. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 11 He had come quite close to his garden gate before he perceived the little figure waiting there." (Page 25) THE LOVE OF AZALEA BY ONOTO WATANNA AUTHOR OF "A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE," "THE HEART OF HYACINTH," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY GAZO FOUDJI NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 1904 Copyright, 1904, by WINIFRED BABCOCK Copyright, 19041 by DODD, MEAD & CO. Published October 961 ILLUSTRATIONS " He had come quite close to his garden gate before he perceived the little figure waiting there." . Frontispiece " ' This is the American way,' he said, boyishly, and, stooping, kissed her." ..... Facing page 88 " She threw the tablets in the direction of the little river in the valley below." .... Facing page 98 " ' My house awaits your coming, and I have sworn to possess you.' " Facing page 162 " The shadows of the night were her only covering, and the soft, mossy grass her mattress." Facing page 166 "As the sword flashed upward he dashed to one side and then slipped under its guard." . Facing page 228 M311658 THE LOVE OF AZALEA THE LOVE OF AZALEA CHAPTER I IT was drowsy in the little mission church, and the gentle mellifluous voice of the young preacher increased rather than dis- pelled the sleepy peacefulness. The church, if such it could be styled, was well filled. The people of Sanyo knew it for the cool- est of retreats. They drifted aimlessly in and out of the church, making no pretense of either understanding or appreciating the proceedings. It was a curious congrega- tion, one which, innocentl" enough, never 5 THE LOVE OF AZALEA thought of assisting the pastor. They came to see the white priest, not to listen to the pleading message he brought, which as yet they could not understand. His Japanese was too correct. Spoken slowly and painfully in the unfamiliar accent of the Caucasian, it was often quite unintelli- gible. But, as was said, the church was cool, the villagers curious, and the minister an unending source of wonder to them. If some of the congregation waited patiently throughout the length of the sermon, it was not because they deemed this the proper thing to do, but because they knew they would be treated to another form of entertainment, which they childishly en- 6 THE LOVE OF AZALEA joyed. For, after the sermon, the minister, closing the large black book before him and opening a small red one, would raise his voice, throw back his head, open his mouth, and sing aloud in a voice which had never lost its fascination for his hearers. He had done this from the first, leading an unresponsive congregation in hymns of praise; but singing to the end alone. No aiding voice took up the refrain with him nor was there even the music of an organ to bear his clear voice company. Through the opened windows the chirp of the birds floated. Sometimes a baby, grown rest- less, laughed and crowed aloud. On this particular Sunday, however, the 7 THE LOVE OF AZALEA minister, who appeared unusually happy, had introduced an innovation. As its nature had been whispered about the vil- lage, the service in consequence was well attended. Behind the minister's small san- dal-wood pulpit a bench had been placed, upon which the people saw seated five of the most disreputable waifs of the town. At first they were hardly recognizable. From smudgy-faced, soiled and tattered bits of flotsam, they were transformed in gar- ments of white miniature surplices they were. The minister beamed upon them. The boys looked stoically back at him. This day those in the church forgot to look about 8 THE LOVE OF AZALEA at the various objects of interest, forgot to drowse, for all eyes were intent upon that little row behind the priest. When the sermon was ended and the minister turned to the red hymn book, the boys arose to their feet, and as his baritone voice was raised, five piping and discordant minor voices joined with him. The result of the minister's effort for a choir was immediate. It broke up the apa- thy of the congregation. Groups lingered about the mission house after the service groups of curious child- women for the most part. The question discussed from every standpoint was the seeming elevation of these most unsavory r TH LOVE OF AZALEA and godless of town waifs. How could these good people guess that the young minister, restless at the seeming fruitless- ness of his labors, had given of his own meagre salary to induce the hungriest of the town, for so many sen, to be respect- able for one day in the week ? What would not a Japanese vagabond do for a sen or a sweet potato ? Submit to a bath, a robe too clean to touch and the pleasure some- times pain of mimicking the voice of the white man. The mellow tinkling of temple bells dis- turbed the gossips. It was the hour of noon, when the gods were good and for a little prayer would give them sweet food 10 THE LOVE OF AZAI EA and excellent appetites. So straight from the temple of the white priest they dis- persed, through the valley to the opposite hill, where the Shinto Temple, golden- tipped, beckoned them to the prayers they mechanically understood; a moment only in the temple, nodding heads and prostrat- ing bodies, and after that, home and the noon-day meal. Thus every day. Only on the Sunday, since the coming of the foreign priest, they had added to the routine this weekly pilgrimage of curiosity to the white man's temple. Strange indeed were the ways of the foreign devils! " Let us wait a little while," said a round- 11 THE LOVE OF AZALEA faced, merry-eyed maid of fifteen, grasping the sleeves of girl friends. Azalea was departing slowly when re- called by the raised voice of her friend. At a short distance from the other girls she paused and looked back inquiringly. " Wait till they come out," continued the speaker, Ume-san by name, "those beg- gars, and we will have some fun." " Oh, good !" agreed Koto, snapping her fan upon her hand ; " we will find out what the white beast says to them." "Perhaps," suggested Fuji, stretching herself she was fat and indolent and the church seat was hard" he pays them." 12 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Azalea looked interested. " I wish," said she wistfully, " he would pay me something." "Perhaps he will," said Fuji, nodding her head slowly; "my honorable father says he is rich very rich." "And my honorable father says so, too," said Ume. "Oh, all foreign devils are," declared Koto conclusively. "Well, but Matsuda Isami says he is not," said Azalea. "And Matsuda knows surely." " Matsuda is jealous," said Koto. " He wants to be always the richest. The gods despise avarice." 13 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Azalea was fluttering her fan somewhat nervously. She regarded it thoughtfully, then closed it sharply. "I am avaricious," she said, with the point of her fan touching her pretty red underlip. Her friends laughed at her, and she blushed. " Yes," she said, " I am avaricious. The gods will despise me truly. I adore money. I would like to have one hundred yen all to myself." "What would you do with it?" ques- tioned Ume, the oldest of the four. " I would leave my step-mother's house," said Azalea simply. 14 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "Here they come!" cried Koto. The girls fell into an excited little line by the church door, one behind the other. Out came the choir- their surplices doffed, their washed faces wide with smiles and their little eyes shining. Five sen rattled in the sleeve of each. The girls had drawn in hiding behind the church portico in order to surprise them. Now they sprang out into view, and grasped the boys by the sleeves. Thinking they were being set upon for their hard-earned sen, a series of angry shrieks and snorts burst out. Their fears set at rest by the merry laughter of the girls, they were finally induced to tell all they knew. The minister, it seems, had 15 THE LOVE OF AZALEA brought them to his house at various times, had fed them on sweet potatoes and rice cakes, and had taught them to sing just as he did. For this public effort in his temple, he had given them each well, they did not propose to tell any one how much he had given, but the intimation was that it was a sum sufficient to keep them in luxury for some time to come. Furthermore, they, the members of his choir, were to have this same sum given to them as a weekly in- come, for singing, just like the white priest, in his church, each Sunday. Azalea sighed and, sitting on the church steps, looked at the fortunate boys with envious and wistful eyes. 16 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "And does not the white beast want females also to sing?" she asked. " Females ! " repeated one of the boys. "Did the gods ever favor females?" " The foreign devil is not a god," said Azalea thoughtfully. "Who knows, per- haps he would pay me also to sing with him." " Time to go home," said Koto, and she pulled Ume's sleeve. "Are you not hun- gry? Come, Azalea!" "She won't give me to eat, my most honorable mother-in-law," said Azalea. " I need not go there." "You will soon be a beggar, too, Aza- lea," laughed Koto, "and the white man 17 THE LOVE OF AZALEA will give you charity. But come, girls." Clinging to each other's hands and almost tripping over each other's heels, the three girls fluttered homeward down the hill, leaving Azalea sitting alone, looking mood- ily and reflectively at the choir boys, now counting their money. She knew that they, like her, were orphans. Unlike her, they had not an uncharitable roof, called by her ungracious step-parent a home for her. Shelter beneath it was only grudgingly accorded, because Azalea's step-mother was vain and feared the criticism of neighbors and the wrath of the gods should she turn Azalea out. As it was, the young girl was only half fed and her clothes were those 18 THE LOVE OF AZALEA half-worn ones thrown to her by arrogant and fortunate step-sisters, yet the girl's nimble fingers made those same threadbare garments objects of attractiveness, which set of! her own appealing beauty. But she was seventeen, unmarried and unhappy. Something must be done soon, or she would become the bride of the river. Her step- mother's scoldings grew with the girl's in- creasing beauty and grace. She did not know this was the cause, only she knew life was becoming unbearable. The choir boys had already shuffled a portion of the way down the hill slope, when she sprang to her feet and ran after them. 19 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Gonji ! " she called one of th&m by name. "Wait just a moment." They stopped and she overtook them. She was breathless when she reached them. " Is it because you are beggars," she said, " that this priest favors you ? " Gonji nodded. " I," said Azalea, spreading out her little hands, " am also a beggar." They laughed at her. Only the home- less were beggars in their eyes. In addi- tion, members of her sex were received among them only when they had reached the old witch age. The country knew many old women beggars, who drifted, 20 THE LOVE OF AZALEA whining, upon their staffs from town to town. Often they were blind and clung to the rope about the neck of a tailless cat, which led them. Who ever heard of a maiden beggar? So Azalea's statement was received in laughter. "How much did the minister give?" she demanded, ignoring their jeers. Five ten maybe one hundred sen," glibly lied Gonji. Her eyes widened and shone. "Oh!" she said. "That's only for the singing," said Gonji; "if we become convert to his re- ligion he will pay more." He turned to his companions for verifl- 21 THE LOVE OF AZALEA cation. They had moved on their way and he made to join them. " No, no, don't go! Wait a little while, please ! " "Well?" What is ' convert ?'" "Why," the Japanese boy of sixteen racked his brain for an explanation of the word, "why, that's toah that's just abandoning the gods for a new one." "Oh!" His sleeve dropped from her grasp and she drew back, her face some- what blanched. "Abandon the gods!" she repeated. " But if we do that, then the gods will be angry with us." 22 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " That is true," nodded Gonji reflectively. " It's bad business," he added. "Perhaps," she essayed almost timidly, " that new God is also kind and good." Gonji shook his head skeptically. " The priest at the temple says that he is really an evil spirit." The girl shuddered. She turned away from Gonji and he resumed his way down the hill. Azalea walked listlessly back to the mis- sion house. When she had reached it, she paused irresolute. A sudden idea had come to her. Why should she not pretend to be converted ? When the barbarian priest had paid her she would go to the shrine of 23 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Kwannon and confess her lie. She would give half of the money to the gods, who would forgive her; she was hungry and ill- treated and she wished to leave the home of her step-mother, who was cruel to her. If money could be earned by a little lie, why should she not earn it? She would! She would ! The young minister closed and locked the door of the church. Turning on the threshold, he paused a moment before descending the little flight of steps, and looked about him at the smiling, sunny landscape. The bells of the neighboring temple were melodious, and he found himself absently 24 THE LOVE OF AZALEA listening to them. With his hands clasped behind, and his head somewhat bent, Richard Verley turned slowly toward his home. It was only the length of an iris field from the church, a pleasant saunter. The minister was wont to dream upon these walks dream of the future harvest which would repay his earnest labors. He had come quite close to his garden gate before he perceived the little figure waiting there. It was her voiceher odd, breathless voice, which called his attention to her though he heard the one word ' convert ' spoken in English. The rest of her speech was unintelligible. 25 THE LOVE OF AZALEA She stood in the sunlight, her cheeks vividly red, her eyes wide with excitement and with fright. It was that fearful, piteous something about her whole attitude which from the first reached and appealed in- stantly to the sympathies of the minister. " You wish to speak to me? " he asked. " Yaes," she said, nodding her head, and then very swiftly, as though she had learned the words by rote " I am convert unto you, Excellency." "Convert!" His eyes kindled and he stared at her without speaking a moment. Her head drooped, as if from its own small weight. 26 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Yaes," she said in the lowest, the faint- est of voices, " I am convert Chlistian ! " He seized both her hands, and held them warmly in his own. " Come into my house, my child," he said. " Let us talk it over." Her hands fluttered in his, then she suddenly withdrew them. They slipped back into her sleeves. She stood uncer- tainly before him, hesitating to pass through the gate he had opened for her. " Come ! " he urged gently. CHAPTER II. Even while the minister in the coolness of his study softly and gently questioned his faltering " convert," a wily and smooth- speaking Nakoda was visiting her step- mother. Madame Yamada, as the latter was called, knew the marriage broker well, and being the mother of two daughters by a marriage previous to that with Azalea's father, she welcomed him with more than usual cordiality. Would not the estimable Mr. Okido remove his shoes and eat the noon meal within her humble house ? The estimable Mr. Okido would. 28 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Madame Yamada sent a scullery maid fly- ing to his feet, where, kneeling in the humblest attitude, she removed his dusty sandals. Then she brought fresh water with which to bathe his feet. Madame Yamada, who had not engaged the services of Okido, was curious to know the nature of his mission to her. She dis- guised her curiosity, however, under the blandest of manners. With swift acuteness she introduced her daughters into the room and had them serve the man, throughout the meal glancing under her eyelashes to watch the effect of her daughters' sundry charms upon the Nakoda, who she knew would not fail to dwell upon all such points 29 THE LOVE OF AZALEA with his employer. But strangely enough, Okido scarcely seemed to notice the pres- ence of her daughters, and ate his meal in somewhat stolid silence. After the repast he permitted the pipe to be lighted for him and proceeded to smoke at his leisure. Madame Yamada could contain her curi- osity no longer. At a sign from her, her daughters withdrew. Then she addressed the Nakoda. "In what way," she asked, "is the humblest one indebted to the esteemed Okido for his honorable visit ? " Okido put down the pipe on the hibachi and, turning toward Madame Yamada, looked at her keenly. 30 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "You have daughters, Madame Yam- ada." " Two,'* she answered promptly. " Three," said Okido slowly. The esteemed one was mistaken. The gods had only blessed her with two. Nay, the gods had been kinder. Were there not three, including her step-daughter ? "Ah, yes." Madame Yamada smiled coldly. " Let me repeat," he said slowly. " You have daughters." "Yes;" she allowed the word to escape her lips impatiently. Would the stupid broker never come to his business? "And I," said Okido, "have a client 31 THE LOVE OF AZALEA who desires the hand of one of your daughters." A red spot appeared in either of Madame Yamada's cheeks. "What is the name of his honorable parent? " she asked, no longer attempting to conceal her interest. Okido leaned toward her impressively. " His name is Matsuda Isami." Madame Yamada's hands trembled. She scarcely could control her voice. What the " " Yes, the rich Matsuda Isami." The woman thrilled with maternal pride. Her bosom heaved. "And which of my 32 THE LOVE OF AZALEA daughters," she asked, "has pleased the taste of the exalted Matsuda? " Okido rubbed his hands softly. " That one," he said, " who is augustly named Azalea." Madame Yamada started to her feet with a cry. Then recalling herself she sat down again and for a space of a long moment did not stir. She regarded the Nakoda with baleful eyes. Suddenly she found her voice. " Excellent Okido," she said, "the hum- ble one cannot marry the youngest of her daughters first. Pray return to the exalted Matsuda and say from me that I am willing 33 THE LOVE OF AZALEA to consent to his marriage to my oldest daughter." " What! " cried the amazed Okido, " you refuse?" " Who spoke of refusing? " she asked in an agitated voice. " Your answer is a refusal, Madame." The woman was silent, her mind busily at work. "Listen, Okido," she finally said, "a promise was made by me to the august father, now dead, of the girl Azalea. He bade me promise him that Azalea should be given to no one in marriage save with her own consent. So! I withdraw the offer of my oldest daughter as bride to Matsuma, 34 THE LOVE OF AZALEA and instead say this: Bid the exalted one win first the consent of Azalea. He is then welcome to her." " Good ! " said Okido, arising and shak- ing the crumbs from his hakama. "We will make direct suit to the maiden." Madame Yamada had arisen also. " Yes, that is it," she said, " and for that purpose heed the advice of one experienced in such matters. Let His Excellency visit much the home of the humblest, and, in person, press the suit." Okido regarded her uneasily. "My business " he began. " Oh, excellent Okido," interrupted the woman, " I promise you that you will earn THE LOVE OF AZALEA your fee. Further, should the suit of your client fail should the girl be obstinate and refuse his proposal, bear in mind, good Okido, that a double fee will be in your palm if my oldest daughter finds favor in the eyes of Matsuda." Okido nodded his head slowly. He was thoughtful as the maid slipped on his san- dals. As he left the house he stopped at the threshold and looked back at Madame Yamada. Her colorless face was drawn into strange lines. Her long eyes were half closed. Upon her face there was cal- culation cold, cruel. She slowly repeated her words. Again nodding understanding, if not assent, the marriage broker went on 36 THE LOVE OF AZALEA his way pensively toward the house of Matsuda Isami. 37 CHAPTER III As Azalea walked homeward from the minister's house, she could still hear in dreamy fancy the eloquent tones of his voice. She found that though beyond his presence she still thrilled at the very mem- ory of his face. He had cast a spell upon her, she told herself. He was a disciple of the Evil One. She must go to the temple of Kwannon for help. Possibly the priests there would give her some talisman which would preserve her from any spell the barbarian might cast upon her. For though her ruse had failed and her sleeves were empty of yen, yet still she had promised 38 THE LOVE OF AZALEA the minister to visit him again the following day. Now she found herself wishing that the morrow would come speedily. Her step-mother met her at the door of the house. Her lips were drawn in a strange fashion apart and her long teeth showed. This was her manner of smiling. It was uglier and more sinister than a frown. Azalea quickened her steps, the color beating up into her face. When she saw that set smile upon Madame Yamada's face she stopped abruptly before the woman. But her step-mother spoke in the most amiable of tones: "You must be hungry, my daughter, since you have not had your noon meal." 39 THE LOVE OF AZALEA The girl raised her eyes inquiringly toward the woman. Then she answered simply: "Yes, mother-in-law, I am hungry." "Come into the kitchen, then, Azalea. The maid has kept your rice warm." Azalea was too much accustomed to the vicissitudes of fortune to wonder at the sudden generosity of the step-mother. She ate the rice and sipped the fragrant tea with mechanical relish. The meal was unex- pected, but non the less palatable to a hungry young girl. She suspected that her step-mother required something of her, but her mind, occupied with its late thoughts of the minister, had no room for speculation 40 THE LOVE OF AZALEA over the motives of her step-mother. She let Madame Yamada herself open the subject. "Daughter," said the woman, "would you enjoy a trip to Tokyo ? " Azalea looked up quickly; then she answered shortly: " No." Madame Yamada's eyes narrowed. She controlled her feelings, however. " What, Azalea ! You do not wish to go to Tokyo, where everything is so gay and bright and beautiful ? " Azalea rested her chin upon her hand and looked out from the kitchen shoji across the fields. She did not answer. 41 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " You are becoming old," said the step- mother. "You will have to earn your living soon." Azalea did not move, but her step- mother knew she was listening to her words. " Here," she continued, " there is no way in which you could earn money, for you are of samurai descent and your august ancestors would not rest easily should you be reduced to manual labor." "Mother-in-law," said the girl quietly, " you would be ashamed before our neigh- bors if I were to obtain work here. My august ancestors would feel no shame." "What could you do here?" 42 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Azalea looked at her small white hands thoughtfully. " I could work in the mills," she said, and added with a girlish sigh, " but it would maim my hands." "Yes, and also your back, your knees, and afterwards your spirit. Let the stout peasant women labor that way, Azalea. Such employment is not for one of gentle birth. You shall go to Tokyo." "What shall I do there? " inquired the girl. "You have beauty and youth," said Madame Yamada slowly. The girl moved uneasily and then catch- ing sight of the expression upon her 43 THE LOVE OF AZALEA mother's face, she made as if to arise; but the other held her by the sleeve. "Why do you start so?" she inquired gruffly. "Do you suppose I referred to the yoshiwara ? " "Yes," said Azalea, white to the lips. Her voice became passionate. " I will not go, then," she said. "You shall not sell me. I am the daughter of a samurai." " Foolish child ! Who spoke of selling you to the yoshiwara ? " "Ah, your eyes spoke, mother-in-law. Besides, what other employment could my youth and beauty find in Tokyo ? " "Are there not geishas and tea house 44 THE LOVE OF AZALEA girls, and is not their employment esteemed admirable?" "Yes, but I have not their accomplish- ments, and I am too old to learn how to dance. To be a geisha, I have heard, one must apprentice at the age of twelve. I am eighteen years. Yes, I am getting old," she finished. Madame Yamada, who sat behind her, looked at her with eyes that held no mercy. In some manner the girl must be sent away. Matsuda should then be told that she pre- ferred the life of gayety in Tokyo to mar- riage with him. After that, Yuri-san, the oldest daughter, would console and win him. Azalea had always appeared passive 45 THE LOVE OF AZALEA and obedient by nature. This sudden im- pulse of stubbornness was as unexpected as it was disturbing to her step-mother. What if this slim young girl, with her child- ish face of innocence, should develop the strong will of her samurai parent ? Madame Yamada smiled unpleasantly at the pros- pect, and her smile boded no good for the young girl. Meanwhile Azalea continued to look out dreamily through the opened shoji towarcj the hill, upon whose slope stood the little peaked mission house. The words of the minister kept repeating themselves in her head. "There is only one true God. He it 46 THE LOVE OF AZALEA was who created the world and you. He loves you, and will watch over and care for you always." Ah, if it were only true, thought Azalea. If this new God would only be kinder than those she had known, then she might even close the eyes of her heart to the words of the priests of Kwannon, and forget they had told her the God of the barbarians was an evil spirit. She would prove Him. If He proved unkind to her she would believe it, but if it were otherwise, why how could the evil one be kind ? It was not possible. "Answer when you are spoken to," broke in her step-mother's sharp voice. Azalea started. 47 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "I did not hear you speak, honorable step-mother." "Your ears are accommodatingly dull. You did not care to hear." Azalea sighed, then pressed her lips to- gether, as if to prevent the retort that might have escaped them. Madame Yamada bent toward her. "Do you wish to marry?" Azalea reflected. " No-o," she said softly, and then, "per- haps, yes. It would be a solution of my troubles, step-mother, would it not? " " Would you marry any one who asked. you, then? You appear to lack the com- mon qualities of maiden modesty." 48 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " I did not say I would marry any one," said the girl, flushing, " but almost anyone would be kinder than you." They were daring words, and she antici- pated their effect upon her step-mother, for, after having spoken them she made a frightened motion from the older woman, who had seized her arm and was cruelly pinching it. Tears of pain came into the girl's eyes, but she made no outcry. Sud- denly Madame Yamada flung the girl's arm from her. "Did my touch hurt, then?" she in- quired. " Yes," said Azalea briefly, her arm still sore, though released. 49 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Yet," said her step-mother, " the pain inflicted by a woman, who is weak, is nothing to that inflicted by a man. What will you do when your husband beats you ?" " I do not know," said Azalea mechanic- ally, and then added slowly, " but I should not weep, mother-in-law. I would not give him that pleasure. But " she paused; "all husbands do not beat their wives. Perhaps the gods will favor me with a kind one. I should not marry him otherwise." "How will you test his kindness? " asked her mother scornfully. " I will know," she answered. " I will see him and love him before I marry him." She arose and fluttered her sleeves back 50 THE LOVE OF AZALEA and forth. Her arm was in pain. She moved it thus mechanically as a nervous method of relief, but Madame Yamada had seen the figure coming along the white road toward their house, and she leaped to her feet like a savage. " What ! " she cried. " You stand shame- lessly in the open doorway shaking your arms in unmaidenly fashion because a man approaches." "I did not even see him," said Azalea, shrinking before the anger of her step- mother's expression, "and, mother-in-law, see for yourself. The man is Matsuda Isami. Is it likely I would fling my sleeves at him?" 51 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "At him most of all," said her step- mother hoarsely. " Do not deny it, shame- less girl!" Before Azalea could recover from the surprise occasioned by these words, Madame Yamada, with one black look cast back at her, had left the kitchen, and was hastening to the front part of the house, there to prostrate herself with slavish sweetness and politeness before the exalted Matsuda Isami. CHAPTER IV Matsuda Isami was a small, sharp-eyed man of possibly forty. He was rich and powerful, the landlord of many of the families in Sanyo. The people feared him, while they respected his employment of hundreds of coolies, and it was said his parsimony had made him rich and kept the whole community poor. In some way, direct or indirect, nearly everyone in the community was in his service or debt. He was the magnate of the town, and accord- ingly hated, feared, dreaded. He had come on foot to the humble home of Madame Yamada, he, the taciturn, cold-hearted head 53 THE LOVE OF AZALEA man of the town, and all because Azalea, walking in the sun, in a kimona, patched, faded, but pretty, had turned her head toward him quite recently and smiled with childish impudence. Few people smiled upon Matsuda. This shabby daughter of a samurai who in the early days had made no secret of his lordly contempt for the rich tradesman had captivated Matsuda by one fleeting, innocent smile. Matsuda de- sired her now above all things, and swore by all the gods that he would have her. Wealth and power, after all, were not sufficient to gratify the insatiable greed of his nature. He was desirous of something more priceless, and for which he would 54 THE LOVE OF AZALEA have given up all Ms possessions this beautiful young girl, Azalea. With impatience he listened to Madame Yamada's servile words of compliment and welcome. Hardly had he seated himself and with a gesture refused the proffered pipe, when he spoke of the object of his visit. In accordance with her suggestion con- veyed to him through the Nakoda, he had come in person to make his suit to her daughter. He desired to see her at once. The prevaricating words of temporizing that came to Madame Yamada's lips were not even listened to by him. Her daughter not at home? Very well, 55 THE LOVE OF AZALEA he would go, then, at once. Thereupon he arose. Madame Yamada bit her lip until the blood came. Then she clapped her hands and bade the maid who answered tell the eldest daughter of the house to hasten at once to assist the most exalted Matsuda with his clogs. The latter, how- ever, kicked his feet into his own sandals. When the maiden appeared, he went shuf- fling in them toward the door, returning only a curt nod to her deep and graceful obeisance. Madame Yamada, clasping her hands in despair, followed him to the door. Would not His Excellency wait a little while? No, His Excellency would not that is to 56 THE LOVE OF AZALEA say yes, His Excellency would; for just at that moment His Excellency, casting a keen glance about him, saw a little figure sitting on the door-step in the garden to the rear of the house. "Your daughter, I perceive," he said, indicating Azalea, "has returned." The angry blood buzzed in Madame .Yamada's ears, but she answered calmly enough : " Why, yes, it is true, Excellency." Then raising her voice, she called to the girl: "Azalea!" Matsuda, returning to the interior of the house, seated himself in the guest room, lighted his pipe and drew a long whiff. 57 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Then he looked at Azalea sitting before him pensively. His little keen eyes going from her to her step-mother and catching the glance of baffled fury bestowed by Madame Yamada upon her daughter Yuri, he allowed a sound which was oddly like a chuckle to escape him. Then he put the pipe down and again regarded the maiden Azalea. He said: " It is the wish of your step-mother that I address you personally." She looked at him with eyes of inquiry. What had Matsuda Isami to say to her? She did not dream that a man as old as her father, and one who was so exalted in public opinion, would deign to propose 58 THE LOVE OF AZALEA marriage with her, so insignificant and humble. " I wish to marry you," said Matsuda bluntly. Her lips parted and her eyes enlarged. " Me? " she said faintly, and repeated the little word. "Me?" "Yes," he smiled. "Marry you, Aza- lea." The color came in a frightened ebb to her face. She looked at her mother and sister fearfully. Their faces were abso- lutely cold and impassive. In a flash she understood her step-mother's attitude of a moment since. It was all clearer than daylight. Azalea arose and bowed extrava- 59 THE LOVE OF AZALEA gantly down to the very mats. Then, with her head almost at Matsuda's feet, she said : "The humblest one is altogether too insignificant and small to become the wife of so exalted a personage." The words pleased Matsuda. Plainly this girl would make a most excellent and humble wife. He bent graciously and touched her head, patting it. She slippe4 under his hand to her knees, and then to a sitting position. But her head was still bent far over, and if the suitor could have seen that dimpling face, its expression would have perplexed him. He seated himself opposite to her. " The marriage," he said, "can be speed- 60 THE LOVE OF AZALEA ily arranged. I do not like delays in any of my affairs." Madame Yamada interposed, desperately : " Time will be needed to make her mar- riage garments, to call together her august relatives, for maidenly meditation, and for preparation for the marriage feast." " We can dispense with all these things," said Matsuda suavely. "Too early a marriage would be un- seemly," said Madame Yamada. ' "Madame Yamada exaggerates public opinion," was Matsuda's response. The woman's voice was barely controlled in its harshness. "You, Azalea, what have you to say?" 61 THE LOVE OF AZALEA Azalea opened her fan and looked at it thoughtfully, almost as though in the painted pictures upon it she found an answer. Suddenly she raised her head. " I do not wish to marry," she said, and added as an afterword : " yet." At that moment her step-mother could have embraced her. Matsuda cleared his throat. " When, then, will it suit you? " he asked respectfully. The girl's eyes were still upon her fan, and without raising them she replied with a slight shrug of her small, bewitching shoulders : "I do not know when. Maybe in one 62 THE LOVE OF AZALEA year; maybe in ten. I do not wish to marry yet." Matsuda arose. "For one year," he said, "or for ten years, or as long as your caprice may make it, I will wait for you." Azalea's fan fluttered closed. She bowed her head upon it. " Excellency is very faithful." " Once," said Matsuda, looking at her with half closed eyes, " your august samu- rai father deigned to call me ' Dog.' You will learn, maiden, that I shall prove my title to 'Dog' by my watchfulness and faithfulness. I have sworn to possess you, and possess you I will." 63 THE LOVE OF AZALEA The moment he was gone Azalea turned toward her step-mother, upon whose coun- tenance a look of sweetest benevolence toward her step-daughter was slowly ap- pearing. " Mother-in-law," said the girl, " you need not fear that I will marry him. No, my father spoke true words. He is a dog. He has only the instincts of a tradesman, and as such he comes here to buy the daughter of a samurai." " Your words are wise, Azalea," said the step-mother, "and you win my maternal affection. Matsuda is not the fit husband for a warrior's daughter. Yet, Azalea, bear in mind that Yuri, your sister, had for 64 THE LOVE OF AZALEA father one less elevated than a samurai one, indeed, who was a mere tradesman. She is well fitted to be the wife of Matsuda Isami. Therefore, you can help or hinder this our ambition." " I will neither help nor hinder," said Azalea, crossing the room, and looking through the shoji. " Mother-in-law, I have no interest in the matter," she added. Madame Yamada was behind her and had touched her arm, the arm she had lately i pinched so viciously. " Promise to be steadfast in your refusal of Matsuda. Promise that, Azalea, and you will find that harshness is an unknown quality in this household." 65 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Oh, I will promise that, easily," said Azalea. " I will not even look at or speak to the man. Other things now occupy my insignificant head." CHAPTER V It was in the springtime, when the little leaves upon the trees were of the most entrancing shade of green and the wild plum and cherry blossoms blew in clouds of pink and white, making an impressionistic pic- ture against the deep blue sky so lovely and entrancing that even such a serious-minded, earnest worker as the Rev. Richard Verley became unconscious of the sermon he had been writing and smiled out at the land- scape. Nature oftentimes, from her very beauty, distracts one from the work of composition, though one would call her lovingly an 67 THE LOVE OF AZALEA inspiration. How could the young mis- sionary continue the writing of his sermon, when the alluring breezes of the spring softly slipped into his room and insistently drew the pencil from his hand. And so he sat there smiling at his desk and dreaming. He was not conscious of his dreams. He only knew the world seemed very good and fair. His pen trailed over the paper for a space, then paused, to continue again. Idly^ and unconsciously, he had covered a sheet of foolscap. The slight noise of the opening of his, sliding doors caused him to come to life with a guilty start. His usually pale face was flooded with color, as for the first time 68 THE LOVE OF AZALEA he saw what he had written on the page. He turned it over quickly, though he did not lay this last sheet among the previous pages of his sermon. A face of prodigious fatness was thrust between the shoji. " What is it, Natsu? " asked the minister in Japanese. "The girl Azalea," she answered. "I have told her Your Excellency is most busy, but she still stays." " That is right," he said quietly. " I am expecting her." The servant pursed her lips and her round cheeks expanded till her little eyes 69 THE LOVE OF AZALEA were almost hidden. She muttered dis- contentedly: "Again, Excellency?" " Yes," he said, " again. What are you waiting for? " She shuffled unwillingly from the room, drawing the doors behind her. Suddenly she opened them again. " Excellency," she said, " she is not truly convert no! That is a lie! " He smiled. The maid's jealousy of all his parishioners gave him amusement. She was envious even of their possible con- version. " That will do, Natsu," he said. ' " Don't keep our visitor waiting." 70 THE LOVE OF AZALEA The woman muttered ill-temperedly as she passed along the hall. The minister waited in pleasing antici- pation. He had not expected her at this hour. She came usually in the afternoon. He remembered with what fearful shyness she had first entered his house, and the tremulous, almost breathless, fashion in which she had replied to his questions. He was of a hopeful, sanguine disposition. Though he knew that his small congrega- tion consisted of those induced by sen to come to church, those who came from curiosity and others still young boys and girls from mischief solely, still he believed that his labor would bear eventual fruit, and 71 THE LOVE OF AZALEA lo, at last a convert ! She was very young, somewhat fragile and in her own strange fashion lovely. From the first he had likened her to a timid wild bird. Even after she had entered his house, she had turned backward as though to retreat; then as his deep serious eyes met hers she spoke as if urged by some impulse, and repeated her faltering words in English. " Minister, I am convert unto you ! " At first her visits had been irregular and spasmodic. She would come as far as the hill, then turn back. Again, her courage emboldened, she would reach his garden gate, there to linger but a moment, the antagonistic face of the minister's servant 72 THE LOVE OF AZALEA affrighting her. But in the absence of the maid, Azalea would daringly pass beyond the gate. A few moments later the minis- ter would meet her in the path and lead her into his house. The minister hearing the light glide of her little feet now outside the doors, has- tened to slide back the shoji. She stood upon the threshold, her eyes widened, her cheeks glowing with the trem- ulous excitement that always assailed her upon the occasion of these visits. He held out his large hand in silence, and she, the color fluttering wildly now over her face, slowly and timidly lifted her little one from the folds of her sleeve and put it into his. 73 THE LOVE OF AZALEA He drew her towards his desk. Still hold- ing her hand, he seated himself and looked up at her, without speaking, but smiling very tenderly. Her eyes turned from his and her lips trembled. She tried to with- draw her hand, but he held it firmly and then suddenly enclosed it completely with his other hand. Fright assailed the girl. She slipped to the floor, her head dropping on a level with his knees. Then Richard Verley bent and spoke to her in his strangely tender voice, which somehow always seemed to penetrate and still her beating little heart. " Azalea! " He spoke her name so softly. "Lift your face, my little girl," he said. 74 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " I want to see it, while I tell you some- thing." She obeyed him like a child, but the eyes that met his were mutely appealing. " What do you think I am going to say to you to-day ? " he asked, smiling a trifle. "About those honorable command- ments?" He shook his head. " No you already have learned them well, have you not ? " "Yes. You like hear me say them, mebbe?" "Not to-day. I wish to speak to you about another matter." She looked at him apprehensively. 75 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Oh," she said, " mebbe your august God tell you I also visit at the temple that other day?" He looked a trifle startled. "What temple what do you mean?" "You God sees all things?" " All things," he said solemnly. Her eyes expressed momentary fright. She drew her hands forcibly from his and sat backward a little way from him, her head bent. "Then," she said, "you already know about about my my lie ? " "Lie?" He leaned forward in his chair. "Yaes yaes your God told you." 76 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Tell me what you mean." The face she raised was pitiful. " Excellency, that was velly wicked lie I tell you wen I say I am convert unto you." He stared at her blankly. She could not bear the expression on his face and pushed herself nearer to him on her knees. Her hands fluttered above and then timidly touched his. " Excellency, I sawry sawry " There was a sob in her voice now, and her eyes were misty. "Pray you be like unto the gods and forgive that lie." He stood up mechanically, then sat down again, turning in his seat toward the desk and resting his clasped hands there. She, 77 THE LOVE OF AZALEA from her kneeling posture, reached up to touch his arm. " Pray " she began and broke off, as though she could not finish. He turned his head and looked at her curiously. Still he did not speak. " Listen," she continued in her low, almost sighing, voice, which he no longer wished to hear. " I tell you only one lie one liddle bit lie. Thas not velly much. Also I beseech the gods to pardon that lie and I beseech also your mos' kind God pardon me." She broke off distressfully " Excellency, will you not hear me ? " " I am listening," he said heavily. " Your voice so hard," she said. 78 THE LOVE OF AZALEA His eyes were still stern. He spoke mechanically. " I was going to say something some- thing personal to you to-day. You have shocked me. That is all. But I want to hear what you have to say. There may be extenuating well, tell me how it came about that you pretended conversion." " I wanted moaney," she said. She saw his hands clinch and shrank before the look upon his face. She shook her head uncertainly. " For money ! " he repeated. "Yaes, I needed some velly much. Gonji say you pay big moaney to convert, and so and so I became convert." 79 THE LOVE OF AZALEA The minister closed his eyes, then cov- ered them spasmodically with his hand. Sitting back in his seat he remained with his face thus half shielded while she spoke on. " But," she said, " you din not give me moaney; no, not even one half sen." She laughed a little, almost joyously. "Ah, I am so glad you din nod give," she said. "I doan want that moaney. After that first day my honorable step- mother doan be unkind no more. Also she give me plenty to eat, an' new dress, also Matsuda Isami ask me marry wis him evelly day in those weeks." The minister uncovered his eyes and 80 THE LOVE OF AZALEA looked at her. The expression of his face must have been less forbidding, for she moved confidently nearer to him. " What do you think now? " she asked. His voice was husky. " You spoke of marrying some one." She shook her head. " No. Some one want marry wiz me. I doan desire. But sinz he want, my honorable mother-in-law is mos' kind unto me, and I doan starve no more. There- fore I doan wan no moaney be convert now." " Ah, why do you keep up the pretense, then?" " Pretense? " She could not understand 81 THE LOVE OF AZALEA the word, as her English vocabulary was limited to words acquired from the minis- ter's predecessor, a woman missionary. "Why do you still pretend to be a Christian ? Why do you continue to come here if it is no longer necessary for you to obtain money? " "Because," said Azalea, smiling up at him, " I want do so. Also, I kinnod stay away. My august feet bringing me back all those times." He sighed. Her face with its quickly changing expressions became wistful. " Excellency, I am glad thad honorable God telling you thad about those moaneys. Perhaps he also tell you that I want be 82 THE LOVE OF AZALEA convert an' doan' want no moaney." He wavered toward her a moment, and then turned his eyes from her. He had been beguiled too long. "Mebbe your God doan 1 desire me? mebbe," she said. He did not answer. To recall him to her she touched his knee. His voice was hoarse. " Salvation is free to all," he said dully. She laughed almost joyfully. "I make nudder confession," she said eagerly. "Sometimes I 'fraid of your God. The priest tell me he is evil spirit and I getting skeered. Well, wen I come unto your house I know that your God 83 THE LOVE OF AZALEA gitting hold of my heart, for it beating so hard, I doan know wha's matter wis me. I doan know whether I lidder bit skeered of your honorable God, or or of you augustness. So that other day wen you take my hand this away." She tried to illustrate, but found him unresponsive, her voice toiled forlornly. " I so 'fraid of tha's influence of your God. I run so ,$uick from your house I kinnod see, and ihen I came to thad temple and prostrate myself before Kwannon and beseech her save me from all those powers of evil spirit. Then I go home, and I know I jusd silly, foolish girl. Thad God you tell me 'bout Is not evil spirit. No no! You say nod, 84 THE LOVE OF AZALEA an' I jus* foolish, skeered, because, mebbe jus* because I am thad happy." " Happy ! Why were you happy ? " He could not resist the expression of her eyes and almost unconsciously allowed her hands to slip back into his. "Because you so kind unto me," she said ; " you touching my hand this way so warm so nize ! Tha's why I coon nod speag. Tha's stop my heart." " I love you ! " he said, the words escap- ing his lips almost without his volition. " I cannot help it. That was what I wanted to say to you to-day." She clung to his hands. Her lips parted The color was wild in her face. 85 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "Oh," she said, "you love me! Tha's a most beautifulest thought, Excellency. Mebbe also your God love me jus' me also?" He drew her into his arms and held her there a moment. He forgot everything else as he kissed her willing, questioning face and little hands. Then after an interval : "What does it matter what does any- thing matter now ? " he said. " I love you. I know that you love me. Your eyes do not lie." When he released her, her hands fell limply on his knees. " No one," she said breathlessly, her eyes shining, " aever clasping me like thad." 86 THE LOVE OF AZALEA He laughed as joyously as she could. With his arm about her, as she knelt before him, he showed her the sheet of paper covered with his writing of her name. "That," he said, almost boyishly, "is how the Rev. Richard Verley wrote his ser- mon to-day ' Azalea, Azalea, Azalea, Azalea nothing but Azalea.' " "Tha's me! I am Azalea!" she said. " Oh, tha's so nize be your convert." He laughed, then sighed. "You will be that in time, I promise," he said, " and meanwhile, well, meanwhile, we will be married." She looked up at him with frightened eyes. 87 THE LOVE OF AZALEA "Married! You also marry me?" she asked. " Why, yes, of course. We will make a little trip to a town where there's another minister, or possibly I can have the cere- mony here." " Oh ! Pray you doan make other con- verts. Please doan." "Why?" " Because perhaps you also marry them yaes?" He laughed again and kissed the tip of her little pointed chin. There was a be- witching dimple in it, and he had always desired to kiss it. "When you are my wife, you will, in 88 " ' This is the American way,' he said, boyishly, and stooping, kissed her." (Page 90) THE LOVE OF AZALEA time, become my helper. You, too, will make converts." "You gotter git consent my honorable mother-in-law," she interrupted. His face fell. "Also," she said, "I gotter git those marriage garments, and you must buy me lots presents." "No, I'll marry you in the gown you have on." "This!" She touched it in dismay. " Why thad would be disgrace upon me." " Very well, you shall be disgraced then. Now come we'll go to your step-mother right away. There's no time to be lost." She hesitated as they reached the door. 89 THE LOVE OF AZALEA " Wait," she said. He paused with the sliding door half open. "You bedder not come also. Let me speag to her alone. Tha's bedder. If she doan consent, then I skeer her and say I marry wiz Matsuda. She doan wish that. She desire him for Yuri." " Oh, I see." "Ah-bah!" (Good-bye!) she said, pass- ing through the opening. He drew hef back. * " Is that the way to say ' good-bye ' ? " he asked reproachfully. She was puzzled. "This is the American way," he said boyishly, and stooping, kissed her. 90 CHAPTER VI She ran all the way home. She wanted her stepmother's consent as quickly as possible, so that she might hasten back to the minister. Her breathless words astounded Madame Yamada. " That barbarous, beautiful priest wishes to marry me," she announced in one breath. Madame Yamada's lips fell apart. "What do you mean?" she inquired roughly. "That's right right!" cried the girl, 91 THE LOVE OF AZALEA clasping her hands excitedly. " Oh, i am the happiest girl in all Japan ! " Her step-mother extended a long finger and struck it at the girl's breast. "What! The foreign devil wants to marry you ? " Madame Yamada was excited, agitated, above all delighted. The gods were favor- ing her. Here was a solution to all their difficulties. " Breathe not a word to anyone of this, my daughter," she said, " but hasten back with the speed of wings to the house of the barbarian. Bring him here, and we will go at once to the next town and have a 92 THE LOVE OF AZALEA private ceremony there. The Nakoda Okido must not suspect." Azalea swung her sleeves coquettishly. " Oh," she said airily, " we will not make Japanese marriage, step-mother." She clasped her hands behind her and raised her head with childish dignity and pride. " I am to be an American lady. There- fore we will marry in American fashion." " How is that ? " asked Madame Yamada, mystified. " Oh, you don't understand," said Azalea pityingly, "but I do. He told me once how they marry. Just pray, bend head like this, and knees like this, hold hands tight so, mother-in-law; and then the 93 THE LOVE OF AZALEA priest prays on top of the heads and the bride is given a ring big and shining very fine. That's the way they marry." "They do not exchange the marriage cup ? " questioned her mother, horrified. " No there are no marriage cups. Also to marry that foreign way, I have got to be Kirishitan. " Ah-h ! I see. You will turn convert ? " " I am already. I wish already to be so," said the girl simply. An idea flashed swiftly across the mind of Madame Yamada a brilliant idea. "Good!" she said. "It is well for a maiden to be of the same religion as the man she marries. But do not let it be 94 THE LOVE OF AZALEA known till the ceremony is over. Then throw away your ancestral tablets. You will have no further use for them." Azalea paled a trifle. She was not ignor- ant of the effect of such an action. One who renounces the tablets of his ancestor she knew is in popular opinion forever lowered. One might attend the church meetings of the Kirishitans, one might even affiliate with the foreigners; but it is only when one has openly declared oneself for the new religion and, in defiance of the old, destroyed the sacred symbols, the ancestral tablets, that one becomes an outcast. Yet it was necessary, surely. It was not pos- sible without hypocrisy to acknowledge the 95 THE LOVE OF AZALEA new God, and still in secret cherish the tablets of the old. Well, what were the tablets to her now? Her husband's love, the new God's strength, would stand between her and shield her from her enemies. Azalea smiled bravely at her step-mother. *c- > / / YC 45821', 111