitterness, in the desire to spare 
 her pain. 
 
 ' Yes, indeed I see it all as far as you are con- 
 cerned,' he said ; ' and my heart aches for you in 
 your youth and inexperience and your terrible 
 affliction. Dear Izo, I think it is well that you 
 should leave Mrs. Bax and me to beat out the 
 matter by ourselves. All this is unnecessarily 
 agitating* for you. Do you now go to your rest 
 and try to sleep away the memory of our trouble — 
 for to-night, at any rate. To-morrow we shall all 
 be clearer and fresher, and a day in the open air 
 will put us into better gear for tackling this 
 miserable complication. But I'm not afraid, my 
 dear. It is right that you should be freed, and 
 you shall be freed, from that unjust bond.' 
 
 As he spoke, Windeatt looked like a new 
 St. George in his bigness and fairness, with the 
 ardour of true love animating his features, and 
 making his eyes glow with something better than 
 the mere selfish desire to secure for his own happi- 
 ness the woman of his fancy. Yet though she was 
 impressed by his manner, his tender solicitude, and 
 enthusiastic confidence in her right to liberty, Izo 
 evinced no enthusiasm herself, seeming still dis- 
 satisfied, frightened and reluctant. She made two 
 or three hesitating steps, half turning and stopping
 
 MADAME IZAN 283 
 
 to say, before she disappeared within the Venetian 
 windows : 
 
 ' Yes, I suppose I had better go. I've said all 
 I could. Herminia can do the rest. Only please 
 remember, Herminia — and Mr. Windeatt, too — 
 that I wish justice to be done to Mr. Izan. I 
 wish it made clear that he was a Japanese gentle- 
 man, and that ' She waited a moment, and 
 
 added deliberately : ' I now see that this means a 
 great deal.' 
 
 ' The fact is, Izo, that your head has been 
 turned by Kencho's stories about the Shoguns and 
 Daimios and saints, and the rest of what Mr. Win- 
 deatt calls those old feudal bounders,' said 
 Mrs. Bax crossly. < Talk of me being romantic ! 
 Why, you are a hundred times more romantic 
 yourself. You have let Kencho persuade you that 
 the Japanese are a nation of heroes, instead of being, 
 as they are, no better than savages.' 
 
 'Savages!' indignantly cried Madame Izan. 
 
 ' Yes, like the ancient Britons and the Druids 
 and the Crusaders and the people who strewed 
 grass on their floors and ate out of one dish. I 
 can't see much difference between that sort of thing 
 and living on bare matting, with not a chair or a 
 table about. What is feeding on raw fish, and 
 stalking round with nothing on, but being a 
 savage ? Do you call it behaving like a gentleman
 
 284 • MADAME IZAN 
 
 to take your bath in the street, and to walk out to 
 it carrying every stitch of your clothing on your 
 arm ?' 
 
 ' Herminia !' retorted Madame Izan, coming 
 back again in the heat of her protest, ' I have 
 heard you say yourself that it is better for the poor 
 people to take their bath in the street than to 
 take none at all. Besides, I'm not talking of 
 common Japanese people — we have got common, 
 half-civilized people in Whitechapel, I believe — I 
 am talking about Japanese gentlemen.' 
 
 * And I,' said Mrs. Bax with asperity, 'am talk- 
 ing about Japan as I find it, and not as Kencho 
 describes it to me.' 
 
 ' Herminia,' went on Madame Izan, ' you change 
 your opinions very often and very quickly. When 
 I first knew you, ) ou cared a great deal for Japan 
 and the Japanese, and the East generally ; and you 
 would have been much offended if I had spoken of 
 the people your husband was fond of as savages. 
 That was when you were friends with Mr. Izan, 
 and looked at things from his point of view. 
 Afterwards you got to see them as Uncle O'Halloran 
 wished you to see them. You veered round 
 altogether, and were ashamed of your enthusiasm. 
 Oh yes, Herminia ; I remember it quite well, and 
 you know that what I say is true. Now it is 
 Mr. Windeatt who has got your sympathy. I am
 
 MADAME IZAN 285 
 
 not insinuating anything against you,' she added, 
 turning a grateful look towards the Australian. 
 ' You are very kind to me, and I feel very much 
 obliged to you for caring so much for me. Only 
 please remember that I wish justice done to 
 Mr. Izan.' 
 
 When she had gone at last, Mrs. Bax gave 
 another deep gasp, this time half in exasperation, 
 half in relief. 
 
 ' Well, of all the changeable, illogical, incompre- 
 hensible girls !' she exclaimed. ' To hear her now 
 you would fancy that it was I who had been all the 
 time abusing Izan, and keeping him away from 
 her. When it's the truth, Mr. Windeatt, that 
 I've defended him by the hour together, and tried 
 to convince Izo that he was not such a monstrosity 
 as her uncle made out, and that it wasn't fair to 
 shunt him straight off into the rubbish-heap, as she 
 wanted to do. She absolutely declined to enter- 
 tain the idea of him as her husband.' 
 
 ' Mrs. Bax,' said Windeatt, ' are you sure that 
 he is her husband ?' 
 
 ' Really and truly, Mr. Windeatt, I don't think 
 there's any doubt. Mr. O'Halloran did get a legal 
 opinion, and it said that Izo's blindness had nothing 
 whatever to do with the matter ; and that if she 
 knew what she was about, and had consented 
 willingly to the marriage, it was a good one.
 
 286 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Izan was studying law, too, and he must have 
 known what he was doing. He got the consent 
 of the Japanese Embassy, which he said was 
 necessary ; and I am sure that the license was all 
 regular, and the ceremony a proper one. You see, 
 Izo was of age. The clergyman of the parish 
 married them ; and there's the entry in the register 
 of her parish church, with my name and the clerk's 
 for witnesses.' 
 
 Windeatt gave an angry groan. 
 ' You mustn't blame me too much, Mr. 
 Windeatt,' pleaded Mrs. Bax, becoming lachry- 
 mose again. ' Of course, I see now that it was a 
 mistake ; but at the time it seemed the only chance 
 of rescuing Izo from a life of brawl and misery and 
 dependence, or very likely beggary. Her aunt 
 wouldn't have done anything for her. She had a 
 son of her own, and a lot of grandchildren ; and 
 she was always grumbling at being burdened with 
 the expense of feeding and clothing poor Izo, and 
 threatening to place her in an asylum for blind in- 
 capables, which would have been the same sort of 
 thing as sending her to the workhouse. And there 
 was Izan — and really, for a Japanese, he was almost 
 good-looking, and not in the least objectionable — 
 madly in love with her, ready to lay down his life 
 for her, and with a father very well off, and in a 
 good position in his own country. He explained
 
 MADAME IZAN 287 
 
 all that to me, and gave me his word of honour 
 that, as soon as circumstances permitted, he would 
 make a handsome settlement upon her. I don't 
 know how they manage these things in Japan, but 
 that was what he assured me. Besides, 1 did not 
 intend to desert Izo. I had made up my mind to 
 go out with them to Japan, and satisfy myself as 
 to her prospects ; it had always been my dream, 
 ever since Mr. Bax died at Hong Kong, to visit 
 the East. I should have seen for myself, and if 
 she hadn't been comfortable, I would have brought 
 her back to England and shared my last crust with 
 her. Oh, I assure you I quite felt, and was pre- 
 pared to undertake, the responsibility at any cost 
 or sacrifice. And that is why Izo's ungrateful 
 reproaches are so lacerating to my feelings.' And 
 again she wept gently. 
 
 ' I am certain, Mrs. Bax, that you meant every- 
 thing for the best.' 
 
 ' I did — I did. And though Izo accuses me now 
 of having overpersuaded her, it wasn't a question 
 of persuading in the least. She would have done 
 anything then that anybody she liked had sug- 
 gested to her. Since she has got back her sight 
 she has developed pretty strong views and opinions 
 of her own, but when she was blind a little child 
 might have led her. In fact, in some ways she was 
 no more than a baby herself. Her one thought
 
 288 MADAME IZAN 
 
 was to get away from the taunts and humiliations 
 and blows — yes, blows — which her aunt showered 
 upon her. When Mr. O'Halloran learned that, 
 even he, angry as he was, exonerated me.' 
 
 'Did she care for the man?' asked Windeatt 
 impatiently ; ' did she know him ? Did she realize 
 at all that she was marrying him ?' 
 
 1 Well, I am not sure that she did,' candidly 
 answered Mrs. Bax. ' In one sense she knew 
 that she was marrying him, and settling herself 
 for her whole life — I told her that, but I don't 
 know whether she took it in. As for caring about 
 him, if you have never seen a man since you were 
 a baby, it must be difficult to form a correct idea 
 of what he is like, mustn't it? Then, as you can 
 understand, there were obstacles in the way of 
 their meeting. On those occasions I was generally 
 present, which naturally put a little restriction on 
 the love-making. Not that Izan was effusive. I 
 don't think the Japanese are, do you ? Now I 
 come to think of it, I have never seen two Japanese 
 kissing each other, and somebody told me that they 
 don't kiss. I meant to ask Yamasaki about it, but 
 found it a little embarrassing to approach the sub- 
 ject. It seemed Izan's idea to make love through 
 me. He found me sympathetic ; most men who 
 are in love do find me sympathetic. I can't help 
 being touched by a man's devotion, whether it's
 
 MADAME IZAN 289 
 
 towards myself or another woman. I dare say you 
 have observed, Mr. Windeatt, that I'm sympa- 
 thetic? And Izan's devotion to Izo was some- 
 thing quite out of the common. He hardly dared 
 to tell her that he loved her ; he worshipped her 
 from a distance. I didn't see how I could explain 
 things to Izo ; I thought it best to leave that to 
 Izan. What he wanted was to get her safely his 
 own, and then to live on his knees before her. 
 But really, as you ask me, on the whole, if you had 
 counted up the hours they spent in each other's 
 company, it wouldn't have amounted to much, and 
 I don't see, however, that it made much difference. 
 Izan's courtship wasn't an ordinary courtship. It 
 was beautiful to see an adoration like that. It put 
 me in mind of the days of my own brief wedded 
 happiness.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax kept silence for a minute, lost in 
 retrospect. 
 
 ' Go on,' said Windeatt. * She was married in 
 the parish church, you said.' 
 
 ' Yes, everything quite regular, as I told you. 
 When the ceremony was concluded, we three had 
 lunch together in a private room at a pastry- 
 cook's ; Izo tasted champagne for the first time in 
 her life, and we had plum-cake with almond icing, 
 which I took back with me and kept in my room, 
 for it wouldn't have done for Izo to have it, on 
 
 l 9
 
 290 MADAME IZAN 
 
 account of the aunt, who would have made things 
 unpleasant. But we used to eat the cake when 
 she came across to me, and I made tea with the 
 spirit-lamp up in my room. It seemed hard that 
 Izan shouldn't have a morsel of his own wedding- 
 cake in the company of his bride, but it wouldn't 
 have been considered proper in the establishment 
 if I had asked him to my bedroom. Well, we 
 went on that way for a week, I getting together 
 an outfit for Izo, and Izan making his arrange- 
 ments for the voyage, when, lo ' — Mrs. Bax halted 
 dramatically — ' lo and behold ! suddenly Uncle 
 O'Halloran falls down upon us, as if it had been a 
 bomb bursting, just like the lost uncle in a novel, 
 you know. He had got hold of a gold-mine, as 
 you have done, Mr. Windeatt. It's a strange 
 coincidence, isn't it ? He said he meant to adopt 
 Izo as his heiress, and was full of a case of blind- 
 ness the same as hers, which had been cured by a 
 celebrated German oculist, and wanted to take her 
 right off to Wiesbaden and have an operation per- 
 formed. He was a very determined man, was 
 Mr. O'Halloran, and he said that if money could 
 buy European science, and European science could 
 give back his niece her eyes, she should see before 
 she was twenty-five, for he'd scour Europe and 
 America for the purpose.' 
 
 ' And what did Izo think of this?'
 
 MADAME IZAN 291 
 
 ' Why, she was simply enchanted at the thought 
 of getting back her sight. She had looked upon 
 that as one looks upon going to heaven. The 
 idea of seeing the sun and the sea and people and 
 animals and flowers made her wild with excitement. 
 She took to her uncle directly. I will say that, 
 rough diamond as he was, he couldn't have been 
 tenderer to an angel or his own daughter than he 
 was to Izo. He was quite prepared, once he had 
 taken a fancy to her, to repay the kindness some 
 of us had shown the poor girl a hundredfold into 
 our bosoms. But he and the aunt had a deadly 
 row. He wasn't going to be humbugged by her, 
 and it didn't take him long to see how the land 
 lay. In less than an hour he had carried Izo off 
 in a four-wheeled cab to a hotel in the Strand, 
 where she told him quite casually — for she didn't 
 seem to think it of much importance — that she was 
 a married woman.' 
 
 ' And I bet that then Mr. O'Halloran used 
 quaint language,' said Windeatt. 
 
 ' Yes, he did,' answered Mrs. Bax. ' It was 
 awful. Never before in my life had I been sworn 
 at by a gentleman, for Mr. Bax was peculiarly 
 choice in his manner of expressing himself.' 
 
 ' O'Halloran started in Australia as a bullock- 
 driver,' explained Windeatt. ' He never lost the 
 habit of objurgatory speech, but he always paid up 
 
 19 — 2
 
 292 MADAME IZAN 
 
 handsomely when his temper got the better ot 
 him with his men, and apologized like a gentle- 
 man to his equals.' 
 
 ' He apologized and paid up handsomely as 
 well to me,' said Mrs. Bax. ' And no doubt he 
 would not have forgiven me so quickly if he 
 hadn't sworn at me first. Oh yes, he apologized 
 and asked me to come and live with Izo as her 
 companion, which I at once agreed to do. Then 
 he sent for Mr. Izan, and they had an interview 
 at the hotel.' 
 
 ' I should like to have heard what he said to 
 him,' remarked Windeatt. 
 
 ' I was not present at the interview,' returned 
 Mrs. Bax. ' But I believe that Izan gave Mr. 
 O'Halloran proof of the legality of the marriage. 
 There was no fraud or compulsion, you see.' 
 
 ' I call it — damnable fraud,' growled Windeatt 
 between his teeth. 
 
 ' Mr. O'Halloran sent for Izo and me ; but 
 things were peaceable when we came down. It 
 was in that sitting-room at the Adelphi hotel that 
 Izo saw her husband for the last time. Oh, what 
 am I saying ?' Mrs. Bax laughed hysterically. 
 ' Of course she didn't see him ; she has never seen 
 him. It was I that saw him, and I can tell you 
 that he made me feel sorry for him, Mr. Windeatt. 
 Poor Izan ! his cup of happiness was dashed away
 
 MADAME IZAN 293 
 
 from his lips. I think that even Mr. O'Halloran 
 was sorry for him, though he had such a prejudice 
 against Chinese and Easterns generally. Well, 
 Izan spoke to Izo, and told her that her uncle had 
 put the position before him and had appealed to 
 his honour and his own sense of what was fair to 
 her. He acknowledged that he had done her a 
 wrong in marrying her in that offhand way, but 
 he said that he had thought of her more than of 
 himself, and that he could not have foreseen the 
 alteration in her circumstances and the chance she 
 now had of getting back her sight and of being 
 able to choose a husband with full knowledge and 
 under the advantages her uncle's wealth would 
 give her. He really spoke very nicely, poor Izan ! 
 and I think his calmness was only assumed to hide 
 his despair and agony. He released her from her 
 promise to go back with him to Japan, and told 
 her that he had agreed to her uncle's demand that 
 she should be left entirely unmolested by him for 
 three years, or as long a time, within reasonable 
 limits, as might be required to give the oculists a 
 chance of restoring her sight. He gave his word 
 of honour that he would not write to her or 
 attempt to see her, but this he declared should 
 only be on the understanding that she was recog- 
 nised as his wife and called bv his name, and that 
 whether blind or seeing she should be under
 
 294 MADAME IZAN 
 
 solemn engagement to meet him in his own 
 country at the end of the term, and that he in his 
 turn should be granted the opportunity to win her 
 affections and plead his own cause, and then he 
 said she should be at liberty to decide for herself 
 whether or not she would live with him as his 
 wife. Now, I hope Izo will allow that I have put 
 things in such a way as to do justice to Mr. Izan. 
 I do call that acting like a gentleman, don't you, 
 Mr. Windeatt ?' she concluded impartially. 
 
 ' It would have been quite impossible for him 
 under the circumstances to act in any other way,' 
 replied Windeatt. 
 
 ' Well, I don't know. He might have armed 
 himself with the majesty of the law,' said Herminia, 
 who enjoyed a fine phrase. 
 
 ' I don't think the majesty of the law would 
 have been of much use to him if O'Halloran had 
 done what he clearly ought to have done, and 
 taken immediate steps to break such an iniquitous 
 marriage. I am certain that no English jury 
 would have upheld it.' 
 
 ' I remember Dr. Duppo showing me a kind of 
 prickly creeper at Nagasaki that he said was 
 sometimes called " lawyers," because when the 
 thorns caught you, it was so difficult to get away 
 from them,' sapiently observed Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' I know that plant,' said Windeatt ; ' it grows,
 
 MADAME IZAN 295 
 
 too, in Australia. But tell me, how did Izo 
 take the farewell speech and confession?' 
 
 ' Well, she didn't seem much moved by it, not 
 half as much affected as I was. You can't think 
 what an odd, undeveloped girl she was, Mr. 
 Windeatt, at that time. I used to think some- 
 times that she was only half grown up. Or else 
 she was so accustomed to scoldings and cataclysms, 
 that she took everything as coming in the day's 
 work. Besides, it wasn't till after she had her 
 sight that she got such a feeling of horror and 
 repulsion about her husband. All she said in 
 answer to him was, " Yes, Mr. Izan, I should like 
 very much to come out by-and-by to your country, 
 and only think how glorious it will be when I can 
 see Fuji-san for myself!" For he used continually 
 to describe Fuji — the mountain, you know — to us. 
 I fancy his home was somewhere near it, and I 
 heard him say to her that she reminded him in 
 her beauty and purity, and because of the reverence 
 in which he held her, of his beloved and sacred 
 Fuji-san. It was a pretty, poetic idea, wasn't it, 
 and appropriate too ?' 
 
 ' I shall be better able to judge of its appro- 
 priateness when I have seen Mount Fuji,' said 
 Windeatt grudgingly. 
 
 ' Now I am really at the end of the story,' said 
 Mrs. Bax. ' What a pity it is that your sister >
 
 296 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde, couldn't make a book out of it ! 
 Time, too, for me to finish. It's awfully late, and 
 the hotel is in darkness. Izan did another pretty 
 thing, Mr. Windeatt, though it seemed rather 
 ridiculous in that stuffy Adelphi hotel. He said 
 to Izo : " I hold you to your promise. There in 
 my country, my beautiful country — which for your 
 sake I would even renounce, but which, I hope, 
 you too may learn to love — there you shall come 
 to me of your own accord, and together we will 
 gaze on Fuji-san, or I will give you your freedom 
 and we shall be parted for ever." And then he 
 said something in Japanese ; and now I'm coming 
 to the pretty thing he did. He prostrated himself 
 on the ground before her, just as they do here on 
 occasions of great ceremony, and afterwards got 
 up and went away without another word. And 
 that's the last I know of Izo's husband, Mr. Win- 
 deatt. Tell her, please, that I did do him justice. 
 He has kept his word of honour, and has never in 
 these years written to her, or in any way reminclecl 
 her of his existence ; and now shejs keeping hers, 
 and is out in Japan. At Tokyo those two have to 
 meet, and I am wondering what will come of the 
 meeting, and just whereabouts you will be placed 
 in this scene. I wrote to him for her ; and that's 
 the arrangement. Now you know all about it,' 
 wound up Mrs. Bax, as she rose from her chair :
 
 MADAME IZAN 297 
 
 ' and if either or both of us are going to shoot 
 those Rapids to - morrow, it seems to me that 
 we had better prepare for danger and calm our 
 nerves by getting as much sleep as we can to- 
 night.'
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Japanese night must surely distil nepenthe, 
 for, to look the next morning at the small 
 company of tourists which set forth so blithely 
 from Yaami's, one would certainly never have 
 guessed at those agitating emotions which, during 
 the previous day and evening, had racked the 
 bosoms of two, if not three, of the party. This 
 not including Herminia Bax, though, as a matter 
 of fact, Mrs. Bax's delicate freckled face — 
 the bloom of it faded, and reddish-violet rims 
 circling the dulled blue eyes — gave more marked 
 indication of ravaged feelings and sleepless hours 
 than did the countenance of either Windeatt or 
 Madame Izan. Nobody looked closely at Kencho ; 
 and, indeed, he, on his part, was apparently en- 
 grossed in preparation for the excursion, and his 
 chief anxiety seemed to be that the Makara young 
 gentlemen, who had enjoyed a late night in Kioto, 
 should not cause a delay in the embarkation upon 
 the Rapids, planned for before mid-day, as, if the 
 hour of starting were postponed, double fees would 
 
 [ 298 ]
 
 MADAME IZAN 299 
 
 be exacted by the rowers. Yamasaki shrugged his 
 shoulders, and grinned upon this representation. 
 He had come to the conclusion that an Australian 
 millionaire must necessarily be above such parsi- 
 monious considerations. But Herminia, who in 
 her leaner days had been trained to frugality, com- 
 mended Kencho — a very unusual thing in her — 
 for his thoughtfulness in the matter. 
 
 Madame Izan had arisen from three hours' 
 placid slumber, a goddess refreshed, for ' Melan- 
 colia ' belongs to the Middle Ages, and is not 
 enshrined among the Olympians, who were, on 
 the whole, an irresponsible, laughter-loving set. 
 Windeatt, too, was three-parts Greek to one of 
 medieval, and had strung himself up almost to 
 hilarity. Mrs. Eugarde, as always, presented a 
 cheerful embodiment of common-sense, and Her- 
 minia Bax was unnaturally gay. Anyhow, there 
 seemed to be a tacit understanding among them 
 that for this day, at least, tragedy should be 
 shunted. Perhaps it happened opportunely that 
 the Makara young men were of the party. Who 
 could be emotionally tremendous with the Irre- 
 pressible Tourist humming music-hall ditties and 
 chaffing his coolies, as the rickshaws bowled along 
 between gray-coped temple walls and among 
 yellowing cornfields and groves of dwarf bamboos 
 till the great Kioto plain was left behind, and with
 
 300 MADAME IZAN 
 
 many a ' Hoi ! hoi !' and much streaming perspira- 
 tion, the runners climbed to hillier regions? 
 
 There, round the sacred city, rose the mountains 
 veiled in their mystic haze. . . . And now the 
 slopes were green and pink with maple and azalea, 
 and the wisteria was in bloom on the trellises. 
 Oh, the tender dreaminess of that scented air ! 
 The locusts made a soft whirring on every tree 
 and shrub ; down in the dry river-bed, cobwebby 
 wisps of muslin were drawn, which the bleachers 
 assiduously sprinkled, giving a laugh every now 
 and then at the moon-faced children who were 
 flying kites. Sweet, clean, Nature-blessed crea- 
 tures are they, those Japanese babies ! Betimes, 
 there would be a halt at a tea-house, and the 
 serving out thimbleruls of pale tea, and doll- 
 plates of sweet, square, crumbly wafers ; after- 
 wards, on again, among the cherry-orchards, the 
 gray villages, and the roadside shrines guarded by 
 architraved gateways. 
 
 Yes, on such a dream-day, with the earth-imps 
 laughing at conventions and old Pan defying 
 wigged judges, what is there for care-laden humans 
 to do but throw off Mrs. Grundy's burdens and 
 join the nymphs and fawns in innocent frolic? 
 Of what consequence could it really be, under these 
 conditions, that an unmeaning recitation of a certain 
 formula holding good in the. law-courts threatened
 
 MADAME IZAN 301 
 
 to interfere with the happy purposes of a love- 
 intoxicated young man, and to confuse and com- 
 plicate the new stirrings of a maiden's awakening 
 heart ? 
 
 Some perception of this dawning consciousness 
 in Madame Izan was beginning to force itself 
 upon poor Herminia. It added greatly to her own 
 perplexities, torn as she was between sympathy for 
 Windeatt the near, and remorse in regard to those 
 righteous claims of Izan the distant, and she was 
 wondering in a half-terrified way whether this 
 strange enthusiasm for things Japanese, which 
 Kencho had inspired, might not, after all, lead to 
 a more conventional termination of Izo's romance 
 than she had ever anticipated. 
 
 It was a three hours' spin through a vast land- 
 scape garden, where, as Mrs. Bax put it, the 
 mountains seemed ' placed,' and the forests designed 
 in 'decorative patches.' Then, in a tea-house by 
 the river, there came luncheon, which the Makara 
 young men turned into a boisterous feast, washing 
 down their cold chicken with many draughts of 
 Kirin beer. After that, the whole party, runners, 
 rickshaws and all, was shipped into queer flat- 
 bottomed boats, awned over, and manned by 
 sailors in blue sacks and mushroom hats of basket- 
 work, who were armed with oars and poles. For 
 a while, they were gliding along at the bottom of
 
 302 MADAME IZAN 
 
 a great green trough, with a curving rim, where 
 the tops of the banks were wavily outlined against 
 the sky. There was nothing else, only the steep, 
 smooth sides of the trough, splashed here and 
 there with azalea, and the irregular edges, with the 
 vast blue dome above and the still water below. 
 
 Presently the water was still no longer, but 
 boiled, and bubbled, and foamed, and now the 
 oars ceased their monotonous squeak in the row- 
 locks. The men in mushroom hats brandished 
 their poles, gripping them tightly as they stood 
 grim and alert, warily steering in and out of the 
 huge red - brown rocks which bristled up, the 
 waters roaring and bellowing round them. The 
 boat sprang, and bumped, and plunged, and darted 
 downward, and the muscles of the boatmen's arms 
 swelled into knots as they handled their poles. 
 Every moment it seemed as though the boat 
 would be dashed to pieces upon the boulders 
 which lay pell-mell in that chaotic flood. Windeatt 
 jeered a little at the mildness of the excitement, 
 compared with the reports that he had heard ; but 
 his Australian blood was up, and he enjoyed it 
 thoroughly. So did the Makara young men. 
 They were in the foremost boat with Mrs. Bax 
 and Yamasaki, and their yells of delight almost 
 drowned Herminia's feeble plaint : 
 
 ' Oh, Izo, I'm so frightened ! I should never
 
 MADAME IZAN 303 
 
 have come if I had known that it rained here last 
 night. You know the guide - book says it's 
 dangerous when there's rain. Oh, do let me out ! 
 — do tell them that I'd rather walk ! Indeed I 
 would rather walk.' 
 
 But Madame Izan only laughed in response to 
 Herminia's pitiful appeals. She was not frightened 
 — no, indeed ! She didn't want to be landed with 
 a jinrikisha and a coolie, as Herminia petitioned. 
 Her lithe shape swayed to and fro to the frenzied 
 dartings of the boat ; her face and hair were wet 
 with spray ; her eyes danced and dilated ; and 
 both Windeatt and Kencho thought, after their 
 different ways of thinking, that they had never 
 seen any being so glorious and beautiful. These 
 two, with Julia Eugarde, were in the boat also, 
 Kencho balancing himself on a cross-bar, and the 
 rickshaws and runners forward. 
 
 ' Now I'm seeing — and living, too !' cried 
 Madame Izan. ' Oh, it's splendid, it's magnifi- 
 cent ! How can you be so silly, Herminia ? 
 Splendid, splendid !' she repeated, as, after the 
 second of the Rapids had been shot, the boat settled 
 into docility again. Izo's excitement subsided in 
 a long-spent breath, her tense muscles relaxing, 
 as the boat floated upon a still little lake, into 
 which the river had suddenly widened. 
 
 But these smooth stretches were only intervals
 
 3o 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 in the tumult of the waters. Not far from Arishi- 
 yama came another exciting shoot, and it was then 
 that the accident which hastened dramatic action 
 in this history took place. 
 
 How, nobody ever exactly knew. A culvert 
 had burst in the night, swelling the cataract at this 
 point ; a pole slipped on a slimy rock ; a boatman 
 missed his footing — it was one or all of these things. 
 Kencho, as the punt heeled, started up and seized 
 the pole which the boatman had dropped. Then 
 came a moment of wild confusion. The guide 
 staggered, overbalanced himself in his effort to 
 steer the craft, and fell sheer into the torrent. 
 Madame Izan, with a scream, rose impetuously ; 
 there was a horrible bump, and before anybody 
 could quite realize what was happening, all of 
 them were struggling in the waves. The boatmen 
 — luckily not unused to this kind of occurrence, 
 and being as fish returning downstream — kept their 
 wits as well as their limbs in working order. And 
 luckily, too, the catastrophe happened at the 
 end of the Rapids, where some bristling fangs 
 edged the fall into stiller water. Past the fangs 
 there was not so much danger, and Windeatt and 
 Julia Eugarde, escaping the jagged rocks above 
 the drop, were swept harmlessly down into the 
 smoother stream. Windeatt had had experience 
 of flooded creeks in Australia, and was a good
 
 MADAME IZAN 305 
 
 swimmer. He struck out, supporting his sister, and 
 reached the bank almost as soon as the boatman 
 and coolie who were making for his assistance. 
 They seized Julia and dragged her out. But now, 
 with dismay, Windeatt saw that Madame Izan had 
 not been so fortunate. He would have plunged 
 towards her, but that at that moment he perceived 
 her in the safe keeping of another boatman, who 
 now appeared with her in his arms from behind a 
 nasty tooth of rock, and was bearing her landwards. 
 Kencho had fared worse, for it was he who in the 
 first instance had enfolded her from harm, and his 
 body had made itself a buffer between his mistress 
 and the threatening danger. Even when his own 
 head had struck against the boulder, and his brain 
 had reeled and become a blank, he still held her as 
 in a vice, her safety his last conscious thought. 
 Windeatt was too deeply concerned about Madame 
 Izan to do more than assure himself that the guide 
 was being upheld into safety by two stalwart Jap 
 runners. He turned to the lady of his love, and, 
 as they laid her on the bank, ascertained with joy 
 that she was not even stunned, only bruised and 
 dripping, and for a few minutes so dazed as 
 hardly to grasp the fact that she had been in 
 danger. Izo's splendid vitality seemed, indeed, 
 unquenchable, and she was in better condition than 
 Mrs. Eugarde, who did not at once recover 
 
 20
 
 3 o6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 consciousness. Presently, however, Julia, too, 
 opened her eyes and murmured some incoherent 
 words, and by that time those in the foremost 
 boat, having seen the disaster, had landed, and 
 Herminia, in advance, was running wildly towards 
 the drowned-looking group. 
 
 ' Oh, Izo !' she cried, ' did I not say that it was 
 dangerous? Izo, are you alive? . . . Oh, I knew 
 something dreadful was going to happen. I had 
 a presentiment of it. . . . Speak to me, dear Izo, 
 and tell me that you are safe.' 
 
 ' She is all right, Mrs. Bax,' replied Windeatt 
 cheerfully. ' Everybody is all right, thank good- 
 ness, unless it's Kencho, poor chap ! . . . Seems 
 as if he had got a nasty cut. . . . Oh, I say ! . . . 
 By Jove!' 
 
 Windeatt's long-drawn exclamation ended in a 
 funny kind of whistle. He cast a glance of half- 
 humorous horror and amazement at Mrs. Bax. 
 But she was too much occupied in wringing the 
 wet out of Izo's skirts to appreciate its significance. 
 Madame Izan did not respond gratefully to the 
 attention, but pushed Herminia pettishly away and 
 rose to her feet. She made some tottering steps 
 forward, her alarmed eyes fixed upon the inert 
 form of a man which the Japanese coolies were 
 carrying over the rocks, and which they laid 
 upon the grassy slope close to where she stood.
 
 MADAME IZAN 307 
 
 It was this sight which had called forth Windeatt's 
 startled exclamation and was accountable now for 
 the pained perplexity on Madame Izan's counte- 
 nance. The man's face was bleeding from a cut on 
 the forehead, his clothes were torn and mud- 
 stained, while small rivulets dropped from his 
 garments to the ground. But what strange trans- 
 formation was this? The clothes were the clothes 
 of Kencho, so was the form. Yet could that be 
 the face of Kencho ? 
 
 For it was no longer the face of a middle-aged 
 man. The iron-gray hair was gone. It had 
 floated down the current and might have been 
 seen, had anyone cared to look, considerably below 
 the Rapids on its way to Arishiyama. Instead of 
 those gray locks, curly black rings clung to a 
 youthful forehead, rings that were clotted and 
 stained, where the blood had flowed from a nasty- 
 looking cut above the temple. The goggles also 
 had gone, sunk to the bottom of the river, no 
 doubt, or broken to pieces on the rocks, and 
 Kencho's eyes lay closed in their orbits, like those 
 of a sleeping Buddha, beneath dark level brows, 
 which the unsightly glasses had formerly hidden. 
 The absence of those disfiguring spectacles seemed 
 somehow to have altered the shape of the nose 
 and the whole character of the face, which now 
 revealed itself as that of an intellectual and com- 
 
 20 — 2
 
 308 MADAME IZAN 
 
 paratively young Japanese gentleman — a face which, 
 in its rigid unconsciousness, showed well-featured, 
 impressive, and even handsome, after the style of 
 the East, and with a distinction independent of 
 race, all its own. 
 
 Herminia Bax, when her eyes rested upon this 
 pale, impassive face, gave one piercing shriek and 
 flung her arm round Madame Izan, drawing her 
 from the spot on which lay the inanimate form. 
 
 ' Come away !' she cried. ' Izo, you must come 
 this instant. It isn't fit that you should be look- 
 ing at him. Oh !' she went on, in despair at Izo's 
 immovability. ' Do tell her it isn't fit ; do take 
 her away !' 
 
 Windeatt was at a loss to understand the cause 
 of Mrs. Bax's agitation. 
 
 ' Oh ! the poor chap isn't dead, Mrs. Bax — nor 
 likely to die. Here's our Makara friend, who's 
 a sort of doctor — ain't you, old man ? He'll bring 
 him round in no time. That's not what has 
 flabbergasted me. I'm a bit of a doctor myself. 
 But why in Heaven's name is he masquerading like 
 this ?' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, that's the puzzle. Just you tell 
 Madame Izan we'll bring him to his senses all 
 right, and then Mr. Kencho will have to explain 
 himself,' said the Irrepressible Young Man, who 
 was bubbling inwardly with curiosity and amuse-
 
 MADAME IZAN 309 
 
 ment. He had his hand on Kencho's heart, and 
 was examining the cut with professional nicety. 
 He had been a medical student before his un - 
 expected accession to a fortune gave him means of 
 gratifying a long- cherished desire to go round the 
 world. 
 
 'It's a rum go, ain't it?' he went on. 'Got 
 plenty of hair, hasn't he ? Wonder what he wanted 
 with a wig. Well, he has lost his wig, any way, 
 for good and all.' The young man, with Mrs. 
 Eugarde's help, was trying to force some brandy 
 between Kencho's locked lips. ' That's good. 
 He's coming to. Now, don't you bother about 
 him, Mrs. Eugarde. But do, ladies, look after 
 yourselves. Give us the other brandy flask, old 
 chap ; oh, you've got some, have you ? Well, 
 now look here, Mrs. Bax and Mrs. Eugarde, and 
 all of you : get off as quickly as you can to the 
 tea-house, and change your things. Have a sup of 
 this at once, and drink some more piping hot as soon 
 as you are indoors. If you don't you'll be catching 
 cold or going into hysterics. Mrs. Bax is half- 
 way to hysterics already. Where's Yamasaki?' 
 
 Yamasaki, looking extremely like a soused 
 monkey, was discovered squeezing the river out of 
 his coat-tails, but otherwise none the worse for his 
 ducking. Kencho seemed the onlv one who had 
 come to serious grief, for all the other little Japs
 
 310 MADAME IZAN 
 
 had bobbed up out of the water, smiling and 
 uninjured. It was decided that the medical young 
 man should look after Kencho, Windeatt and the 
 second tourist remaining, while the rest of the 
 party, under Yamasaki's charge, got into the first 
 boat, and were rowed to Arishiyama. Mrs. 
 Eugarde, who had recovered her usual calm, had 
 meanwhile dosed the sobbing Herminia with 
 brandy, and administered some to herself. Madame 
 Izan impatiently pushed away the dose offered her. 
 She did not seem able to think of anything but 
 the condition of Kencho. 
 
 ' It was in saving me,' she said, half aloud ; ' he 
 thought of me, not of himself.' Then she turned 
 wildly to Windeatt. ' What does it all mean ? 
 Why is he so changed ? Why is his hair not 
 gray ? Or is it that I am seeing wrong?' 
 
 ' Oh, you are seeing right enough, Madame 
 Izan,' replied Windeatt gruffly. ' You are only 
 seeing what all the rest of us see. The fellow is 
 an impostor — that's what it means ; and the 
 sooner the authorities — the British authorities, I 
 mean — are informed of that fact, the better. How 
 does anyone know that he didn't mean to run 
 away with Madame Izan's jewel-box, which he 
 always hugs so carefully ? As soon as we get back 
 to Kioto, I will go to our Consul and tell him all 
 about it.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 311 
 
 ' No, Jack,' put in Mrs. Eugarde softly, ' you'll 
 do nothing of the kind. And you mustn't be 
 thinking stupid things about Kencho. It's ridiculous 
 to suppose that he wanted to run away with any 
 jewels. Come, my dear,' she said very kindly, 
 taking Madame Izan's hand in hers ; ' you must 
 leave the poor fellow now with the men. Mrs. 
 Bax is quite right : you can't do him any good at 
 present. Besides, if we don't hurry up,' added 
 this practical person, ' some of us, anyhow, will 
 most assuredly be laid up with bronchitis.' 
 
 Madame Izan, with the air of a frightened 
 child, suffered Mrs. Eugarde to lead her away. 
 She looked utterly bewildered, and said not a 
 word till they had reached the tea - house at 
 Arishiyama, which, fortunately, was not far 
 distant. 
 
 Here the news of the disaster had already 
 arrived. At the entrance, awaiting the dripping 
 excursionists, were the proprietor, the proprietress, 
 and the whole troop of nesans. Sympathy breathed 
 in every honorific phrase with which the distin- 
 guished travellers were greeted. It was manifest in 
 each profound obeisance — forehead upon the floor ; 
 in each mellifluous ejaculation of the nesans, each 
 infantile gesture, and in all the bobbings and trip- 
 pings to and fro, and the general clutter of these 
 wing-sleeved, sweet-faced creatures.
 
 3 i2 MADAME IZAN 
 
 They convoyed the ladies up a flight of steep 
 wooden steps to the back of the tea-house, where, 
 behind rice-paper screens, Madame Izan, Julia 
 Eugarde, and Herminia Bax — the last dry, but 
 unresisting — were divested of their garments and 
 put into wadded cotton kimonos, while the wet 
 clothes were taken out to be dried. 
 
 An old woman with very black teeth, carrying 
 a tray of flat cakes and sticky sweets, came in. 
 After Mrs. Eugarde had bought some crumbly 
 cakes, and made a feint of nibbling them, the old 
 woman squatted on the matting and pulled out 
 her pipe and smoked. ' Yuroshi nasai !' she cried, 
 in an ecstasy of admiration, as she contemplated 
 Madame Izan and Herminia Bax. Each wore 
 a large - flowered kimono, but Madame Izan's 
 only reached to the ankles, showing a pale pinkish 
 strip above her tabis, to hide which she had to 
 duck, Japanese fashion, in her embarrassment. 
 The nesans, too, were ecstatic and loud in their 
 praises of the blonde Herminia. ' Verai clean !' 
 they stammered, pointing to Mrs. Bax's blanched 
 cheeks. For Herminia seemed upset in a manner 
 out of all proportion to the cause of shock — far 
 more upset, outwardly, than was Madame Izan, 
 who, at least, had suffered the severer physical 
 shock of immersion in icy - cold water. But 
 whatever might be Izo's inward perturbations, it
 
 MADAMK IZAN 313 
 
 was seldom that she did not contrive to maintain 
 a fairly composed demeanour. Herminia's counte- 
 nance was now of a sickly pallor ; she shivered in 
 nervous tremor, and spoke in an inconsequent 
 way, giving queer little gasps, as though she were 
 trying to swallow an emotion which she found it 
 extremely difficult to dispose of. In fact, she 
 behaved very much as though she had seen a 
 ghost. 
 
 'I'm all anyhow!' she exclaimed, pointing to 
 her kimono, and bursting into a quavering peal of 
 laughter. ' Why did I let them put this on? I'm 
 sure I don't know. I wasn't wet. Was I wet ? 
 / didn't tumble into the river. I didn't want to 
 change. And why am I shaking like this ?' 
 
 ' You've caught cold, perhaps ; and you're 
 suffering from nervous agitation,' said Mrs. 
 Eugarde. ' You must have some hot tea at 
 once, and more brandy. . . . Tea ! . . . Oh, what 
 is tea? Where is my dictionary?' 
 
 ' Tea. . . . Yes, yes ! . . . Hot tea, immediately, 
 cried Mrs. Bax, still laughing. 
 
 ' DO 
 
 The nesan prostrated herself, but was uncom- 
 prehending. Pantomimic explanation only made 
 Herminia more hysterical. 
 
 ' Don't be a goose ! Cha — o cha ! Here it is,' 
 said Mrs. Eugarde, having consulted her vocabulary. 
 
 ' O cha !' The nesan beamed compliance, and
 
 3 1 4 MADAME IZAN 
 
 tripped off. Herminia gasped again. Madame 
 Izan stood like a statue, regardless of the shortness 
 of her kimono. Then presently the nesan tripped 
 back with the tea, and Mrs. Eugarde dosed 
 Herminia, who began to babble. 
 
 ' Don't ever tell me again that there's nothing in 
 intuitions. ... I knew something was going to 
 happen. ... I knew it on board the Makara. 
 ... I told Dr. Duppo so . . . and now it has 
 come true . . . and what am I to do? I really 
 don't know what I ought to do. . . . It's a most 
 terribly embarrassing position. Oh, I wish Dr. 
 Duppo was here to advise me !' she added, in a 
 murmur, with a furtive glance towards Madame 
 Izan, who was staring into vacancy, and paying no 
 attention whatever to her friend's distress. 
 
 ' Well, I must say that I think our combined 
 intellects ought to be capable of tackling this 
 situation, without assistance from Dr. Duppo,' 
 dryly remarked Julia. ' For my own part, if you 
 care for my opinion, this metamorphosis scene 
 appears to me quite the most appropriate wind-up 
 to the Kioto act that dramatic ingenuity could 
 have devised. To be sure, that isn't saying much 
 for dramatic ingenuity, but I've never known 
 playwrights work much outside the conventional 
 lines. Managers always feel safest when they're 
 not asking a great deal from the comprehension of
 
 MADAME IZAN 315 
 
 the British public. The worst of a real-life drama 
 is,' she went on, ' that there are such undramatic 
 pauses in its action. Now, if I were stage - 
 managing this business, I'd walk Kencho down 
 as soon as his cut is bound up with sticking- 
 plaster, and put him into the centre, with all the 
 rest of us grouped ready for a curtain. I wouldn't 
 fool round any longer.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax glared in astonishment at the lady of 
 professional instincts. 
 
 ' My goodness gracious !' she cried. ' How 
 have you got to know anything about it ? I never 
 told you. . . . No, Izo may accuse me as she 
 likes ; but I solemnly swear I never told you.' 
 
 ' Make your mind easy, dear soul ; I'll uphold 
 your integrity,' answered Julia. ' But, you see, 
 one doesn't write novels for nothing. I had a 
 very shrewd suspicion before that venerable wig 
 and those abominable goggles were swallowed 
 by the Rapids. I hope you'll excuse my remark- 
 ing that, from my point of view, it ail seems 
 dreadfully elementary — rather the hot-poker and 
 butter-slide sort of thing, you know. In matter 
 of copy I gain absolutely nothing. And really, 
 dear Mrs. Bax, considering your previous ac- 
 quaintance with the man, I am surprised that you 
 didn't see through that disguise at once.' 
 
 ' It's more than five years ago — and I never
 
 3i 6 MADAME IZAN 
 
 could remember faces ; and my poor husband, who 
 was a very clever man, always said that I was 
 more intuitive than logical,' faltered Mrs. Bax. 
 
 ' Well, he may have been right there ; but 
 intuition doesn't seem to have done much for 
 you here, any way,' said Mrs. Eugarde. ' As for 
 Japanese subtleties, I can't compliment Mr. Kencho 
 upon his personal application of Eastern methods.' 
 
 Just then there was a discreet tap upon the frame 
 of the rice-paper screen, and at Mrs. Eugarde's 
 ' Come in,' the tea-house proprietor presented 
 himself, deeply bowing, somewhat in the attitude 
 of ' I Curios ' of Yaami's, and accosted the ex- 
 cursionists. 
 
 ' Honourable ladies, river-gazing condescend,' 
 translated Julia, with the aid of her vocabulary. 
 Whereupon Yamasaki advanced with butting 
 obeisance, his hands upon his knees, transformed 
 once more into a Japanese. The screen flew back, 
 and the rice-paper box lay all open to the land- 
 scape. They saw a broad shallow stream, the beak- 
 prowed sampans gliding along it, and beyond, 
 the hillside in its variegated green of pine and 
 maple, dotted about with sylvan tea-houses, Out 
 on the balcony stood a fair- haired and broad- 
 shouldered giant in a very inadequate kimono. 
 He turned to confront Madame Izan, who had 
 come forth mechanically from her retirement.
 
 MADAME IZAN 317 
 
 The giant twirled his moustache awkwardly, and 
 she blushed rosy-red, retreating again, as she 
 dropped a sort of curtsey to hide her ankles. 
 Truly, there was something excessively comical in 
 the aspect of these Westerners masquerading in 
 Japanese garb. The Makara young men burst 
 into a peal of laughter, in which Mrs. Bax 
 hysterically joined, and which was faintly echoed 
 by Julia Eugarde. 
 
 And now poor Madame Izan lost completely 
 the self-control she had tried so valiantly to main- 
 tain. The old expression of bewildered appeal 
 came into her face, and the tears to her eyes. 
 
 ' Oh, how can you be so heartless?' she cried, 
 sinking down upon a heap of futons that the 
 tea-house keeper had set in default of a sufficient 
 number of chairs. ' How can you laugh like that, 
 when maybe there's somebody dying — drowned 
 and bleeding because he saved my life? ... I 
 can't bear it ! . . . It's horrible !' 
 
 ' No, no ! We've doctored him back into right 
 form,' exclaimed the Makara young man, his 
 laughter silenced. 
 
 ' I assure you that there's no occasion for you 
 to agitate yourself,' said Windeatt, torn between 
 jealousy, admiration, and tender compassion for 
 her distress. ' Kencho was walking about when 
 we left him, and exceedingly alive.'
 
 318 MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' It was nothing but a skin-cut — only wanted 
 sticking-plaster,' said the Makara young man. 
 
 ' Mr. Kencho send — tell ladies no trouble,' 
 explained Yamasaki. ' He quite well — very 
 sorry. He now open eyes and make talk. Mr. 
 Kencho only like drunk man — suppose too much 
 saki. Head very quick joined. Ladies go can 
 Kioto. Mr. Kencho come little while after.' 
 
 * Yes, it's really all right, Madame Izan,' pursued 
 the Makara young man, who had been touched also 
 by her tears. ' Of course, it's quite natural, and 
 very kind, I'm sure, that you should feel anxious. 
 There's no doubt Kencho did save you from a 
 bad bruising. If we'd been higher up the Rapids, 
 why, I dare say we should all have been drowned 
 — all of you, I mean. It was downright plucky 
 of Kencho. But don't you worry any more ; 
 there's no harm done. And I say, Mrs. Bax ' — 
 for Izo's chest still heaved ominously — ' by Jove ! 
 you look a jolly sight more shaken than Kencho 
 himself. Look here : don't you think it would 
 amuse Madame Izan to take a squint through 
 those paper things into the next compartment? 
 There's a regular jollification going on — the 
 sweetest set of tea-house girls, squatting on their 
 heels, and smoking, and winking, and ogling us 
 like anything. They saw us peeping round the 
 corner at them from the balcony. Give the screen
 
 MADAME IZAN 319 
 
 a shove, Yamasaki ; they won't mind. Say some- 
 thing in Japanese — the honorific language, you 
 know. Now they're beginning to sing ; perhaps 
 it's a geisha party. And — oh, I say ! Great Scot ! 
 If that's not the mission lady's accordion — well ! 
 I'll walk to Yaami's in a kimono ! What a lark 
 if we were to catch her and send her after old 
 Barradine to Miyanoshita !' 
 
 Sure enough, when Yamasaki threw apart the 
 rice-paper partition — having made a circuitous and 
 more courteous assault on the next compartment by 
 way of the balcony — he disclosed a scene in which 
 Miss Theodosia Gotch made, if not the most 
 attractive, certainly the most important figure. 
 There, in a kind of semicircle, had gathered a 
 group of gaily - dressed mousmes — or perhaps 
 tea-house girls, since to these was Miss Gotch's 
 avowed mission — their pretty little figures bent, 
 as they pecked daintily with chopsticks at flat 
 boxes of vermicelli or some such dainty mess, the 
 ends of their obis — bright orange and vermilion 
 and pink — standing out like wings, and giving 
 them more than ever the appearance of a covey of 
 dragon-flies, while the bristling coral pins in their 
 sleek heads heightened the comparison. The 
 vermicelli-pecking they varied with the swallowing 
 of thimblefuls of tea and with tiny pulls at their 
 wee pipes, the bowls of which they clicked after
 
 320 MADAME IZAN 
 
 each pull against the rim of the charcoal-heater, 
 making a queer metallic accompaniment to their 
 hilarious babble. Certainly, if securing salvation 
 were their main object, they made themselves 
 very merry over the operation. A little above 
 them, on a raised recess, Miss Theodosia Gotch 
 squatted like some strange and uncouth goddess. 
 She had discarded her black satin dress with the 
 beaded Medicis collar for a kimono of sober brown 
 and a sombre-hued obi, though her coarse iron- 
 gray hair frizzled back from her big knobbly 
 forehead, and was coiled in European fashion as 
 of old. Her dark eyes beamed benevolently, and 
 her massive jaw relaxed as she gave forth, to the 
 wail of her concertina, the ' Do, re, mi, fa ' in 
 deep falsetto — that same scale practice which had 
 so disturbed Mr. Barradine's afternoon siesta. 
 Her Bible stuck out of the folds of her obi, and 
 the Japanese dictionary, as in Makara days, 
 reposed upon her lap. 
 
 When Miss Gotch perceived Windeatt and the 
 rest, she uttered a cry and dropped her accordion, 
 and there was a fluttering among the dragon-flies 
 as she made an elephantine leap from the dais into 
 the other compartment, and shook hands all round 
 with her old travelling companions. 
 
 There followed a good deal of questioning on 
 the part of Miss Gotch, and of information,
 
 MADAME IZAN 321 
 
 delivered chiefly by the Makara young men and 
 Julia Eugarde, concerning the sight-seeings of the 
 Kioto party and their recent misadventure. Her- 
 minia Bax was much too discomposed to enter 
 into any relevant explanations, and Madame Izan, 
 who had never been conversational with the 
 mission-lady, sat apart absolutely silent, and 
 apparently not listening to what was going on. 
 Presently she was mysteriously beckoned to by a 
 nesan, and went off behind the screens at the back 
 to get into her dried garments. Herminia, after 
 a moment or two of indecision and an enigmatic 
 gesture in Mrs. Eugarde's direction, turned to 
 follow her friend. Mrs. Eugarde interpreted the 
 gesture in her mind, and with a little laugh 
 whispered, as Herminia was departing : 
 
 ' I'd get it over if I were you ; I'd tell her 
 straight away. And I do presume that we should 
 feel less ridiculous in our own clothes, if it's settled 
 that we are to group for a " curtain," as I sug- 
 gested.' 
 
 Herminia responded with an hysterical murmur. 
 
 ' Oh, I couldn't — I couldn't indeed ! . . . I'll 
 tell her to-night, when we get to Kioto.' 
 
 'Tell her what?' asked Miss Gotch when she 
 and Julia were alone. ' Has anything happened 
 to Madame Izan ? and has her husband turned up 
 yet ? If it has to be broken to her, you had really 
 
 21
 
 322 MADAME IZAN 
 
 better employ me. I don't think much of Mrs. 
 Bax's discretion, and I'm used to that sort of 
 thing. Do say — has her husband turned up?' 
 
 ' I can at least state that I have not been 
 officially informed of the fact,' replied Julia. 
 
 ' Well, if I can be of any use, I'm staying to- 
 morrow in Kioto,' said Miss Gotch. ' I'll come 
 immediately if you should be landed in a difficulty, 
 and feel strange in foreign parts. I may say that 
 I've already pretty well learned my way about in 
 Japan.' 
 
 Julia thanked her, but observed that she hoped 
 they were getting out of a difficulty instead of 
 falling into one. 
 
 ' I'd never trust a man,' said Miss Gotch. ' Of 
 course, you are thinking of your brother. It was 
 as plain as a pikestaff what he was after. Just 
 you take my advice, and separate those two. It's 
 Madame Izan I'm anxious about ; your brother 
 isn't a blind baby. And that Mrs. Bax is such 
 a fool. I'm interested in Madame Izan — always 
 have been, though she don't like me. And I 
 imagine that, if there is a difficulty, she's the one 
 that will suffer from it.' 
 
 Julia Eugarde gracefully evaded the point 
 with further thanks, promising to avail herself of 
 Miss Gotch's services should there be any news 
 ' to be broken.' ' And now tell me about your
 
 MADAME IZAN 323 
 
 own prospects,' she went on. ' I see that you 
 are carrying out the plan of campaign you pro- 
 posed to yourself on board the steamer, so I 
 conclude that the mission authorities approve of 
 your accordion as part of the artillery of salvation.' 
 
 Miss Gotch coloured slightly. 
 
 ' To tell the truth,' she answered, ' they weren't 
 altogether encouraging about my accordion prac- 
 tice at the mission-house. In fact, I was a good 
 deal hurt at my reception, and found that to some 
 extent there had been a misconception in regard 
 to my joining the staff. They never met me at all 
 that day when you left the Makara. However, 
 it's all over now, and I'm going to another station. 
 Fortunately, I had brought a personal letter of 
 introduction to the Bishop from the wife of a 
 great Law Lord — I believe I mentioned him to you 
 in connection with a case of a mixed marriage that 
 I was interested in. That gave me an oppor- 
 tunity of explaining my position and my views in 
 regard to abandoned Eastern women, and tne 
 Bishop has been good enough to allow me to make 
 a kind of tour with a converted Japanese lady, 
 right along to Tokyo, stopping as I please on the 
 way. This was with the idea of my gaining 
 knowledge of the country, and of its people and 
 language, and I am able at the same time to per- 
 fect myself in mv music' 
 
 21 — 2
 
 324 MADAME IZAN 
 
 'And do you find it answer?' asked Julia. ' I 
 hope that you are getting as satisfactory results as 
 you anticipated.' 
 
 ' Oh, one can't expect to accomplish serious 
 conversions before mastering the language of a 
 country,' said Miss Gotch. ' But I'm preparing 
 the ground for seed, and shall come back this way, 
 I hope, and sow my grain. I'm very hopeful — 
 extremely hopeful. . . . But I mustn't leave my 
 girls too long to themselves,' pursued the mission, 
 lady, turning a wary eye on the Makara young 
 men, who were flirting with the mousmes in the 
 next compartment. ' My Japanese friend is down 
 below, and I shall deliver my charges and come 
 back for a little further chat, if there's time before 
 you start.' 
 
 ' I must be changing into my own clothes again,' 
 said Mrs. Eugarde. ' I suppose that Jack has 
 gone off to do the same thing.' 
 
 The Makara young men volunteered to find 
 Windeatt, and see after the jinrikishas. Mrs. 
 Eugarde went off in the wake of a nesan, and Miss 
 Gotch took her place among the disturbed dragon- 
 flies, while Yamasaki drew the sliding panels 
 together once more.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Nobody saw the Makara young men again. 
 They trundled off in their rickshaws to Kioto, 
 and Mrs. Eugarde wondered if they, too, had 
 scented a dramatic denouement, concluding, how- 
 ever, that their departure was of no consequence, 
 as their presence was not indispensable for due 
 effect of the ' curtain.' The fact was that they 
 had made their own private arrangements for an 
 evening's entertainment at Kioto, and the ex-doctor 
 had a lurking fear that Madame Izan might detain 
 him in attendance upon Kencho, an unnecessary 
 professional obligation that he had no wish to 
 undertake. 
 
 The rice-paper compartment was empty when 
 Madame Izan, robed once more in British blue 
 serge, came back and seated herself forlornly, 
 waiting till Herminia and Mrs. Eugarde should be 
 re-clad in their own garments. But she was too 
 greatly disturbed mentally to be able to wait in 
 quietude. She got up, walking nervously to and 
 fro, and presently clapped her hands, which brought 
 
 [ 325 1
 
 326 MADAME IZAN 
 
 an obliging nesan literally head foremost to her 
 feet. 
 
 ' I want Kencho — guide — Mr. Kencho Hiro- 
 Kahachi,' she stammered, and attempted some 
 halting Japanese phrases in further explanation. 
 But the nesan had no need of fuller enlighten- 
 ment, for someone else spoke to her in Japanese 
 from the balcony ; and with an obeisance she 
 tripped off, making signs to Madame Izan that 
 her behest was already fulfilled. 
 
 ' I am here, madame,' said Kencho's deep voice ; 
 and in her bewilderment Izo turned in the wrong 
 direction, and then back again, and saw a man in 
 Japanese dress who was Kencho, and yet not 
 Kencho, standing before her. 
 
 His attitude was one of proud humility. She 
 could see that he was moved to the roots of his 
 being, yet struggled to appear calm. Now, as she 
 looked at him earnestly, a painful flush spread 
 over his olive face, which before had been startling 
 in its pallor. The flush faded as quickly as it had 
 come, intensifying still more the pallor ; and his 
 eyes, larger, more hollowed in their orbits, and less 
 obliquely set than those of most of his country- 
 men, glowed on her with mournful fervour. 
 She had never seen those eyes before, and their 
 expression affected her in a way that surprised 
 herself. One of his arms was in a sling, and his
 
 MADAME IZAN 327 
 
 head was bandaged. Perhaps it was the white 
 bandage which gave him that ghastly look, and his 
 eyes that peculiar brightness. He seemed alto- 
 gether so shaken, so ill, and so unlike his former 
 impassive self, that she could scarcely believe the 
 evidence of his voice, and even now doubted if he 
 were indeed Kencho. He saw her hesitation, and 
 cut short the trembling words she began to speak : 
 
 ' I . . . can't ... I don't know ' 
 
 1 Madame,' he said, hardly less tremulously, ' I 
 have to beg your forgiveness — to express my deep 
 regret for this unfortunate accident. . . . But I 
 do not dare. ... I know that you can never 
 forgive me. . . .' 
 
 ' Accident !' she exclaimed. ' It is not that — 
 not the upsetting of the boat. That is not what 
 you mean. . . .' 
 
 ' T hope,' he said more calmly, ' that you were 
 not hurt in any way, or too much terrified.' 
 
 ' You saved me from being hurt.' She blushed, 
 and faltered anew : ' Oh yes, I know, Mr. Kencho, 
 that you have kept me from harm, not thinking of 
 the risk to yourself.' 
 
 'Before Heaven,' he answered solemnly, 'I have 
 not thought of myself.' 
 
 ' I know it. . . . And I thank you. . . . But 
 you meant something else than the accident — 
 something for which you want my forgiveness.
 
 328 MADAME IZAN 
 
 Well, it is granted. Only tell me : why — why 
 did you disguise yourself like that ? You must 
 have had a reason. I will not believe that it was 
 anything but an honourable one.' 
 
 ' Ah !' he cried ecstatically. ' You do trust in 
 my honour ?' 
 
 ' I trust in the honour you have talked to me 
 about,' she answered softly — ' in the honour of a 
 Japanese gentleman. But your reason must have 
 been a strong one, Mr. Kencho, for deceiving 
 us all.' 
 
 ' Yes, it was a strong reason, one that you might 
 understand and excuse, perhaps, and that yet you 
 might never find it in your heart to pardon.' His 
 emotion was becoming uncontrollable. ' Madame, if 
 we were in any less public place, if we could be alone 
 and you would listen, I could fling myself down 
 before you, and pour out my very soul to you. And 
 you would hear me ! True and noble as your nature 
 is, you would pity me, and that woman's nature 
 would plead in my behalf. You could not remain 
 unmoved if once you realized, as you have never 
 yet done, the fulness of my — my devotion for you.' 
 
 ' As I have never yet done!' she said, gazing at 
 him with wild eyes, in which. a faint comprehension 
 dawned. ' Oh, what does it mean ? . . . Tell me . . . 
 tell me.' 
 
 'Not now — not here. My dream had been-—
 
 MADAME IZAN 329 
 
 my longing — to tell you the dearest secret of my 
 soul, when, for the first time together, we should 
 look on the beautiful Fuji-san — emblem to me of 
 you, in your grace and loveliness, and of the love 
 I would peril almost that soul to win. Oh, if we 
 were but alone together now, as we were that day in 
 the temple court. Did I not make you feel then 
 that we Japanese know how to worship an ideal, 
 and to honour a woman, even as the brave men of 
 old honoured righteousness and the good of their 
 country — yes, and could love a woman as I love you, 
 though you are higher than the stars above me ? 
 But all that dream has been destroyed to-day. How 
 can I speak ? See, it is impossible !' He stopped, 
 for at that moment, as though the ' curtain ' Mrs. 
 Eugarde had jestingly planned were being stage- 
 managed to completion, there entered by separate 
 openings, and almost simultaneously, Windeatt 
 from the balcony on one side, and Mrs. Bax, 
 followed by Julia, on the other. It had been 
 Herminia's shrill cry of dismay and compunction 
 that had checked Kencho's impassioned utterance. 
 
 Mrs. Eugarde hung back. 
 
 ' Let them have it out,' she whispered, detaining 
 Herminia ; ' Jack is on the war-path. You won't 
 stop him.' 
 
 Windeatt strode to Madame Izan's side as 
 though he, and he alone, had the right .to protect
 
 330 MADAME IZAN 
 
 her against what he conceived to be the insolent 
 love-making of a rascally adventurer. 
 
 ' You hound !' he cried, losing all command or 
 himself in his jealous fury. ' You scheming im- 
 postor ! I have heard your impertinent speech, 
 and if we were in any other company, I'd kick 
 you down your own Japanese stairs. You will 
 have to answer to me for this insult to a lady 
 who has done you the honour to employ you as 
 her guide, but who, now that she sees you un- 
 masked, will, I am certain, dismiss you at once 
 from her service.' 
 
 ' Oh, Jack, Jack, you idiot !' murmured Julia 
 Eugarde. 
 
 The Japanese man went more pallid than ever, 
 and as he, too, braced himself in a spasm of rage, 
 his hand instinctively sought the place where in 
 ancient days the sword of his saumurai ancestors 
 might have been girded. Thus the rivals con- 
 fronted each other — the big, fair, blustering 
 Australian and the small, dark Eastern, whose 
 face might have been carved in wood but for the 
 blazing eyes that shone out of it, and yet who, in 
 spite of the taunts hurled at him, never relaxed his 
 grim courtesy. 
 
 'Sir,' he said to Windeatt, 'I do not forget 
 that we are in the presence of ladies. And before 
 them I ask who has given you the right to resent
 
 MADAME IZAN 331 
 
 what may appear in your ignorant eyes an insult 
 to this lady whom, as you say, I have the honour 
 to serve?' 
 
 And as he spoke, Julia reluctantly admitted to 
 herself that, of the two, the Eastern had the 
 advantage. 
 
 'Oh, you great blundering Jack!' she said under 
 her breath. ' There are certainly some things that 
 you have lost in the Bush.' 
 
 ' My right!' exclaimed Windeatt fiercely. 'How 
 dare you question it ?' Then, recalled to himself, 
 he turned to Madame Izan, his whole face 
 changing and becoming shy and appealing. ' Will 
 you not let me say that I have the right to punish 
 this intolerable presumption ? You have given me 
 the right. . . . You will not deny it.' 
 
 But Madame Izan made him no answer. She 
 stood statue-like, resembling rather now, in her 
 slow-coming and anguished perception of the real 
 state of affairs, a distraught Niobe or forsaken 
 Ariadne than the triumphant Artemis to whom 
 they had formerly likened her. 
 
 'You have not forgotten Miidera?' Windeatt 
 whispered, not so low but that Herminia and the 
 guilty Julia, who had connived at that com- 
 promising interview on the sacred slope of 
 Hieyezan, heard what he said, and Herminia 
 ventured to steal a little nearer y and > while she
 
 332 MADAME IZAN 
 
 shot a smile of sympathetic encouragement at 
 Windeatt, took in her own Izo's unresponsive hand. 
 Kencho also heard the words and understood. 
 He, too, remembered Miidera, and perhaps he 
 had seen more there on Hieyezan than any of 
 them knew. The muscles about his mouth 
 twitched involuntarily, and all his heart was in 
 his eyes as he watched to see how Madame Izan 
 bore the allusion. The meaning and the sting 
 it had for her were evident. A blush, as of out- 
 raged maidenhood, reddened her cheeks ; her eyes 
 filled with tears, and unconsciously she made that 
 pathetic blind movement which showed always 
 that she was frightened, and uncertain of her 
 mental footing. It was cruel, she felt, of Windeatt 
 to remind her of Miidera ; the recollection was 
 embarrassing. How could she ever forget that 
 he had held her in his arms and had pressed un- 
 rebuked kisses upon her lips, whispering vows of 
 which her tacit acceptance implied, she was now 
 aware, so much more than she had then realized? 
 Yet now, when Windeatt, as if in proud vindica- 
 tion of the right he claimed, took her helplessly 
 uplifted hand and held it clasped, she made no 
 effort to withdraw it. She swayed between the 
 two, neither of whom she trusted — friend and 
 lover — turning from each, and all the time trying 
 to avoid the persistent gaze of that other lover,
 
 MADAME IZAN 332 
 
 who was an even greater mystery and pain, while 
 her expression was as that of a trapped bird, search- 
 ing vainly whither it may flee for escape from its 
 captors. 
 
 Another, and unobserved, witness of this strange 
 scene noted the look and gesture, and Miss 
 Theodosia Gotch- — for it was the mission-lady 
 come back to say her farewells — declared to 
 herself that there should be offered to Madame 
 Izan, at any rate, a means of temporary flight 
 from the difficulties and perplexities, the false 
 friends, and true and false lovers, that surrounded 
 her. Perhaps this rough soul-saving old maid 
 divined the situation more truly, and had a fuller 
 sympathy and compassion for poor Izo, than many 
 of those with better pretensions to knowledge. 
 Windeatt certainly read Madame Izan's emotion 
 wrongly, interpreting it, after his wont, in the way 
 he wished, and Kencho, too, was wrong in his 
 interpretation, and, with a miserable recollection 
 of the Miidera episode, told himself that Windeatt 
 might indeed have full reason for his confidence. 
 The glad tenderness in Windeatt's face maddened 
 him, and he was tortured beyond endurance, and 
 felt that he must speak, when Madame Izan herself 
 passionately broke forth : 
 
 ' I did not know what I was doing at Miidera. 
 1 tried to make you understand the truth, and
 
 334 MADAME IZAN 
 
 that I couldn't give any promise — till after — 
 after Tokyo. Oh, Mr. Windeatt, you took ad- 
 vantage of a poor girl who has never had much 
 experience of the world, and whose only thought 
 and wish were then to be free. I did not mean 
 to give you any right. That was all I cared about 
 — to be free — to be free !' 
 
 It was the last words which pierced like knives 
 through Kencho's heart. He stifled a hoarse 
 exclamation, holding himself in again, as Windeatt 
 turned to Madame Izan in self-exculpation. 
 
 ' You know that I would not for worlds vex 
 or harry you ; you know that the right I ask 
 is that I may help you to fight for your freedom 
 — that I may rescue you from the clutches of a 
 scoundrel.' 
 
 Then Kencho could contain himself no longer. 
 Again Julia Eugarde admired the dignity with 
 which this small Japanese man comported himself. 
 He bent down before Madame Izan with a most 
 touching and profound reverence, as though 
 begging her pardon for the blunt avowal he was 
 forced to make. Gently taking the hand Herminia, 
 with a scared look into the guide's face, now re- 
 leased, he kept it for a moment or two against his 
 forehead, then laid it back by her side. 
 
 ' I had not meant to tell you now,' he said 
 simply. ' I had meant first to win, if I could,
 
 MADAMK IZAN 335 
 
 your respect and affection, and then to reveal 
 myself in my own way. But things have gone 
 against me, and this stupid accident has forestalled 
 my plans. If you do not already guess the truth, 
 you must know it presently ; for though Mrs. 
 Bax has said nothing, she cannot fail to recognise 
 me. I am Izan Shirazaka ! It is for you to tell 
 me that you wish for your freedom, and I will 
 give it to you in the only way that is possible.' 
 
 ' Izan Shirazaka !' Although she had expected 
 this, had known that it was coming, all the 
 blood left Madame Izan's face, and she repeated 
 the words mechanically, as though she hardly took 
 in their meaning. At the same moment, under 
 stress of the surprise, Windeatt relinquished the 
 other hand. It seemed to him, too, in spite of 
 his surprise, that he might have known this from 
 the beginning. So Izo stood unsupported. And 
 yet it seemed to her that she had simply gone 
 back to her old blindness in these last weeks, and 
 that there never should have been any manner 
 of doubt in her mind as to the fact that this man 
 was her husband. 
 
 ' It's not my fault, Izo,' broke in Herminia. 
 ' I know that you think I have behaved badly, and 
 you have lost confidence in me completely, but I 
 really cannot tell why or how I could have acted 
 differently. I'm prepared to be blamed by every-
 
 336 MADAME IZAN 
 
 one — that's always the way when one has done 
 one's best — and I must say that I think it is 
 most cruel and inconsiderate and ungrateful ' — 
 here Herminia's pocket-handkerchief came to the 
 fore — ' when all I have done has been to show 
 sympathy. . . . And perhaps, after all, now you 
 will admit, all of you, that there was something 
 in my intuition about Kencho. And as to his 
 being Izan himself, I solemnly declare to you that 
 I had no more idea of it, till he came out of those 
 Rapids without his wig, than if I had never seen 
 him in my life before. I suppose you will think 
 me a fool for not knowing him, but I can't 
 help it.' 
 
 ' I don't know that it's so surprising,' said Jzan 
 with a sad little laugh. ' With this object in 
 view, I have been taking lessons in the art of 
 make-up and facial control from the great Danjiro 
 himself. But that isn't of any consequence, and 
 it isn't here, Mrs. Bax, that I can plead excuses 
 for breaking my implied engagement not to meet 
 you till your arrival in Tokyo.' 
 
 He turned to Madame Izan, who stood still, 
 dazed and again speechless, and the deep note of 
 feeling came into his voice, while it was certainly 
 with great difficulty now that he kept his lips 
 from giving that betraying twitch. 
 
 ' All the rest,' he said, ' is between you and me ;
 
 MADAME IZAN 337 
 
 and by-and-by, when you have been able to think 
 the whole matter out, you will meet me face to 
 face and tell me your decision. You shall be free 
 if you wish — yes, I will make you free. I only 
 ask you to think well, and to be true to yourself. 
 Do not let others bias you. I would implore you, 
 if it were possible, to remove yourself from all the 
 present influences, and to give me a fair chance. 
 But it's not possible, and I don't ask even that. 
 You have told me that you trust in my honour ; 
 it is enough. I trust in yours, and I place my 
 honour — my life — in your hands.' 
 
 ' You are going away?' she said ; and something 
 in the manner of her speaking those simple words 
 and in the look of her face caused the man's heart 
 to thrill again with a trembling hope. 
 
 ' Yes, I am going away,' he answered. ' What 
 else is there for me to do? I am no longer 
 Kencho the guide. The position is false — im- 
 possible. I am going that you may make your 
 choice, undeterred by me. You must now know 
 which of us two men you love, or, at least, care 
 for best ; you must know which counts for most 
 with you — Miidera, or that ceremony in the church 
 in London, which I believe I have the power to 
 make meaningless.' 
 
 ' Oh,' cried Mrs. Bax, ' do tell me how it's 
 possible to get over that ! Mr. O'Halloran did 
 
 22
 
 338 MADAME IZAN 
 
 so want to know, but he died ; and there came a 
 lawyer's letter, which said it all depended upon 
 whether Izo was of sound contracting mind ; I 
 remember the very words. But how were we to 
 know what they meant ?' 
 
 * Later on,' he answered, ' I will write to you, 
 and will send you the opinion on the question of 
 our foremost Japanese counsel, who, like myself, 
 is a barrister of the Middle Temple. You can 
 place it before Madame Izan and her Australian 
 friends. Mrs. Eugarde, I have the honour to 
 wish you good-bye.' 
 
 Julia held out her hand and warmly shook 
 that of the Japanese. * Good-bye, Mr. Izan — or 
 Shirazaka ought we to call you? I sympathize 
 with you from my heart, and I wish you well, 
 though I suppose, if I'm doing that, I'm wishing 
 my brother ill.' 
 
 ' Thank you,' he answered, and then he shook 
 hands with Mrs. Bax. ' You are wrong,' he said, 
 seeing that she hardly liked to meet his eyes. ' I 
 don't blame you. But make it all as easy for her 
 as you can, and leave her to herself. There are 
 some things which I think she might have been 
 spared.' Afterwards he turned to Windeatt, who 
 was moodily gazing out on the broad flood below 
 Arishiyama. ' I leave you alone in the field, 
 Mr. Windeatt.'
 
 MADAME IZAN 339 
 
 Windeatt gave a discomfited little laugh like 
 that of a schoolboy who has been worsted in a 
 fight and does not like to own it. There was a 
 little flutter at the moment, caused by the entrance 
 of Yamasaki, bowing his information that at last 
 rickshaws had been found to replace those broken 
 on the rocks in the Rapids, and that all was ready 
 for a start to Kioto. Also of Miss Gotch, who 
 came forward, frankly admitting that she had 
 played eavesdropper, and requesting that she might 
 be allowed to join the party as far as Yaami's, the 
 converted Japanese lady having taken over the 
 troupe of mousmes. 
 
 ' And I'm going to dine at Yaami's,' announced 
 Miss Gotch ; ' and I want to have a little talk 
 with Madame Izan.' 
 
 The small commotion gave Windeatt an oppor- 
 tunity he felt half inclined to take, of turning on 
 his heel and ignoring Madame Izan's husband as 
 he would have ignored a foe with whom he was as 
 yet unable to cross swords. But native generosity 
 conquered in his breast, for, after all, they fight 
 like gentlemen in the Bush. 
 
 ' I wish to apologize to you,' he said, ' for the 
 expressions I used a little while ago. I spoke 
 under an entire misapprehension, and was in the 
 wrong. I beg that you will accept my apology.' 
 
 Izan bowed with his formal Japanese courtesy. 
 
 22 — 2
 
 3 4 o MADAME IZAN 
 
 ' And I, on my part, Mr. Windeatt, offer you 
 my apologies and regrets for any offence that my 
 manner may have given to you. No doubt there 
 has been cause.' 
 
 Windeatt laughed again in melancholy, half- 
 humorous discomposure. 
 
 ' I fancy the offence was excusable on both 
 sides,' he said. 'Rather like the wind-up of a 
 farce, this, isn't it ? But, if you don't mind, I 
 think I would prefer not to shake hands. You 
 see, I mean to take your wife from you, if by her 
 own will and any legal possibility I can get hold 
 of her. Though we are rough-and-ready out 
 West, anyhow, we do things on the square.' 
 
 ' I understand,' replied Izan. ' Like you, I 
 prefer not to shake hands. We shall see which 
 man wins.' 
 
 That was how Mrs. Eugarde's ' curtain ' went 
 off, without any stage-management from her, or 
 from Herminia Bax either. Poor Herminia was 
 sadly subdued. She felt that somehow Izan had 
 had the best of things, and that somehow, too, 
 she had been convicted of disloyalty, though she 
 didn't exactly know why. The moral bearings 
 of the case were far too muddled in her mind. 
 Finally she ended by laying the blame on Mr. 
 O'Halloran, whose prejudices against Mongolians 
 and Easterns generally had, she felt, upset the
 
 MADAME IZAN 341 
 
 balance of her reasoning faculties, and blurred her 
 impressions of Izan as a boarder in the genteel 
 establishment at West Kensington. Her sym- 
 pathies, which a little while before had been all 
 for Windeatt, began now to veer round. It would 
 be such a comfort to see Izo established as a 
 properly and openly married woman. There could 
 be no doubt that, as Kencho the guide, Izan had 
 made himself agreeable to her, and had practically 
 wooed her over again. No doubt was there also 
 that Izan's manners were strictly European, and 
 even Mr. O'Halloran, were he alive, Herminia 
 felt sure, would hesitate to class the future Viscount 
 Shirazaka with the heathen Chinee detested of 
 the Australian Legislature. 
 
 During the rickshaw ride back Herminia inter- 
 rogated Yamasaki on the subject of hereditary 
 titles in Japan, and on the elder Shirazaka's position 
 at the Imperial Court. It seemed to Mrs. Bax 
 that to be a Viscountess would be a grand thing, 
 even if it were only to be a Japanese Viscountess — 
 better, on the whole, perhaps, than to be the wife 
 of an Australian millionaire. And, besides, how 
 did she know that Windeatt was really a million- 
 aire ? Most likely he was nothing but an 
 ordinarily rich man, with a small share in the 
 Wee-Waa Mine, and Australian gold-mines are 
 proverbially uncertain quantities. No ; on the
 
 342 MADAME IZAN 
 
 whole, Herminia concluded that Viscountess Shira- 
 zaka sounded better than Mrs. John Windeatt. 
 
 Then Dr. Duppo had told her that divorces, 
 and annulments of marriage, and so forth, were 
 always disagreeable and troublesome affairs, and 
 not always certain to come off. He had quoted a 
 case in which a South African savage — or some- 
 thing of the sort ; Mrs. Bax could not quite 
 remember the facts — had been proved the legal 
 wife of an English gentleman, though the marriage 
 ceremony had been no more sacred in character 
 than the exchange of a woman for a few heifers or 
 some beads. Then, too, there were Herminia's 
 own private and personal arrangements to be con- 
 sidered. Oh, how she sighed during the ride 
 home for Dr. Duppo's manly support and con- 
 solation ! And, by the oddest coincidence, what 
 should greet her upon her arrival at Yaami's but 
 a letter with the Yokohama postmark in Dr. 
 Duppo's handwriting, the perusal of which had 
 such an effect upon Mrs. Bax that she did not 
 appear at the table d'hote, but shut herself up in 
 her room, with the door locked between it and 
 the chamber of Madame Izan. Was she not 
 mindful of Shirazaka's injunction — she must call 
 him Shirazaka now — to leave Izo to herself? 
 Herminia spent the best hours of the night in 
 re-reading the letter, and in writing an extremely
 
 MADAME IZAN 343 
 
 emotional reply — a reply which settled all senti- 
 mental difficulties and tergiversations for her in 
 the future, and provided her with an infallible 
 guide and protector for, it was to be presumed, 
 the remainder of her existence. 
 
 Those same hours, or part of them, were em- 
 ployed by Miss Theodosia Gotch in the con- 
 version, not to say the abduction, of Madame Izan. 
 Had Mrs. Bax been less busily occupied over her 
 letter, she might have heard through the partition, 
 and above the murmurs of Theodosia Gotch's 
 somewhat strident voice, sounds betokening a 
 hurried packing and stealthy removal of light 
 baggage. If she did, she paid no heed to them ; 
 and when her wearied head was at last laid upon 
 the pillow, all was still on the other side of the 
 wall. It was fairly late the next morning when, 
 disturbed at hearing of Madame Izan's absence 
 from the breakfast-table, Mrs. Bax knocked re- 
 peatedly at her friend's door, to find on entering 
 that the bed had not been slept in, that the trunks 
 and effects generally were in disorder, and that 
 some bags and a small portmanteau were missing. 
 Madame Izan had likewise disappeared, and there 
 was a letter addressed to Mrs. Bax on the 
 table. 
 
 ' She has eloped with her own husband !' gasped 
 Herminia.
 
 344 MADAME IZAN 
 
 But this was not the case, as she found 
 on reading Madame Izan's letter, which ran 
 thus: 
 
 'My dear Herminia, 
 
 ' I hope that you will not think me unkind 
 in leaving you so suddenly, but I know that you 
 will be quite safe with our friends and Yamasaki, 
 and I am taking the advice of Miss Gotch, whom 
 I am sorry I did not appreciate as I ought to have 
 done on board the Makara ; for I find her now 
 most sensible and helpful, and well disposed 
 towards me. We neither of us feel that it would 
 be comfortable, or right, for me to stay on with 
 you all after what took place yesterday ; and, be- 
 sides, I want to be by myself for a little while — as 
 I think my husband wished also — in order that I 
 may think things out properly. 
 
 ' I am a little afraid of all the fuss there might be 
 over saying good-bye, so, as Miss Gotch has asked 
 me to stay with her for the present — till we all 
 meet again at Tokyo, or, at any rate, till something 
 is settled about my future — I have decided to 
 accept her offer, and we both think it wiser to 
 start off quietly to-night or early to-morrow 
 morning, without saying a word to anybody. 
 
 ' Will you please explain all this to Mrs. Eugarde, 
 who, I think, will understand and approve, and
 
 MADAME IZAN 345 
 
 give my kind regards to Mr. Windeatt? I am 
 leaving you circular notes, and will write again in 
 a few days. I believe that we are going first to 
 Nagoya, and then to Kama-Kura, where the big 
 statue is that we all wanted to see. But I hope 
 you won't trouble to come after me, as I should 
 not like it, or let my going interfere in any way 
 with other people's plans. I dare say that, after 
 all, you wouldn't dislike the Ise temples so much 
 as you seemed to think you would. 
 
 ' Your affectionate 
 
 <Izo.' 
 
 Mrs. Bax threw this letter like a bombshell at 
 Windeatt and his sister, and dissolved into floods 
 of tears, broken by hysterical upbraidings of 
 Madame Izan, who she said had deserted and be- 
 trayed her, notwithstanding the sacrifice of her — ■ 
 Mrs. Bax's — life on the altar of friendship. In 
 the course of her bewailings she announced the 
 fact of her engagement to Dr. Duppo, which 
 Mrs. Eugarde at once said simplified matters a 
 good deal, and which she made the subject of her 
 heartiest congratulations. Julia Eugarde took an 
 entirely optimistic view of the whole situation. 
 She used temperate arguments to draw her brother 
 out of his mood of wrathful consternation, ex- 
 tolled Miss Gotch as, tor the occasion, the god out
 
 346 MADAME IZAN 
 
 of the machine, and praised Madame Izan for 
 having taken just the sort of initiative which would 
 under the circumstances have occurred to a really 
 nice woman. 
 
 ' Of course, Jack,' she said, ' after the brutally 
 crude way in which things were managed yesterday 
 — and I blame you for that, and not poor Izan, or 
 Shirazaka, or whatever he calls himself — it would 
 have been too embarrassing for her to carry on the 
 old tourist relations with us. This was really the 
 only proper thing for her to do, and I'm very glad 
 she has done it.' 
 
 Julia did her best to persuade her brother into 
 the Ise expedition ; but he, like Herminia Bax, 
 declined any more temples, and the idea had to be 
 given up. Windeatt was determined not to let 
 himself be whirled off in a jinrikisha beyond reach 
 of treaty ports, British Consuls, railways and tele- 
 graph-wires. How was he to be certain that Izan 
 Shirazaka was not in league with the Japanese Spy 
 Department — he had been given to understand that 
 Japan was in advance of all civilized nations in the 
 efficiency of her Secret Police service — and was it 
 not likely enough that some hideous plot against 
 Australian life and liberty, and against the safety of 
 Madame Izan, was being concocted ? No, he would 
 not leave his beloved to the mercy of his treacherous 
 rival, even though that rival might be her lawful
 
 MADAME IZAN 347 
 
 husband. He would be near and ready to respond 
 to her faintest call. 
 
 It was in vain that Julia told him he was a fool, 
 and that to follow Madame Izan to Kama-Kura 
 would be a breach of the laws of good taste. He 
 affirmed that Izan had committed a worse breach 
 of good taste in disguising himself as Kencho the 
 guide, and that, moreover, all was fair in love and 
 war. And was not the Dai-Butsu a notable statue 
 — the shrine of all tourists — and had he not as 
 good a right to gaze upon it as any English or 
 American or Australian globe-trotter ? Anyhow, 
 it was at last arranged that Miyanoshita, which is 
 only a short journey from Kama-Kura, should be 
 accepted as a compromise ; and thither, under 
 guidance of Yamasaki, these three pilgrims, of 
 whom two might certainly be called passionate, 
 duly started. 
 
 In the meantime there had come a letter to 
 Mrs. Bax from Izan Shirazaka, enclosing a digest 
 of the opinion of Mr. Ohosumiya, of Tokyo and 
 Yokohama and the Middle Temple, Barrister-at- 
 Law. 
 
 Mr. Ohosumiya was of opinion that the marriage 
 between Izobel O'Halloran and Izan Shirazaka 
 was valid both in English and Japanese law. In 
 English law the only argument against its primd- 
 facie validity lay in the question whether, at the
 
 348 MADAME IZAN 
 
 time of its taking place, the lady had been under 
 no outside compulsion, and of sound contracting 
 mind 
 
 ' There, I told you that was what they said,' 
 put in Herminia — ' of sound contracting mind !' 
 
 It would be for the jury to decide, in any attempt 
 to prove the marriage void, if she did knowingly 
 and willingly contract. In Mr. Ohosumiya's view 
 of the case, blindness constituted no element of 
 importance, nor did he consider the circumstances 
 laid before him as justifying such contention. 
 
 The dissolution of a Japanese marriage, Mr. 
 Ohosumiya averred, presents no serious difficulty, 
 and may be done by the mutual consent of the 
 parties involved, it not being the Japanese custom 
 to make of such matters a legal question, but 
 referring them for settlement to the family council. 
 Mr. Ohosumiya went on to explain that there still 
 prevails in Japan a law similar to that among the 
 old Romans in reference to domestic relations. 
 This Mrs. Eugarde thought very interesting, and 
 she made notes of the barrister's information for 
 the benefit of the British public in her ' Round the 
 World Jottings.' 
 
 It would appear that conjugal unions and separa- 
 tions are not hedged round with all the difficulties 
 and restrictions of a Western civilization, the 
 formalities to be gone through for the contracting
 
 MADAME IZAN 349 
 
 or dissolution of any Japanese marriage consisting 
 merely in the entering or striking off the names of 
 the persons concerned in the rolls of their re- 
 spective families, such rolls being kept by Japanese 
 law. 
 
 ' What an artistic nation is here !' wrote Julia 
 Eugarde later. ' The essence of true art, it is 
 agreed, lies in simplicity, and for these people, life 
 in all its complex relations is a fine art, to be 
 moulded into a harmonious whole, so that to 
 them even marriage is shorn of its revolting 
 commonplace intricacies, and may be annihilated 
 without violation of a delicate tranquillity. No 
 jarring revelations ; no scandalous newspaper 
 reports : the dignified deliberations of a family 
 council, and all is done. It is not necessary for a 
 Japanese to become naturalized in Texas in order 
 to readjust his marital sympathies.' 
 
 It will be observed that Mrs. Eugarde's literary 
 style had something of the journalistic quality, 
 which was no doubt natural enough. The dis- 
 solution of the English marriage, however, Mr. 
 Ohosumiya went on, would be a more complicated 
 affair. In ordinary procedure towards such end, 
 the Japanese husband would obtain a divorce 
 granted by Japanese customary law, and would 
 thereafter marry again. Proceedings in a divorce 
 action in the London courts might then be
 
 350 MADAME IZAN 
 
 commenced on the part of the English wife. They 
 would involve, probably, a commission issued by 
 the London courts to take evidence in Japan, an 
 expensive and dilatory business. Such commission, 
 on returning to London, might be used as evidence, 
 and the evidence so obtained of first, a Japanese 
 divorce, and second, remarriage of the respondent, 
 would certainly be followed by a decree nisi, made 
 absolute after the lapse of six months. 
 
 That was the substance of it all. The inde- 
 fatigable novelist began forthwith to plan a romance 
 upon the lines of Mr. Ohosumiya's communication, 
 and for the moment, the exciting consideration 
 that she would be breaking ground practically new 
 in fiction turned Julia's thoughts from Madame 
 Izan's position, and the manner in which it might 
 affect her brother's future. 
 
 The emotional Herminia, however, showed a 
 surprising readiness in seizing the points of the 
 situation. It may have been that she had already 
 skirted it with Dr. Duppo. Clearly, this had been 
 the meaning of Izan Shirazaka's magnanimous 
 offer to give Izo her freedom. To accomplish that 
 end he was prepared to sacrifice his predilections 
 in favour of Western womanhood, and to take a 
 wife from among his own charming compatriots, 
 a soft, confiding, biddable little mousme, whom 
 he might divorce also if he so pleased, later on,
 
 MADAME IZAN 351 
 
 under the compliant jurisdiction of another family 
 council. 
 
 So far, so good. But — and again it was 
 Herminia Bax who aired the appalling supposition 
 —what about the Queen's Proctor? She had 
 caught the phrase from newspaper reports, which 
 she was fond of reading — or was it Dr. Duppo 
 who had suggested it? Neither she nor Julia had 
 any but vague notions as to the peculiar functions 
 of this mysterious official ; nor was Windeatt much 
 better informed. But they comforted themselves 
 with the reflection that Izan, being learned in 
 English law — not to speak of Ohosumiya — must 
 have contemplated the ghastly possibility of such 
 intervention, and was duly armed against it. Or 
 was he fully aware of the danger, and was his 
 seeming generosity nothing but a blind in order 
 that he might the better secure his own end — the 
 capture of Madame Izan ?
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Everything 'happens' in Japan, if one only 
 chooses to wait a little while. It is an artistic 
 deity that presides over these blest isles, and this 
 benign divinity had somehow arranged that on 
 one particular day Fuji-san should show herself as 
 she so rarely does — unveiled, virgin, glorious, her 
 snow-streaked cone rising clear in its purity, the 
 exquisite outline reflected in a duplicate perfect- 
 ness upon the blue waters of Lake Hakone. 
 
 ' Fuji-san !' cried the coolies, waiting by their 
 rickshaws below the tea-house. 
 
 ' Fuji-san !' called the gardener, waving his 
 hand to his dear mountain, so that the strangers 
 might understand that this was no ordinary sight, 
 but the best that Japan could offer her visitors — 
 the gardener who tended the dwarf trees, which 
 were so old — so old — and dusted the stone lanterns 
 down in the grassy plat beneath the balcony. 
 
 ' Fuji-san !' echoed the nesans, ecstatically rush- 
 ing forward to point out their sacred mountain to 
 two new-comers, who nevertheless were dressed 
 
 [ 352 1
 
 MADAME IZAN 3$3 
 
 in Japanese kimonos, and who were standing in 
 one of the open compartments within the tea- 
 house. 
 
 The elder of these two ladies was Theodosia 
 Gotch ; the other — tall and straight and a little 
 embarrassed by her unwonted costume, and very 
 beautiful with the soft gray-blue folds of the 
 kimono — that one which had been made for her 
 in Kioto under Kencho's direction — showing the 
 lines of her lithe figure, and giving to them a new 
 nobleness, and with her brocaded obi tied, not in 
 mousme fashion, but in that of a Japanese matron 
 — was Madame Izan. And just then there 
 entered a man in European dress, with a grave, 
 anxious face and sad, eager eyes — a face which was 
 not European, but was, in fact, that of Izan 
 Shirazaka, who had come, by appointment with 
 the mission-lady, to hear his fate from his wife's 
 lips. And the answer that Izo gave him was to 
 step forward, blushing, yet radiant, with a little 
 graceful-awkward twist of her draperies and an 
 unaccustomed shuffle of her feet in their shapeless 
 tabis, while, without speaking, she extended one 
 arm, from which the matron's sleeve of her kimono 
 fell backward, towards the propitious and ever- 
 beloved Fuji-san. 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
 

 
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