EWA 
 
EWA 
 
 A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 BY 
 
 W. ARTHUR NOBLE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 
 
Copyrignt, 1906, by 
 EATON & MAINS. 
 
p 
 
 
 
 on 
 
 & IL < 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 f^Vi 
 
 THE aim of this book is to represent Korean 
 
 affairs from the standpoint of the Korean. 
 
 The writer has endeavored to look through 
 Korean eyes at the acts of foreigners, in their atti 
 tude toward Korea, and search for their interpreta 
 tion from the Korean standpoint; to illustrate the 
 customs of the people and their habits of thought ; to 
 show that the Asiatic loves, hates, fears, hopes and 
 sacrifices for his ideals, the same as does his West 
 ern brother ; to show the great struggle of new Ko 
 rea for a better life; to illustrate the type of man 
 hood that is leading the people toward reform; to 
 awaken sympathy for a people who have become the 
 victims of an unjust exploitation by a foreign 
 power. 
 
 The characters and incidents here related are his 
 torical. Where it has been necessary to< enlarge 
 upon them, the traditions and spirit of the people 
 have been faithfully followed. For obvious reasons 
 names of persons still living and names of some 
 places connected with them have been changed. 
 
 Whether the writer has succeeded in his purposes 
 or not, is left to the judgment of the kindly sympa 
 thetic reader. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Royal Recorder 1 1 
 
 Promise of New Dignity 23 
 
 An Interruption 29 
 
 On the Tong River 35 
 
 A Magistrate 48 
 
 The Foreigner 59 
 
 Searching for a Bride 66 
 
 A Spirit from the West 75 
 
 Perils of the Great Tong River 92 
 
 The Hermitage 126 
 
 Victims of War. ...... 149 
 
 The Condemned Minstrel 158 
 
 The Contract, and an Execution 168 
 
 Panic 177 
 
 Convalescence 190 
 
 The New Faith 203 
 
 Home 209 
 
 The Search 218 
 
 Under Arrest 234 
 
 Attack on the Palace 243 
 
 Storms in the Capital 259 
 
 The Search Continued 268 
 
 Search Rewarded 288 
 
 Until Death 297 
 
 For Conscience Sake 309 
 
 Dangers Ahead 323 
 
 For His Country 339 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Ewa Frontispiece 
 
 Women at Sung-yo s Home Facing Page 20 
 
 Burden Bearers " " 82 
 
 A Merchant " " 152 
 
 Sung-yo Dressed in Mourning for His Father " " 214 
 Where Korea and Japan Meet " " 264 
 
CHAPTER I 
 THE ROYAL RECORDER 
 
 I WOULD not be true to that which the Korean 
 holds dearest in life, namely, the reverence due his 
 ancestors, if I did not, in these first lines, introduce 
 the reader to my father, the Royal Recorder, who 
 was the head of the great Kim clan of the North, 
 and also, to the home over which he ruled. 
 
 At a distance, the Sung-ji 1 mansion resembled a 
 fortification. A wall enclosing a small village of 
 roofs formed a rectangle of nearly three thousand 
 square yards. It was eight feet high, covered with 
 huge tile coping, but here the resemblance to a forti 
 fication ceased. Above the wall, within the enclo 
 sure, rose the buildings of our home. They were, 
 like the wall, rectangular in shape, with broad 
 gables and massive roofs resembling the hills that 
 towered above them. The eaves of the roofs, from 
 center to corners, sloped up and outward, giving the 
 group of buildings an airiness, like a dancing girl 
 with her arms raised aloft posed for the dance. The 
 suggestion of humor was enhanced by the arrange 
 ment of the buildings. They stood at all angles, as 
 if they had paused in the midst of a mad frolic and 
 
 1 Royal Recorder. 
 
12 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 were peering over the walls at a noisy, chattering 
 brook that half encircled the outside of the enclo 
 sure. The great compound was flanked at the back 
 by a high range of hills called "The Mistress of the 
 Tong River." It rose sharply out of the narrow 
 valley and turned southward by the side of the river 
 with long graceful strides, swinging from its ever 
 green sides a voluminous trail, which, folding 
 out and in, revealed a village here and hid another 
 there. Days, when the winds blew heavily from 
 the south and hurtled up through the mountain 
 peaks, there was heard a sobbing and moaning 
 sound, so that, it was said, demons of the mountains 
 were struggling and shouting in the storm. 
 
 The main entrance to the enclosure was a huge 
 gate over which, supported by four posts, was an 
 upper structure sheltering a room that opened on 
 four sides, where, in the time of our prosperity, 
 hung a ponderous drum and other instruments of 
 music. Here the curfew was played, and not rung, 
 as is the habit in some lands. 
 
 The curfew at my home was an imitation of the 
 cunning fiction practiced at the country magistra 
 cies, which regarded the unwalled towns as possess 
 ing gates to be closed and opened, at regulated 
 times, for the protection of the people. Thus, at 
 night, the people would be called from their toil, and 
 again, in the unreasonable hours of the early cock- 
 crowing, the drums and horns would roar out, 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 13 
 
 announcing to the sleepy denizens that the gates to 
 the town, of which there were none, were open and 
 the people permitted to engage in their daily toil. 
 
 Just inside the main gate stood a small building 
 which inspired my boyhood with awe, exceeded only 
 by the fear that I held for the ghosts and hobgoblins 
 who were hidden in the top of the Mistress of the 
 Tong River. This was the guest house where my 
 father received governors, magistrates, and other 
 high officials who were ready to make long journeys 
 to our country home to solicit favor of the man who 
 stood in the Imperial Presence when at the capital. 
 The building boasted of two rooms separated by an 
 unusually heavy partition, behind which, it was 
 understood, the great Sung-ji on rare occasions 
 imparted his whispered confidences. 
 
 The floor of the main room, covered with oiled 
 paper, was polished daily by a slave girl till it shone 
 like a mirror. As a boy, in the absence of the usual 
 awe-inspiring dignity, I often gamboled on its slip 
 pery surface and measured the room, six strides one 
 way and four the other. The furniture of the larger 
 room, where guests were received, consisted of a 
 large brass candlestick that reached from the floor 
 as high as one s head; the brasier, usually filled 
 with coals for the convenience of the long pipes of 
 guests, and cushions, arranged in order about the 
 room, giving it a sense of luxury. The wall was 
 papered white and decorated with many impossible 
 
14 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 figures by a skilled artist from the capital, and ban 
 ners hung from the walls covered with quotations 
 from the classics. The room was warmed by flues 
 passing under the house from a fireplace sheltered at 
 one side, where, often as a boy, I fed into its raven 
 ous maw the pine bough cut from the mountainside 
 and laughed as I dodged the flame that licked out 
 hungrily at me. 
 
 As I remember my father last, his hair was as 
 white as snow. It was held in place by a band fas 
 tened with punctilious neatness about his head, after 
 the style of all our people. Over the band was drawn 
 a skull cap that opened at the top and expanded with 
 projections at the four sides, bearing a decided re 
 semblance to a crown. His face was round, eyes 
 black, with overhanging brows, mouth slightly 
 drooped at the corners and closed firmly, as if he 
 were in the habit of commanding. I best remember 
 him seated on a large cushion in the guest room on 
 the side farthest from the door. At his back, run 
 ning from wall to wall, a silk screen adorned with 
 beautiful needle-work representing forests, birds, 
 and animals. He usually wore a silk coat dyed red, 
 over a suit of purest white. To me, his voice was 
 always kind, and peering back through the troublous 
 years filled with painful incidents which I am about 
 to relate, I see my father. His benign face and 
 gentle look caress me still, and make the sheet of 
 paper under my hand grow dim. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA ig 
 
 When in the capital my father s business was to 
 watch the Emperor and write down all his Majesty s 
 acts, however trivial. It was frequently the case 
 that a close intimacy would spring up between the 
 Emperor and his creature, the Sung-ji, that was de 
 nied all other officials, and my father, it was said, 
 often jogged his Majesty s elbow to the advantage 
 of many of his friends, and sometimes to the confu 
 sion of his enemies, till he was known as "His Ma 
 jesty s Friend." 
 
 At the period of which I write the fortune of the 
 great Sung-ji had been fast fading away, and many 
 were the schemes devised by which it was hoped that 
 our family would become thoroughly reestablished 
 before he should close his career among the great of 
 earth. Haste in the matter seemed necessary, as that 
 ruthless arbiter, Time, was making sad havoc of 
 this stately patrician of Korean society. 
 
 He had held the enviable rank of Sung-ji in the 
 Emperor s service for twenty years, an office denied 
 the North country for a period of more than three 
 hundred years. A powerful family by the name of 
 Song gained control over Korean politics somewhere 
 about 1560, and so successfully connived for its own 
 interests as to secure the passage of a law disquali 
 fying any man living in the northern provinces from 
 securing that rank. 
 
 "How," they asked, "is it possible for any good 
 to come out of the North ?" 
 
16 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 For centuries the question itself sufficed to settle 
 all cavil. Excellency in scholarship was not decided 
 from the merits of the thesis written at the national 
 examinations, but from the locality in which the 
 man lived. When a man was presented for prefer 
 ment his ancestry was carefully reviewed, and if it 
 was found that the candidate had been so culpable 
 as to have allowed his family to take root in the 
 North country, even though it were a thousand 
 years previous to his own birth, he was quietly 
 turned down, unless, indeed, he had vast sums of 
 money to pay for his rank, and even then he was 
 treated in a spirit of tolerance, but not of fellowship. 
 
 The spirit of resentment and jealousy in the North 
 which grew through these years at some periods 
 threatened the country with a revolution ; but when 
 my father secured the rank of Sung-ji it was believed 
 to be a death blow to the old regime, and the whole 
 North rejoiced; while in the South, the innovation 
 was viewed with dismay. The most astonished 
 man among Korea s millions was my father himself. 
 He regarded his good fortune as the gift of the gods 
 which augured well for his descendants through all 
 time. 
 
 It came about in this way: my grandfather had 
 inherited a large fortune and by shrewd industry 
 had added to it until he was one of the wealthiest 
 landholders in the country. Success seemed to 
 crown his every effort till, it was said, when he 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 17 
 
 launched a chip on the river it floated back to him 
 acres of lumber. Finally he began to yearn and 
 struggle for national rank. It is fair to him to say 
 that his ambition was more in behalf of his posterity 
 than for himself, with the hopes, however, that a clan 
 of great men would sacrifice at his grave through 
 the centuries to come. 
 
 His passion for rank and political preferment 
 burned into his life with an intensity only equaled by 
 the passion of a gambler. He made trips to the capi 
 tal, spending vast sums of money to curry favor with 
 the powers that controlled these national gifts. 
 
 Finally he collected all he had, besides the lands 
 around his immediate home, and left for Seoul, 
 resolved that he would not return until he had 
 secured the position he coveted. 
 
 While at the capital, in this desperate search for 
 rank, he met Prince An, who, in the whirl of for 
 tune s wheel, became in after years the Prince Re 
 gent of Korea. At this date, however, he was very 
 poor and without great influence. My grandfather 
 deposited with him a large sum of money and 
 received in return the usual empty promises. 
 
 Prince An had a son for whom my grandfather 
 took a great fancy and spent whole days in making 
 kites for him and in teaching the boy how to fly 
 them. As he spent much of his time at the home of 
 the Prince, the lad and he were great companions. 
 My grandfather was, it has been stoutly argued, 
 
1 8 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 quite unconscious of any possibility that the boy 
 would ever be any other than a playmate to him, 
 but, as he was a great connoisseur of national rank 
 and royal genealogy, he may have possessed knowl 
 edge of some facts that gave course to his kites and 
 length to their strings. 
 
 Finally the Emperor died, and having left no chil 
 dren, the country was searched for an heir to the 
 throne. Musty records were produced ; claimants in 
 great numbers came forward, but were rejected. At 
 last it was proven beyond a doubt that the son of 
 Prince An was the legitimate heir to the throne. 
 
 In the meantime my grandfather had returned to 
 his home a discouraged man. He had struggled 
 against constant defeat and had fretted his life 
 threadbare. He went away vigorous and in the 
 prime of manhood, but returned an old man. 
 
 As soon as the new King took his throne he re 
 membered his old playmate and dispatched a courier 
 to call him to Seoul as the one whom the King would 
 delight to honor. The messenger found the home 
 in mourning and the oldest son, my father, hastened 
 to the capital to bear the tidings of his father s death 
 to the boy King. On arriving he was received with 
 many marks of regard and honored with the rank 
 of Sung-ji. 
 
 His appointment to this rank and its privileges 
 stirred the whole country, and so earnestly and 
 effectually did the officials at the capital protest that 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 19 
 
 there has not been a repetition of the appointment 
 to this day. 
 
 In this country, newly married people do not sepa 
 rate from the original stock, but each new family 
 gathers under the parental roof, and the original 
 household grows small only by dying off at the top, 
 so that, in the palmy days of my father s prosperity, 
 more than fifty persons comprised our home, besides 
 a large number of servants quartered in the village 
 outside of the compound. 
 
 I, being the youngest son, enjoyed the advantages 
 which are the usual privileges of that member of a 
 family. Idleness and incapacity, the ideals for chil 
 dren of the rich and those of rank, became my lot. 
 Discouraged from taking robust physical exercise, I 
 developed the physical effeminacy which is sup 
 posed to be the mark of a gentleman. Keeping the 
 creases out of my silk coat, my hands white and my 
 little finger nails long were the burdensome occupa 
 tions of my life, until about five years previous to the 
 period of which this story relates I became greatly 
 attached to a young man by the name of Kim Tong- 
 siki, 1 seven years my senior, who, it seems to me, 
 was the most remarkable man of these disturbed 
 times. 
 
 My home was composed differently from what 
 critics of the late reform movements would call ideal 
 
 1 "Kim," is the clan name and "Tong-siki" is the name received from 
 his parents on reaching his majority. In this case and in others of which 
 this story relates the clan name will be dropped. 
 
2O EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 or intolerable. I was not the son of my father s 
 real wife. If at this time I had been called upon to 
 debate the question of the proposed marriage re 
 forms, I would have asked first for their motives : 
 national economics, improvement of society, utilita 
 rian, or ideal ? In any case, it would be a reflection 
 on our honored ancestry and might raise the ques 
 tion of my right to existence. Though I am the son 
 of a concubine, I am glad that I am here. My phi 
 losophy may be selfish, and I might wish, for the 
 sake of a beautiful creed, that such as I had not 
 been. The sages have taught us, and there are many 
 of us who believe their teaching true, that there will 
 be a time when we all shall have been absorbed in 
 the mother of all life. In such a scheme to argue out 
 of existence one s personality, it might be as consist 
 ent to regret the past as to hope for the future. I 
 fancy, however, that Nirvana, into which Buddhism 
 says we are drifting, and asks us to be glad at the 
 perfection of this system of annihilation, would be 
 less attractive if it was not distant and inevitable. 
 One fact is certain I am here, and when I am 
 hungry I would rather have a homely meal than 
 listen to a fine discourse on the palace bill of fare. 
 
 An older brother and I were the only living sons 
 of the great Sung-ji. That fact was the source of 
 much sorrow on the part of my father. Daughters 
 crowded the compound and fluttered about the ram 
 bling old homestead in such numbers that he was as 
 
WOMEN AT SUNG-YO S HOME 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 21 
 
 little able to keep track of them as was his desire to 
 do so. Thirteen lived to weep under the hard hands 
 of mothers-in-law. 
 
 "Sons are a blessing, and daughters are a curse," 
 he would say, yet dimpled cheeks and laughing eyes 
 followed him everywhere. A smile from him would 
 set the hills to echoing with merry laughter. The 
 fact that girls are not supposed to be worth the pos 
 session of names frequently produces interesting 
 scenes. 
 
 "Which one are you?" the Sung-ji would ask, 
 pinching a pair of pink cheeks. 
 
 "Rat," would be the reply. 
 
 "Yes, yes," he would say, "what are the rest 
 doinof?" 
 
 
 "Pig, Cat and Rascal are playing with Twelve and 
 Thirteen and " 
 
 "Yes, yes, never mind, off with you to your play," 
 would be his reply. 
 
 Among our servants were a number of female 
 slaves, and, through marriage, three male members 
 of that class who refused their freedom though 
 granted by the law unless their wives could go with 
 them, deliberately choosing to suffer with their fami 
 lies rather than seek their own freedom. On these 
 slaves often fell all the ills of the home. One of their 
 number was more to me than any of my other play 
 mates. Tt was not often that my father so far lost 
 himself as to lay violent hands on anyone ; but if at 
 
22 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 any time his wrath was aroused and there was no 
 other outlet the slightest provocation would bring 
 speedy vengeance upon the head of the unlucky slave. 
 
 I was about seven years old, when, one day, I hap 
 pened in the yard and found all our servants gath 
 ered, their interest centered upon some object in their 
 midst. Out of curiosity and unnoticed I pushed my 
 way to the center of the circle and what I saw fol 
 lowed me as a shadowing nightmare long afterward. 
 A man lay bound down to the beams of a rough 
 cross, his arms extended, and stripped of nearly all 
 his clothing. Our head servant stood by directing 
 another who was leaning on a long paddle. At a 
 signal the paddle was raised and brought down on 
 the thighs of the prostrate man. A spasmodic up 
 ward throw of the head brought his face in my 
 direction, revealing the face of my playmate slave. 
 Sudden anger choked me, and in my puny wrath I 
 ran to stop the next blow. It fell more lightly on 
 my arm, the marks of which I still carry with me. 
 The consternation that followed resulted in the 
 release of the slave. 
 
 For slight acts of kindness, this class of people 
 gave me an affection that I found not elsewhere; and 
 it is the sweet memories that hover around the name 
 of one of these helpless children of misfortune that 
 inspire me to relate the incidents of this tale. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 PROMISE OF NEW DIGNITY 
 
 AT the age of eighteen I was made aware of the 
 scandalous fact that I was not married. This cer 
 tainly was an abnormal state of affairs for one in our 
 grade of society. It was the result partly from my 
 dislike of such a move, partly from my mother s in 
 dulgence, but mainly from my father s straitened 
 financial affairs. Like my grandfather, he had spent 
 large sums of money in the effort to buy rank for 
 my ambitious brother, with the result of a well-fed 
 official in the capital, many empty promises and the 
 loss of a large part of his estate. His service to 
 the King brought little revenue; but while enough; 
 of his estate remained to maintain the tradition of 
 the clan hospitality, and the rank was still attached 
 to our name, it was sufficient for the dignity of a 
 gentleman. I fear the losses disturbed me little as 
 they served to postpone my unwelcome prospects of 
 marriage. 
 
 Finally negotiations were afoot to dispose of me 
 in a fitting manner, though, as was said, it was 
 shamefully late. A young lady four years my senior 
 was chosen to be honored as rny bride. She lived 
 three hundred miles from my home, and I had never 
 
24 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 heard of her before. I exercised every means pos 
 sible to find out something about her, and grew 
 angry at our customs that treat the bride and groom 
 as if they were the least interested persons in the 
 transaction. By bribing the go-between I learned 
 that the young lady was deformed, or scarred from 
 some great accident. My protests were listened to 
 with patient indulgence as something to be expected 
 from the youngest member of the family. They told 
 me that I had been misinformed, not with the inten 
 tion of saying that the girl was not deformed, but it 
 was the easiest way to say, "Young man, behave 
 yourself." Like any other of my countrymen I sub 
 mitted to what I called my fate. 
 
 Obedience is the first law of the household, and 
 therein I think we are not behind the best civilized 
 nations of the world. While the prospects of my 
 coming marriage were hateful to me, I had no 
 thought of disobeying. Perhaps, if at the time I had 
 known to what my rebellious feelings would lead 
 me, I would have welcomed the fate of a marriage 
 with this unknown creature. Western nations are 
 fond of saying that it is this spirit that has been the 
 curse of our country. We have lacked, they say, the 
 virile conception of what is right and readiness to 
 suffer for it, and a willingness to enter the hurly- 
 burly necessary for the reformation of our tyran 
 nical customs. Our nation, they inform us with 
 callous frankness, has become a byword among the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 25 
 
 nations of the world because we lack the courage to 
 fight down the wrongs inflicted upon us by unjust 
 laws and official oppression. They call us cowards, 
 not remembering that it takes no less courage to 
 suffer patiently than to seek revenge. 
 
 As preparations for the wedding moved slowly 
 forward I became the object of interest and con 
 siderable attention, now that the disgrace of bache- 
 lordom was to be removed and the dignity of man 
 hood assumed by having my hair put up in a top 
 knot. The side of the question that brought me 
 satisfaction was the prospect of being addressed in 
 good language and treated with the respect due 
 a married man. 
 
 About this time there came many rumors from 
 the South that foreign nations had nearly all made 
 treaties with our government. 
 
 Strange rumors had reached us of these barba 
 rians from the West, their curious customs and in 
 comprehensible names. It was said that they were 
 all large of stature and dressed in black, the con 
 clusion being that if they dressed in black they must 
 be very dirty; but of course one should not be sur 
 prised at that, for what could one expect of barba 
 rians ? They were said to have piercing eyes, large 
 noses and huge mouths, restless, energetic habits, 
 ignorant of our customs and impolite. It was 
 rumored and believed by most people that they 
 used human flesh for medicine. Some of them en- 
 
26 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 gaged in trade as merchants at the open ports, 
 others were representatives of their governments, 
 while others did not engage in trade or business of 
 any kind, but spent their whole time in teaching a 
 strange religion. These last had penetrated our 
 North country to the famous city of Pyeng-Yang, 
 a city situated on the river fifty miles from our 
 home. 
 
 Up to that date I had never seen a foreigner, but 
 since then I - have associated with many of them. 
 Some of our first impressions were wrong; but of 
 others, among which are things not flattering, we 
 have had no reason to change our opinion. 
 
 When that part of the mansion to which I was 
 to bring my bride had been properly fitted up with 
 its bright new paper and freshly oiled floors, it 
 smiled out happily at me and seemed to be stretch 
 ing its eaves jovially skyward as if the sheltering 
 of brides was the jolliest kind of pastime; then I be 
 came almost contented to make friends with my 
 fortune. 
 
 My father had business relations with wealthy 
 men who resided in the city of Pyeng-Yang, and 
 the interests of my approaching wedding made it 
 desirable for someone to visit the city. To my de 
 light, it was proposed to send my friend, Tong-siki, 
 and myself to look after these affairs. My experi 
 ence did not justify responsibility in business mat 
 ters, so they were placed in the hands of Tong-siki. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 27 
 
 I was delighted with the prospects of a sight of the 
 city with its many shops, the news of the distant 
 outside world, and then, too, perhaps I would have a 
 chance to see the strange foreigner from the West. 
 From the discussions relating to our intended 
 journey I picked up new facts regarding the family 
 of my future alliance. The young lady whom I was 
 to honor by accepting as my bride, having no name 
 of her own, was known as the daughter of Mr. Yi. 
 That gentleman some years previous had discarded 
 his first wife, the mother of the nameless girl, and 
 had taken another and prettier than she. He had 
 owned considerable rice land in that section of the 
 country, which up to the present had supported his 
 first wife. Now, however, on the marriage of her 
 daughter, the property would pass to the hands of 
 my father, to be held secure for me until the time 
 when he should need it no more. This arrangement, 
 while seeming heartless in its treatment of the girl s 
 mother, was an effort to save the lands from the 
 avaricious magistrates, who had begun a new system 
 of squeezing, and there was no way to satiate their 
 ravenous appetites. My father was supposed to be 
 the only man in the North whose property was se 
 cure. Mr. Yi, at one time, held powerful influence 
 at the capital, but in the game of politics had lost 
 it all. For the present proposed transfer of prop 
 erty he was to be repaid by friendly political in 
 fluence that my father might be able to render him. 
 
28 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 The property would amount to considerable, and as 
 my father s exchequer was at a low ebb, the propo 
 sition pleased him, knowing full well that it was a 
 symptom of Mr. Yi becoming a victim of his imagi 
 nation, and would part with much more of his prop 
 erty for that Will-o -the-wisp, governmental prefer 
 ment. Surely, it seemed that the golden stream that 
 had for years flowed outward had changed its direc 
 tion to the home of the great Sung-ji. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 AN INTERRUPTION 
 
 WHEN preparations for our departure to Pyeng- 
 Yang were nearly completed, we were suddenly in 
 terrupted by the sickness of my father. His illness 
 having so profound an influence upon my future, I 
 find it necessary to relate the incident at this point. 
 
 He was attacked by one of those terrible, nameless 
 fevers so common in our land. When all simpler 
 remedies had failed to effect a cure, members of the 
 household, with the solicitude usual to our people, 
 called in a sorceress to drive away the demon of 
 the disease. 
 
 She came on a certain evening, bringing a huge 
 drum and several assistants with her. One of the 
 number was a woman carrying a cymbal. These 
 two persons had the sinister look common to people 
 of their profession, while two others were young 
 and attractive, wearing bright colored garments that 
 showed off well in the torch lights against the dark 
 background of the night. 
 
 The best sorceress in the country had been pro 
 cured by the promise of a large sum of money, and 
 the effort to secure her had advertised the matter so 
 well that the neighboring towns turned out in great 
 
 29 
 
30 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 numbers to watch the incantations over the great 
 est man in North Korea. They were not surprised 
 that he was sick, for what could politically powerful 
 men expect when their evil deeds constantly invited 
 demon possessions ? They knew that at such scenes, 
 where large money was at stake to inspire the sor 
 ceress to display her utmost cunning, there would 
 be uncanny incidents enough to please the most 
 morbid curiosity. 
 
 My father had been lying on a silk-covered mat 
 tress spread out on the floor but at the request of 
 the sorceress he was rolled in a mat and brought out 
 into the yard. He seemed too indifferent or too 
 sick to pay any attention to what they were trying 
 to do with him. 
 
 When all was ready the four women took their 
 places in a half-circle about the sick man. The one 
 with the drum struck it tentatively, paused, glanced 
 at her companions, touched the drum again softly, 
 then beat a long monotonous roll. The cymbals 
 clanged, and the dancers began posturing, keeping 
 time with the beating of drum and cymbals. As the 
 incantations proceeded the beating grew loud and 
 rapid and the dancing more active. 
 
 Late in the evening one of the bystanders was 
 asked to hoW a demon-stick a willow branch about 
 three feet long over his head in both hands. The 
 woman then announced to the crowd that when the 
 stick should begin to shake beyond the control of 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 31 
 
 the man holding it, it would be a sign that the demon 
 was in the stick; that the man would be irresistibly 
 forced to run beneath a tree that stood near the yard, 
 and the demon would leap up into the branches. At 
 the root of the tree was placed a bottle into which, 
 she announced, she proposed to force the demon and 
 fasten him in. The drumming and dancing con 
 tinued all night, and the man with the stick was 
 repeatedly relieved by others; but the demon was 
 very stubborn, the sorceress stated, having many 
 reasons, because of the vicious life of his Excellency, 
 the Sung-ji, to burrow deep within his soul, there 
 fore it did not yield easily to her power. 
 
 "Some of you who have lost your small hold 
 ings," she said, "could have prophesied long ago 
 that the worst devils would have him in due time, 
 but be not impatient of my efforts. When the signs 
 become favorable, watch! My reputation shall not 
 suffer, though the demons prove a hundredfold 
 more fierce than heretofore known." 
 
 Finally, glancing through the crowd, she seized 
 hold of a nervous-looking young man and ordered 
 him to hold the demon-stick. 
 
 "Now, sir," said she, "something striking will 
 happen. The devil is about to leave the sick man. 
 He can no longer withstand my power. You watch 
 me, think of nothing else, see all my movements, 
 listen to the sound of the drum, give yourself up to 
 the powers of the air. Immediately the demon will 
 
32 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 leave the sick man and leap upon the stick, and perch 
 there like a bat, while your hands will tremble and 
 shake beyond your control. Don t let loose. He 
 will drag you over yonder wall to that tree. When 
 you touch the tree the spirit will leap into its 
 branches then let go." 
 
 This she proclaimed at the top of her voice with 
 wild looks and gesticulations. 
 
 The young man seized the stick as directed and 
 waited. It had been noisy before, but now pande 
 monium reigned. The sorceress struck the drum 
 furiously, the cymbal clanged and the dancers leaped 
 w r ith frantic hysteria. She looked the young man 
 in the eyes and shook her head. Then the stick 
 trembled. 
 
 A great "Ah !" broke from the lips of the bystand 
 ers. 
 
 "The demon is in the stick!" the people shouted. 
 
 The woman ceased beating her drum, swung her 
 arms wildly in the air and pointed to the tree, and 
 away sped the man struggling with the shaking 
 stick. He rushed to the wall and over it and to the 
 tree with the unerring obedience of a hypnotic sub 
 ject. On touching the tree the willow branch fell. 
 
 "Look!" the crowd shouted, "it s in the tree, 
 hanging to the limbs of the tree!" 
 
 Drum and cymbals were brought and the tree be 
 sieged till a bit of white paper which had been placed 
 beside the empty bottle, was seen to spring suddenly 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 33 
 
 into the air and descend inside of it, and the final 
 act of the night s drama closed. The bit of paper 
 caught in the eddy of wind caused by the demon s 
 headlong plunge, followed him into the bottle, prov 
 ing to any possibly skeptical minds that the devil 
 had been cowed and beaten. The sorceress corked 
 him in ; and handled the bottle with careless indiffer 
 ence to its terrible occupant, as if bottling the devil 
 was the simplest thing imaginable. 
 
 I hastened back to look at my father. He had 
 not changed his position, and when raised up seemed 
 weaker than when brought out the previous day. 
 
 The sorceress admitted that he might be so for the 
 present, but soon he would rally from the demon at 
 tack, now that the fiend was gone and safely fas 
 tened in a bottle and under her power. 
 
 The woman received the stipulated sum, with a 
 present in addition, and many expressions of grati 
 tude from members of the family and neighbors, 
 then took her departure. 
 
 Two weeks more of sickness followed, during 
 which time preparations were repeatedly made for 
 my father s expected death. Once we really knew 
 that he was breathing his last. Crying and wail- 
 ings spread throughout the mansion and out into the 
 town. Some member of the family spread a mat 
 on the floor, extending from the place where he lay 
 to the open door. Another climbed to the roof of 
 the house with my father s coat. Swinging the gar- 
 
34 EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ment in the air he called loudly to the departing 
 spirit to return and occupy the garment, that we 
 might worship it in the ancestral tablet. My mother 
 dragged another garment along the mat and re 
 peated, "Nam-u-am-i-ta-bul," a Buddhistic incanta 
 tion from India, invoking the aid of Buddha for the 
 securing and propitiation of the departing spirit. 
 
 My father disappointed all these preparations for 
 his death, as \vell as disappointing his creditors, 
 who, by the way, were the loudest of all in their 
 waitings. A month later he was so much recovered 
 that he ordered us to hasten our departure for 
 Pyeng-Yang, that we might be able to return before 
 the summer rains should make the river dangerous. 
 
 We had need of haste, for the delay was fraught 
 with many consequences impossible for anyone to 
 foresee. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 ON THE TONG RIVER 
 
 PREPARATIONS for the journey were completed 
 by having my hair put up in a topknot, at which 
 time my official name, Sung-yo, was given to me. 
 My approaching marriage would soon make the 
 change necessary; so the matter was hastened, that 
 my presence among my father s creditors as a repre 
 sentative of the Sung-ji estate might have the 
 proper dignity. 
 
 All our servants were called out to hasten our de 
 parture, and there was the hustle and hurly-burly 
 usual on such occasions. 
 
 We secured a boat peculiar to this part of the 
 country. It was about thirty feet long and eight 
 feet wide, the sides rising only eighteen inches above 
 the surface of the water, while the ends narrowed to 
 a point and rose high in the air. At the rear a long 
 sweep was used more for guiding the boat than for 
 propelling it. At the prow were arranged two sets 
 of oars and seats for four men. It would require the 
 utmost effort of five men to force the boat up stream ; 
 but on the trip down little labor was necessary other 
 than the effort of the steersman. These unique 
 boats were built for the transportation of fuel and 
 
 35 
 
36 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 grain up and down a stream, filled with many shal 
 low rapids. 
 
 I am more particular in the description of this 
 boat, as later such a craft figured so largely in 
 changing the course of events, profoundly affecting 
 the lives of those whose history I am attempting to 
 relate. 
 
 The boat was bailed out and washed, matting 
 laid on the bottom, and an awning was erected over 
 the center, covering two thirds of the available space. 
 Provisions were stored away to last a week. Two 
 dancing girls joined us at the last moment. We 
 thought they were necessary to relieve, by song and 
 story, the journey of any tedium. 
 
 Two valets increased our number to a company of 
 eleven persons a large number for the comfort of 
 two young men. Yet as the number would impress 
 the officials and the Sung-ji creditors with our 
 standing, and debts could be collected easier, the 
 seeming extravagance would be a matter oi 
 economy. At least that was the opinion of the great 
 Sung-ji. 
 
 I have traveled in many sections of the country, 
 and in other lands in the East, but I have never 
 gazed upon any scenery more beautiful than that 
 along the great Tong River. Nature has done 
 everything for our country, while man has done 
 nothing. 
 
 We swept down over the rapids, past boats loaded 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 37 
 
 with huge piles of fuel, past others working their 
 snaillike pace upstream, past scores of half-naked 
 men straining and tugging their way up the rapids. 
 Sometimes these Titans of the river seemed to be 
 standing still in midstream, leaning against the cur 
 rent and straining at their ropes with prodigious 
 effort. At each cry of their leader, "Oi-ha," a 
 chorus echoing from their deep chests would chant, 
 "Oi-ha," their muscles would bulge and the boat 
 would start an inch, a foot, a yard, then smooth 
 water would be reached. There were fishermen in 
 tiny boats with large strings of trout tied to the 
 stern testifying to their industry. We occasionally 
 passed ferries filled with men, women, and children, 
 dressed in white and gaudy colors. They were 
 all mixed up with cattle, horses, and donkeys, the 
 last showing their discontent by prolonged brays. 
 The sharp hills along the river side ; the narrow val 
 leys with their rich grain; the rocky cliffs, pierced 
 with caves at the water s edge; the water fowl, 
 springing into the air in front of our boat; the 
 clouds, with their lights and shadows reflected in 
 the water; and the rapid motion of the boat, gave 
 one a feeling of exhilaration and delight. 
 
 Tong-siki always proved a delightful companion. 
 He had a philosophy of his own, and the disturbed 
 times of the last decade led him to exercise his gifts 
 with great diligence. He was ever poetic, and the 
 river, mountains, fields of grain, and the sky filled 
 
38 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 with banks of clouds, seemed to inspire him with 
 the muses on all such occasions. 
 
 He gave evidence to his pleasure by repeating to 
 himself snatches of poetry from the classics, adding 
 now and then a line of his own. He held the seers 
 of the past in great reverence, but was naturally in 
 tolerant of control, and sometimes he did violence 
 to those old masters. His presumption in quoting 
 the classics with his own productions came as a jar 
 on one s pleasures. 
 
 "Do you think that is better?" I asked. 
 
 "Hump," he grunted, and looking away, hummed 
 on. 
 
 "You love Confucius, do you?" he finally asked. 
 "So do I. How much has he done for us? Did he 
 make these hills and valleys ; these fields, trees, flow 
 ers, lights and shadows? No one can appreciate 
 more than I the great volume of ethics he created, 
 which to my mind has made us what we are ; but as 
 great as was Confucius, his influence did not in the 
 slightest touch the millions of the West, among 
 whom are also great peoples, which argues that his 
 teachings are not the only things sacred. If Con 
 fucius is more sacred in our thoughts than are his 
 writings, then a man is above anything man can 
 create, and, Sung-yo, we are men. Admitting that 
 my verses are dull, yet if they express an independ 
 ent personality, why should they, though associated 
 with the teachings of great men, be discords ? 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 39 
 
 "I have heard much of the Western foreigner," 
 he added, after a pause. "I have been thinking of 
 him and his teachings in relation to our ideals. Do 
 you know where I went when I was absent four 
 months ago ? I did not tell you the facts when I let 
 it be known that I made a visit to an uncle a hun 
 dred li east of here. I had an unconquerable desire 
 to see the foreigner and learn the character of his 
 civilization, so made a trip to the capital for that 
 purpose." 
 
 "Is it possible," I gasped. "Did you see them? 
 What do they look like ? Do they eat human flesh ? 
 Why did you not tell me?" 
 
 "Why," said he, indifferent to my storm of ques 
 tions, but glancing curiously at me, "you look like 
 a foreigner when you do that. They are full of an 
 imation. I do not know what they eat I was not so 
 much interested in that as some others seem to be. 
 While they know nothing of Confucius, they do 
 possess a system of ethics, and an intellectual wealth 
 that is peculiarly theirs. They are really a cleanly 
 people, though one of their servants told me that 
 they had to bathe nearly every day in order to keep 
 so. Curious, is it not, when we keep clean by bath 
 ing only now and then, and that during the summer 
 months," he added, glancing ruthfully at the un 
 kempt appearance of his servant. "They are self- 
 confident and have piercing eyes that make one feel 
 uncomfortable." 
 
40 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Here Tong-siki broke into a great laugh. 
 
 "Why," said he, "they sit on chairs and not on 
 the floor as we do chairs with spindling legs that 
 might tip over or break down. With their tight 
 trousers sitting on long-legged chairs they look like 
 a species of crab that I have seen. I was invited to 
 try one of these chairs, and they smiled when they 
 saw me curl my feet up and sit as I would on a mat. 
 You know that I am somewhat of an athlete. Well, 
 I kept my balance without accident. They walk in 
 their houses with their shoes on; but that which 
 struck me, the most incongruous of all is the claim 
 of the superiority of their religion over ours." 
 
 Here Tong-siki paused. 
 
 "Go on," said I, "go on." I dislike his philosophy 
 at times. He had forgotten his mirth and was so 
 berly looking at the water. 
 
 "I suppose," he continued, "we must not think too 
 much of their barbaric ways, as they did not have 
 Confucius to teach them self-control and politeness. 
 True, as far as I could learn, by constant question 
 ing of those who are the most intimately connected 
 with them, few seem to have vicious habits, but in 
 their bearing they all are rudeness itself. They seem 
 to have money and dress well, and must be of good 
 rank in their own country, therefore we should re 
 gard them as our guests while they are here; but 
 instead of receiving hospitality with becoming mod 
 esty, they assume an air of superiority, and are ready 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 41 
 
 to argue the superiority of their country over ours. 
 They never speak of themselves protestingly when 
 they are flattered by our people, but seem to take it 
 for granted that all we say by way of politeness is 
 true. 
 
 "Would you believe it," he continued, looking im 
 pressively at me, "their women meet all visitors, talk 
 with them, and they are treated more politely by the 
 men than the men treat each other. It shocked me 
 at first, and I thought there must be something ter 
 ribly wrong with such a people, but here is a point 
 that puzzles me. Confucius has done much for 
 us, but he never made us equal, nor womanhood 
 respected. Perhaps the foreigner is right, and they 
 should be respected and put on a plane of equality 
 with men, but how can we respect them," he added, 
 glancing at the dancing girls, "when those on whom 
 we put the most effort develop to nothing better 
 than playthings? But then," he mused, "perhaps 
 the effort might be in a better direction." 
 
 Fearing his philosophy would become tiresome, I 
 said, "What do the foreigners eat, anyway?" 
 
 "Eat," he repeated, "that is it. We Koreans are 
 everlastingly thinking of what we may eat." 
 
 "Well," was my uninspired reply, "we have to do 
 it three times a day." 
 
 "I did glance through a window," said he, not 
 noticing my remark, "and saw them on their spindle- 
 legged chairs around a large table, as large as the 
 
42 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 floors of some houses, filled with food of all kinds 
 except rice. Think of it, no rice and eating without 
 chopsticks !" 
 
 "What! with their fingers?" I asked. 
 
 "No, with two-pronged iron things." 
 
 "Why don t you tell me more?" I impatiently 
 asked. 
 
 "Why why," said he, "they drove me away. 
 Yes, I was looking in an open window from a re 
 spectful distance, simply taking note of things, when 
 one of their number sprang up and coming to the 
 window hurled at me a bone that he had been pick 
 ing, and shouted, Begone! using the lowest lan 
 guage. Of course I felt the insult, but then you 
 know they never had Confucius to teach them polite 
 ness." 
 
 I was surprised at Tong-sikPs unusual charita 
 bleness. He is a large man, nearly half a head taller 
 than the average, with a massive forehead, forceful 
 of character and always ready to resent a wrong or 
 an insult. I had known him most of my life, and 
 while he did not come of a family of rank, I had 
 the most profound respect for him. Wherever he 
 moved he unconsciously assumed the bearing of a 
 master, and seemed to fret at the conditions that ob 
 tained in Korean society and in the government. It 
 was sometimes whispered that at heart he was dis 
 loyal to his Majesty and would some day be heading 
 a revolt. When such gossip came to him he would 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 43 
 
 laugh, and on one occasion was heard to remark: 
 "There is not cohesive force enough in the Korean 
 heart to permit them to hang together long enough 
 to drive a mink out of his hole, to say nothing 
 of seizing an intolerable magistrate, or facing a 
 Western rifle in the hands of his Majesty s troops." 
 
 The simple remark convinced many that he was 
 a dangerous man. 
 
 That night as I lay on a mat in the bottom of the 
 boat, I watched Tong-siki, his head strongly out 
 lined against the sky. I thought of our boyhood 
 companionship, and all that his rugged strength had 
 meant to me. I believed him capable of heroic deeds 
 and trusted him, and his presence made me glad ; but 
 little did I think of the tragic events that lay in the 
 hand of destiny waiting for my friend. 
 
 The first night on the river, some two hours after 
 sunset, we tied up to a bank in front of a fishing 
 village and found an inn for our party. As I rose to 
 move from the boat two of the servants ran to aid 
 me up the slippery bank. I willingly leaned on them 
 as is the custom of all our delicately raised people. 
 Tong-siki, however, was at the top of the bank as 
 soon as the boat touched shore, and had found the 
 inn before the slow-moving servants began to think 
 of it. 
 
 The inn was one of those generally provided for 
 travelers in the interior. With its tiled roof, it stood 
 out in strong contrast with the thatched roofs of all 
 
44 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 its neighbors. Most of the houses in the vicinity 
 could boast of only two rooms. There were four 
 rooms to this particular inn. The one occupied by 
 Tong-siki and myself and our two servants, was 
 eight by ten feet. The dancing girls took up their 
 quarters in the women s apartments, and the rest of 
 the party were distributed about the building to suit 
 their own convenience. I did not know then of the 
 contrast between our native inns and those of other 
 peoples that I have visited in later years. The room 
 we occupied was innocent of any pretensions to com 
 fort, absolutely without an article of furniture. I 
 stooped low in order not to break my hat on enter 
 ing the door. The roof beams were low, requiring 
 one to dodge in walking the length of the room. As 
 is the case in all our houses the walls were of mud. 
 They were not papered, and the rafters above were 
 black with smoke. Straw mats on the floor were 
 our beds, and blocks of wood were the pillows for 
 our heads. 
 
 The innkeeper, knowing who we were, and being 
 anxious to please those of rank, did everything pos 
 sible for our comfort. Regardless of the warm 
 weather, he built a great fire under the floor, but we 
 were used to hot floors and accepted his politeness in 
 the spirit it was intended. When he brought the 
 evening meal, he protested that it was hardly worth 
 giving to the dogs, and how could he presume to 
 offer it to gentlemen of such high breeding? Would 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 45 
 
 we condescend to pardon him for such unintended 
 insult ? We assured him that the rice, for there was 
 little else, was of the most delicious flavor, and that 
 the spirits must be kind to him to enable him to sea 
 son it to such delicacy for such unworthy guests as 
 we. He bowed low and backed out of our presence. 
 
 I have since seen among the Western peoples many 
 great and gilded inns. They were many stories high, 
 with large retinues of servants; but instead of the 
 delicate politeness showed us by our host, the guests 
 were gazed at with a cold, critical stare, and the 
 service rendered grudgingly, as if the guests were 
 being put under great obligations. We lack many 
 things in our country, and we are poor how very 
 poor ! yet we have a great wealth of politeness. If 
 consideration for the feelings of our fellows is a cri 
 terion of civilization, in comparing us with other na 
 tions, I wonder where the great Judge of the world 
 would place my people. 
 
 A bit of cloth hanging from the edge of a cup 
 filled with castor oil served as a lamp. We lay down 
 for the night and left our lamp burning, as is our 
 custom. Tong-siki spread a fresh mat that he had 
 brought up from the boat, and lay with his gaze 
 turned upward at a bit of cloth and paper fastened 
 to a cross beam in the center of the room. 
 
 "I suppose," he finally said, meditatively, as if 
 talking to the rags, "should I pull it down the inn 
 keeper would be angry, and all the demons of the 
 
46 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 air would be set loose and attack this house with fire ; 
 that the rat disease would begin crawling up the legs 
 of the inmates of this home, and endanger all who 
 stop here, and the posterity of this clan would be cut 
 off from the land of the living. I suppose, should I 
 pull it down, I would have ill luck all my life, and 
 that these servants of ours would eat beans and po 
 tatoes without rice ever afterward; and that you, 
 Sung-yo, would be heartbroken over the loss of your 
 intended bride, and in the end get someone not as 
 pretty as she. You might, indeed, be so terribly un 
 fortunate as to secure someone not deformed. What 
 a blessing it is that we have so many rags to hang up, 
 and what a blessing it is that the demons are such 
 fools that they can be propitiated by these things! 
 How grateful we ought to be for what these demons 
 have done for us to-night! They have graciously 
 provided this hot, vermin-infested floor with its 
 greasy, wood pillows. How good we are to propi 
 tiate them while the officials squeeze us of our living ! 
 That being the case, these demons must be for the 
 aid of the officials and have no place in a poor man s 
 home." 
 
 Suddenly, Tong-siki sprang to his feet and hurled 
 the fetish into a corner. I was horrified at such athe 
 ism and insult to the gods, and wondered if my 
 friend had gone stark mad. He looked into my 
 face and laughed; then went over to the corner, 
 picked up the fetish and hung it back on its nail. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 47 
 
 Fortunately our two companions were asleep, and 
 did not see the insult offered the spirits, or the house 
 would have been in an uproar. 
 
 "Why?" I gasped, on recovering from my aston 
 ishment. 
 
 He laughed softly to himself, as he often did 
 when a boy after accomplishing some unusual feat. 
 He then lay down and was immediately sound 
 asleep. It did not occur to me till long afterward 
 that the act was a studied purpose to set me thinking 
 over our foolish superstitions. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 A MAGISTRATE 
 
 ON the evening of the third day of our journey 
 we reached the great city of Pyeng-Yang. I had vis 
 ited it several times before, but the city always held 
 for me the same fascinating interest, for the tradi 
 tions of our race center round these hills and valleys. 
 Our country is hoary with age. The tramp of hu 
 man feet, shod with the light sandal, has worn deep 
 gulleys through the rugged mountain passes, and 
 this city heard the footfall of the first company 
 whose feet touched these virgin hills, for that com 
 pany was its creator. 
 
 Just before sunset our boat swung around the 
 bend of the river, and the city presented itself to our 
 view lovely, with the sunshine gilding her hill 
 tops and the rugged towers of her gates. The north 
 end of the city, located high on a ridge of rocks that 
 lined the river, turned upward like the stern of our 
 boat. From that point the wall swept gracefully 
 downward along the riverside, and in the distance 
 seemed again to rise exactly like the prow of our 
 boat. Indeed, the singular resemblance has led many 
 to imagine the city designed by some ancient deity 
 in the shape of a boat, and they have carried out the 
 
 48 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 49 
 
 idea by erecting pillars of stone out in a plain, to 
 which, it is said, the city is moored. The digging 
 of wells has been prohibited for centuries for fear 
 of piercing the bottom which would admit a flood, 
 and thus drown all the inhabitants. I am of the 
 opinion, however, that if the water had been of a 
 better quality the prohibition would never have been. 
 One would not think from the city s present deca 
 dent state, that at one time it was the dictator of 
 elegance for the East; Pyeng-Yang was our ancient 
 capital, and from her artisans Japan has learned 
 many things for which she has now become famous. 
 Her high rank in letters and art to-day are the fruits 
 of Korean industry and learning. Japan learned 
 how to worship at our hands; all the ancient reli 
 gions she has worth possessing came from our seers. 
 Our country is full of monuments of our successful 
 warfare, and we have again and again beaten the 
 armies of the Island Kingdom to their knees and 
 driven them from our shores. The city well de 
 serves the name of a boat, as it has been the bearer 
 of blessings to millions of people ; but, alas ! there is 
 little left that would suggest her famous history. 
 Her golden age passed with the removal of the palace 
 to the South country. The great frowning walls and 
 the lofty gates, the stately river, the governor s and 
 the magistrate s residences, and the temple of the 
 God of War, are the only things left that suggest 
 her past greatness. 
 
50 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 As we approached the city profound quietness 
 prevailed. The rat-tat-tat of the washerwoman at 
 the riverside, the jingle of bells on pack-ponies, and 
 the occasional barking of a dog were the only 
 sounds that reached us. Nothing was heard to sug 
 gest the presence of thousands of people crowded 
 together beyond these walls. Its quietness made one 
 feel as if one were approaching a beleaguered city. 
 The silence came over me as a great sadness. Tong- 
 siki is right, I thought, a terrible death has settled 
 down upon her people, and down in my heart I 
 echoed the cry of a man I once saw suffering under 
 the paddle of a magistrate. Life! life! O, give us 
 life! 
 
 We entered the great East Gate, over which hangs 
 a chain taken as a trophy from the American steamer 
 destroyed in our river many years ago. The scene 
 inside the city was all animation, not the wild rush 
 that I have since observed in American and British 
 concessions of the Chinese ports, but a dignified mod 
 eration of which the East has always been proud. I 
 have pondered much over the contrasted peculiari 
 ties of the East and West, and I protest against the 
 popular insinuation that our poverty is the result of 
 our moderation. It seems to me childish to scream 
 and rush after one s dollars ; to be indifferent to the 
 immaculate character of one s suit while one works ; 
 to contort the face ; to laugh with abandon ; to leap 
 and run; to enjoy the hurly-burly of competition. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 51 
 
 Such things bewilder one and border on violence. 
 We love self- repression, dignity of carriage, and 
 calm demeanor. Reflection and moderation are the 
 ideals of our sages, yet foreigners refer to us as 
 childish. I think they mean by that the smallness of 
 our ideas and our petty prejudices. 
 
 We urged our way through a great mass of peo 
 ple, a sea of white, mixed with green and pink. It 
 was the close of a market day, and the streets were 
 filled with countrymen in their great hats, rims nine 
 feet in circumference, and women of the city with 
 hats twice the size. In the jam a hat would be 
 caught now and then and crushed, and the owner, 
 turning, would scowl, and give vent to his resent 
 ment by revilings, but not addressing anyone in par 
 ticular. No one noticed and no one cared. To have 
 noticed would have been an acknowledgment of an 
 insult which would have caused the loss of one s dig 
 nity. Everybody moved, jostled, got in everyone s 
 way, yet there was no undue hurrying. 
 
 In some places shops crowded nearly to the mid 
 dle of the street, leaving only a narrow lane for the 
 crowds. Most of the shops were small ; the keeper, 
 sitting on the floor, could reach all his goods. Oc 
 casionally a man dressed in the livery of a yamen 
 runner would force his way through the mass of 
 people. Their bearing is always insolent, and the 
 people give way with reluctance to these who are 
 the most hated among all Korea s millions. 
 
52 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 We had not been in the street more than ten 
 minutes when I noticed a great commotion at the 
 farther end. The white mass of people were sway 
 ing and surging down the street and out into the 
 side alleyways. Soon calls of "Clear the way," 
 were heard. Uniformed outrunners of the magis 
 trate appeared, swinging long sticks and clubs, revil 
 ing and clubbing the people indiscriminately. 
 Closely following upon their heels was the magis 
 trate s chair with its crowd of bearers and followers 
 in bright livery white, blue and purple. The magis 
 trate sat with an imperturbable face looking straight 
 ahead one of those vain, self-indulgent faces, yet 
 withal carrying a self-deprecatory expression worn 
 by most of our officials, which the people have 
 learned too well to mistake for sincerity. 
 
 I had been so engrossed with the crowd and the 
 many new sights that I had not noticed Tong-siki 
 since w r e landed, except that I was dimly conscious 
 that he was at my side. As the runners approached, 
 I joined the general panic and fled. Reaching the 
 entrance to a side alley I glanced back, and to my 
 amazement saw Tong-siki in the middle of the 
 street, on his face the mild look of a wondering coun 
 tryman. Had he gone mad? I asked myself. 
 
 The nearest runner rushed upon him and swung 
 his stick menacingly. "Clear the way! clear the 
 way !" he shouted. "You foul vermin ! you offspring 
 of dogs!" 
 
E\VA: A TALE OF KOREA 53 
 
 Tong-siki stood, his eyes growing large and 
 round in surprised wonder. The club was raised and 
 aimed violently at Tong-siki s head. The interrup 
 tion was so sudden and unexpected, and the onrush so 
 great that a dozen men were instantly in the mixup. 
 The club fell, striking Tong-siki on the shoulder, 
 but divided its force more heavily on the head of 
 one of the magistrate s servants. The blow half 
 stunned the runner for a moment, then he turned his 
 own club upon the man who had struck him. Tong- 
 siki, seemingly stupid a moment ago, was awake 
 in an instant, and rushed for the crowd in which 
 he would have been hidden had not the magistrate 
 arrived, and being compelled to halt, the servants in 
 the rear of his chair pushed forward. They seeing 
 a fleeing man with a broken hat, seized and held him. 
 The two runners at the front had gone mad. They 
 had dropped their clubs and were wringing and 
 twisting at each other s topknots, while general con 
 fusion prevailed. Companions were trying to sepa 
 rate the combatants, while the chair bearers were 
 calling to clear the way for his excellency, the mag 
 istrate. Finally the two men were pushed into an 
 alley, where they were separated and the procession 
 proceeded. In a twinkling Tong-siki s hands were 
 tied behind him. A rope was passed around his neck 
 in front and tied back, so that the weight of his hands 
 would easily choke him. With a kick and a curse he 
 was ordered on. 
 
54 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 All had happened so quickly that I had not even 
 begun to think till I saw them push Tong-siki for 
 ward; then I ran for the magistrate s chair to pro 
 test. A club was raised and I dodged. Tong-siki 
 glanced at me and smiled with a look of proud 
 dignity. 
 
 Greatly disturbed in mind, I followed to the 
 yamen s gate, and remained about the gate with our 
 two servants as companions till nearly midnight, 
 without gaining any information regarding my 
 friend. Finally, greatly dejected, we found our way 
 to the inn, where the innkeeper, knowing of our 
 calamity, had provided everything for our comfort. 
 True to the spirit of all our people, he regarded the 
 victim of the magistrate with a feeling of respect and 
 deepest solicitude. So great is this feeling against 
 the official class that sometimes even a criminal is re 
 garded as a hero. 
 
 "What possessed Tong-siki to deliberately place 
 himself in the way of violence and arrest?" was 
 asked a score of times without an answer. No one 
 knew better than he that it would mean days of 
 imprisonment, and cruel beatings ; and probably the 
 magistrate would make it an occasion for squeezing 
 him of all the lands he possessed in this section of 
 the country. As used as I was to Tong-siki s im 
 pulsive ways, I was utterly bewildered and could 
 make nothing of it all. I tossed upon my mat till 
 daylight, resolving that if I could not get audience 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 55 
 
 with the magistrate I would hasten overland the 
 next day and place the matter in the hands of my 
 father, whose rank would unlock any prison door in 
 the province. 
 
 I dozed off into a sleep, and awoke with a start to 
 find my room door wide open and the sun streaming 
 in. The scenes of yesterday came back as a flood, 
 and I struggled with the problem of Tong-siki s 
 rescue, when suddenly a shadow fell across the floor, 
 and springing up I was speechless with amazement ; 
 there sat Tong-siki smiling at me. I pulled him 
 into the room, held his hand, and plied him with 
 questions. He laughed at my caresses. 
 
 "How did you get away? What did you do it 
 for? Where have you come from? and you have a 
 new suit!" 
 
 "Well," said he, when I gave him a chance to 
 speak, "I did not know that you really cared for me 
 before," and he laughed heartily. 
 
 Others came into the room expectant with curios 
 ity, while two yamen runners stood obsequiously 
 at the door. 
 
 "You may go now," said he authoritatively turn 
 ing to the two men. With a prolonged "Ya-a-a," 
 and a low bow they withdrew. To my inquiring 
 glance he said: 
 
 "They are the two who conducted me here this 
 morning as a mark of honor." 
 
 Tong-siki maintained a profound gravity while 
 
56 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the morning meal was being brought, and at last, 
 piqued at his indifference to my curiosity at the wiz- 
 ardlike trick, I assumed utter indifference to the 
 whole affair, which seemed to amuse him hugely. At 
 the close of the meal he suggested a walk, and as 
 soon as we were beyond the house he said : 
 
 "You know I could not talk with all those people 
 about. It was enough for them to know that the 
 magistrate had honored me. Last night I was 
 thrown into the common prison and left there. I 
 slept fairly well, better than you did, perhaps," he 
 added, glancing humorously in my face. "In the 
 morning the magistrate called me up for examina 
 tion. It happened that the man ordered to lead me 
 out was the one who had struck me the night before. 
 His head was bandaged, and he looked sour and 
 ugly enough. I stood bareheaded like any criminal 
 waiting for the magistrate to appear. Presently he 
 came, half carried by servants, one on either side, in 
 the helpless fashion that always nauseates me. A 
 servant filled his pipe, another lit it, while another 
 brought his large glasses and adjusted them to his 
 nose. After rolling his eyes several times in a 
 proper, languid dignity, he peered over his glasses 
 at me for he could not see through them. I had 
 been ordered down on my knees with my face to the 
 ground. I refused, and the man nearest me seized 
 my hair with the intention of forcing me down. 
 
 " Beware P said I, in the name of the great Kim 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 57 
 
 Sung-ji. He hastily retreated. At that moment 
 the magistrate saw me standing, and his face grew 
 purple with anger at the insult. Bind him ! down 
 with him ; he ordered, with a string of invectives. 
 
 "Two of my captors sprang to execute the order. 
 Stepping quickly in front of the magistrate I said, 
 Do you know whom you are ordering bound ? He 
 lifted his hand to hold his minions in check and 
 gazed a moment in my face, and grew white to the 
 lips. 
 
 E You know me, do you, Nam-yoi ? said I. You. 
 almost forgot who gave you your office. You also 
 forgot that if you had struck me your official head 
 would have paid the price. Who are you and your 
 minions here who ride down citizens on the streets, 
 arrest, imprison and beat your superiors and those 
 who have made you? You shall give account of 
 yesterday s work before the Emperor/ I did not 
 stop here, but said many things that I do not want 
 to repeat even to you. I suppose I ought not to 
 have been angry," he added, soberly, "as I had 
 brought it all upon myself, but I was enraged at the 
 injustice practiced upon our people. His humiliation 
 was complete. Sliding down from his seat in the 
 presence of his underlings he led me to his chair, 
 got down on the floor, bumped his head at my feet, 
 and implored my forgiveness. On promising to cor 
 rect his habits of squeezing I let him off. Of course 
 I did not intend to do otherwise. 
 
58 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Last night when I saw him coming down the 
 street I simply intended to interrupt his attack on 
 the people, and publicly rebuke him, but affairs went 
 further than I had intended. Yes," Tong-siki 
 added, "he gave me this hat and suit of silk to take 
 the place of the one ruined in the squabble last night, 
 and urged many other things upon me which I re 
 fused to accept, things which under any other cir 
 cumstances politeness would have compelled me to 
 comply with. I refused to accept a palanquin and 
 runners, and returned here with only the two men 
 you saw at the door. 
 
 "While I was with your father in the capital two 
 years ago I asked him to help this man to office, 
 which he did. This accounts for my influence over 
 him. Of course he overestimates my influence at 
 the capital, and if your father should die I would 
 have less than he, but of this he knows nothing. If 
 at any time I were to fall into his power I would not 
 give a bowl of rice for the chance of my life." 
 
 Tong-siki made the last remarks with a look of 
 profound gravity, and years later it came back to 
 me with the force of prophecy. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 THE FOREIGNER 
 
 THE most interesting feature of our trip was the 
 opportunity to see a Western foreigner. I was walk 
 ing on the embankment that forms the inside of the 
 city wall, when suddenly around the bend, some dis 
 tance in advance of me, I saw a crowd running 
 eagerly toward the wall. Possessing my share of 
 the curiosity that marks our Eastern people as 
 peculiar, I hastened on to see what it was that caused 
 the commotion. The crowd was approaching, and 
 soon I saw it all. A man dressed in black, gigantic 
 in stature, was surrounded by an excited, jabbering 
 crowd. A tiger shown on the street could not have 
 excited such curiosity. I stood still and waited for 
 them to come up, and like the rest of the crowd I 
 was soon absorbed in gazing at the strange appari 
 tion. He came on with now and then a glance at 
 the mob at his heels. From his shoulders up he 
 towered above everyone else. He had light-brown 
 hair and blue eyes that were set deep beneath over 
 hanging brows, and his skin was whiter than that of 
 a woman. A black beard covered his face and hung 
 down on his chest in a great mass. His forehead 
 was high and nose prominent He glanced at me 
 
60 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 with no unkindly light in his eyes, and, as he turned 
 to look out over the city wall, I was emboldened 
 like many others to feel of his clothes to find out 
 their texture, and to feel of his shoes. The latter 
 were of leather, different from anything that I had 
 seen. As large as he was, his feet seemed mon 
 strous. Fortunately he understood little of our lan 
 guage, for the remarks made by the crowd were not 
 at all flattering. 
 
 "A real foreign devil ! This is a real one ! A 
 real one!" passed from lip to lip. 
 
 "I-go ! isn t he large ! What would you do if he 
 should get hold of you? Look at those feet and 
 those hands, too! Has he got five fingers and five 
 toes? Look and see." 
 
 "I-go-o! look at the whiskers and the black 
 clothes. He must wear black to hide that of which 
 he is ashamed !" 
 
 "What does he eat?" 
 
 "Where is his woman ? Did he bring it ? Has it 
 whiskers, too ?" 
 
 "What is he here for? Will he leave soon?" 
 
 "Look out! he is turning around. Let s follow 
 him, ha-ha! he-he!" 
 
 These and a thousand other questions were asked 
 from scores of throats without waiting for or ex 
 pecting answers. We followed him to a house near 
 the city wall where he was stopping. The crowd 
 surged into the yard and rudely swung the door 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 61 
 
 open, and many crowded in. With others I retired 
 to the outside gate and listened to the remarks and 
 speculations regarding the Westerner. He was a 
 physician, it was said, and was kindly disposed to 
 ward the people. Many had been helped, and some 
 healed of their diseases under his ministrations ; and 
 the strangest part of it was that there were some 
 who admitted that they were followers of the new 
 faith. They called it the "Yasu-kyo." 
 
 You always find some one in a crowd who is ready 
 to assume the role of an oracle. A thin-faced fellow 
 with a sinister looking mouth, holding by the hand 
 a little girl whom by her dress it was easy to see he 
 was training for a professional dancing girl, worked 
 his way to the middle of the crowd, and loudly 
 cleared his throat to draw attention. 
 
 "Tell us, Ho-yongi," they said, turning to him 
 and giving him room, "tell us about him." 
 
 "O, yes/ someone shouted, "how much squeeze 
 did you get out of that land purchased for the for 
 eigner?" 
 
 "Ho-yongi?" I had heard that name before. A 
 fellow who lived close to the magistrate and acted as 
 a tool to do all his dirty work. If he were a trusted 
 agent of the Westerner I wanted little to do with the 
 latter. 
 
 Ho-yongi waited until all had fixed their atten 
 tion upon him. 
 
 "Do you know what he is here for?" he asked, im- 
 
62 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 pressively. "He is here to build hospitals, erect 
 churches and school buildings, as they say they are 
 doing at the capital. He is here, and more are 
 coming like him, to turn our old faith upside down. 
 The Christians care nothing about Buddha, or Con 
 fucius, and they hate our fetishes." 
 
 "Did you hear him tell anything about that?" 
 someone shouted. 
 
 "Why, I should think so," was the reply. "Do 
 you think I am deaf? What do you think I have 
 been spending the last month with this man for ?" 
 
 "For a squeeze," someone shouted. 
 
 "He tells all sorts of lies," he continued, ignoring 
 the interruption. "He says that in his country they 
 have horses three times as large as ours, and houses 
 that are ten times as high as ours, and that they have 
 fire machines that run on iron roads, and will out 
 run our best donkey and carry five hundred men at 
 once. He told us one night that the world is round" 
 here Ho-yongi paused to give the right impres 
 sion. 
 
 "O! that is easy," someone said; "round like a 
 cash. Look about you as far as you can see, it is 
 round." 
 
 "No," replied Ho-yongi, in deep disgust, "round 
 like a ball. The sun stands still and the earth turns 
 around once every day and night, and he thought we 
 were fools enough to believe that. Anyone knows 
 that if we turned over we would fall off from the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 63 
 
 other side." They all laughed heartily, while Ho- 
 yongi continued : 
 
 "This fellow is harmless; he knows little of our 
 language, and visitors guy him continually. It is 
 lots of fun. He has with him a man who has be 
 come a Christian, a man born somewhere off in the 
 country, who has little learning, and his hands are 
 as rough as a dog s paw. He has been living in the 
 capital for several years, and I think in consequence 
 of the chance it gives him to squeeze all the money 
 he wants he has adopted their religion. He is, 
 withal, an impudent fellow. I invited him to my 
 house, and offered him wine, but under the plea of 
 his religion he insulted my house and broke the first 
 law of etiquette by refusing to drink. He is always 
 urging every one he meets to become a Christian. I 
 have never found out how much he gets a head for 
 converts. I offered to bring in any number of fel 
 lows to do the doctrine if he would divide with me. 
 He denied that that was what he was after. Evi 
 dently he wants it all himself. I tell you what," 
 Ho-yongi said, pausing and looking impressively 
 around the circle, "there is something sinister in their 
 presence here ; some deep deviltry in it all." Lower 
 ing his voice, he continued, "It is reported that in 
 Seoul these same foreign doctors caught babies and 
 boiled them up in huge caldrons, and made medicine 
 with which to practice their dark arts. I am keeping 
 a close watch over them, and it will not take me long 
 
64 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 to get to the bottom of their scheme, then you will 
 hear from me." 
 
 We all stood and stared with mouths wide open 
 as Ho-yongi and his dancing girl withdrew and 
 closed the compound gate after them with the air of 
 privileged persons. 
 
 The crowd gradually scattered and sought their 
 homes. It was evident that Ho-yongi s last re 
 marks had made a deep impression. 
 
 In a few days mutterings spread throughout the 
 city and came echoing back like a voice against a 
 cliff, distorted and enlarged. Then I recalled the 
 malignant face of Ho-yongi, and withheld my 
 judgment. It was soon circulated that the governor 
 contemplated taking measures to expel the foreigner 
 from the city. 
 
 I had seen little of Tong-siki for several days, 
 and had had no chance to talk of these matters, the 
 pressure of business matters having claimed hjis 
 whole attention. He had presented several accounts 
 to the magistrate for him to collect, which had led 
 to the arrest of a number. Wives, sons, and broth 
 ers were constantly at our door pleading for those 
 imprisoned. Tong-siki insisted upon receiving the 
 money due him and promised no help until the debts 
 were paid. 
 
 "But," they said, "it is not only what we will have 
 to pay you, but the squeeze that will be extorted 
 from us by the magistrate and his runners." Tong- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 65 
 
 siki promised to secure them from injustice at the 
 hands of the officials and their agents if they would 
 pay their just debts, and it was astonishing how 
 quickly such promises brought the money that was 
 due. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 SEARCHING FOR A BRIDE 
 
 ON an afternoon three days after my first view 
 of the Westerner, Tong-siki invited me to walk with 
 him. "I want you to come," said he, "across the 
 river and see a wedding procession that is expected 
 to arrive to-night. I have just seen the men who 
 came in advance to secure the inn for the party, who 
 will stay in the city a few days. 
 
 I was glad of a new diversion, but wondered why 
 it should cause Tong-siki so much interest at this 
 particular time. As we climbed into the ferryboat 
 filled with passengers, I asked him where he expected 
 the party to hail from. 
 
 "Kong-ju," said he. 
 
 "Kong-ju?" I stammered. He nodded in assent, 
 and sitting down in the bottom of the boat, gazed 
 lazily down stream. 
 
 Kong-ju was the home of my future bride, and 
 I knew then that the party coming into the city that 
 night would not be a wedding procession, but simply 
 my future bride journeying northward to live with 
 her mother until I should come for her at the time 
 fixed for our marriage. 
 
 The party soon appeared. There were three 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 67 
 
 chairs, each borne by four men, lusty fellows from 
 the South. Their only clothing was a pair of baggy 
 trousers, tied to the waist, while the legs were rolled 
 up. The men s backs were deep brown from ex 
 posure to the sun, and they were dusty and worn 
 from their trip of nine hundred li. The chairs were 
 closed so that it was quite impossible to guess which 
 contained my future bride. A long retinue followed, 
 pack ponies with boxes and bundles, and men on 
 foot. As the party swept by we fell in behind with 
 other travelers for the city and recrossed the river 
 with them. 
 
 In my revolt at the iron of our ancient laws I had 
 a great desire to see the girl, but custom forbade it. 
 The only chance to see whether she was deformed, 
 as I believed she was, would be to steal into the 
 women s quarters and somehow watch for her un 
 observed. Such an act would place me, if discov 
 ered, on the plane with the drunken rowdies of the 
 city, and what would be worse reveal my identity 
 to the girl and her family. Tong-siki thought it 
 could be managed, and with his usual readiness to 
 help me undertook the task of finding out all about 
 the inn in which they were to stop for two days. 
 He returned late that night with the information 
 that he had seen her, and that I might have a chance 
 the following night. To all my questionings as to 
 what she looked like he would make no reply save, 
 "Wait and see." 
 
68 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 The next night, late in the evening, he led me out 
 on the street and down through the alleys a long 
 distance into the heart of the city, past festering 
 gutters and nauseating pools, past the low wine 
 shops where voices were raised in high altercations, 
 under tiny paper lanterns hung on poles to light the 
 streets, by rows of shops carefully closed for the 
 night, past rows of lights twinkling from the cracks 
 of the buildings forming the women s apartments. 
 At last we reached a building that loomed out of 
 the darkness, giving one in the deep gloom the 
 impression of unusual proportions. It was set on 
 the corner of the street with an alley at the back. 
 The roof of the house was covered with tiles and 
 stood higher from the ground than most of its 
 neighbors. 
 
 "Too late," said I, "they have all retired." 
 
 "Wait and see," Tong-siki replied, in a cautious 
 voice. "If you are going to call them up I am 
 going back." 
 
 I took the hint and closed my lips. He led the 
 way around the corner and down the street at right 
 angles along the side of the inn. A few yards be 
 yond a light shone brightly through closed paper 
 doors and windows. We were about to pass the last 
 door when Tong-siki seized and dragged me into the 
 deep shadows of the overhanging roof. His grasp 
 startled me into an involuntary "O !" when immedi 
 ately the door opened and a man stepped out. He 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 69 
 
 glanced full at us, but his eyes, not yet accustomed 
 to the darkness, failed to discern us. He looked up 
 and down the street and at the sky. The wind 
 threatening the light in the room, he returned and 
 closed the door. Tobacco smoke had poured out 
 upon the street suggesting a large company within. 
 
 I started from where we were standing, but Tong- 
 siki made no move to go on ; again I started but he 
 remained silent, then I understood. "Go ahead, 
 you may pull my arm oft and I will not whisper, 
 indeed, I won t," I meekly urged. 
 
 He led me into the alley back of the inn. The 
 wall surrounding the yard was made of coarse mats, 
 sewed together and bound to posts about seven feet 
 high. Tong-siki led the way to the center of the 
 wall and began fumbling along the line of one of the 
 posts. Presently he flung the flap back and we stood 
 peering into a large yard. On the side opposite us 
 was the inn with its wing, flanked on our side with 
 the mat wall. Light was percolating through the 
 paper of a dozen windows and doors. We paused 
 to listen, the whirr of a spinning wheel and the 
 clang-clack of a handloom pointed out the women s 
 quarters. I followed Tong-siki through the fence, 
 my heart palpitating loud enough to be heard all 
 over the yard. Some one might step from one of 
 those dozen windows or doors any moment. 
 
 Tong-siki swung the whole side of the matting 
 near the post loose and fastened the corner at the 
 
70 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 top lightly, so that, while presenting the appearance 
 of a sound wall, a slight touch of the hand would 
 break it loose. I noticed the act and marveled at 
 the amount of labor it must have caused him the 
 night previous to arrange it all. We crept up to a 
 window and he began very softly to rub the paper 
 that covered the wide frame work. Soon a hole 
 was made large enough for the eye. 
 
 "Look," he whispered. 
 
 "Nothing," said I, a moment later. 
 
 "What do you see?" he asked. 
 
 "A shadow on the wall to the right," I replied. 
 
 He stood studying a moment, then moved over 
 to the left and worked a hole through the paper cov 
 ering of the next window. He glanced in, then 
 motioned to me. I placed my eye to the hole, but at 
 first I could see only the outline of a woman sitting 
 on the floor near the candle, who seemed to be bend 
 ing over engaged in folding a garment that was 
 lying at her feet. I looked till she turned her face 
 full into the light \yhich flared up at that moment 
 revealing a face in which I could not see a trace of 
 intelligence, and the impression of a stooping atti 
 tude that I had at first observed was caused by a 
 deformed body. She presently stood up by the can 
 dle light, a hunchback, short and ugly. 
 
 A pull at my sleeve brought me quickly to my 
 feet, and stepping back unguardedly, I knocked a 
 stone loose which rolled down a short incline, start- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 71 
 
 ing a hundred echoes. Suddenly a door in the 
 opposite wing swung wide open, sending a broad 
 flood of light across the yard full upon us. A man, 
 without hat, coat or shoes, shot out into the yard 
 and bounded toward me with a yell. Tong-siki 
 swung me in the direction of the hole in the fence 
 with a hoarse command to run. We ran, but 
 I missed the opening, thinking that I saw our exit 
 a little to the right. Tong-siki saw my mistake, and 
 sprang by me and called to me to follow ; but before 
 I could turn our pursuer was already between us 
 howling like a madman. 
 
 "Thief! robber! murderer! help! help!" 
 Already the house had emptied itself into the 
 yard. Every door was open and the compound on 
 our side was as light as day. The opposite side near 
 the women s quarters still lay in a deep shadow. I 
 ran for the darkest point and turned a sharp corner 
 of the building with my pursuer at my heels. For 
 a moment, his eyes not being accustomed to the dark 
 ness, he missed me, and I sprang for the fence. 
 Missing the top, my hands shot through a hole in 
 the matting. Immediately my pursuer was upon 
 me. He seized me by the legs and yelled for help. 
 I hung to the matting with the desperation of terror. 
 Another wrench and I would have lain on my face 
 a captive in the yard, but at that moment someone 
 seized my wrist from the outside. It was Tong- 
 siki, blessed Tong-siki! A knife slipped down the 
 
72 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 matting, then a furious pull brought me half through 
 the opening, and the face of my assailant to the aper 
 ture. There was a sharp thud and he let loose. 
 
 I scrambled to my feet and ran without a word. 
 Down the alley we went into the gutters, hatless, 
 shoeless, panting and exhausted. Before making 
 the turn into the larger street below we paused and 
 looked back. Lights were flickering here and there, 
 while calls and shouts had raised a general hubbub 
 in the neighborhood. It was late and no one was 
 moving in front of us, so we crept out across the 
 street into another alleyway. In doing so we passed 
 under a lantern hanging over the door of a wine 
 shop. Here we paused and Tong-siki looked me 
 over. 
 
 "Where are your sandals, and sock, and hat? 
 Where did you tear your clothes?" he asked, with 
 out a smile. 
 
 I was too exhausted and sore to reply. We moved 
 on, and I found my feet torn and bleeding, but too 
 profoundly thankful for our escape to complain. 
 
 On reaching the inn Tong-siki went on ahead, 
 and finding the coast clear came back for me. As 
 we stepped into the yard we were greeted with a 
 slight cough. Glancing up above me was the evil 
 face of Ho-yongi, the Snake. He looked me over 
 from my rumpled hair to my bare and bleeding 
 feet. Tong-siki greeted him with dignity. In a 
 suave and oily voice Ho-yongi said that he was 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 73 
 
 passing and seeing the light thought he would glance 
 in. 
 
 Tong-siki had left the door open which lighted 
 the entrance to the compound where we stood. He 
 had already stepped between me and our visitor, 
 while I hastened into the room. He spoke with 
 composed gravity, told Ho-yongi that he was glad 
 to see him, hoped that he and his household were 
 well. Ho-yongi s curiosity evidently was at fever 
 heat to know what was the matter with me, but the 
 lofty, cold politeness of Tong-siki froze him into 
 silence. He finally withdrew with the usual saluta- 
 tons, "Hope you will rest in peace," but paused on 
 the outside and said : 
 
 "Perhaps it will be of interest to you to know that 
 we have seized the servants of the Western devil and 
 they are in prison. The price of the new faith is a 
 man s head, you know," he added, "and I fancy the 
 foreigner s head is not very securely attached to his 
 shoulders either. At least the paddle will keep warm 
 on those Christian dogs to-night." 
 
 "So?" asked Tong-siki. 
 
 Ho-yongi glided out like a shadow, into the night. 
 
 The next day a new pair of shoes and hat and a 
 fresh clean coat placed me on a better footing with 
 the world. We heard that there had been a serious 
 attempt at robbery at a certain inn in another part 
 of the city the night before ; that the robbers, while 
 they were able to escape, had been stabbed several 
 
74 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 times by the defenders of the home; that they had 
 left their bloody marks along the streets for a con 
 siderable distance ; that there were at least twenty in 
 all ; that it suggested an attitude on the part of the 
 Tong-haks 1 to organize in bands to ruin the people ; 
 that a visitor who had come in with a party from 
 Kong-ju the day before fought desperately with 
 one of the robbers who was a giant in size and 
 strength, and that the struggle was so great that 
 nearly the whole compound fence was razed to the 
 ground. 
 
 *Literally " Eastern Learning;" a society resembling the Boxer of China. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 A SPIRIT FROM THE WEST 
 
 WITH the people there was something more im 
 portant at hand than the news of an attempt to rob 
 an inn. The governor had seized and cast into 
 prison the foreigner s servants and his followers. It 
 was said that the governor was waiting for instruc 
 tions from the capital before putting the Christians 
 to death. The excitement was out of all proportion 
 to the question at stake, as if fiends from our fetish- 
 adorned trees and houses had broken loose, like bats 
 in a warm summer night, filling the air and taking 
 lodgment in the brain of the people. The passion 
 for violence was expressed everywhere. 
 
 "Kill the foreigner," they said. "Our children 
 are not safe in our arms. We saw them," the women 
 cried, "with their tiny arms around his neck, smiling 
 in his eyes and chattering with contentment. If with 
 his medicine he can weave a spell over the children 
 like that he will squat over the city like a huge toad 
 and gorge himself with their blood, and their eyes 
 will fill his medicine pot. O, O, O, what will become 
 of us?" 
 
 The hysteria of these women reminded me of a 
 similar occasion of which my father often told me, 
 
76 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 when a frenzy struck the city of Seoul. It was 
 thought that through some kind of enchantment 
 the children on the streets were made to follow evil 
 men who murdered them. So great was the mad 
 ness that fathers carrying their own babies were 
 seized and beaten to death. The victims would pro 
 test their innocence and appeal to their children for 
 identification. When a child would plead for its 
 father s life the crowd would say, "See, the man has 
 even bewitched the child into believing that he is 
 really its father." The reign of terror was only put 
 down by the use of the military power under the 
 direct order of his Majesty after a vast amount of 
 blood had been shed. When quietness was again 
 secured, the people wondered at their madness. I 
 have since heard that momentary madness has seized 
 towns and cities of other nations and that at one 
 time all France went mad. 
 
 I visited the house of the foreigner on the city 
 wall. It had been stoned the night before, and the 
 tiles on the roof were broken and doors torn from 
 their hinges. The wall in places had been torn down 
 and marks of violence were everywhere. 
 
 A few years previous to the time of these events 
 a telegraph line had been run through the country. 
 The tall poles looked like a monster from the out 
 side world stalking over the land to bring new and 
 vast changes. The people looked, felt the change, 
 and wondered. In this city a Chinaman sat in the- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 77 
 
 telegraph office. He seemed to have a sunny side to 
 his nature and welcomed the foreigner, and sent his 
 messages to Seoul, when asked. 
 
 The Westerner had just returned from a trip to 
 the telegraph office as I arrived. The people 
 crowded at his heels, but instead of the questions of 
 curiosity that I heard the first time I saw him, sullen 
 silence prevailed ; except now and then the utterance 
 of a curse. 
 
 I learned that Ho-yongi divided his time with 
 the prison, superintending a system of beating, hop 
 ing to secure a squeeze; and, at the house of the 
 foreigner, fawning around him, pretending to be his 
 friend. I went down to the prison. The yard door 
 was open, and with others I entered. Near the door 
 was a man lying on his back, his feet fastened in 
 stocks which were attached high up on the wall, so 
 that his body was raised from the ground and his 
 weight rested only on his shoulders. Ho-yongi soon 
 came with a note from the magistrate and ordered 
 him beaten, but promised his freedom if he would 
 recant and sever his connection with the foreigner. 
 I could not see the man s face, but his words came 
 clear, though spoken in a muffled voice of pain. 
 
 "I have told you before the foreigner has no evil 
 practices. His religion is pure. I believe in God 
 and cannot deny him." 
 
 Cries proceeded from other parts of the prison 
 where, I was told, Christians were tied up in the 
 
78 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 same fashion. Blows were rained upon the feet of 
 the man near the door, yet not a word nor a groan 
 escaped his lips ; nothing but the sound of his hard 
 breathing was heard. I turned sick at heart and 
 walked away. If it had not been for Tong-siki I 
 should have thought that the expulsion of the for 
 eigner and Christians the proper thing, but he had 
 put in my heart a feeling of discontent with the old 
 order of cruelty and oppression. 
 
 It was rumored again and again that orders were 
 coming from his Majesty demanding the release 
 of these men. Such an order could not be under 
 stood. It was contrary to all precedent in the his 
 tory of our country. Then again it was rumored 
 that orders had come to kill all Christians, and the 
 foreigner also. 
 
 Tong-siki was very grave and thoughtful. He 
 visited the prison and talked a great deal with the 
 officials. Of what he heard and saw he said nothing. 
 At times I caught him watching me very closely in 
 a way that made me feel uneasy. On one occasion 
 I defended the Christian in a spirited argument, 
 not because I cared anything for them, but because 
 of one of those perverse moments when one wants 
 to antagonize that for which everybody is clamor 
 ing. The effort nearly cost me my hat and topknot. 
 Tong-siki was standing by at the time with his gaze 
 fixed on me, his own face as unfathomable as the 
 face of the image of Buddha. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 79 
 
 News came one afternoon that all Christians had 
 been released except the one whose stubbornness had 
 so exasperated his tormentors. His name was Kim. 
 Around this sturdy follower of the new faith had 
 centered all the revilings and miseries of a remorse 
 less persecution. He, it was said, was to be taken 
 to the magistrate and if he refused to recant was to 
 be killed. 
 
 "How is it to occur?" I asked Tong-siki, remem 
 bering his frequent calls on the magistrate and 
 believing that he knew. He puffed vigorously at 
 his pipe till I felt sure he did not intend to answer, 
 and finally said: 
 
 "The Christian who is called Kim is to be taken 
 before the magistrate this mid-afternoon and ordered 
 to recant. If he does not yield it will cost him his 
 life. It is true," he added, "that his Majesty has 
 sent imperative orders to have him released because 
 of representations and protests of foreign consuls 
 at the capital. It is known, however, that powerful 
 members of his cabinet are anxious for a pretext to 
 exterminate all Christians, and it is interpreted here 
 that his Majesty desires the same thing, but is afraid 
 of foreign complications, therefore, the scheme is 
 to publicly order Kim to recant, and when he refuses 
 to release him. Ho-yongi, the Snake, will attend 
 to the rest. What transpires outside of the yamens, 
 of course, will be an accident. May the gods have 
 pity on him who falls a victim to this gentle agent 
 
8o EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 of justice ! I saw him this morning moving among 
 persons of his own character, trying to inflame them 
 against the new religionists. 
 
 "Kill !" he was saying, "kill them on sight. He 
 who strikes first will be rewarded by the Emperor." 
 
 "Since you have had the courage to go bride hunt 
 ing and turn robber of a helpless innkeeper, you may 
 have courage to witness the devil at his work. There 
 will be but one victim and the mob will make short 
 work of it. This business of blood-letting has 
 always been a favorite pastime with our people when 
 the odds in numbers against the victim have been 
 sufficiently great to make a heinous crime a simple 
 act of justice, and a thing altogether praiseworthy." 
 
 "It is astonishing," he added, after a pause, "the 
 courage these Christians have and their evident fear 
 lessness of death. It is worthy of a good cause, and 
 there is coming a time when we shall look diligently 
 for men of that courage." He hastily rose, as if he 
 had said what he had not intended, and stepping out 
 of the door, turned and said : 
 
 "You can get a good view by standing on the ele 
 vation at the west of the yamen. I have business 
 away and may not get back in time. Peace to you," 
 he called, and disappeared through the gate of the 
 inn compound. 
 
 I soon left for the place he had suggested over 
 looking the yamen s walls. The walls of the city 
 had taken on a holiday appearance. The white cos- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 81 
 
 tnmes of the people crowded together against the 
 dark background of the wall, with now and then 
 red, green and yellow glancing in the sunlight, made 
 a scene peculiarly beautiful, and one that could not 
 be duplicated anywhere else in the world. I soon 
 found the place indicated by Tong-siki, and waited. 
 A great crowd of people had gathered around the 
 yamens and stretched back, an eager mass, into the 
 streets toward the city gates, but all was quiet 
 There was, however, a slow motion, as if the gath 
 ering throng, like a stream that had been dammed 
 back, refused to be quiet; but circled and eddied; 
 silent, forceful, ready to break over all barriers to 
 engulf and destroy. The silence seemed more omi 
 nous when over the heads of those near the yamen 
 gates were seen poles and clubs carried by men who 
 had discarded their hats and were naked to the 
 waists. 
 
 It generally requires some time for a Korean to 
 work himself up to a proper pitch to strike, but when 
 he gets started, he is as blind as a mad bull. A mob 
 even with the carefully premeditated violence is a 
 fickle thing and moves heavily and slowly, and if the 
 intended victim has enough strength left to run, the 
 crowd will be his safety, I thought. 
 
 Growing tired of the delay I started down the hill 
 with the purpose of getting nearer to the yamen s 
 gates, and paused now and then to listen to blood 
 curdling yells that came from the yamen s com- 
 
82 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 pound. Someone was being tortured, and the min 
 ions of the magistrate were howling like fiends. Just 
 as I had reached a deserted position in a narrow 
 street where I could get a distant view of nothing 
 but a mass of jostling, eager faces, a great stir swept 
 through the people up the narrow street from where 
 I stood. 
 
 Suddenly a new tumult arose, and a figure flung 
 into the street in advance of the crowd; barefooted, 
 hair streaming and blood trickling down his face 
 from a wound on the head. This much I noticed as 
 the man ran toward me down the street and passed 
 at my elbow, he turned slightly to the left into what 
 seemed to be a street leading to the city wall, but 
 found himself in one of those tangles of houses and 
 yards that fill our streets as traps for the unwary 
 strangers. I knew that he was fast, and if the mob 
 followed he was doomed. A house jutting out into 
 the street had hid him from the view of a pursuing 
 mob. 
 
 It is a curious impulse of our people that when a 
 man is hunted for his life, they join in the race and 
 help run him down. It is not so much from an idea 
 that the fugitive is worthy of violence or death, but 
 there is a passion in our breasts that rises at the sight 
 of blood. It may be that the oppression of the 
 official classes is so great that when the opportunity 
 comes to strike we do it without regard to the guilt 
 or innocency of the victim. 
 
BURDEN BEARERS 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 83 
 
 The moment I saw the fugitive s face I recog 
 nized him as the one concerning whom I had heard 
 so much of late. When the leader of the mob rushed 
 upon me and demanded where the fellow had gone, 
 I put them on the wrong scent. 
 
 "In that direction/ I said, pointing down a short, 
 narrow street. I watched the mob turn sharply to 
 the right and rush pellmell down the muddy alley 
 way, slipping and sliding as they jostled each other 
 into the gutters in their eagerness to overtake their 
 victim. 
 
 Presently Ho-yongi, the mob leader, returned fol 
 lowed by a score of panting followers, hungering for 
 a chance to kill. As they approached, the leader 
 glanced over my head at the hillside and gave vent 
 to a prolonged "A-ah !" expressive of rage and dis 
 appointment. I looked and saw the fugitive high up 
 among the rocks of the city wall, well out of the way 
 of pursuit. 
 
 Ho-yongi glanced at the footprints, at me, and 
 the fleeing man. His eyes were red with passion, 
 and he thrust his face into mine and shouted. At 
 first his words were too thick for articulation. "You ! 
 you did that," he cried at last, "you let that for 
 eigner s devil through a hole in the yard fence and 
 sent us tearing down that street. You your head 
 is as easily broken as his. Here, you fellows!" he 
 shouted to the mob at his heels, "here is blood for 
 you." 
 
84 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Hold there !" called a voice at my back, a voice 
 that I recognized and it sounded as sweet as music. 
 Tong-siki was at my side. "What are you about 
 there, Ho-yongi?" he demanded; "Do you know 
 whom you are threatening?" 
 
 The mob swayed like a serpent aiming to strike a 
 dodging foe. "Kill !" they shouted, "kill the Chris 
 tians!" and an evil look darkened the face of Ho- 
 yongi, when they classed us with the fleeing man. 
 But Tong-siki was not a ragged, emaciated victim 
 of the prison, but a man of commanding presence. 
 Beckoning with his hand he called: "News! news 
 from the Emperor! A command. Let the Chris 
 tian live !" At the sound of that magical name, Em 
 peror, murmurs died out and the mob waited. 
 
 "Do you think," Ho-yongi exclaimed, "that the 
 son of the Sung-ji has a right to aid the escape of a 
 criminal regularly condemned by our law?" 
 
 "You know the case better than that," Tong-siki 
 replied, "you know that his Majesty ordered the man 
 released, having telegraphed from the capital at the 
 instance of foreign diplomats. Perhaps you are not 
 aware, however, that in saving his life by sending 
 your mob howling down the street this man here has 
 saved your worthless head. Furthermore, it might 
 not be for your interest for me to report what I 
 know concerning you in this matter. Who was it 
 that stirred up the magistrate to put this man in 
 prison? And who is it that has caused his Majesty 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 85 
 
 to lose prestige in the eyes of foreign diplomats by 
 their repeated demand for the release of that man? 
 When the Emperor s hand falls upon the governor 
 and magistrate, do you think they will shield you?" 
 
 The last sentence was addressed at Ho-yongi s 
 back, as he had turned to a comrade to distract atten 
 tion from Tong-siki s arraignment. He started 
 away a few yards, then suddenly wheeled about and 
 shouted in his nasal voice for all to hear : 
 
 "Yes, the Sung-ji s son is an adept at breaking 
 into houses and carrying off young women and open 
 ing money boxes. I, too, have a delightful story to 
 tell." Having vented his spleen, he slunk off and 
 the crowd, from which all passion had seemingly 
 gone, parted to let him through. 
 
 Tong-siki and I pushed through the crowd and 
 out of the great city gate to the riverside. We 
 walked up the river bank and sat down on one of the 
 rocks that line the shore. Not a word had passed 
 between us since the exciting scenes that had so 
 nearly cost a life, and at one time threatened mine. 
 We sat for some time watching the boats scurrying 
 up and down the river, and listened to the rat-tat-tat 
 of the women washing along the shore. Suddenly 
 my companion turned and said : 
 
 "Are you becoming one of them?" 
 
 "One of them?" I repeated. "I know nothing 
 about them/* 
 
 He looked at me steadily for a moment. "Well," 
 
86 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 he said, and I was startled at the strange light in his 
 eyes. It made me think of a smouldering fire, wait 
 ing for a breath of wind that it might revel in 
 destruction. 
 
 "Well what ?" I asked, shrinking from his look. 
 
 "To-day you have witnessed an epoch-making 
 scene," he replied. "You did a neat thing when you 
 let that Christian escape, but I half wish you had not 
 done so. There might have been a new order of 
 things if he had fallen. Let me tell you/ he con 
 tinued, waving his hand when I attempted to speak, 
 "my father tells of a scene that he witnessed in this 
 city before you were born. There were Christians 
 in those times and they lived in great insecurity. 
 They held their meetings in out of the way places 
 like a secret society. The priesthood was composed 
 mostly of Europeans who had assumed the Korean 
 costume, and they had learned the language so per 
 fectly that it was difficult to distinguish them from 
 our native people. Now and then, however, in some 
 localities where their numbers had become consider 
 able, they became more open in their religious rites, 
 and in some instances they seemed ready to insist 
 upon their rights. The foreign origin of their reli 
 gion, the secret character of their gatherings, and 
 the peculiar religious rites of breaking of bread and 
 drinking wine, led the people to believe that they 
 were dangerous to the peace of our land. It was 
 reported that they murdered children, and used their 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 87 
 
 flesh in their unhallowed religious fites, and com 
 mitted the most heinous atrocities. Murmurings 
 spread through the country again and again. Free 
 the land from these monsters of cannibalism ! was 
 the cry. One day in this very city the father of Ho- 
 yongi let loose the dragon of persecution. Early 
 one morning a funeral procession was seen coming 
 down the street. The unusual hour called out many 
 spectators. The hearse had been stripped of all the 
 emblems of our traditions and the spirits had been 
 ignored. In every way it emphatically proclaimed 
 the renunciation of Confucius and Buddha. The 
 carriers moved along in profound silence. There 
 was no shout, cry, or dancing expressive of grief. 
 The gods had been defied, the dead outraged, de 
 clared the people. The murmurs became loud with 
 many a curse and invective. A stone was hurled at 
 the bearers, and suddenly a shout rang out above the 
 noise of the scuffling and jostling crowds. 
 
 " Kill the cannibals! kill the cannibals! kill! kill! 
 "Instantly the street was in an uproar, and sticks 
 and stones were hurled at the bearers, and they put 
 down their burden. A fury swept through the mob, 
 and they rushed upon the little company of Chris 
 tians who had quietly taken their stand around the 
 bier of the dead. In less time than it takes to tell the 
 tale every man of that company was beaten to death, 
 and their mangled bodies dragged along the street 
 and out to the river to where we are now sitting and 
 
88 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 hurled into the stream. All the demons of our ances 
 try were turned loose to inflame the people. The 
 nooks and corners where the Christians had taken 
 refuge were searched, and it was astonishing how 
 many of all classes, but mostly of the poor, were 
 dragged into light. Prince Un, then in power, gave 
 orders to exterminate them. The whole land took 
 fire, and the slaughter became furious and indiscrim 
 inate. Men, women, and children were drowned, 
 strangled, beheaded, disemboweled, or beaten to 
 death. The country, at last growing weary of the 
 slaughter, adopted milder means and an opportunity 
 was given those apprehended to recant. 
 
 "Not the least astonishing part of it was the great 
 number who chose death rather than to renounce 
 their faith. Here the narrator paused, and a noble 
 look came into his face. "Ah !" he added, "those 
 were heroes." 
 
 "Why!" I ejaculated, "were the Christians right?" 
 "I do not know anything about their faith," he 
 replied, "but they chose to suffer for their cause and 
 counted their lives worth little when compared with 
 their principles. There is coming a time when many 
 of our countrymen will be called upon to do acts of 
 sacrifice." Turning suddenly upon me he asked, 
 "Will you be the man to flinch ?" The question made 
 me gasp with its abruptness, and without giving me 
 time to reply, he continued : "I said that this has been 
 an epoch-making day. The man who led the mob to- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 89 
 
 day is the son of the man whose call kill the canni 
 bals/ started that slaughter years ago. He is still 
 living and stood back of his son to urge him on. 
 This day has proven to our country and to the 
 world that a repetition of that scene is impossible. 
 If they had killed the Christian to-day, his Majesty 
 would of necessity have called the governor and 
 the magistrate to account. If blood had been shed, 
 blood would have been shed in return, nor would 
 Ho-yongi have escaped." 
 
 "Is that a reason why you would have been willing 
 to have had the Christian killed?" I asked. Tong- 
 siki gave an impatient shrug. 
 
 "What do I care about the Snake?" he replied. 
 "He is welcome to live, but if the Christian had 
 fallen it would have recoiled so heavily upon the 
 heads of those in authority that the despotism of 
 our officials would have received a fatal blow, and 
 perhaps before they could recover something perma 
 nent might have been done. 
 
 "What do you think I saw yesterday when I called 
 at the magistrate s ? The way in which these fellows 
 fatten is astonishing. Forty-three yamen runners 
 to one magistrate. Three of them to assist in the 
 duties of the office, and forty to squeeze the people. 
 They had a man stretched out on a cross, stripped 
 half-naked, over him stood a fiendish looking tool of 
 the magistrate with a long paddle in his hand. Op 
 posite on a platform sat the magistrate; in a half- 
 
90 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 circle about the victim stood forty runners. As I 
 approached the group the magistrate called out, 
 Strike! All those forty runners howled like so 
 many bloodthirsty demons. The fellow with the 
 paddle leaped into the air, and that instrument of 
 torture came down with a dull thud. As the blows 
 multiplied the poor wretch writhed, and twisted, and 
 strained at the thongs that bound him, insanely call 
 ing for mercy. Life! he cried, give me life! 
 His hair was grey with age, but when his mind be 
 came confused he called piteously for his mother in 
 the language of a babe. Finally with a shudder and 
 low moan his head lay out upon the cross. The beat 
 ing stopped, and as they raised him up red drops 
 were on his lips. Recover? Yes, he seemed a 
 vigorous fellow, and perhaps he will, but do you 
 know why they beat him? They beat him because 
 he had been so unfortunate as to raise by dint of a 
 hard summer s toil four sacks of rice more than 
 enough to keep his family through the winter, and 
 had refused to give it over to the magistrate on 
 demand. He will give it now, as they have beaten 
 all strength of resistance out of him. 
 
 "You call yourself a citizen? This is a land of 
 slaves. I have visited the soil of other nations, and 
 when I have seen their homes I have blushed for 
 shame over the memory of my poverty-stricken coun 
 trymen. We are like rats that burrow into the first 
 hole that promises shelter from the cold and wet. 
 
EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 91 
 
 Our homes are as naked as the limbs of a willow 
 tree after the frosts and winds of winter have swept 
 it bare. Ther is not an article of furniture nor of 
 adornment found in any home of our twelve millions 
 except a few of those of rank and of wealth. There 
 is not a man that lies down to sleep to-night in all 
 this land that is sure that the yamen runners will 
 not wake him with a demand for his living. Fools 
 they are ! They fatten on us by destroying us. 
 
 "Your father has some influence and enjoys secur 
 ity because of his rank and the king s favor. You 
 have some security because of your father, and I be 
 cause I am his friend, but when he dies all he has 
 gathered will vanish like the morning dew. Inside 
 of thirty days you will be as poor as the fox. Do not 
 think you will escape the cross. 
 
 "If you should lose all, how would you live?" he 
 added, glancing at my thin hands and long, carefully 
 tended finger nails. 
 
 "Confucius calls upon us to honor and obey those 
 in authority. I often wonder if that sage was under 
 the paddle what would be his philosophy. We knock 
 our heads on the floor and fawn to those above us, 
 and while they stroke us, they examine our fur to see 
 if we are worth flaying. We know that they love 
 ours, not us, and while they prepare the knife we lick 
 their hands. 
 
 "Are the official class fools, did I say? We are, if 
 we submit to this intolerable injustice and cruelty." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 PERILS OF THE GREAT TONG RIVER 
 
 "How much did you say?" 
 
 "One hundred yang." 
 
 "One hundred y-a-n-g?" 
 
 "That is little enough. Five men for five days. 
 Only four yang a day for each man." 
 
 Daylight was just creeping into my room, and I 
 recognized Tong-siki s voice engaged in one of those 
 word duels with a river boatman whose service he 
 wished to secure at a reasonable rate, and I recog 
 nized in the boatman s voice a determination that he 
 would not be reasonable. 
 
 I glanced out of the door at the speaker. He stood 
 bareheaded, without shoes, his trousers rolled half 
 way up to his knees, a cloth carelessly tied around 
 his head for a hat, a long pipe in his mouth, shrewdly 
 calculating on the probable wealth of his would-be 
 patrons. Seemingly satisfied that we could pay a 
 good price, he squatted down with his back half 
 turned to Tong-siki, with seemingly absolute indif 
 ference to whether we engaged him or not. 
 
 "Mine is the only unengaged boat on the river," 
 he muttered, as if addressing his pipe. "However, 
 
 92 
 
EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 93 
 
 if they don t want to pay my price they may get some 
 kind of a tub in a few days." 
 
 "Seventy-five yang," said Tong-siki. 
 
 Huh/ was the reply, "think I will be going." He 
 knocked the tobacco out of his pipe with great delib 
 eration, stood up, yawned, and gave his trousers a 
 vigorous hitch upward, as if he had some idea of 
 lifting himself over the wall by his waistbands, and 
 without looking back, walked leisurely through the 
 gate and off down the street. 
 
 Fifteen minutes later we were hustling the inn 
 keeper off to the river to look for another boat pro 
 prietor, but at that juncture the departing man re 
 turned and, thrusting his face through the gate, 
 laconically called, "Eighty-five yang." 
 
 "Seventy," replied Tong-siki. 
 
 The man swung away and timed his return to the 
 river to meet the innkeeper. 
 
 "Seventy-five yang," said the innkeeper. 
 
 "The boat will be here in a few moments," was the 
 ready reply. 
 
 Notwithstanding the promise and assurances, oft- 
 repeated, that the boat would be ready to leave in an 
 hour, we counted ourselves fortunate on finding our 
 boat moving northward after sunrise the next day. 
 
 The season was rapidly approaching the rainy 
 period, and we left with some apprehension as to the 
 success of our voyage. The wind, however, blew 
 steadily from the northwest, and we hoped to escape 
 
94 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the storm. The party consisted of the same persons 
 who made the trip down. Never before did our re 
 tinue of servants seem so useless. While in the city 
 fwe had no time for occasions requiring the talents 
 of our dancing girls, neither had we entertained per 
 sons of rank. We found the city unique in its 
 peculiar social equality. Everyone, while possessing 
 an inborn reverence for rank, demanded treatment 
 of equality from everyone else. 
 
 Beyond the city wall is the site of the ancient city, 
 long since deserted. Great roads stretch in every di 
 rection, without houses, like a huge skeleton without 
 muscle or sinew, staring at one out of the past. The 
 communities are gathered here and there in small 
 houses, bunched together like a few remaining teeth 
 in a grinning skull. There live the aristocracy of 
 the North, and they occupy a realm of their own. It 
 is said that a resident within the walls may walk 
 the streets with his outside neighbor and expect to be 
 addressed in terms of equality, but as soon as the two 
 companions step through the gate into the neigh 
 borhood of the aristocracy, the city man must expect 
 to be addressed in terms of an inferior. 
 
 The democratic spirit that prevailed in the city 
 removed the temptation of patrician conviviality re 
 quiring entertainment on the part of our company. 
 Also the stirring scenes of our visit had engrossed all 
 our attention and feelings. 
 
 I sat under the awning of our boat and leisurely 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 95 
 
 watched the boatmen, their bronze bodies naked to 
 the waist, working our boat through the tangle along 
 the shore. Again and again we ran afoul the boat- 
 racks of other crafts which were piled high, like 
 strawstacks, with brush for fuel so eagerly purchased 
 by the city to be burned under their house floors. 
 Out we glided into the stream, the oarsmen took 
 their places, and we began the five days trip home 
 ward. 
 
 The sun, tempered by a light breeze and the glid 
 ing motion of the boat, gave one a feeling of rest and 
 gratefulness. Gradually, however, like the memory 
 of a painful dream, the vision of my future hunch 
 back bride, as I saw her under the light in the inn, 
 crowded upon my mind. Was it the face of an idiot ? 
 or did the shadows of the inn magnify her deform 
 ity? 
 
 I remember a tradition told me when a child of a 
 youth seeking his bride who was suffering under 
 the power of a certain magician. On meeting her 
 she appeared a maiden of surpassing beauty and 
 spirit-like loveliness, but later, when the glamour of 
 their honeymoon was over, he noted changes in her 
 that startled him ; something in her face that sug 
 gested more of the animal than of an angel. Finally 
 he accidentally discovered her bathing in the river, 
 no longer a beautiful maiden, but a dragon, loath 
 some, slimy, revolting, terrible. The shock that I 
 experienced was something of that character. I re- 
 
96 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 volted with all my nature, but the custom of obedi 
 ence to parents bound me in chains of iron. I had 
 not the slightest doubt that within the next month I 
 should be joined for life to that creature. 
 
 An hour after leaving" the city landing the boat 
 men had worked our way up the first rapids, to the 
 end of the island that lay like a long boat moored in 
 the center of the river. They had been towing up the 
 stream like horses on the tow path, but on reaching 
 this point they clambered into the boat, and, pushing 
 off from the shore, bent to their oars, holding the 
 prow up against the current. Thus the current as 
 sisted in carrying us across ; but we landed far below 
 the point from which we started on the opposite 
 side. This method of crossing the river under usual 
 circumstances is safe, but when the floods are high, 
 the water demons it is said know no pity. 
 
 As the boatmen climbed out and adjusted the 
 ropes to their shoulders, Tong-siki broke the silence 
 that he had maintained from the start. 
 
 "Well," said he; "what will you do with her?" 
 
 "Do?" I repeated, "what would you do?" 
 
 "Kill her," he sententiously replied. 
 
 I knew that Tong-siki was not a man of violence, 
 and looked for his meaning. 
 
 "Of course I don t mean break her head, but sim 
 ply don t do it. Don t marry her." 
 
 "But my father s fortunes are depleted, and shame 
 and disgrace threaten the Sung-ji. You, as his 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 97 
 
 steward, have told me that he has lost nearly all his 
 influence at the royal court. You know he has 
 wasted vast sums on the greedy officials at the capi 
 tal with the only return of empty promises. Will 
 not the union with this family replenish his for 
 tunes?" 
 
 Tong-siki looked at me for some time without re 
 plying. Finally he said : "These are times of great 
 events, national changes are at hand, great men are 
 demanded, men who are ready to sacrifice, men who 
 count their lives not dear to themselves, but that they 
 may do something for their country. We must have 
 representatives of the most powerful and influential 
 families to form the nucleus of a reform party. Your 
 father is old and bound to the traditions of old 
 Korea. The system that made him great and rich is 
 as dear to him as his life. Your brother has received 
 petty rank, and hopes vainly for more. The slug 
 gish stream of the dead past flows through their 
 veins. If you marry this woman you will be forced 
 by the combined influences of these two patrician 
 families along the same lines. Her father has prom 
 ised a large property; your father has promised 
 political aid, which he cannot give. You are the 
 binding link between the two, and you will be in the 
 vortex of an endless family intrigue. I have watched 
 you closely for the last five years, and found that 
 you can think and act independently. The day after 
 your marriage to that creature you will find that 
 
98 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the ancestry of both families, dead men that they are, 
 will hang upon your neck. The law of custom will 
 order your life, and you will be the facsimile of any 
 one of the hordes of our people that follow the rou 
 tine taught them by oppressive laws, customs and be 
 lief. Is the woman hunchback and imbecile? Her 
 form will be a model of beauty, and her mind a gem 
 of brilliancy, compared with the deformed and be 
 sotted future that life itself will be to you." 
 
 Tong-siki, while speaking low, spoke with great 
 vehemence. 
 
 "O !" he added, after a pause, "I see you don t un 
 derstand. I should have presented the matter dif 
 ferently. You are familiar, in a measure, with the 
 Boxer movement to better the conditions of the 
 people. They expect to secure the cooperation of 
 such a mass of people that they will be able to march 
 unhindered to the capital and establish a new order 
 of things. What think you that order would be ? It 
 would be as much \vorse than the present, as they 
 are beneath the present rulers in knowledge and ex 
 perience. They want a reform of force ; but when I 
 want a secretary I don t employ an ox because he has 
 an abundance of muscle. My idea is that every gov 
 ernment is on the whole as good as the individual 
 citizen. Reform there must be, but it must come 
 through the families of the nobles. I have dreamed 
 of a great school of our families of rank studying 
 law and justice, and administering for the happiness 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 99 
 
 of the people. You, Sung-yo," he added, "as a 
 representative of the great Sung-ji s clan, are in a 
 position to take the initiative for the North country, 
 and aid in making our country what it was in the 
 early ages the the arbiter of civilization and a 
 blessing to the world." 
 
 Tong-siki delivered his appeal with all the earn 
 estness of his soul, while the hunger in his eyes deep 
 ened as he waited for my answer. 
 
 I had turned my face down the stream waiting for 
 an inspiration to form a reply to an appeal that had 
 bewildered me with its vehemence. Looking back I 
 met his gaze full upon me. 
 
 "You spoke beyond my comprehension," I at last 
 replied. "If you are counting upon my readiness to 
 do something for our people you have not misjudged 
 me, but the extent of your idea is bewildering." 
 
 All day long we sat apart from the rest, and he 
 told me the story of his hopes and plans, and I was 
 astonished at the extent of the information that he 
 possessed. He talked to me as one of the sages. He 
 told the story of our country s wrongs ; he pictured 
 the miseries of our common people living under an 
 intolerable system of intrigue and exploitation; he 
 told me the story of our ancient greatness and pic 
 tured what we might be in glowing colors; he 
 pleaded for manhood that would suffer for the right 
 with gladness. His travels had made him believe 
 that the powers of the world were reaching out after 
 
ioo EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 new fields for exploitation, and that unless Korea 
 speedily shook herself loose from the past and took 
 on new life her doom was close at hand. 
 
 As the days of our journey slipped by a new con 
 ception of affairs took form and grew within me, and 
 I found myself asking the question, "Am I destined 
 to become a rebel to his Majesty and the government 
 that now is?" I had reached no decision, but was 
 thinking. The third day on our return, Tong-siki 
 smiled to see me slip off my delicate deerskin shoes 
 and put on rough straw sandals, and when I cut my 
 long finger nails, he seemed satisfied. But there 
 were other events coming in rapid succession that 
 hurled me out of the old social caste into a life of 
 which even Tong-siki had not dreamed. 
 
 During the afternoon of the third day the wind 
 changed to the southeast, and the sky took on a yel 
 low cast. While there were no clouds, the sun shone 
 through the mist with difficulty, and in the mid- 
 afternoon seemed like a red ball in the sky. The 
 boat-men became uneasy. "Looks like the rainy 
 season," they said. 
 
 That night when we tied up to the river bank the 
 light cotton covering was replaced by heavy swamp- 
 grass mats. In the morning we arose late, being de 
 ceived in the time by the darkness that prevailed. 
 It was believed that the summer rains threatened us. 
 We resolved, however, to push on and make home 
 before the river could rise sufficiently to make boat- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 101 
 
 ing dangerous. A sail helped us much, and on reach 
 ing the rapids our servants joined the boatmen 
 waist-deep in the stream, lifting and tugging cheer 
 fully. When night came again we found ourselves 
 so far from any village or friendly inn that we de 
 cided to remain on the boat, and, too, it was believed 
 that by starting at dawn home could be reached be 
 fore noon of the next day. We made fast to the 
 shore at both the prow and stern, and stretched the 
 mat covering tight and fastened it down. 
 
 I was awakened at the first cockcrow by the shout 
 of the boatmen as they tugged at our craft to re- 
 secure it farther up the bank. Rain was falling. We 
 were sheltered behind a line of hills and there seemed 
 to be little wind, but the rain came down in torrents 
 and the roar was deafening. A stream of water 
 found its way through the mats, and trickled down 
 on my face. Hastily lighting a candle, I found my 
 companions sitting up and gazing overhead, vainly 
 trying to locate leaks in the roof. We smoothed the 
 mats and readjusted them, but the deluge found an 
 increasing number of holes. Finally we piled our 
 effects in heaps and sat upon them, and covered our 
 selves with oiled-paper umbrellas. Soon the wind 
 swept up the river and attacked the flaps of our mat 
 roof. A sheet of rain drove the length of the boat 
 and put out the light. The boatmen crawled in, shiv 
 ering with wet, and tried to fasten the flaps down. 
 Thus we watched until morning struggled through 
 
IO2 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the storm. Then the boatmen reported that the river 
 was rising rapidly, and demurred about continuing 
 the journey, but on the promise of a reward agreed 
 to push on immediately. While our servants started 
 a charcoal fire and prepared the morning meal, they, 
 loosing the boat, harnessed themselves into the ropes 
 and started to tow upstream, accompanying their 
 efforts by the usual chant "Oi-ha, oi-ha." The rain 
 fall was astonishing, deluging everything. Torrents 
 poured down the mountainside, a roaring cataract 
 from the frowning cliffs. After breakfast our serv 
 ants added their weight to the ropes. About mid- 
 forenoon Tong-siki joined them, leaving the danc 
 ing girls and myself the only occupants of the boat. 
 Finally, reaching a high cliff that stood perpendicu 
 lar to the water s edge, we were compelled to row 
 across the stream. Ordinarily at this point the river 
 is quiet, and the feat easily accomplished. Now, 
 however, it was a great flood, and when we had 
 arrived at the other bank we had drifted a half mile 
 down stream. The question of continuing the jour 
 ney was again debated, but as the present landing was 
 exposed to the wind that had now become furious, 
 we decided to push on. At the end of an hour s tug 
 ging at the ropes we found ourselves confronted with 
 a wall of rocks running along the river at a distance 
 of one thousand feet. Our present position was 
 made perilous by a bend in the river forcing the cur 
 rent to the point we occupied. Fastening our supply 
 
EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 103 
 
 of ropes together, one was made about three hun 
 dred feet in length ; and two of the boatmen carried 
 it up the face of the cliff and out on a spur of rock 
 which extended into the stream some distance farther 
 than where our boat lay. They clung to the rocks, 
 while the wind and rain seemed at times on the point 
 of sweeping them into the gulf fifty feet below. They 
 made fast and signalled for us to pull. Two of our 
 number began reeling in the rope, while others with 
 long poles kept the craft from the rocks. The mat 
 covering to the boat had been entirely discarded, hav 
 ing been pulled down to facilitate the movements of 
 the boatmen. The two dancing girls huddled to 
 gether under heavy mats in the center of the boat. 
 The sides of the boat were only eighteen inches above 
 water, and as the current swept down upon us we 
 were in constant danger of being swamped, so the 
 dancing girls were called upon to bail. They pre 
 sented a ludicrous appearance with the paint streaked 
 about their faces and necks, and their gaudy cloth 
 ing, the colors all intermingling, clinging to them, 
 but no one thought of laughing. By prodigious 
 effort we reached the projection where the rope was 
 fastened, and on looking from that point found there 
 was another sweep inward and a projection of rock, 
 carrying the shore in a half circle still farther in the 
 middle of the stream. The cliff overhead seemed to 
 present a smooth face, impossible to climb beyond 
 the spur where our boatmen stood. We watched a 
 
IO4 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 debate taking place between the men on the spur, 
 who finally, leaving the rope fastened on the rock, 
 made their way back by a zig-zag course down to our 
 boat. They declared that in the storm it would be 
 impossible to climb the face of the cliff, and with a 
 rope tied to a man s waist the feat was beyond a 
 moment s consideration. 
 
 The river was rising rapidly, and we had spent an 
 hour in the first movement. Another hour and it 
 would be impossible to cross the stream beyond the 
 ledge, while to remain in that current would be the 
 loss of the boat with its freight. This information 
 was imparted by shouts, as the storm made ordinary 
 conversation impossible. I had already noted a thun 
 dering sound that seemed to proceed from the depths 
 of the mountain. It came with rhythmic precision 
 and with seeming acceleration. Tong-siki and I 
 made our way around the projection of rock in front 
 till we saw where it shelved inward half way up the 
 cliff, and at the edge of the water opened up a great 
 cavern in the mountainside. From the cavern burst 
 upon us a thunderous roll of contending powers 
 within. It was as if the artillery of the gods had 
 been arrayed in contending armies. The water in 
 front foamed and eddied, and hissing like a huge ser 
 pent with raised crest, plunged down the throat of 
 the roaring cavern, then recoiled, broken into thou 
 sands of shining atoms, and fell murmuring at the 
 foot of the cliff. Then followed the cannonading 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 105 
 
 that seemed to shake the rock on which we stood. 
 We watched the river again gather her forces and 
 hurl herself into the face of the mountain, then again 
 listened to its riotous roar and thunder. Finally, 
 turning to make our way back to the boat, we were 
 met by a white and trembling boatman. He had been 
 looking into the cavern and his teeth chattered with 
 terror. 
 
 The water demon! we are lost! I-go-o!" he 
 wailed. 
 
 Tong-siki seized him by the shoulder, shook him 
 and stood him on his feet with fierce imprecations. 
 Then we ran back to the boat, and Tong-siki stood 
 some minutes intently surveying the cliff. Finally 
 he singled out one of the boatmen and shouted some 
 thing in his ear, then, taking up a coil of light rope, 
 they started up the spur and reached the rock where 
 the rope was fastened. Tong-siki proceeded to fas 
 ten it around his waist, and motioned to those below 
 to pay out the slack. The boatmen remained at this 
 point to haul up the rope, and make it as light as pos 
 sible for Tong-siki, who began to climb the face of 
 the cliff. From where we stood he seemed but a 
 white blotch on the face of the rocks. He moved 
 slowly, feeling his way, seizing the projection of a 
 rock here and another there, then, pausing to balance 
 himself, he pulled the rope up after him and deposited 
 the slack on a rocky projection, then again moved on. 
 Sometimes he came to a halt and would wait a full 
 
io6 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 minute motionless, and we would hold our breath, 
 wondering if he had given up, or if he had grown 
 dizzy, and would lose his hold to be plunged into the 
 boiling flood a hundred feet below. Occasionally a 
 gust of wind would sweep up across the face of the 
 cliff, mercilessly pelting the clinging man and almost 
 hiding him from our view in the torrent of rain. At 
 such times he would cling motionless to the face of 
 the rock, and when the force of the wind had mo 
 mentarily spent itself, move on and then halt again. 
 
 Suddenly, above the noise of the river and the 
 storm, a roar broke upon us. 
 
 The mountains of this section of the country are 
 very precipitous, and are usually as bare of covering 
 as the face of a rock, the heavy rains of summer 
 having washing them clean of every particle of soil. 
 Some years, however, the rains of summer are light 
 and allow a growth on^the mountainsides. Such had 
 been the summers for the last decade, and extended 
 green slopes met and gladdened the eyes everywhere. 
 Occasionally the soil that had so collected would be 
 caught by a freshet and swept down the mountain 
 side, accumulating in material until rocks and bowl 
 ders, breaking loose, form a landslide of appalling 
 magnitude, and thundering down the mountain, fill 
 the valley with debris. Such was now taking place. 
 Far up on the mountain, a mile away, the movement 
 had begun and was roaring down upon us. 
 
 I looked at Tong-sikt. He had heard it and was 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 107 
 
 gazing upward. Twenty feet of rock still towered 
 above him. He could not have moved a yard from 
 where he stood before the coming shock would be 
 upon him. We, in the boat, were rooted to where we 
 stood, while on came the landslide, roaring and thun 
 dering, as if worlds were in conflict. Suddenly a 
 huge bowlder, as if hurled by some mighty power 
 from the mountain, shot out from the cliff some fifty 
 yards in advance of where Tong-siki stood. A fu 
 sillade of rock followed and the mountain trembled, 
 then a great yellow mass rolled and tumbled in mid 
 air, shutting out the view of sky, plain, and river in 
 our front. The river sprang up and seemed to meet 
 the falling mountain. Dust, sand, and fragments of 
 stone dashed into our boat and around us. Follow 
 ing the echo of the falling rock, a huge wave carried 
 us high up on the side of the rocks and left us on a 
 smooth ledge, partly submerged. 
 
 At the appearance of the falling rock, we had in 
 stinctively ducked our heads and seized the sides of 
 the boat. The act saved us from being washed over 
 board. I looked around at my companions. One of 
 the dancing girls was still clinging to the side with 
 blanched face and chattering teeth, gazing at some 
 thing in the stream. I looked a bright, red garment 
 floated for a moment, was caught in an eddy and a 
 delicate hand swung aloft, then disappeared. The 
 rest of our party stood halfway to the waist in water, 
 but safe. I looked for Tong-siki, but for full five 
 
io8 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 minutes the cloud of dust, in spite of the beating rain, 
 whirled and eddied over the front of the cliff, then a 
 white patch was seen. There he stood, still looking 
 upward. The overhanging rock had saved his life, 
 and as I watched I marveled that he did not move on. 
 A moment later I saw the reason. Beyond him, to 
 the left, a muddy stream was pouring over the cliff. 
 At the top it shot out from the face of the rock, large 
 and threatening; but before reaching the river it 
 seemed to be lost in the pouring rain. To return 
 would mean death to us all, and no one knew this bet 
 ter than he. We all waited with suspended breath 
 for his decision. If he should attempt to pass under 
 the stream, and the wind should hurl it against the 
 face of the rock, it would sweep him off like a peb 
 ble. We saw him with infinite care remove the rope 
 from around his waist and hang it loosely from his 
 shoulder, that he might release it in case of a blow 
 from the stream. He gathered the slack rope to the 
 place where he stood, then moved slowly upward, 
 safely under the stream, and beyond to the top of the 
 ledge, then a great sob broke from our lips. 
 
 We were called to action by the chief boatman 
 pointing out marks of rapidly rising water, and 
 under his direction we all climbed out on the ledge 
 with the purpose of releasing the boat, but it did not 
 float. The rock pointed upward from the face of the 
 mountain, and the edge of the shelf thrust farthest 
 in the river was the highest. Following the boat- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 109 
 
 man s orders, we all stood out on the extreme edge 
 of the rock, and, assisted by the current, lifted the 
 boat partly on its side and thus slightly emptied it, 
 so that when we released our hold it floated. Two 
 of our number took off their coats, and holding both 
 ends, used them to bail out the water. At last, a 
 gourd was fished out from beneath the planking over 
 the bottom and the task finished. Already the man 
 stationed on the spur overhead was signalling by 
 vigorous pulls on the rope to move ahead. Beyond 
 him, far out on the next projection, stood Tong-siki 
 with the rope fastened, quietly waiting for us. 
 
 As I looked at him, standing silently in the dis 
 tance, somewhere down in the soul where instinct 
 is untrammeled by sophistry or prejudice, where 
 thoughts are feelings and years of mental toil are 
 the efforts of a moment I gave him my life. He 
 who could conquer the cliff could conquer men and 
 lead men. From that moment he led me. 
 
 Our task was only begun. The poles for handling 
 the boat had, with all else, been swept away. When 
 the boat swung around into position, it was noticed 
 that the small skiff we had tied to the stern had 
 broken loose and had become wedged in between two 
 rocks. The stern swung back and forth with the 
 current, pausing now and then, as if on the point of 
 breaking loose. 
 
 The men at the front of our craft began reeling in 
 the rope, while others unshipped the oars and planted 
 
no EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 them against the rock, pushing with all their strength 
 to keep the boat out in the stream. Slowly, we 
 moved forward around the point. Occasionally the 
 current would drive us up into the rocks with a force 
 that threatened to crush the boat. By prodigious 
 effort, we would work her off again ; then the men 
 at the rope would pull with frantic energy, gaining 
 a foot, then again we would be hurled back on the 
 rocks. The repeated blows soon opened a leak in the 
 bottom, and one of our number gave his whole time 
 bailing the water. At last our craft crawled away 
 from the rocky projection and swung loose into a 
 bay-like formation, that curved into the cave. The 
 water had risen since Tong-siki and I had worked 
 our way around the rocks and looked at the cave, and 
 the subterranean cannonading had increased. It 
 thundered and bellowed with appalling force, and 
 our boatmen s faces blanched with superstitious fear. 
 The landslide had partially rilled a portion of the 
 river beyond us, sending a flood in the direction of 
 the cave. Our craft struggled and plunged as the 
 current swept it from side to side. The long sweep 
 at the stern had been lost, and our efforts with the 
 paddles made slight impression in the effort to keep 
 her steady. Again and again we seemed on the point 
 of being engulfed. I had struggled persistently with 
 one of the oars, and my hands were blistered and 
 bleeding, but I did not notice it then. Suddenly a 
 yell from one of the boatmen caused us all to look 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA in 
 
 up the river. A dark mass, reaching from shore to 
 shore, was bearing down upon us with frightful ve 
 locity. In appearance it was a wave three feet high 
 bearing a light crest that boiled and foamed, and 
 seemed to sweep in advance of the oncoming mass. 
 I heard shouts about me, but stood stupefied. Some 
 where up the river a cloudburst was sending its flood 
 down upon us. On it came, and I had a faint impres 
 sion that our boat was moving rapidly shoreward 
 under the renewed efforts of our men. It seemed as 
 if but a breath had passed, from the time we first saw 
 the flood until it struck the obstruction in the river 
 above us, formed by the recent landslide. The spray 
 sprang into the air, hiding the river for a moment, 
 giving one the impression that there had been a 
 pause, but instantly the water had divided and part 
 plunged through the narrow channel toward us with 
 increased velocity. The monster rose at our side and 
 instantly I was in the water. Instinctively I held my 
 breath, and it seemed that I would never come to the 
 surface. I was conscious of being carried along with 
 the current, and wondered if it were to the mouth of 
 the cave. When my head shot above the surface, I 
 had already been carried outside the point. What a 
 distance the boat seemed away ! It had the appear 
 ance of having swung sidewise to a rocky wall, to 
 which the occupants were clinging. I caught only a 
 glimpse of it and was swept onward. I strove to 
 keep my head above water, hoping that the current 
 
H2 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 would carry me in to the shore. The skiff had been 
 lifted out of the rocks and carried shoreward and 
 was circulating in an eddy, as if traveling upstream. 
 The gentleness with which it rode on the surface 
 seemed to mock me in my struggles as I swept by. 
 Some distance ahead of me was a line of rocks pro 
 jecting from the shore. The current seemed kind 
 and bore me directly upon the last bowlder, which 
 rose full a foot above the flood. I seized a projection 
 of the rock, and was flung like a cork to the opposite 
 side. I closed my teeth and strained to pull myself 
 forward on the stone. The torrent poured around 
 both sides, meeting at my waist, and after a mo 
 ment s desperate struggle, it tore my hands loose and 
 hurled me farther into the stream. Immediately a 
 dark object loomed up at my side; instinctively I 
 grabbed for it, and found my hand grasping the side 
 of our lost skiff. I was too exhausted to do more 
 than to cling to its side as we swept on downstream. 
 Finally, I felt my way to the stern of the skiff. 
 
 Swimming had been the one athletic sport of 
 which I was fond, and the practice came to good pur 
 pose now. Tong-siki and I had often turned a skiff 
 loose and tried the feat of climbing aboard without 
 upsetting it. It took me a long time, but I finally 
 accomplished the feat. Now, however, I was greatly 
 at a disadvantage. The boat was in rapid motion 
 and my strength exhausted. When I had reached 
 the stern, I worked the skiff until it pointed directly 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 113 
 
 with the current. With hands on both sides, I began 
 a teetering motion, that as the skiff sank would 
 bring my waist out of the water, intending to throw 
 myself across the stern. Repeatedly the current 
 seized the boat and threw it sidewise to the stream, 
 compelling me to slide back into the water. At last 
 I lay exhausted in the bottom of the boat. 
 
 Looking back I could see nothing of the place 
 where the disaster had overtaken us. Even the 
 mountain was hid from view by intervening hills. 
 I bailed the water out of the boat by sopping it up 
 with my coat, and wringing the garment over the 
 side. The river, which forty-eight hours ago, was 
 a quiet, harmless stream, had become a raging flood. 
 How fast it flowed! I was in constant danger of 
 being dashed against ragged rocks near shore. Sev 
 eral times I held my breath, expecting the boat to 
 be crushed like an eggshell, then the current would 
 swing me clear and hurl the skiff in the middle of the 
 river. Down these rapids I went like a race horse. 
 The hills danced by, as if the whole transaction was 
 a merry game. Finally I noted a turn of the stream, 
 where the mountains recede and the banks are com 
 paratively low. The flood had stretched out across 
 the plain, and it presented the appearance of a great 
 lake. I leaned over the side of the boat and tried to 
 paddle it out upon the quieter water of the plain. 
 Just as I thought I had gained my point, I found it 
 slowly drifting back into the rapid current. 
 
H4 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Out in midstream floated a house with a man 
 astride the roof. He shouted to me to come and help 
 him. A donkey struggled in the current, his head 
 laid out on the water with his long ears floating 
 back, as if they were too heavy to be longer sup 
 ported. Other houses there were, some roofless, 
 others breaking up. On one roof were several half- 
 drowned chickens, among them a rooster trying 
 to crow. 
 
 Along the banks of the river everywhere, people 
 had gathered to watch the flood, but none dared to 
 venture out upon it. I gave up all attempts to work 
 the boat ashore, and gave my efforts to keeping off 
 from the rocks. By moving suddenly from one end 
 to the other and by rocking the skiff vigorously, I 
 was able sometimes to change the direction ; thus I 
 often avoided being shattered on these ragged foes. 
 Finally, the skiff shot out into the broad river, where 
 it is met by a branch from the south. The danger of 
 rocks became much less, and an hour later I was 
 opposite the city of Pyeng-Yang. The flood had 
 swept the shore clear of its many houses, and the 
 place, where a few days ago the people jostled each 
 other in trade, was ten feet under water. My skiff 
 rode level with the city streets, and I could look 
 through the gates upon flooded streets as I swept by. 
 Great effort was being made to save property. A 
 man sculling a skiff darted out on the stream, seized 
 a stick of floodwood and scurried back to shore. I 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 115 
 
 called to him for help. He looked at the river a mo 
 ment and started. I was already some distance be 
 low him, but he gained on me rapidly until he struck 
 the center of the current. Either he became ex 
 hausted or the flood appalled him. He fumbled with 
 the paddle and drifted. Recovering himself, he 
 started back for the shore and reached it a long dis 
 tance below the city. I called again for help, but he 
 gazed after me in silence. 
 
 Night came on. The rain had ceased and the wind 
 died out. How dark it grew ! I could scarcely see 
 the water over the sides of the boat, until at last ab 
 solute darkness prevailed. On the boat glided with 
 merciless persistency, on toward the great sea. It 
 seemed as if the vindictive demons of the cave had 
 seized my boat and were urging it on to hurl it upon 
 some sunken rock, or at last, when weary of the wild 
 frolic, overwhelm me in the flood. I had been on a 
 physical and mental strain all day, and had fought 
 with death continually since mid-afternoon, and had 
 eaten nothing since morning. I was utterly ex 
 hausted, and as I leaned forward over the prow, 
 staring into the inky blackness ahead, a thousand 
 fancies darted through my brain. The foolish super 
 stitions of our race, familiar to me from childhood, 
 filled my mind with gruesome forms ; unnatural light 
 sparkled before my eyes, and the ghoulish laugh 
 ter of water demons echoed around my boat, while 
 overhead I heard the sighs and moans of departed 
 
n6 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 spirits. I lay shivering with the cold and my foolish 
 terrors. How long I had ridden in the dark in this 
 state of mind, I do not know, when suddenly I felt 
 a great shock and a sharp blow across my back. I 
 sprang up to a sitting position and found my head in 
 the limbs of a tree. My first thought, after awaken 
 ing from my fright, was that I had run into over 
 hanging limbs from shore, but on a moment s reflec 
 tion I concluded, from the absence of much commo 
 tion in the water, that the tree must be floating, and 
 so it proved. I welcomed the encounter as it drove 
 from me the terrors of the water. I pushed the boat 
 out from it, and tried to circle the floating mass, and 
 had crept nearly the length of the tree by reaching 
 over the end of the skiff and working from limb to 
 limb when the tree turned partly over. Suddenly 
 a scream, half human, half animal, filled me with 
 panic and I lost my hold. There was a scramble in 
 the branches and something landed in my boat, 
 splashing the water over my face, and scurried to the 
 opposite end, then all was silent. The skiff glided 
 on. "What was that?" I asked myself, with all my 
 terrors returning. I dared not investigate, and sat 
 in the further end of the skiff. I had been taught 
 from infancy to believe profoundly in demons and 
 their wanton pranks on men, and through the hours 
 of the longest night of my life, I sat staring at the 
 blackness that hid the opposite end of the boat. 
 Sometimes, by a slight breeze, I was conscious of 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 117 
 
 riding backwards or sidewise to the current, but I 
 did not turn my gaze from the front. Sometimes 
 I imagined I saw a dark, silent figure rise up out of 
 the boat and expanding to gigantic proportions, lean 
 toward me, yet I dared not cry out. If I could only 
 hear something, a hiss, a cry, or a roar; but the 
 silence remained unbroken, except the sound of water 
 as it danced around my boat. 
 
 With what joy I welcomed the first gray light that 
 showed me my hands when I held them to my eyes, 
 then the boat around where I sat. Eagerly I peered 
 into the other end, but there was nothing. The light 
 increased and I rubbed my eyes and looked again, 
 then crawled on hands and knees to the other end of 
 the boat, and carefully looked at the seat where my 
 supposed spectre companion had sat during the 
 night. Then two small, gray eyes gazed curiously 
 back at me from under the seat. On second exami 
 nation, I recognized my companion as a house cat 
 that I had unintentionally rescued from the flood. 
 
 Fog had settled down upon the river, and I was 
 unable to see two lengths of the boat. In utter ex 
 haustion I threw myself full length in the boat and 
 was lost in sleep. How long I lay there I do not 
 know, but when I awoke the fog was still covering 
 the water like a heavy blanket. A rhythmic rise and 
 fall of the boat startled me. I tried to rise to look 
 about, but at first was too stiff and sore to move. 
 Something warm against me caused me to look 
 
nS EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 down. There lay my companion, curled up to keep 
 warm. She was breathing contentedly with a soft, 
 whispering purr, and I was glad. I painfully sat up 
 and noted carefully the water about the boat, tasted 
 it and concluded, as it afterwards proved, that we 
 were in the swells of the sea. 
 
 I was still at the mouth of the estuary and the tide 
 was running out. Hours later the fog lifted and a 
 light wind from the north set in. The sun, which 
 came struggling through the mist, seemed to indicate 
 mid-afternoon. I could look back upon the distant 
 shores with their towering mountains standing out 
 in strong, rugged relief against the sky. How near 
 they seemed ! yet it would have taken hours to reach 
 them, though I had been provided with sails. I 
 hoped that the incoming tide would drive the skiff 
 within reach of the shore. As far as I could see 
 there were no fishermen on the bay. The recent 
 storm had driven them all ashore. 
 
 Again night was upon me, and the wind had died 
 out. I watched the stars as they came out one by 
 one, and it seemed at one time that I was drifting 
 shoreward, but, soon to my dismay, the fog settled 
 so heavily that I might have drifted within an arm s 
 length of shore "without knowing it/ My com 
 panion curled up against me and gave vent to her 
 discontent by soft mews, and I wondered if she was 
 as thirsty as I was. I never look back to those 
 days and nights of burning thirst that I do not 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 119 
 
 wonder why the magistrates do not adopt that plan 
 of torture, instead of the paddle, for nothing could 
 be more excruciating. I tore up the covering of 
 the bottom of my boat. A quart or more of rain 
 water had settled there, but when I eagerly stooped 
 to drink it, I found it brackish. Sea water had 
 seeped into the boat and mingled with it, and my 
 thirst raged worse than before, having swallowed 
 up all other sense of feeling and caused me to 
 forget hunger. Through the night I lay on the 
 bottom of the boat, sometimes half asleep, but 
 always tortured. Along towards morning I called 
 repeatedly, and an echo came from the shore and 
 I knew that I was near land. I called till my 
 parched lips refused to respond to my effort. When 
 the light dawned the fog had lifted and rain again 
 threatened. One tide had come in and had carried 
 me near shore, and another was now bearing me 
 out to sea again. 
 
 As I noted the movement away from shore, a feel 
 ing of stupefaction came over me. I noticed, but in 
 differently, that the boat took a direction toward a 
 large island lying parallel to the shore. It seemed to 
 my imagination but a shadow in the distance. We 
 people of the East are charged with being fatalists. 
 Perhaps my experience bears out that idea, for I had 
 simply given up. I leaned up against the side of the 
 boat and looked across at the cat. She sat there 
 looking in my face, her feet braced before her like 
 
I2O EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the half feline images fronting the palace in our capi 
 tal. I could not get my gaze from her, and a pain 
 ran up the back of my head and spread out all over 
 the top. The cat s head seemed to grow large and fill 
 up all the space in front of me. I thought I would 
 strike out at it, then it receded until it was but a 
 speck in the far distance, and the boat seemed to 
 stretch away from me. Somehow I got an idea that 
 the other end of the boat had started for the shore 
 and the tiny cat on the end seemed such a funny 
 thing. I swung my arms and laughed. A wine song 
 with which our dancing girls had often entertained 
 us echoed through my brain ; I thought I was sing 
 ing it, perhaps I did try. At last I came to myself 
 again and found that I had been lying on my back 
 with my- face skyward and the rain pouring down 
 upon me. I rose and looked around. The cat had 
 taken refuge under the seat, and I felt dizzy, but 
 everything seemed to have regained their normal 
 proportions. The wind had risen and again threat 
 ened the skiff. I laid on my back and tried to catch 
 the rain drops in my mouth. All feeling in my 
 tongue had gone, and it seemed like a billet of wood. 
 The shore was far away. On the seaward side the 
 island was much nearer, and the boat was running 
 along at a merry rate. 
 
 The island pointed at a slight angle with the shore, 
 so that the west end swung seaward and the return 
 ing tide, finding less control at that end, slipped 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 121 
 
 away, drawing after it, as it were, the great surface 
 of water from out between the east end of the island 
 and the distant shore. The boat was approaching 
 the island, and I was in doubt whether we would take 
 the sea or the channel side. I tried to watch our 
 progress, but light danced before my eyes and made 
 the effort painful. 
 
 Glancing around, I saw the cat licking the rain 
 drops from the seat. It gave me an idea, and I took 
 off my coat and spread out the center on the seat and 
 gathered the sides in a circle to form a dish. The 
 rain came down heavily, and I was able to moisten 
 my mouth and feel the water trickle down my throat. 
 When I looked again, we were drifting rapidly to 
 ward the inside of the island, and two hours later 
 we were beside the east end, about a mile off shore. 
 Then there came a pause in the movement of the tide, 
 and I knew it would not be long before it would 
 start back, carrying me toward shore, and then, 
 probably, on the ebb deposit the skiff somewhere out 
 in the open sea. The wind, fortunately, seemed to 
 have spent itself, so that up to the present, since I 
 had been on the sea, there had been little wind, but 
 such a state could not last, especially as it was now 
 in the midst of our rainy season. As far as I could 
 see, not a soul inhabited the island. It was as silent 
 as the bare face of a cliff, as indeed it appeared to be. 
 Now and then, however, a green spot seemed to 
 stretch down to the water s edge, and the green min- 
 
122 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 gled with the sea, but the general appearance was 
 forbidding and lifeless. A desire to live brought 
 back my strength, and I reached over the boat, trying 
 with my hands to urge it shoreward. Heavy swells 
 were setting in, and I could not tell whether I was 
 getting nearer or not. For a moment my boat would 
 pause on the top of a huge swell, then scud into a 
 valley with the water towering above me. Long 
 I worked without looking up. When I did, the shore 
 seemed as far away as ever. As I settled back in the 
 boat, exhausted, a faint object glistened on the water 
 some distance westward. It proved to be a stick 
 which had been swept from shore during the storm. 
 I watched it rise on a wave, it seemed to move to 
 wards me, then the wave would sink and the stick 
 scud away. In drifting down the river, I had passed 
 scores of pieces of wood nearer than this one, but 
 they had all eluded my grasp. As hopeless as it 
 seemed my eyes were riveted to that bit of floating 
 wood. 
 
 The swells rose and fell and the distance lessened 
 between me and it ; then I realized that the tide had 
 slowly started back and the idea of being again 
 swung like a pendulum between the shore and the 
 sea, and finally engulfed by the first wave maddened 
 by the coming wind, was appalling. Using my hands 
 for a paddle, I again struggled to lessen the distance 
 between me and the floating stick. The wind was 
 freshening from the east, and held me up against the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 123 
 
 tide, and after an hour s labor the stick was one wave 
 length away. It rose on the crest of the wave, and I 
 leaned across the prow and reached frantically for it 
 The boat dipped water and the stick fell away with 
 the receding wave. Again it rose nearer, while the 
 boat swung around and balanced on the crest of the 
 wave. For a moment, the wind seemed on the point 
 of driving me past it. Again I flung myself across 
 the prow and the boat partly filled, but my fingers 
 closed over the stick. I have experienced many nar 
 row escapes on sea and land, but I never experienced 
 such a thrill of joy as I did when I felt my fingers 
 closing over the end of the rough pole. It was 
 crooked and round, but I felt that I could win my 
 way to the land. Bailing out the boat once more, I 
 headed it shoreward and laughed to find it under my 
 control. 
 
 As I approached the island I noticed a long gray 
 line of sand stretching seaward from the shore and 
 ending in a black fringe of mud, over which the 
 breakers rolled in huge, threatening billows. Soon I 
 was in the current of the tide running toward the 
 island. The wind was rising, but had not yet made 
 the sea choppy. I was borne aloft on the crest of a 
 huge swell and then shot into the trough of the 
 wave; then, again, the next swell would bear me 
 aloft and, pausing like an athlete, hurl me farther 
 landward. Presently a roar came from the narrow 
 strip of sand and fear chilled me, but death there 
 
124 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 was better than the open sea, and I waited for the 
 time when the final struggle should begin. 
 
 The cat climbed upon my shoulder and out on the 
 prow, balanced herself against the motion of the 
 boat and sniffed the air, then yowled with a pro 
 longed cry of mingled fear and discontent and hid 
 for a moment under the seat ; then again walked the 
 boat. 
 
 We paused on the last wave, and I worked the pole 
 furiously. Forward the boat shot into the surf, and 
 I was out into the seething foam, clinging to a bowl 
 der. Glancing back, a black mass of water towered 
 above me, coming on with foaming crest, a monster 
 furious and confident. I plunged ahead, and was in 
 stantly borne forward and hurled into the sand and 
 beaten down. As the wave receded, I gained a foot 
 hold and paused. A hand from somewhere reached 
 me and I struggled out of the way of the next incom 
 ing wave. 
 
 When I came to myself, I was stretched out on 
 the sand, and the surf thundered at my feet. 
 
 "Water !" I called, and soon a gourd was placed 
 in my hand and pressed to my lips. I was aware 
 of a pair of dark eyes watching me with awe-stricken 
 wonder, brown hands, carrying marks of labor, and 
 an eager face, bare feet and rough garments. "A 
 poor farmer s girl," I thought. 
 
 The wind freshened and the sun came out and 
 warmed me where I lay. At last, I sat up and look- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 125 
 
 ing around, found that my angel of mercy had gone. 
 I struggled to my feet and painfully staggered up 
 the beach and found a path leading along the shore 
 toward the great mass of rocks that towered up from 
 the sea. Thinking that it would lead to some 
 friendly aid, I climbed its steady ascent. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 THE HERMITAGE 
 
 TURNING a projecting rock, I caught sight of an 
 old man sitting in the entrance of a cave. He wore 
 no hat and leaned against a rock for support, his 
 head was on his breast and he appeared to be gazing 
 out at sea from under overhanging brows. I called 
 to him, but receiving no response concluded that he 
 was deaf. Glancing to the left, some fifty feet from 
 where I stood, I saw an image of Buddha, and at 
 its feet a bowl of rice. At sight of the food, I for 
 got that it was not mine ; that it was devoted to the 
 idols ; and the next moment I was on my knees be 
 fore the rice, also forgetful of the silent watcher on 
 the rock. A handful of dried persimmons lay on 
 a paper and I ravenously crammed them into my 
 mouth. Then a sense of shame seized me and I 
 turned around expecting to see the old man at my 
 elbow to upbraid me for my act of desecration, but 
 still he sat there, gazing out at sea. Something in 
 his attitude caused me to look at him more closely. 
 He wore the coarse garments of a hermit, and I 
 judged that he lived in the cave and was much 
 revered. His religious character was witnessed to 
 by the idols, fetishes that adorned the trees near at 
 
 126 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 127 
 
 hand, and by the sacrificial food that had been con 
 tributed by persons living on the island. Long white 
 hair, having escaped from his topknot, rested on his 
 shoulders. It surrounded a white, pinched face, 
 which, at a distance, gave him a saintly look. On 
 approaching, the whole body presented an appear 
 ance of extreme weakness. Indeed, he slouched for 
 ward as if on the point of falling. He sat on the 
 edge of a circular precipitous rock. I subsequently 
 discovered that it ended in a caldron-shaped forma 
 tion through which the tide, in its ebb and flow, 
 laughed and sobbed in ghost-like moans. Remember 
 ing the practice of hermits of assuming an indiffer 
 ence to their surroundings, giving the impres 
 sion of being engrossed with meditation and never 
 allowing themselves to be surprised, I put out my 
 hand and gently pulled on his sleeve to attract his 
 attention from the sea, then I sprang back in terror. 
 The man was dead ! Turning, I ran down the path, 
 then looked back. The body had tipped forward and 
 was on the point of falling. Back I ran to prevent 
 its plunging into the sea, and a thousand thoughts 
 surged through my mind. "Would I not be made 
 responsible for the death of that man?" For a 
 moment the repulsion common to our race, when in 
 the presence of the dead, seized me and I hesitated. 
 My hand shook with agitation, and as I reached for 
 ward to pull the body from the edge of the cliff, I 
 gave it a jar in the wrong direction and it lurched 
 
128 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 forward. I grabbed at the coat, but it tore in my 
 grasp and the body pitched forward into the caldron, 
 thirty feet below. A dull splash came to my ears and 
 I leaned over the rock, but could see nothing save the 
 dark sides of the caldron, and the agitated water 
 within. Long I gazed and there came back to me 
 the sighing, sobbing voice of the tide as it strained 
 and tugged at the rocks in the subterranean caverns 
 below. Slowly I climbed back, dizzy and sick at 
 heart. In safety from the precipice, I leaned up 
 against the rock and tried to think what I should do. 
 Great physical weariness overcame me and I slept. 
 When I awoke the sun was nearly to the western 
 horizon and a flood of light gilded all the island s 
 rocky peaks. A murmuring caused me to look down. 
 There stood an old woman, head uncovered, mum 
 bling and prostrating herself to the ground in pro 
 found reverence, and at her side stood the girl who 
 had rescued me from the sea, gazing up at me in 
 amazed wonder. In her hand she carried a bowl of 
 rice like the one I had stolen from the gods. The 
 woman was saying: 
 
 "O, magician of the cave of eternal youth, give 
 me youth ! Give me youth !" 
 
 At first I was on the point of rushing to her and 
 telling my tale of shipwreck and asking aid, then 
 her words kept me silent. Soon she ceased bowing 
 and stood with her hands extended, palms together. 
 Side by side they stood, wrinkled, puckered age, and 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 129 
 
 youth, beautiful youth. The one, waiting in feverish 
 expectancy, with piteous disappointment already pal 
 ing her lips. The other, aglow with a look of 
 wonder. 
 
 "What service would you ask, woman ?" I said. 
 
 "Ah ! noble sir," she replied, "the change to youth 
 has changed your voice." 
 
 The feeling that I was being addressed by the in 
 sane kept me silent. 
 
 "O holy seer, give me youth," she cried. "Make 
 this crooked back straight, and these poor old, with 
 ered, stiffened arms supple and strong. Bid these 
 gray hairs begone and these wrinkles flee away. 
 Give me back the beauty of youth." 
 
 "Crazy," I involuntarily replied. 
 
 "No, no, but you promised it these many months. 
 For two days we have brought food to the gods 
 which they have refused, and you sat there in sullen 
 silence, mute to all our appeals. To-day you rose 
 out of the sea, as you promised, clothed with youth, 
 and see ! the gods have consumed our offerings," said 
 she, pointing to the bowl I had emptied in my craze 
 of hunger. Then, turning as if weary in a petition 
 often repeated, she bade the girl place the rice at 
 the feet of the image. 
 
 Over the entrance to the cave I saw the inscription, 
 "Hermitage of Eternal Youth, "and an explanation 
 began to dawn upon me. The old man whom I had 
 just pushed into the sea had been a hermit seeking 
 
130 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 for himself and promising to others, eternal youth. 
 "If I should declare whom I really were, there would 
 be a demand for the old man/ I thought. "His body 
 might be sought for in the caldron and my life pay 
 the price. The island being visited by the outside 
 world so seldom, there must be no limit to the super 
 stition and credulity of these people," I reflected. 
 
 The old woman approached me and gazed into my 
 face with rapt attention, evidently following its out 
 line in every detail. 
 
 "Beautiful !" she exclaimed. "I knew you would 
 do it. See, Nomie," she added, turning to the girl, 
 "he is young and beautiful." 
 
 She slid down on her knees and rocked herself, 
 mumbling verses from the classics. Remembering 
 a conversation with one of these pretentious seers 
 and his manner of addressing people, I said, 
 "Woman, have you learned the lesson of truth?" 
 
 "Ah !" she replied, "I am stupid and old, and wis 
 dom and self-repression come not easily to such as 
 I. Let s tell the others," she said, abruptly turning 
 to her companion and hastily rising. They departed 
 down the mountain path. The grace of the girl, 
 tripping along, with now and then a backward 
 glance, reminded me of a fawn in the mountains of 
 my native home. 
 
 An hour later, hearing voices coming up the path, 
 I took my seat on the cliff where I had noted that 
 the rock had been worn smooth by the old man dur- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 131 
 
 ing the weary years of his hermitage. Soon a score 
 of men, women and children had gathered at the 
 mouth of the cave and watched me with reverential 
 awe till the sun sank and the moon came out; then 
 in suppressed whispers they trooped away. 
 
 The cave was formed by a ledge of rocks project 
 ing from the side of the mountain. The soft rock 
 underneath the ledge had been worn away by water 
 until an opening ten feet high had been formed. An 
 aperture at the back, where once a stream had 
 entered during periods of heavy rain, now served 
 as a chimney hole. On the seaward side the cave, at 
 some period, had been entirely open like the front of 
 a shed. Someone, probably the former occupant, had 
 walled it up with stone and plastered it on the inside 
 with clay. In the opposite side a niche, just large 
 enough for a man to lie down in, formed a sleeping 
 place. Besides this there was but one room, ten by 
 forty feet. In the gathering darkness it seemed 
 huge, lofty, terrible. A brass bowl, chopsticks, a 
 brass spoon, a wood pillow and a pile of worn books 
 comprised the furniture of the cave. 
 
 I found myself in a position that was embarrassing 
 and distasteful in the extreme, and I was a prisoner. 
 To leave would be to fix the suspicion of murder 
 upon me. I looked through the cave, shuddering at 
 the darkness, then crept back into the moonlit en 
 trance. The sobbing of the waves in the cavern 
 below had become doubly loud in the stillness of the 
 
132 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 night, and as the tide rose the wailings and moan- 
 ings increased. I crawled to the edge of the cliff 
 and looked over, and the cries seemed multiplied, as 
 if a thousand lost souls were in conflict. I wriggled 
 back in fear and imagined that I heard the voice of 
 old Cho, the seer, calling and echoing through the 
 cavern. Then I crept down the steep path and took 
 refuge under a tree in the open, and lying down, 
 slept from exhaustion. The trees sheltered me for 
 many a night thereafter. 
 
 Each day food was brought and placed before the 
 idols by the girl whom I had first met. The gods 
 were hearty eaters, for daily the bowl was emptied, 
 and my little visitor seemed satisfied. I learned the 
 hours of her arrival and planned to be seated in the 
 niche where first I had seen the body of old Cho. I 
 always looked at her with the gravity befitting the 
 character of a seer, who had denied himself all 
 thoughts of worldly things. In return she looked 
 up in my face with the innocence of a trusting babe. 
 The contrast of her person, with the deformed crea 
 ture that had been chosen for my bride, made her 
 appear exceedingly fair. The face was long, rather 
 than round, eyes large, but of what color I could not 
 tell. They did not flinch before one s glance and 
 seemed always to carry the impression of wonder 
 ing interest. The lips were firm and gave her an 
 expression of steady trustworthiness and the power 
 to endure. When she smiled, all the sunshine of a 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 133 
 
 sweet nature came into her face, robbing, I thought, 
 the flowers by the wayside of their brightness. 
 
 I spoke to her one day. "Nomie," I said, "I heard 
 the old lady call you by that name when I first saw 
 you together. Is she your mother ?" She looked up, 
 startled that I should speak to her, then answered : 
 
 "No, sir/ 
 
 "Relation by your father or mother?" I asked. 
 
 "Neither, sir." 
 
 "Then who are you?" I persisted. 
 
 "Does the holy seer of the Hermitage of Youth 
 wish to know ?" she asked. I nodded and she turned 
 away from me for an instant, then glanced back in 
 my face with the dumb look in her eyes of a fawn in 
 captivity. Her feet were bare and she raised the 
 short skirt of her dress, exposing the right calf. 
 
 "A slave !" I exclaimed. She bore marks of the 
 whip, a sign that I knew so well. My vehemence 
 startled her, and she stood poised on the point of 
 taking flight. 
 
 "Do not fear me," I said gently. "The hermit is 
 your friend. I did not know that you were a slave." 
 She turned down the path with a musical, delightful 
 laugh, and I raised rny hand to detain her, but could 
 think of no reason for doing so. That moment I 
 learned why my captivity had become pleasant, and 
 why for the past weeks I had relaxed my effort to 
 find some means of escape ; why I found the terrors 
 of the night grow less, and why I had taken my 
 
134 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 abode nights within the cave and slept peacefully in 
 the niche on the mat of old Clio, the seer. 
 
 All night long the laughter echoed in my ears and 
 I determined to know more of her ; but the next day, 
 for the first time since I had become a hermit, the old 
 woman brought the offerings unaccompanied by her 
 young companion, and for many days thereafter I 
 saw nothing of her. I wondered at the change and 
 when the woman came with her petitions and low 
 salaams, I looked steadily out to sea. One day I left 
 the food untouched, greatly to that lady s agitation, 
 and to her persistent appeals to his Holiness I made 
 no reply, but looked seaward. 
 
 "Ah, me ! the gods are angry," said she, and the 
 next day the girl accompanied her and the gods 
 were pleased to consume the food, and what they 
 failed to eat found its way down the murmuring cal 
 dron to keep company with the body of old Clio. 
 
 I grew weary of the pilgrimages that were made 
 to my hermitage. News of the miracle had spread 
 to the mainland and had brought a multitude; but 
 to all questions I closed my lips and pointed to the 
 image of Buddha. With the books of old Clio at 
 my side, I was supposed to be lost in a spirit of 
 abstraction. They came, all conditions of humanity, 
 the old and withered, the deformed, the maimed, the 
 credulous and superstitious, a multitude with hungry 
 desire that no power on earth could satisfy. Won 
 derful cures were reported, and some, in ecstatic 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 135 
 
 frenzy, declared that they felt the fires of youth 
 returning. 
 
 Often during these months I felt poignant pain 
 over the uncertainty of the fate of Tong-siki and the 
 rest of our party, and the sorrow that my supposed 
 death was causing my father s household. With the 
 many pilgrims coming and going, I could have made 
 my escape with safety ; but there was now a reason 
 for staying more imperative to me than all other 
 considerations even than the possession of life it 
 self. I had not yet learned that duty should hold 
 sway over all other motives. That was a lesson I 
 learned in after years. Now I wanted to be near 
 Nomie. That I should seek her for my wife seemed 
 when I thought the matter over, the height of in 
 sanity. What explanation could the Sung-ji s son 
 make for such an act? And supposing that it was 
 possible to purchase her, and the owner would be 
 willing to part with her, the transaction would re 
 quire a huge sum of money. I had not the money, 
 nor could I hope that my father would furnish it 
 when the marriage he had planned was to make him 
 richer, and not poorer. The only possible means left 
 to me, I thought, was to marry the slave, and accord 
 ing to the laws of our country become a slave. Then 
 I laughed at the thought. Sooner than allow the 
 holy hermit to become a slave would the people mob 
 both me and the slave owner. 
 
 Two months passed before the girl again attended 
 
136 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 to the wants of the stone images alone. That day 
 she came and stood near me with drooping eyes. I 
 waited for her to speak. 
 
 "Holy seer," she faltered, "will you condescend to 
 tell the fortunes of one of such humble clay as I ?" 
 
 "Nay, child," said I, "ask me not to tell you your 
 fortune. You know that since I have recovered my 
 youth I engage not in such mysteries that I anger not 
 the gods, who jealously reserve these rights to them 
 selves. I prize my youth and what they have done 
 for me, nor will I offend them, not even were it to 
 serve so fair a one as she who now appeals to me; 
 but rather, may you not tell me the history of your 
 life? How became you a slave? Who were your 
 parents?" 
 
 "Know you not of all that, O holy seer?" she 
 asked, with her wondering eyes full upon me. "It 
 was that which led me to address you." 
 
 "Indeed?" said I, "tell me all you know of your 
 self. Sit there on the grassy knoll and tell me all." 
 She knelt at my feet and told me in a soft musical 
 voice the short story that she knew of her life. 
 
 "When I can remember first, I lived in a great 
 home, surrounded with servants and all that was 
 necessary to make one happy. They did not call me 
 Nomie, 1 then. They called me Ewa. 2 
 
 "Perhaps I was five years old when a servant of 
 
 1 "Rascal," a name of contempt 
 Pear Blossom 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 137 
 
 the magistrate appeared and carried my father off 
 to prison. When he returned he was brought on a 
 stretcher, unable to walk, his legs having been beaten 
 to a pulp. Lingering on a few days, he died. In the 
 meantime, men appeared in official livery, and, 
 presenting papers that my father had signed, took 
 possession of our home and we were transferred to 
 a hut where, at one time, one of our servants had 
 lived. Strangers occupied the old homestead and 
 my mother went out to beg. When father died, the 
 neighbors buried him that night. As I remember 
 now, my mother was still young and attractive. The 
 dead had hardly been carried from our door before 
 a company of men appeared outside demanding en 
 trance, Their purpose was, as afterwards learned, 
 to carry off my mother and compel her to become the 
 concubine of one of the wealthy men of that section, 
 who, I now believe, had something to do with the 
 ruin of my father. The yard around our house was 
 divided by a mat fence, shutting off the back portion 
 from the front; and when they tugged at the door 
 to gain entrance, my mother picked me up, and bid 
 ding me keep silent, tied me to her back, crept out of 
 the back door, over the fence, and away into the 
 dark. On we went all night. Now and then she 
 would put me down and sob. The next day we hid 
 in a grove surrounding a number of graves, and at 
 night on again. It was in the time of green corn and 
 we gnawed the uncooked kernels from the cob, and 
 
138 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 drank from the brooks. She told me that we were 
 going to find friends that lived a long distance 
 toward the setting sun. On the fourth day, hunger 
 compelled her to beg in the day time. Being un 
 molested, she grew bold and we traveled all day and 
 fared better. Finally, footsore and worn, she asked 
 the privilege of stopping for a day in a certain vil 
 lage. The request was granted and while there 
 many questions were asked. The innkeeper seemed 
 kind and told her that we might stay as long as we 
 cared to do so. This frightened her, and on the 
 next night we stole away through the sleeping vil 
 lage and traveled until about noon the following 
 day, when we were overtaken by a score of men. 
 One of the party, wearing the livery of an official s 
 servant, ordered our return. My mother on her 
 knees begged for her life and honor. 
 
 " Kill me/ she said at last. Death would be 
 sweeter than such a life of captivity/ Then she 
 poured out a torrent of piteous pleadings, telling 
 her whole story. Some said, Let her go; others, 
 looking at her pretty face, urged otherwise, and in an 
 not unkind voice ordered us back to a certain vil 
 lage. We were conducted to a grove in the out 
 skirts of the village, where a large company of men 
 and boys had gathered. Much wine circulated 
 amongst the crowd. The liveried man seemed to 
 claim the ownership of my mother and myself, and 
 named a price for which he would sell her and me 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 139 
 
 We sat until the sun went down, when a bargain 
 was completed ; then a dispute arose over the trans 
 action. High words followed, then blows. The 
 combatants were separated. My mother was led in 
 one direction and I another. When she saw that 
 we were to be separated she became a fury and 
 flung herself at the liveried man, crushed his hat, 
 tore at his hair and scratched his eyes. Most of 
 those present seemed to enjoy the scene and 
 laughed loudly, and when he turned on her, the 
 purchaser forced him aside, and he went off cursing. 
 She finally slid down on the ground, looked after 
 me as they led me away, calling Ewa ! and I called 
 in return. She strained her eyes after me, and I saw 
 her, as I have seen her many times since, sitting on 
 the grass half-surrounded by a score of rough men, 
 with disheveled hair, rocking herself in anguish ; and 
 often at night in the screaming wind and rushing 
 storm I have heard her calling, Ewa! O, my 
 Ewa! " 
 
 Here the girl at my feet paused with her eyes 
 on the ground. 
 
 "Well, what else?" I asked. 
 
 "Nothing," she answered, "only I was sold twice 
 and now am the slave of a very wealthy man who 
 came to this island some weeks ago, because of the 
 reputed healing powers of the seer who lives in this 
 hermitage. He left the day before you came up out 
 of the sea, and, with some members of his family, we 
 
140 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 are either to wait until his return, or follow him to 
 the city of Pyeng-Yang. You remember him, the 
 man with the large, round face, wearing silks, the 
 one who gave you the large sum of money? It is 
 his command that the idols be daily given food." 
 
 "Money? I received none/ I said, surprised off 
 my guard. 
 
 She looked up at me with a searching glance and 
 I felt confused, and looked away at sea in order to 
 recover my composure. 
 
 "O, revered seer," said she, "can you tell me, 
 shall I meet my mother and her friends? May I 
 become free?" 
 
 "Freedom," I said, glancing at the cave at my 
 back, "is what freedom does. It is a relative term. 
 You may be wishing for that which you do not 
 understand, and if possessed would work you ill. 
 There are people who feel themselves free, but are 
 in reality as much under bondage as if they vrere in 
 a dungeon, bound hand and foot. Indeed, there are 
 few people in this realm of ours who are not bound 
 down under the miserable bondage of the upper 
 classes. Even in this beautiful island, where nature 
 seems to be almost prodigal in her gifts and the gods 
 overkind, there are some who have but to put out 
 their hands and partake of all they want, yet suffer 
 in galling bondage." I spoke with some bitterness, 
 and she looked up quickly and her eyes followed my 
 glance. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 141 
 
 "If you see in your bondage a delight you would 
 call yourself free," I hastily added. 
 
 "Can," said she, "the bird in a cage imagine itself 
 winging its way through the sunlit heavens, bathing 
 in the sparkling streams, or sipping honey from the 
 flowers by the wayside? Do you think, noble seer, 
 that it could be? Is there nothing, sir, that you, by 
 appealing to the gods to use their mystic powers, 
 could promise me? Where you have feasted so 
 well, is there not a crumb for me? Think," she 
 added tremblingly; "nothing for poor Nomie, the 
 slave?" 
 
 "Nothing for you, dear maiden?" I replied, gaz 
 ing steadily into her appealing eyes. "The spirits 
 give one what one s own hands can wrench from 
 Nature s niggard grasp. They present opportuni 
 ties for man to seize, and nothing more. Their power 
 is limited to the power of man s arm and man s 
 heart. Yea, they give not what man wills not to 
 give. If to-day I have prayers for you, they will be 
 addressed to my own heart. Indeed, I have prayed, 
 not to awaken pity, but to smother that which is far 
 more than pity. My prayers to the spirits have 
 mingled with the whisperings and sighings of the 
 sea. Each breeze has borne them over land and sea, 
 and upward to trouble heaven s gate, but they have 
 returned fruitless. Call it not atheism, fair one. 
 To-day, in answering your petition, the seer takes 
 counsel only with his own heart. Have I nothing 
 
142 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 for you ?" I said, still gazing into her eyes. "I have 
 worlds for you, Ewa." As I spoke her eyes opened 
 wide in puzzled wonder, then as my meaning gradu 
 ally dawned upon her, her lips parted, and the color 
 crept into her face. Suddenly, springing to her 
 feet, she fled down the mountain path, never again 
 to appear at the Hermitage of Eternal Youth. 
 
 Winter came, and my patrons, who had found 
 that it was profitable to maintain interest in the 
 Hermitage, as it brought gain to the island from the 
 outside world, piled heaps of grass in front of my 
 cave. I repaired the clay floor of the niche in the 
 wall and built my fire. I hung a mat over the en 
 trance and found it comfortable in winter. Then I 
 made excursions over the island at night and found 
 several hamlets. Boats I saw in which I might take 
 passage, but nothing of Ewa. New visitors at 
 tended to the wants of the gods ; I shrank from mak 
 ing inquiries among them, for fear of involving her 
 in some kind of trouble. 
 
 Finally the old woman who had ministered so 
 faithfully at the feet of Buddha appeared with an 
 unusually generous offering. I noticed that she lin 
 gered long with many a prostration before the 
 shrine, and I motioned her to approach me, which 
 she did with a light on her face a privilege which 
 she had not dared to avail herself of, since my cold 
 treatment of her some months previous. She bowed 
 low to the ground and waited for me to speak. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 143 
 
 "It has been a long time since I have seen you," 
 I said, kindly. 
 
 "Does the holy hermit think of such a poor worm 
 of the dust as I ?" she asked. "Does he know who 
 goes and who conies ?" 
 
 "Many have come and gone," I replied, "like the 
 stars that travel in the heavens, and they have gath 
 ered about my feet like the frost-bitten leaves that 
 scurry before the autumn wind. When the signs of 
 their destiny are written in the sky, the earth, the 
 sea, and whispered by spirits that murmur with the 
 breeze among the trees and flowers, would I not 
 count them all? The sick and distressed of earth, 
 tottering age has come ; laughing, thoughtless youth, 
 possessed of throbbing, bounding life with eager 
 eyes, yearning to gaze into the future, have often 
 bowed here also. Do you think, O woman, that he 
 who has been favored by the gods should not notice 
 all these?" 
 
 "The holy hermit has many to counsel him," she 
 replied. 
 
 "Nay, woman, but the trembling heart, may the 
 gods not reveal it?" 
 
 "The hermit knows all things." 
 
 "Not all things, only those which the gods reveal, 
 and they reveal only those things for which the her 
 mit may be of service. Some have bowed here at 
 this shrine, of whom I would make inquiry, knew I 
 that you carried the desired information both 
 
144 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 of the young and of the old. He who threw away 
 his crutch when he touched the shrine and called 
 himself whole. The young also, the maiden who at 
 one time attended to the needs of the gods, what 
 of her?" 
 
 The old man, I remember him," she answered. 
 "He lives on the mainland, so that I have not seen 
 him since the day that he was healed. As for the 
 girl, she is in the household of which I am member. 
 I am a servant, while she is a slave. She is thought 
 more of by our master than are the free serv 
 ants, and it is believed, that in time, he will make 
 her his concubine ; disgraceful though such a union 
 would prove to be to him, yet her brilliancy and 
 beauty outweigh such considerations." 
 
 "Then she is treated well?" I said with assumed 
 indifference. 
 
 "Sometimes, sir, she rebels like most people who 
 are too brilliant. I was always glad that I am stupid 
 and only know how to obey. Our master, sir, tries 
 sometimes to bring her to obedience with the lash. 
 She doesn t scratch and fight as most of us do ; but 
 looks into his face with round, open eyes and pale 
 lips with the expression of a frightened fawn, and, I 
 think, she never consented to do that which she had 
 refused to do." 
 
 "She refuses to work, does she?" I said; "tell me 
 more of her. 
 
 "She works readily enough. Her beauty is 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 145 
 
 known far and wide, and large sums of money have 
 been offered for her. At one time she was sold and 
 the papers drawn up. When she knew of it she 
 went into her master s presence. No one knows just 
 what took place, but he ordered her under the lash. 
 Not a word escaped her lips, though the marks went 
 deep. When the beating was over she walked to her 
 master, stood and looked into his eyes without a 
 trace of a tear. It was the look of a dumb animal 
 that would die, but not yield. Her master suddenly 
 grew furious at the whole transaction. He tore the 
 deed in pieces and reviled the would-be purchaser, 
 ordered the money returned, and when the man 
 complained, added ten per cent to the purchase price. 
 The man took the money and started out, but turned 
 back to revile in his turn. Our master caught him 
 by his hair and they were only separated by the com 
 bined efforts of neighbors and servants. Some time 
 ago a young man offered to become a slave if he 
 could have the privilege of marrying her. The ar 
 rangements were all made, but when she was in 
 formed of it, she went to our master and there was 
 a scene which disturbed the whole community, and 
 the young man was driven off. Mr. Yi is a man of 
 fierce temper and iron will, and we all live in 
 fear of him, excepting Nomie. She fears him not, 
 nor does she seem to fear anything, not even the 
 ghosts that glide about the shrines and graves at 
 night." 
 
 10 
 
146 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "He will make her his concubine?" I asked. She 
 glanced up a moment, then said : 
 
 "With you, sir, and the gods are hid the events of 
 the future." 
 
 "With me and the gods," I reflected. "Such an 
 event would be of interest," I said, and added, 
 "What news have you from the mainland?" 
 
 "Alas, sir, rumors are disquieting. When the 
 spring comes, there will be a general uprising of 
 the people in open rebellion. Have you not taught 
 that the end of the present dynasty was at hand ? Is 
 there not a prophecy to that effect?" I nodded. 
 "Great companies of people are gathering and drill 
 ing in many parts of the country, especially in the 
 south. They purpose to take the field as soon as the 
 warm weather of spring will make camping in the 
 open tolerable. Happy are you, holy seer, that you 
 are hid away on this island ; away from the turmoil, 
 temptations and strife, to spend your time in holy 
 meditation, where neither jealousy from love nor 
 the pains of hate enter your soul. Ah, the blessed 
 ness of such a great calm ! Peace to you, holy her 
 mit," said she, rising. "I am grateful for the mo 
 ment of conversation. Be gracious, I pray you, to 
 petition the gods in my behalf, as, probably, I shall 
 never have the privilege of visiting these shrines 
 again." 
 
 "Long have I served these spirits," she added, 
 pausing and looking back at the cave, "earnest have 
 
EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 147 
 
 I been in my prayers and hard have I labored to de 
 stroy the works of the flesh, but it seems blessings 
 are not for one, stupid like me." 
 
 "I tremble for fear of the wrath of the gods be 
 cause of the common infidelity of these days," she 
 continued, apprehensively. "There have not lacked 
 those who questioned the reality of the miracle the 
 gods worked upon you, sir. Such cavil has been 
 quieted by a demand to produce the old man with 
 the gray locks. He you, sir, were then helpful and 
 communicative, as you have been to me to-day, but 
 since the great change, you have been taciturn and 
 repellant. Forgive me, sir, for repeating idle gos 
 sip. They said a man blessed with eternal youth 
 should have sympathy for those on whom age re 
 peats its sad decay. The powerful Yi family and 
 the island folks have been true to you. Alas, for 
 the times! they will soon bring punishment to the 
 impious the demon of war and slaughter will 
 shortly hold high carnival throughout our land." 
 
 "When will you leave?" I asked. 
 
 "As soon as the ice melts from the Tong River 
 we are to return to the city of Pyeng-Yang. Peace 
 be with you," she said, and was gone. 
 
 I grew weary of the grotesque figure that I had 
 been playing, and blushed at the readiness of our 
 people to receive impostors. My only defense was 
 that I had unwittingly assumed the role of a saint 
 on whom the gods had worked a miracle, and had 
 
148 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 undeceived no one for fear of my life; then a 
 stronger motive came into my undisciplined life, to 
 which I yielded. Had I known, even at this time, 
 the misery to which my course was leading me and 
 others, even then I might have slipped away in one 
 of the many visiting boats, and returned to my 
 father s home and the marriage with the deformed 
 bride intended for me. 
 
 Spring came, and there was great irregularity 
 in the attendance at the shrine, and I had to 
 economize closely to make ends meet. The previous 
 summer, visitors had contributed considerable cash, 
 which I had hoarded with great jealousy, anticipat 
 ing a day when I should need it all. Other hands 
 were now ministering to the care of Buddha, and I 
 inquired if the Yi family had left. Being informed 
 that such was the case, I announced that I would 
 make a visit to some other shrine. Many protests 
 came and for a few days, rice of the finest quality 
 and dried fruits reached my hermitage in abund 
 ance. "How long would I be away? Where did I 
 intend to go?" was repeatedly asked. 
 
 "The city of Pyeng-Yang, where are the temples 
 of Buddha, long neglected; there the gods were 
 sending me." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 VICTIMS OF WAR 
 
 "THEY are coming, a great army of them! tens 
 of thousands, millions!" 
 
 "How many, did you say?" 
 
 "Millions!" 
 
 "How far away, and when will they get here? 
 What do they look like? Have they cannons and 
 banners ?" 
 
 "Banners? I should say so. Guns? They are 
 like the trees of the forest; and cannons? large 
 enough for a donkey to crawl into. They will be 
 here in three days. These Chinese soldiers are great 
 fighters. The Japanese army will hardly be a morn 
 ing meal, if it should dare to approach the city of 
 the Beautiful Turf." 
 
 The speaker was a courier just in from the north 
 and had stopped in our wineshop for a bowl of 
 vermicelli, and a cup of wine. The room, door, 
 and street in front of the shop were filled with eager 
 listeners. 
 
 I had been in the city a month and found the home 
 of the rich Yi. Yet though I met him and his serv 
 ants, I could get no definite information regarding 
 Ewa. Soon the money that I had saved at the Her- 
 
150 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 mitage was gone, and I secured water buckets with 
 my last handful of cash, and carried water for a 
 living. I met former acquaintances, but they did 
 not recognize me in my altered circumstances. I 
 bound a cloth around my head, after the style of the 
 lowest coolie, and carried water to the home of the 
 rich Yi. Many days I carried and deposited my load 
 in the huge earthen jars, and received the pittance 
 for my labor. Each trip I made from the river to 
 the house, I lingered a moment as if tired, and finally 
 saw Ewa crossing the yard, and put myself in her 
 path. She looked me in the face without a sign of 
 recognition, though I thought she gave a slight 
 start. I gave up my business of a water carrier and 
 hunted the city for work. Many days I spent in 
 the search, and at last sat on the veranda of a wine 
 shop, weary and destitute. The owner, hearing my 
 voice, as I replied to some one s greetings, called me 
 to enter. I did so, and he asked me many questions. 
 
 "Can you write? What have you been doing? 
 Are you honest ?" 
 
 I noticed that he was blind, and while addressing 
 me gazed at the light of the open door. 
 
 "Hi, in there!" he called, pounding on the inside 
 door, "come in here, will you ?" 
 
 A slatternly looking woman, some fifty years of 
 age, responded. 
 
 "What do you think of this young chap?" he con 
 tinued. "His voice pleases me. See here, young 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 151 
 
 fellow," he said, addressing me, "I am blind and 
 cannot attend to my business. I have tried a great 
 many men, but they all cheat me of my living. I 
 like your voice. Stay with me, and I will do the 
 right thing by you." 
 
 Though having called the woman to ask her judg 
 ment in the case, he settled the business without con 
 sultation. She acquiesced with a shrewd glance at 
 me and retired. I was duly installed as general 
 manager of the inn, to feed the people with vermi 
 celli and wine, and eject any when necessity re 
 quired, and, as the innkeeper impressively said, 
 "keep the books." 
 
 War had been declared between Japan and China. 
 Battles on sea had been fought in which, report had 
 it, the Chinese had been worsted, but no one believed 
 that an army of the great Central Kingdom could 
 suffer defeat. Man for man, the courier declared, 
 and all agreed with him, the Chinese must be more 
 than a match for the Japanese. China was a great 
 kingdom, while Japan was a small country, and al 
 ways much despised. Had not Korea herself, dur 
 ing the past centuries, beaten the Japanese dogs 
 from her shores? It was said that his Majesty had 
 requested aid from the mighty Middle Kingdom, 
 and who were these monkeys from across the chan 
 nel who dared insult our Emperor? All the tradi 
 tions of the people had been identified with the 
 Chinese; had we not been bound to China for cen- 
 
152 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 turies for protection and help against the Island 
 Kingdom? The Japanese talked loudly of the 
 glories of political freedom, but what did we want 
 of freedom? We wanted to be left alone. 
 
 Armies were now in motion, but the hordes from 
 China were nearer the city than the hordes from 
 Japan; but, alas, in either case, the country would 
 be eaten up as from a storm of locusts. Every man 
 in reach of the army would become a slave, as hew 
 ers of wood and drawers of water, and wives and 
 daughters would become the army s spoil. 
 
 All these things, and much more, were talked and 
 argued by those surrounding the courier, as he sat 
 on the inn floor. I went out through the town. The 
 people had taken panic and were fleeing. At each 
 gate there was a jam, people surging through with 
 loads on their backs, hastening to get away from the 
 city before the army should arrive. Horses, cattle,- 
 donkeys, men, women and children all loaded with 
 what the people could hastily gather from their 
 homes; jostling, crowding, and shouting. Boats 
 could not be obtained in numbers sufficient to trans 
 port the people across the river, so they collected, a 
 great company along the river bank, and at night 
 lay down with their goods, and when a boat would 
 return from depositing its burden on the other side 
 the people would fight for a place therein. On the 
 opposite side of the city, the hills were white with 
 a motley crowd. All day long and all night they 
 
A MERCHANT 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 153 
 
 shuffled sullenly on. The great silent city had be 
 come a living stream, like a volcano pouring forth 
 its centuries of pent-up forces out upon hill and 
 plain, and when the stream of the outmoving life 
 became smaller, a counter stream set in for the city. 
 All the riffraff, the vicious, the human vultures, 
 came to gorge themselves at the shambles of ex 
 pected slaughter. They skulked and crawled into 
 holes till there should be victims of spoil. 
 
 On making inquiries I found that the Yi family 
 had, by a large sum of money, made close friends 
 with the governor, and trusted to his protection 
 against any violence to their home, from the com 
 ing Chinese hordes. 
 
 Up to this time, I had made diligent inquiries re 
 garding the affairs of my father s household, and 
 learned that since the loss of his son in the river the 
 summer previous, he had remained close at home. 
 Of Tong-siki I could learn nothing. It was re 
 ported that he had joined the rebels in the south, 
 and had met his death at the hands of Chinese 
 troops, who had been sent there to aid the govern 
 ment, just before the rupture between China and 
 Japan. I did not believe the report, as it was not 
 Tong-siki s habit to join the common herd. That he 
 was planning for a struggle with the government, I 
 knew ; that he was fearless and would value his life 
 little if in sacrificing it he could accomplish his end, 
 I knew, but did not believe that he would offer his 
 
154 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 life in that way. A longing seized me to visit my 
 home; but within a few days the slave girl would be 
 surrounded by a horde, eager to plunder and de 
 stroy, and I must wait to learn her fate. 
 
 At last, the panic in the city became a frenzy. The 
 Chinese army, it was said, would arrive on that day, 
 and scouts were already within the walls, their offi 
 cers making demands for accommodations for the 
 army. Room was not wanting, for the people had 
 deserted their homes. Most of the remaining house 
 holds, who had braved the coming peril to the last 
 moment, fled like rats from a burning building; 
 north, east and south they went. The west was 
 filled with the approaching army. I went out on 
 the city wall and saw them, horse and foot soldiers ; 
 a great host, with gorgeous banners inscribed with 
 strange devices, were marching toward the city. 
 Over the advance columns waved flags and banners 
 nearly hiding the soldiers from view. In the main, 
 the army was supplied with much better arms than 
 I had ever seen before, but many of the soldiers car 
 ried guns and spears of a pattern familiar to Korea 
 for three hundred years. They looked fierce and 
 we had no doubt but that they would speedily pun 
 ish the insolent Japanese, who dared to offend the 
 great Central Kingdom. 
 
 The governor and magistrate, with their retinues, 
 met the Chinese generals some distance from the 
 city, and knocked their heads on the ground to wel- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 155 
 
 come the great men, for the protection of such 
 worms of the dust as the citizens of Korea. 
 
 "The fat of the land is at your disposal, and our 
 people are the slaves of the representatives of th$ 
 Emperor who reigns within the holy city of heaven. 
 Let your honorable soldiers occupy the homes of 
 our despicable people. Permit us to kiss your hand 
 for this fatherly purpose of driving back the insolent 
 dogs from Japan," said the governor. 
 
 They filled up the empty houses, cursed the people, 
 and demanded wine and food. They took the gov 
 ernor at his word, and crowded him out of his spa 
 cious rooms. He was happy for the privilege of a 
 closet for himself and servants, where he could write 
 notices to the magistrates to bring food for the great 
 Chinese army. The country was stripped of its 
 products and the impoverished people wandered 
 from their homes. 
 
 I attempted to carry water to the Yi family, but 
 was repeatedly seized, and the water taken by the 
 Chinese. When I protested I was rolled in the dust. 
 The water famine became acute, and finally, by mov 
 ing out at night, I was able to deliver my buckets at 
 the door of Ewa s master, but to my dismay, the 
 place was filled by officers of the Chinese army. I 
 had already seen enough of them to know that 
 they would allow nothing to stand in the way of 
 their desires. I turned the water in a great earthen 
 jar, and in blind rage sought out the master of the 
 
156 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 house, and demanded why he had given his slaves 
 and servants over to the Chinese. I was thrown 
 from the compound and had plenty of time to con 
 sider my rashness. 
 
 Later I was seized and set to work on the nearest 
 fortification, without pay, and as soon as I got the 
 chance, I ran away, but was again seized and set to 
 work at another point. Bits of food I picked up 
 wherever I could get a mouthful, and sometimes I 
 sat before the huge piles of rice heaped on mats, 
 which were spread on the ground for the soldiers. 
 Nights I spent beneath the compound wall of the 
 rich Yi. 
 
 It was hard, rigorous experience for which my 
 life of idleness had not fitted me; but I was learning 
 and my muscles were hardening, for which, later, I 
 was profoundly thankful. I often look back on 
 those days and wonder how it was possible for me 
 to take the step which would practically uncaste me, 
 and eagerly seek the labor of a coolie. It was not 
 the result of logic, or patriotism, or an altruistic pur 
 pose, but the heart had taken leave of the head, and 
 with a blind trust to fate I followed my fortune as 
 a night traveler, a Will-o -the-wisp. 
 
 Soon news arrived that the Japanese army was 
 moving toward the city. The telegraph line had 
 been cut, separating us from all communication 
 with the outside world. Scouts reported that four 
 divisions of the enemy s army were approaching the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 157 
 
 city from the four points of the compass. The for 
 tified hills surrounding the city were strongly occu 
 pied and a semblance of discipline took the place of 
 disorder. 
 
 On the street, one day, I was seized and my top 
 knot vigorously twisted to see if it were really fast 
 to my scalp. Japanese spies, dressed as Koreans 
 with the topknot, had been discovered in the city. 
 They were summarily decapitated, and the Koreans 
 applauded. After that soldiers detailed for the pur 
 pose, swept the city, tugging at the topknots of every 
 Korean within its walls. Old men who had the 
 temerity to remain within the city, and had artifi 
 cially supplied that of which nature had robbed 
 them, were mistaken for Japanese spies, and shared 
 their fate without the privilege of a trial. The heads 
 of Japanese and Koreans alike adorned the entrance 
 to the city gates, and the Chinese soldiers were as 
 tonished to find groups of Koreans weeping before 
 the gruesome spectacle. 
 
 "Alas !" the people said, "how terrible is the kind 
 ness of our friends." 
 
 All the city gates but two were barricaded. Some 
 of them were banked on the inside with earth and 
 stone, closed effectually, both to friends within the 
 city, and against the enemy without. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 THE CONDEMNED MINSTREL 
 
 ON the evening preceding the first day s battle 
 there was feasting in the city. In her poverty, the 
 city was trying to entertain the gorgeously dressed 
 army. She was bowing, protesting her unworthi- 
 ness, and lauding her terrible guests and smiling 
 with ghastly lips and terror-filled eyes. 
 
 I made my way through the crowd of moving 
 soldiers to the house of the rich Yi, and with the 
 hurrying, jostling company of servants, found my 
 way past the cro\vd and into the compound, opening 
 upon which was a pavilion where the guests were 
 gathered. Torches, made from the fat pine of torn- 
 down houses, flared in profusion everywhere. The 
 pavilion was one of those structures so dear to the 
 hearts of our people; its roof of mountain-like di 
 mensions was supported by huge columns of wood. 
 It was square, running with an easy slope upward 
 from the four corners to a sharp peak in the center. 
 From the center of the eaves, on each side, it ran 
 upward to the corners, giving the structure a half 
 humorous, half jaunty appearance. The pavilion 
 towered high above its neighbors, like a jocular 
 giant, peering over their heads to get a view beyond 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 159 
 
 the city wall, and seemed hugely pleased with what 
 it saw, though too massive and too secretive of na 
 ture to tell all. Near the corner stood a huge tree, 
 towering above all else, and spreading its arms over 
 the pavilion, and out over a sickly pool, upon whose 
 bosom the gorgeous lotus, hiding beneath it fester 
 ing sores, like a silken gown and jewels covering the 
 mistress of pestilence. Occasionally gusts of wind 
 would set the torch lights all aslant, and the tree to 
 rocking and swaying its arms, as if distressed with 
 the burden of its own secrets. 
 
 The company was seated on thin, round cushions. 
 On the farther side from the open yard, where the 
 pavilion was enclosed, was the seat of honor occu 
 pied by General Yuan. At his right was the host, 
 Mr. Yi, and near were grouped the others accord 
 ing to their rank. I was pleased to note that Mr. 
 Yi, with his burly form decked out with silks, pre 
 sented an appearance not inferior to his noted guests. 
 I was surprised to see that he was addressing mem 
 bers of the company without the use of the interpre 
 ter. That menial stood with a respectful attitude, 
 somewhat in the rear of the company. In the front 
 of the company, musicians discoursed strange music 
 with drums, cymbals and horns. What was lacking 
 of harmony and expression was made up in vigor 
 and noise. 
 
 Tiny tables of food were brought in and placed be 
 fore the guests, and the feasting was on. I blushed 
 
160 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 at the scanty fare, and was shocked at the lack of 
 politeness on the part of the host in not apologizing. 
 Then on second thought I was glad for the spark of 
 independent dignity that shone in the midst of our 
 humiliation. 
 
 The great mass of people, high and low, had fled 
 from the city ; the honest and the dishonest, the idle 
 and the industrious, had gone ; but the gaudy play 
 thing of the rich and idle the professional dancing 
 girl remained. Grim war has no terrors for her, 
 the fierce hand of hate grows soft and gracious 
 under her wanton smiles. They were at the feast 
 in paint and silks, like gaudy butterflies, not to par 
 take of the feast, but to nestle near with shy glances, 
 giving the occasion a sense of voluptuousness and 
 luxury. 
 
 When the tables were finally removed, the musi 
 cians struck up a soft, lively tune, and the dancing 
 girls took their places in the center of the floor. 
 Each dancer held in her hand a sword of a very an 
 cient pattern, and began gracefully posturing in har 
 mony with the music. As the music gained in vol 
 ume and spirit, the dancing became animated and 
 then passionate, till an ancient tragedy of Korean 
 history was portrayed to the absorbed interest of 
 the guests. At the close a smile of pleasure swept 
 through the company, and I noted the look of satis 
 faction that lighted up the face of the rich Yi. The 
 wines may have been poor and the food execrable, 
 but the dancing inferior to none. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 161 
 
 "Better than the Chinese dancing/ said the gen 
 erous-minded guest, General Yuan. 
 
 Others bowed their appreciation. Wines and 
 tobacco circulated in abundance, and the music and 
 dancing were resumed. I had moved frequently 
 from point to point, only pausing an instant in one 
 place, that I might not be recognized as an intruder. 
 During the dance the absorbed interest of the com 
 pany allowed me to approach close to one of the 
 pillars of the pavilion. When it ceased I hastily 
 withdrew to the shadows of the great gate, at the 
 entrance to the compound. As I stopped beneath 
 the eaves of the gate, I collided with some one 
 and was startled almost into a panic ; but recovering, 
 roughly asked who it was, as if I had found an 
 intruder and proposed to have him ejected. 
 
 "Only the minstrel/ was the half-frightened, 
 apologetic reply. 
 
 "The what?" I said, breathing a sigh of relief. 
 
 "The minstrel/ he repeated, extending his lute 
 as proof of the statement. 
 
 I took the instrument in my hands and touched 
 the strings lightly, and its sweet voice came back 
 to me with a murmur of memories. I recognized 
 my companion, as one of those now nearly extinct 
 geniuses, a wandering minstrel. I remembered a 
 gray-haired man who often journeyed to my fath 
 er s house, and placed the instrument in my hands. 
 He came to make the lute laugh, and cry, and sing 
 like a thing of life. 
 
1 62 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Throw me out, lad, and I will thank you. I am 
 here much against my will," he said. 
 
 Something in his voice gave me a start, and seiz 
 ing him by the shoulder, I dragged him into the 
 light, then I picked him up in my arms and carried 
 him back into the shadows. It was the wasted, tot 
 tering form of the old friend of my childhood. I 
 pulled his delicate face over on my shoulder and 
 bathed it with tears. 
 
 "Old Mayo," I cried, "where did you come 
 from?" He freed himself and stood up, searching 
 my face carefully in the uncertain light. 
 
 "Ah!" said the man who was seldom moved by 
 anything but his music, "you are the son of the 
 great Sung-ji, the boy who was drowned last sea 
 son." 
 
 "Not dead," I said. 
 
 "No?" he asked, pulling his rumpled coat in 
 order. "Simply ran away, hey?" 
 
 "No, no; I was driven out to sea, and have not 
 been home yet," I replied. 
 
 "A coolie, I see;" he added drily. 
 
 I did not like his cold response to my burst of 
 feeling, and remembering that I was the Sung-ji s 
 son, and he one who had sought alms at my father s 
 gate, stepping from him, I stiffly replied, that I 
 hoped, in my delight to see him, I had not hurt him. 
 
 He noted the change in my voice, and reaching 
 for my hand, led me to a bend in the wall, where we 
 would not be interrupted. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 163 
 
 "No, lad," said he, "my heart is full. Yours is 
 the first familiar face I have seen for many days. I 
 fell in the rear of the Chinese army some time ago, 
 and have come through a desolated region to this 
 city. China has loved us to our ruin. I was seized 
 in the city yesterday for a Japanese spy, because 
 my hair had fallen out and my sangtu 1 was gone. 
 
 "To prove that I am a Korean, I played until the 
 tears blinded the eyes of the commander and they 
 ordered me here to-night to entertain this company 
 of revelers and wait for my fate to-morrow. They 
 forget, however, that even a dying man may grow 
 hungry. They want my lute to laugh while they 
 whet the axe for my neck. No prison could be more 
 secure than this compound. Sentinels are posted at 
 all openings. Thrice have I lounged around the 
 yard vainly looking for an unguarded opening, but 
 finally took refuge far from that terrible discord 
 that they call music. Indeed, my fingers were in my 
 ears when you bumped against me. Tell me your 
 story, lad. No, you will not have time. Those noisy 
 demons across the way are stopping their powwow. 
 My turn must be near," he added with a groan. 
 
 A thousand questions were on my lips regarding 
 my home, but at that moment a call for the lute was 
 heard. He picked up the instrument and rose un 
 steadily to his feet. Hardship and old age were fast 
 telling on him. 
 
 *Hair worn on the top of the head in a topnot is called a "Sangtu." 
 
164 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 A thought struck me, and seizing the lute "O, 
 Mayo, I said, excitedly, "let me have it. I will 
 play. Quick! Quick! They are calling, and will 
 be searching for you." 
 
 "No, no," said he. "The minstrel forfeits his life 
 in the morning. The song then death." 
 
 "Quick! Your hat, shoes, coat. Lights are mov 
 ing, they are searching!" In a moment his shoes 
 were on my feet, and his broad-brimmed hat hiding 
 my dark hair and much of my face. I had forced 
 his coarse coat from him. 
 
 "Can you do it, lad?" he asked, and I detected 
 tears in his voice. "Give them music of war and 
 love, boy. How large you have grown. Indeed, if 
 you do as well as when we sat those long days under 
 the sweet elm on the banks of the Tong River, it 
 will be well for old Mayo to die and pass the art on 
 to you. But think, lad; music then death." 
 
 The old man had followed me out into the light 
 to meet those who were hunting for the minstrel. I 
 had taken the precaution to twist my headcloth 
 around his scanty, gray locks. 
 
 "Here he is," they shouted, as they caught sight 
 of me with the lute under my arm. "Hurry there, 
 you," they called, "his Excellency is waiting. Who 
 is this?" they asked, looking at my companion. He 
 was a picture of feeble old age, as he stood, half 
 clad, in the flickering torch light. 
 
 "Hungry," I said. "Give him something to eat 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 165 
 
 and lead him out." I was pushed on, and was glad, 
 on glancing back, to see him led to the open kitchen 
 door. 
 
 I knelt at the feet of those who had demanded 
 music of him whom they had condemned to death. 
 My back was to the open yard, and I sat facing an 
 opening that led into the main building, the eaves of 
 which nearly touched the eaves of the pavilion. The 
 search had called out many idlers of the compound. 
 Before me, under the roof of the other building, 
 were the dancing girls, and over their shoulders 
 peered the faces of many women belonging to the 
 household of the great Yi. I was told to face the 
 company in the pavilion and arose accordingly, but 
 in kneeling managed again to face the company in 
 the outer building. A smile of indulgence flitted 
 over their faces, supposing that I was overcome with 
 embarrassment, in reply to which, I straightened my 
 shoulders and with great deliberation settled upon 
 my heels, then curled my feet in front and assumed 
 the position of their equals, in sitting down upon a 
 cushion that was at my side. A moment of tense 
 silence followed, and one of the attendants moved 
 forward and hoarsely whispered so that all heard : 
 
 "Down on your knees, fool !" I arose and stepped 
 in front of the host, and bowing low, said : 
 
 "Most excellent sir, he who is appointed to please 
 you with music, and song, and then to die, whose 
 soul will precede to the spirit land, a few hours, the 
 
1 66 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 souls of these noble generals ; he, who in his youth 
 was, and still is, the peer of this excellent company, 
 save he who has the rank of General, assumes the 
 right cf sitting; so it is written in the law of the 
 sages." Almost in unison with my voice the inter 
 preter had done his duty. 
 
 The music, the music," called a guest. The 
 music," repeated the host. I sat down on the 
 cushion facing the building beyond, and when an at 
 tendant stepped forward to interfere, the guest of 
 honor waved him aside. I chose a war song that 
 good old Mayo had stirred my heart with when a 
 boy. An uneasy look crept into the faces of some of 
 the officers. Their minds were busied with the 
 thoughts of the uncertain conflict of the near future. 
 I played of love and fidelity, and the company grew 
 quiet. I was back on the river bank under the sweet 
 elm with Mayo. I heard the water dashing at my 
 feet, a thousand odors were in the air, and from the 
 haze of a happy, sunny day, appeared the face of one 
 for whom I had given up all. The strings under my 
 fingers yearningly sang and wept in response to the 
 great sob that filled my soul. The dancing girls had 
 pushed nearly to the pavilion, and in their rear stood 
 the women of the home, yielding to their curiosity 
 as far as custom would allow. Two of the dancers 
 moved their position, and revealed a kneeling figure 
 with the face upturned to me in absorbed interest. 
 Tipping my head back, my hat slipped down upon 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 167 
 
 my back like a shield, with the rim reaching above 
 my head. I gazed into the eyes of the maiden, as I 
 had done once before, at the old hermitage, and she 
 looked back with the old, startled look of wonder. 
 
 Suddenly, an echo reverberated through the hills 
 and seemed to besiege the city walls. The company 
 started, and instinctively rose to its feet, then again 
 the echo distinctly proclaimed skirmishing in front 
 of the city, and immediately the compound was in 
 wild confusion. There was a clatter of feet outside 
 and an orderly entered with a note to General Yuan, 
 who received it quietly, and did not forget to thank 
 his host for the pleasant occasion. A sharp com 
 mand followed, and a guard of fifty men, from be 
 yond the gate, poured into the yard. I thought to 
 make my escape in the sudden confusion ; but a hand 
 was laid on my shoulder and I was led to one of ihe 
 rooms of a long, low building lining the compoun d 
 and locked in, while a soldier began pacing at the 
 door. I threw myself on the floor, and was com 
 forted with the thought that when the examination 
 should take place the persistency with which my 
 sangtu would cling to my scalp, would be sufficient 
 proof of my nationality. 
 
 The firing had ceased and the steady tramp of my 
 guard, with now and then the bark of a dog, was 
 the only sound that reached my prison cell, and 
 slumber sped me on to the ghastly scenes of the 
 morrow. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 THE CONTRACT, AND AN EXECUTION 
 
 I DREAMED of the old cave overlooking the sea, 
 and the sobbing of the tide through the rocks below. 
 Voices called and whispered my name. The music 
 of laughter was in the voices, and out of the mist ap 
 peared a face, a sweet face, which had often smiled 
 at me. The lips parted and beckoned me to follow. 
 Eagerly I pursued, and the face receded seaward. I 
 followed the phantom till, slipping on the brink of 
 the cliff, I looked into the abyss at the withered, 
 lifeless face of old Cho, the seer. 
 
 I awoke with a start, feeling that someone was 
 with me in the room. A late moon had risen and 
 was glancing in upon the place where I lay, but in 
 the corners darkness prevailed. Believing that my 
 dream had deceived me, I lay back on the wood pil 
 low, while my eyes rested upon the darkness of the 
 corner opposite. Gradually a light outline seemed 
 to possess the deep shadows, then a white figure rose 
 and stood regarding me without a motion. My 
 heart choked me with sudden fear, when a soft whis 
 per reached my ear. "O, holy seer." Then I knew. 
 I did not rise. The revulsion of feeling from fear 
 left me with a sense of weakness and almost nausea. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 169 
 
 In the moonlight I recognized Ewa s face, on which 
 was written deepest distress. I put out my hand, 
 but she shook her head and withdrew. Fearing 
 that I might frighten her away, I remained quiet 
 and it seemed as if I were still in my dreams. She 
 presently crept on hands and knees close to my side. 
 
 "Holy seer," she breathed rather than whispered, 
 "know you of the morrow?" 
 
 "Not seer, maiden/ I said. "I am no more of 
 the cave. What of the morrow?" 
 
 "Know you not that you are to die?" 
 
 "Die?" said I. "For what crime? My hair is 
 well rooted to my scalp, and there is an abundance 
 of it. Will it not prove that I am a Korean?" 
 
 "Know you not that the minstrel is already con 
 demned to death? Did you think, sir, there would 
 be another trial? Could a haughty Japanese defy 
 General Yuan with more frantic zeal than you did? 
 Think you that they will need any better proof?" 
 
 The terrible truth gradually dawned upon me, 
 and made me sick and faint. After a long pause I 
 managed to compel my lips to say, "When ? When, 
 Ewa, when?" 
 
 "I do not know, sir, but think about sunrise." 
 
 She bent to gaze in my face, and her breath came 
 short and sharp, waving the hair on my forehead. 
 
 "How did you get in?" I asked. 
 
 "Money will be of little use in a day or two 
 never mind how I got it money did it." 
 
170 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Will not money take us out?" I asked. 
 
 "Death for both of us," she replied ; then after a 
 pause, added, "O, let us try." 
 
 "No, no! It would endanger your life." 
 
 "See," said she, pulling back her sleeve and ex 
 tending her bare arm near my eyes. 
 
 "The cross," said I, wonderingly, as I noted the 
 sign pricked in her white flesh. She withdrew the 
 arm, and from her pocket took a needle, and reach 
 ing for my wrist deftly pricked beneath the skin the 
 sign of the cross. 
 
 "Will to-morrow be the cross?" I asked. 
 
 "I do not know, but for me the cross always." 
 
 "O, Ewa, our marriage contract," I exclaimed, 
 lifting the little toil-stained hand, and touching rev 
 erently the sign of the cross. 
 
 She rose and glided away like a ghost in the 
 moonlight, and I wondered if it were all true. I 
 thought I felt a slight impress on the forehead as 
 if a breeze had touched me there. Then the truth 
 of my sentence came over me, and my face blanched 
 in the dark, and when I rose, my legs shook under 
 me. I felt across the darkened corner where Ewa 
 had disappeared. A small door, evidently opening 
 into a floorless kitchen, met my hand and resisted 
 all efforts to push it open. 
 
 Why had I gone to sleep? Why had I not dug 
 through the mud walls during the night ? I bitterly 
 thought. Through the lattice work, covered with 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 171 
 
 paper serving as a small window, I worked my 
 ringers, and placing my eye to the hole could see the 
 east lighting with the coming dawn. Silently, I 
 struggled with the latticed window, but could not 
 move it. My hand slipped and the sudden noise 
 brought the gun of the guard against the front door 
 with a savage expletive in Chinese. 
 
 I sat down and tried to think, and as I fully re 
 alized my position, a feeling of stupefaction crept 
 over me, for a time, destroying my power of reason 
 ing. Finally, rousing myself, the scenes of my short 
 life rapidly passed before my mind ; my home and 
 all its protection and solicitude; my mother s and 
 father s faces ; broad-shouldered, rugged Tong-siki ; 
 old Mayo and his weeping lute. The light, creeping 
 into the corner, revealed the instrument of my \toe. 
 I remembered that the neighbors often gathered to 
 listen to that wizard of music. When I took the in 
 strument from the old man s hand, and the plaintive 
 strings brought tears to their eyes, they would 
 shake their heads and say, "Uncanny, aye, uncanny. 
 Bid the boy leave the voice of the spirits alone. An 
 ger not the gods, or like a hound, hot upon the track 
 of its prey, they will run the lad down. Aye, music 
 will be his death." 
 
 Suddenly, my meditations were interrupted by a 
 roll of distant rifle fire, and the immediate booming 
 of heavy guns from the fortifications in front of the 
 city. A feeling of grim pleasure, like an evil bird, 
 
172 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 winged its way into my soul. I would not be the 
 only one at the slaughter that day, and perhaps 
 where many fall, there will be a chance for some to 
 escape. 
 
 The sun rose, yet I was not led to the execution. 
 Occasionally, a shot would pierce the roof of the 
 house and send pieces of tile rattling down upon the 
 ground. Twice during the morning I heard a sharp 
 explosion in the vicinity of the house, caused by the 
 dropping of shells near at hand. I tore the paper 
 clear from the lattice work in front and saw my 
 guard standing a few feet away, listening to the 
 battle that seemed to approach every moment. 
 
 Finally, there was a rattle at the chain on my 
 door. Two men entered, while faces filled the door 
 way. My feet were bound and my hands tied be 
 hind me, then hands and feet were tied together, and 
 I lay on the floor like a goat ready to be slung upon 
 the shoulders of its keeper. A long pole was 
 brought in, and passed between legs and arms so 
 that, when they lifted the pole to a dozen shoulders, 
 I swung underneath and lengthwise with it. My 
 head swung downward and swayed with the motion 
 of the carriers. Hasty remarks were passed among 
 the bearers, as the crowd conducted us out of the 
 gate into the opening. My countrymen with scared 
 faces crowded the entrance to the yard. "Spy, 
 traitor," passed from lip to lip, adding to my bitter 
 ness. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 173 
 
 Leaving tlie gate the bearers turned abruptly to 
 the north and journeyed for half an hour up the 
 hill, back of the city. The twisting and wrenching 
 at my arms became excruciating, but I bit my lips 
 and resolved that I would die, as a brave man should 
 without a murmur. 
 
 At last, I was deposited face down upon the 
 ground in the dust. The thongs tying my hands 
 and feet were cut, and I was turned upon my back, 
 my hands still bound behind me. Immediately some 
 one seized me roughly by the hair, and pulled me to 
 my knees and my head forward near the ground. As 
 my face came forward I noticed a huge Chinaman 
 standing at my side with a heavy sword held in both 
 hands. Soon it would be over. The earth seemed 
 to whirl beneath my eyes, then my vision cleared, 
 and I counted the pebbles lying at the roots of a tuft 
 of grass. A tiny ant wound its way among the 
 pebbles, while another climbed a blade of grass, una 
 ware, I thought, of the flood bounding through my 
 veins above their home. The shadow of the rising 
 sword fell across the sand under my eyes, and I 
 caught my breath and grew rigid for the blow, then 
 there was a sharp report, like a lightning crash, 
 and I rolled over on my side, half covered with 
 earth. Instantly a face, shaded by a farmer s shield- 
 like hat, looked down into mine and a sharp knife 
 passed between hands and feet. 
 
174 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Run, run, lad !" cried the voice of Mayo. As I 
 struggled to my feet I put out my hand, and when 
 I glanced at it, it was warm and red. A glance told 
 the story. A shell had fallen in our midst, and my 
 would-be executioner was a heap, with his hideous 
 sword under him. Others were lying near, some 
 still, while others screamed and moaned. I ran, or 
 hobbled, until the circulation returned to my ankles, 
 then I plunged over the next rise of ground into a 
 small creek, and took refuge behind a bowlder, 
 \vhere I washed the red from my hands. On the 
 side of the narrow gorge, appeared Mayo frantically 
 gesticulating for me to run. Down the valley I sped 
 toward the city, hoping to be lost in the crowd. 
 Plunging around a bowlder, I stumbled and fell. 
 Looking back at the cause of my accident, I saw the 
 body of one of my countrymen, his face near the 
 water and a hoe in his hand. The grass on the bank 
 above was red, showing where he had dragged him 
 self, by the aid of his hoe, till his lips had almost 
 touched the cool stream; then his soul had fled. I 
 noticed that he was young, scarcely more than a boy. 
 I tore the turban from his head and bound it around 
 mine, pulled his coat off and put mine on him, and 
 smeared it with blood. I raised a stone in the creek 
 and dropped the bloody garment under, then seizing 
 his hoe ran on. Voices in front brought me to a 
 standstill. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 175 
 
 A score of soldiers and as many of my country 
 men had started in pursuit of the hated spy, and 
 they had cut off my escape down the creek gorge. 
 For me to return would be impossible, so I shoul 
 dered my hoe and walked leisurely on, trying to re 
 press my fierce breathing. Up the gorge they came 
 and I stepped aside to let them pass. The foremost 
 seized me and demanded something in Chinese. I 
 swung my hoe and chattered vociferously, and 
 pressed my stomach to show that I was hungry. An 
 interpreter coming up demanded who I was. 
 
 Just from the fortifications on the north, coming 
 to the city to get something to eat, but I would go 
 back, indeed I would. I had a special delight in 
 working on Chinese fortifications. Ordinarily, hun 
 ger would only add to my zeal, but I did not know 
 but that my home had been blown to pieces by the 
 bombardment, and my old father killed. 
 
 "Stealing hoes," said he, pointing to that instru 
 ment in my hands. 
 
 No, no; I brought it along simply to bury my 
 father with if he should have been killed ; then, too, 
 I was afraid that the Japanese might steal it in my 
 absence. 
 
 The Chinaman laughed, and then a cry from those 
 who, after a glance at me, had hurried on up the 
 gorge, started him in pursuit. Evidently my ruse 
 had succeeded. I learned afterwards that they took 
 up the poor fellow s body and decapitated it, and 
 
176 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 anxious to return to the city where important and 
 exciting events were happening they did not stop 
 to bury the body but hastened back to their head 
 quarters where they reported that the spy had been 
 executed. Fortunately for me, they who had noted 
 my face closely were lying still in death on the hill 
 side. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 PANIC 
 
 STRAY shots were clipping the grass on the bank 
 above me and I became conscious, for the first time, 
 that the noise of battle waged with terrific fury on 
 four sides of the city, and that the Chinese were 
 not driving the Japanese back, but from the sounds, 
 were themselves taking refuge inside the city walls. 
 
 All day I moved out and in among the buildings 
 that shivered with the shock of battle. Shells ex 
 ploded, and flames burst out here and there from 
 the straw thatched roofs. The wounded were car 
 ried from the walls and laid in sheltered places in 
 long lines of writhing, moaning shapes. 
 
 The outer fortifications were gradually aban 
 doned, and when night closed in, the troops were 
 massed behind the wall inside the city and fought on. 
 
 I moved amid this fury of human passion, in 
 different to the rain of shot and shell. Amidst the 
 heat and stifling smoke was the cool touch upon my 
 forehead, and a sweet voice ringing in my ears, and 
 I was happy. Thus may one carry heaven with him 
 mid scenes of hell. 
 
 Often, I found myself at the gate of the rich Yi, 
 but it was guarded by soldiers, as the headquarters 
 
 177 
 
178 EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 of General Yuan. I looked into the eyes of the 
 mangled and dying and wondered how death could 
 be so cruel. Then a great feeling of pity filled my 
 heart and I sought among the brackish wells for 
 water, and filling a gourd carried it to their grateful 
 lips many times that day, while messengers of death 
 fell around me. I had escaped death once, and 
 somehow felt that it would not call for me again 
 that time. 
 
 Later, I \vas seized with an impulse to visit the 
 place where I had nearly lost my life and, for the 
 first time since my escape, a feeling of terror crept 
 over me as I looked upon the mangled corpse of 
 him who \vas supposed to be myself. 
 
 When night came on the firing ceased, and I crept 
 up to the wall that sheltered Ewa and, wearied 
 beyond expression, lay down on the ground and 
 slept. 
 
 At dawn, heavy firing announced the beginning 
 of the next day s carnage, and the besieged fought 
 with less confidence. Many of them were driven 
 to the walls by their officers. I was seized and set 
 to work with my hoe on the embankment where it 
 had been broken down by the previous day s 
 fighting. 
 
 During the morning, a huge pile of rice was 
 heaped upon a large mat near where I worked, and 
 I joined the soldiers around it with my hoe leaning 
 against my shoulder, and no one forbade me. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 179 
 
 The fighting became terrific and men fell every 
 where, and I was ordered to help carry the wounded 
 from the walls. We stretched them out by the side 
 of yesterday s victims, and the line grew longer 
 momentarily. Yesterday s wounded had received 
 little care, and many lips that had moaned then 
 were silent to-day. 
 
 As night approached, the greatest confusion pre 
 vailed, and hundreds deserted and prowled through 
 the streets for plunder, defying their officers when 
 ordered to the walls. If the enemy had known the 
 panic within the city, they might easily have taken 
 it long before they gained possession of the north 
 ern fortifications, where they turned our own guns 
 upon the city. When night fell again our general 
 asked for an armistice, which was agreed to by the 
 Japanese. 
 
 Early in the evening camp fires were extinguished, 
 and the embankment stopping the great West Gate 
 was partly removed, as if preparations were being 
 made to admit the enemy. The walls of the city 
 were practically deserted and its defense given up. 
 Soldiers threw away their guns and loaded them 
 selves with plunder. Finally, it dawned upon me 
 that the Chinese soldiers were going to try to escape 
 and leave the Koreans to their fate, for no one 
 doubted that the capture of the city would result in 
 an indiscriminate massacre. 
 
180 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 I pushed my way through a surging- mass of dis 
 organized soldiery and found the home of Yi still 
 under guard. Returning to watch the movements 
 of the panic-stricken soldiers, I ran into a group of 
 Koreans who were excitedly gesticulating. Every 
 body called something, but no one knew what the 
 other intended to do. 
 
 "They can t get the West Gate open and are plan 
 ning to flee from the South Gate. Let s go! let s 
 go!" someone called. 
 
 "Better stay. They will shoot you down on the 
 outside of the city!" a voice protested. 
 
 "Better on the outside while running than on the 
 inside like rats in a hole. Flee from the massacre!" 
 was the reply, the last word ending in a scream. 
 
 "Massacre! massacre!" flew from lip to lip. 
 
 "To the gate !" they shouted, and ran for the West 
 Gate. A score of hands tore away the mound of 
 rocks and earth, while hundreds surged upon them 
 from the rear, but the task was great, and being 
 deserted by the soldiers, they fled in the direction 
 of the South Gate, to pass through which would 
 mean that the fugitives would have to race at least 
 two miles in the face of the Japanese troops, but in 
 the panic no one thought of that. 
 
 I hastened back to the Yi home, and was aston 
 ished at the number of women and even children 
 that had remained in the city. Mothers with babies 
 on their backs jostled with the soldiers and Korean 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 181 
 
 citizens, unnoticed. A helpless woman was being 
 trampled upon. I dragged her to her feet, and with 
 out a word she joined the press. The night was 
 intensely dark, but in that part of the city, out of 
 view of the enemy, lights still hung from poles along 
 the streets. On reaching Yi s home, I found, to my 
 dismay, that the guard had gone, and on running 
 through the building found it unoccupied save by 
 looters in the persons of my own countrymen, load 
 ing themselves with everything of value. I rushed 
 to the women s quarters, but they also were empty. 
 Frantic with fear and disappointment, I ran from 
 the compound to pursue the fugitives. On the out 
 side I collided with a man wearing a silk coat, and 
 recognized him as the governor s secretary. He 
 was too much terrified to resent the shock. 
 
 "Where are you going?" I called. 
 
 "For the governor s seal of office," he gasped. 
 "It was left in the care of Yi. Where is the treasury 
 box?" he said, thinking I was a servant. 
 
 "Where is the governor?" I asked. 
 
 "At the South Gate in a chair ; but the seal ! the 
 seal !" 
 
 I ran for the South Gate without replying, and 
 looked into the face of everyone. I thought again 
 and again that I had found the one I sought, but 
 each time discovered the face of a stranger. 
 
 At the gates surged a great mass, Chinese and 
 Koreans, fighting and trampling each other. In 
 
1 82 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the midst was the chair of the governor with its 
 runners, ordering the people to clear the way, but 
 no one paid any notice to his authority. He was 
 driven from side to side like a tiny boat on a 
 storm-swept sea. With a feeling of grim satisfac 
 tion, I saw him tumbled from his chair and tram 
 pled upon. Faithful servants dragged him to his 
 feet and he was again borne aloft and crowded 
 through the gate. 
 
 On the right and left, the gate was flanked with 
 high walls which narrowed down at the entrance 
 to a width of fifteen feet. It was at this point 
 where the jam became greatest. 
 
 I crowded into the outgoing stream and was car 
 ried along, pressing my puny strength against it. 
 At my feet, someone fell. There was a cry of pain, 
 and the life was trampled out, and I barely escaped 
 tripping over him. Twenty feet beyond, I was out 
 of the gate where the passage was widened. On the 
 right and left, houses crowded the street, but the 
 verandas offered more room to the crowd which 
 extended and surged along with slightly less force. 
 The posts supporting the verandas offered obstruc 
 tions, and against them the people were detained 
 and suspended like floating grass clinging to trees 
 in midstream. To one of these posts I was carried. 
 
 It was dark outside the gate and it would have 
 been impossible to recognize one s nearest neigh 
 bor. My heart sank for I felt the impossibility of 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 183 
 
 finding Ewa, and I cursed myself for the folly of 
 entering the irresistible human current. 
 
 I was swept up against a post and clung to it. 
 Somebody was beneath my feet trying to rise. I 
 reached low and seized the man by the arm. He 
 struggled to his feet with a sputtering sound, as 
 if he had been filling his mouth with earth. 
 
 "Are you all right?" he gasped as soon as he 
 could speak. Evidently he was not addressing me, 
 and then for the first time I noticed that there were 
 hands on the post from somewhere on the other 
 side. The voice was familiar. He spoke again. 
 "O, Mayo!" I cried. "Yes, lad," he said; then we 
 were swept along. 
 
 There was a scream, and the hands on the other 
 side of the post relaxed. At the sound, I sprang to 
 where I heard the voice and seizing a wrist followed 
 the arm down to a prostrate figure. I locked my 
 hands around the shoulders of the trampled victim 
 and lifted with all my might. The act was with 
 the impulse of instinct and worthy neither of praise 
 nor blame. It required only a fraction of a second, 
 yet I was being borne to the ground with my bur 
 den. I lifted till a thousand stars danced before 
 my eyes, yet the merciless crowd trampled across 
 the limbs of the half-prostrate girl like some fear 
 ful monster, relentless, fateful. 
 
 The slight obstruction we offered to the onrush- 
 ing current divided at the post a few feet away, and 
 
184 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 formed an eddy that swept us aside up against a 
 building. Here I was able to lift her to her feet, 
 and we leaned against the wall unable to speak for 
 lack of breath. Repeated shocks from the crowd 
 forced us to the end of the building, where to my 
 joy the way opened, offering room for the multi 
 tude. 
 
 I noticed then for the first time that the struggle 
 was going on silently, save for the rushing sound 
 as of a herd of cattle escaping from close quarters 
 into an open field. Men and women went down 
 every moment, and their muffled cries were lost in 
 the tramp of feet. As soon as I could get my 
 breath, I asked, "Do you know me, Ewa?" 
 
 "Yes," she replied, her voice trembling with pain, 
 and freeing herself from my hold, she tried to stand 
 alone, but sank to the ground. Then I knew that 
 she was injured. 
 
 There was no time to be lost. A great crowd had 
 already preceded us, and if they should be discov 
 ered our fate would be sealed. 
 
 "On my back, Ewa, quick!" I urged. 
 
 "I am heavy," said she faintly. 
 
 "Quick ! quick !" and I raised her to her feet and 
 knelt with my back to her. She locked her arms 
 around my neck and I arose. 
 
 "Heavy," said she. "Can you do it?" 
 
 "To the end of the world," I replied. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 185 
 
 I turned northward, hoping to escape with the 
 Chinese soldiers who were fleeing toward the Yalu 
 River, five hundred li away. 
 
 "The Japanese must have had very simple confi 
 dence in the purpose of the Chinese to keep the 
 terms of the armistice," I thought. It was evident 
 that the army was fleeing for miles, within hailing 
 distance of the Japanese troops, who seemed igno 
 rant, or indifferent; but I was soon to learn that 
 they would awake with vengeance. 
 
 I took a path that led close to the city wall, and 
 pushed on separating ourselves from the crowd of 
 fugitives. I knew that Ewa was suffering, but no 
 sound came from her close-pressed lips. The great 
 press at the gate had thinned out to only now and 
 then a straggler in our vicinity. 
 
 I learned afterward that many had taken the 
 opposite direction and plunged into the river, 
 where, at low tide, it could be easily forded; but, 
 missing their footing, were swept down the stream, 
 and were seen the next day with upturned faces 
 along the shore. Boatmen curiously seized blade 
 objects on the stream and brought to the surface 
 ghastly faces, that made them scream with fear and 
 hurry home to hide from the terrors of the water. 
 
 Our way was as still as death. Only the chirping 
 of crickets and the song of the katydid disturbed 
 the stillness. I set my light burden down to rest, 
 and it seemed impossible that only a few hours ago, 
 
1 86 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 the roar of battle had shaken the very ground upon 
 which stood the walls that frowned in the darkness 
 thirty feet above us. Out across the plain, a feeble 
 light flickered, showing where the enemy was en 
 camped. Somewhere in the dark, between us and 
 the light, thousands of eyes were straining in our 
 direction, and thousands of fingers were eagerly ; 
 searching the trigger of the terrible murata. Death 
 bristled before us in a multitude of forms. How 1 
 sweet life seemed then! I inquired of Ewa if she 
 were in pain. 
 
 Tain is as one regards it. Even torture and 
 death under some circumstances may be sweet. At 
 a time like this, to acknowledge pain is to forfeit 
 a right to live," said she in an even voice. 
 
 Marveling at the wisdom and courage of the 
 untutored slave girl, I touched her hand reverently. 
 She withdrew it, and I again knelt before her took 
 her on my back, and on we went. We hurried 
 northward, over the ancient mounds where tens of 
 thousands had long ago been laid to rest, and to my 
 distorted imagination, the mounds seemed to gape 
 and yawn hungrily at my feet to receive the human 
 sacrifice above. 
 
 "Where was old Mayo? Had he been trampled 
 to death like many of our companions?" I asked 
 myself. We had been separated the moment after 
 meeting, and I longed for his companionship and 
 advice. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 187 
 
 Death seemed to hang upon the stillness, and I 
 hastened my steps till my breath came in short 
 gasps, compelling me to pause for a moment, and 
 then on. 
 
 We passed through the gateway of the outer, 
 ancient city, which for centuries had stood guard 
 before a city long since dead. When we reached 
 the road before these gates, we found ourselves again 
 in a motley crowd, who, though having scattered 
 and taken different paths, were reunited at this 
 point. There were Chinese soldiers and Koreans, 
 men, women and children fleeing silently into the 
 dark. Out of the old gates and down the slope on 
 the northern side we went to the Peking road, and 
 hope began to dawn in my heart. A half hour more 
 and we would be beyond the Japanese lines and safe. 
 
 Pausing again to rest, I put Ewa down and she 
 pulled my sleeve. "See!" said she, "what is that?" 
 
 I looked out across the fields, and a dark line in 
 the distance, having the appearance of a line of 
 rocks, seemed to change position and move forward. 
 "The enemy," I said hoarsely, and knelt for Ewa. 
 
 There was a flash that dazzled my eyes and a 
 crash and roar as of thunder, followed by screams 
 and moans. The road seemed to be filled with 
 people. Some turned back, but most sped onward. 
 Light sprang up from some source, revealing us 
 to the murderous fire of the enemy. Men dropped 
 singly and in groups everywhere. I stumbled over 
 
1 88 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 someone, and a baby cried at my feet. It was tied 
 to its mother s back, who lay still. I turned her 
 over, wondering if she had fainted from fright. 
 A red pool on the ground told the story. On I has 
 tened and overtook a man seated on the ground 
 holding the head of his aged father, whose face 
 was marble white. A woman sobbed as she ran at 
 my side. On her back was a two-year old child 
 with its head dangling helplessly on one side. The 
 mother lifted the babe in place and gazed with 
 bulging eyes at her red hand, and wiped it across 
 her skirts. In the gutter was the chair of the gov 
 ernor, and beside it lay two of the bearers. All 
 these things struck into my mind, like a flash of 
 light on the negative plate in a camera, and horror 
 filled me. On I went on past the belching hell 
 of Japanese fire on, with Ewa. The effort was 
 prodigious, my breath came in gasps, and there was 
 a ringing in my ears. Suddenly, a sheet of flame 
 spread out before my eyes and I staggered. Ewa 
 slid to the ground. 
 
 "On, on, Ewa! a few minutes more, and then 
 safety!" I said. Then I realized that I was lying 
 on the ground and that she was tying a band over 
 my side where a warm stream was trickling down. 
 The firing had now ceased, and the road was filled 
 with the enemy moving from group to group look 
 ing at faces. A light was held close to my eyes, and 
 someone seized Ewa s face and turned it upward; 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 189 
 
 then they passed to others and left us alone. I 
 closed my eyes with weariness. 
 
 "Ewa," I said, "we must on. On to the old her 
 mitage, Ewa, where the violets bloom, and where 
 the sea whispers in the sun." Then I awoke from 
 my dreams and mutterings. The light of dawn 
 was breaking over the earth. 
 
 "Ewa/ I said, "I wanted you. I gave up a life 
 of ease to follow you. To serve as a slave at your 
 side, though despised of men, would have been all 
 I asked. Do not think I am not proud, but you 
 were more than rank, wealth and parents to me 
 and I will soon be as one of these terrible pieces of 
 clay over which we stumbled." 
 
 Ewa s big eyes were close to mine and tears fell 
 fast upon my face. 
 
 "Some day, Ewa, where men s spirits roam, we 
 will meet. I swear it, Ewa." 
 
 A prolonged "I-go" drew my attention to a 
 bowed and weeping figure. I spoke to him. 
 
 "Don t weep, dear Mayo," I said. "You must 
 be going. Take Ewa and flee. See, the light is 
 growing brighter. Hurry, begone before she falls 
 into the hands of the Japanese. Go! go!" I said, 
 then I felt faint, the faces above me grew dark. 
 She was speaking, but I did not hear, and when 
 next I came to myself I was being carried on a 
 stretcher between two Japanese toward the city. 
 The jogging hurt me, and the sun shone in my eyes. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 CONVALESCENCE 
 
 THEY carried me to one of the old public build 
 ings, and I was placed on a table under the hands 
 of a surgeon and my wound probed and treated. 
 I had expected to be dispatched in order to rid the 
 army of a burden ; but I saw a number under sur 
 gical treatment, not only Koreans, but also many 
 Chinese soldiers. Mercy in warfare was a new 
 idea to me and I marveled at it and was thankful. 
 
 I was ill many days. Some of them were a blank 
 and dropped completely out of my life. Finally the 
 confused dreams and mutterings passed away, and 
 the heat and burning thirst were over, and I lay 
 restful, but weak and sore. The surgeon examined 
 me with a look of satisfaction, and when I looked 
 over the bare room I saw that only a few still 
 remained who had crowded it when I was first 
 brought in. Day by clay, I pushed back from 
 Death s boundary line and was glad. 
 
 One morning I became conscious of someone 
 sitting near my mat, yet beyond my view; then I 
 remembered that I had felt a familiar presence dur 
 ing my illness like a shadow of an old friend, and 
 had often tried to talk to it. I struggled to look 
 
 190 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 191 
 
 back of me, when a large hand was laid upon my 
 face and a command to be quiet came in a dear, 
 familiar voice. I pulled the hand down to my lips 
 and in my weakness tears flowed down upon it. 
 "Tong-siki," I said, "dear Tong-siki." 
 
 "Hush," he interrupted, "or they will drive me 
 away. Indeed, if you cry or say a word, I will 
 leave you." 
 
 His threat dried my eyes, and I looked up in his 
 face without a word. 
 
 "You are better," said he, "and I am here to 
 care for you as much as they will allow me, and 
 when you have recovered I will take you away. I 
 have many things to tell you and many questions 
 to ask, but your strength will not allow it now. 
 Once I lost you at sea, and then I found you dying 
 here, yet you are still alive. I am content to wait. 
 Listen, obey your surgeon implicitly and all will be 
 well." 
 
 He withdrew and sat on the mat beyond my head, 
 out of my sight, and when the surgeon entered he 
 spoke to Tong-siki in Japanese, and to my surprise, 
 he replied in the same language. 
 
 From that day Tong-siki became my nurse, but 
 it was a long time before he would reply to a word 
 addressed to him. One day he raised me to a sit 
 ting position and sat down at my feet. 
 
 "Now," said he, "I will talk with you." And 
 after a few minutes of aimless talking, as if to get 
 
192 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 my dull wits together, he said, "No doubt you are 
 anxious to hear some news from your old home. 
 The war disturbed them little. Scouts penetrated 
 the vicinity of your town and some of them paid 
 your home a visit. A few supplies satisfied them 
 and they committed few depredations. Your 
 mother is well, but your father is ill. Getting old, 
 you know, and he has never been quite the same 
 since you were lost on the river." 
 
 I opened my lips to speak, but he shook his head 
 and continued. "No doubt you will see him alive, 
 that is, if you care to," he added, looking hard in 
 my face. "Never mind," he said, quickly, "I see 
 I don t know how to treat the sick. 
 
 "You have a ready tongue, Sung-yo, and when 
 the machinery of the upper story is out of order, 
 it wags industriously. You had a vast amount to 
 say about hunchback, slave girl, hermitage and Run, 
 Ewa, run. Some of your story is clear, but I will 
 wait patiently for the rest." 
 
 This he said in his energetic, kindly tone. He 
 reached for my hand. It still showed the marks of 
 toil. Then he laughed, one of those delightful, in 
 fectious laughs. 
 
 "You may have made mistakes, but you have 
 tried to be honest," he said. "It is a strong charac 
 ter that chooses poverty and distress where it may 
 have wealth and comfort." 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 193 
 
 I felt my face redden with shame, for I knew that 
 my voluntary abasement came from a consuming 
 passion, and not from an unselfish principle. Thus 
 had I left my father to suffer over my supposed 
 death. 
 
 "Well, well/ he said, soothingly, and rose to go. 
 "We will talk later." 
 
 I watched him pass out of the building, feeling 
 that the surgeon s knife, that had so often brought 
 a groan from my lips, had unconsciously, in Tong- 
 siki s hands, been thrust into a vital spot, and had 
 uncovered all my diseases. I closed my eyes and 
 Ewa s face looked at me, then was I angry at Tong- 
 siki, and made a vow down deep in my heart, and 
 I asked the spirits to register it. "If ye are 
 good," I said, "then register it where the light 
 streams out in the golden beams of the morning s 
 dawn, where there is promise of hope and victory. 
 If evil, then register it in the underworld, where 
 darkness holds sway and shadows run riot, where 
 misery is king and all his realm is suffering. Reg 
 ister my vow, you shades of light or darkness. I 
 will measure my will with fate. I shall possess her, 
 whether for weal or woe." 
 
 The excitement had exhausted me, and the next 
 day I wanted to remain quiet, and I lay all day won 
 dering what had become of Ewa and old Mayo. 
 
 Ten days later I was carried to a boat that was 
 moored outside of the great East Gate. As I was 
 
194 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 carried through the city, I noticed that half of it 
 lay in ruins. Few troops were present, and only a 
 few merchants were beginning to return. The 
 silence was oppressive. Not even a dog barked on 
 the streets. 
 
 As we drifted up the river under the sturdy pull 
 ing of our boatmen, the warm October sun brought 
 a feeling of returning life and gladness. 
 
 Tong-siki told me the incidents that had trans 
 pired since we had parted on the river that eventful 
 day. He had gone to the capital soon afterward, 
 on business for my father, and while there, had 
 acquainted himself with all the dissatisfied, disgrun 
 tled politicians and had listened to their stories. 
 
 "Few there were," he said, "who seemed to have 
 the slightest desire for reform. Those who worked 
 for reform did so like anarchists with powder and 
 dynamite." Finding choice spirits, he had proposed 
 his ideas of a combined action of the more power 
 ful families of the realm, but was regarded as a 
 dreamer. 
 
 "Who," they asked, "being secure in his posses 
 sions, would hazard them for a dream? No, no," 
 they said, "if reforms are necessary, let the people 
 rise in a multitude as numerous as the ants in an 
 ant hill and hurl the tyrant from his throne. Power 
 lies in the aggregation of many atoms, and not in a 
 few, even though those few individuals were 
 strong." 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 195 
 
 "All this," Tong-siki added, "has been tried 
 again and again for centuries, and even since our 
 day there have not been lacking times when the mob 
 sought rule in the hope of reform. There is not 
 cohesive force enough in Korean society to hold it 
 together for concerted action, nor is there hon 
 esty enough in such would-be reformers to make it 
 safe for anyone to lead an organization against the 
 government. To-day, they are ready to swear fealty 
 to the cause ; to-morrow, for fear of those in power, 
 they are anxious to betray it and the lives of their 
 associates. We adorn our houses and every way 
 side shrine with rags, and bow down to them ; but 
 the greatest fetish, worshiped blindly by all our 
 people, is rank. A despised beggar, kicked from 
 beneath one s feet to-day, will be honored to-mor 
 row, if by any accident he receives the attention of 
 royalty. 
 
 "While in the capital during the last few months, 
 I knocked my head on the floor to more fools, more 
 maudlin drunkards, more empty vanity than I had 
 supposed the country contained. To wear a silk 
 coat, smoke a long pipe, grow long finger nails, to 
 be able to boast of moral rottenness, to strut on the 
 streets, is the insatiable ambition of the multitudes 
 of the capital. While boasting of being experts in 
 political intrigue, they are neither clever nor shrewd. 
 Their statesmanship is the mediocrity of the maud 
 lin drunkard. When a vicious political scheme is 
 
196 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 promulgated and put into operation, no one is sur 
 prised, for before it gets under way, all understand 
 it; and when it wrings blood from the people the 
 promulgator is praised by his associates for his 
 astuteness, and what is more astonishing, the com 
 mon people adore him for his power. The people 
 crouch before these tyrannical fools like whipped 
 dogs, ready to turn and lick their hands as soon as 
 their masters snap their fingers for attention. 
 
 "I have been using foreign tobacco to get rid of 
 the nausea of the capital. The tobacco made me 
 sick in good earnest, but I felt better afterward." 
 I laughed at Tong-siki s explosion, but he looked 
 out over the river without a smile. 
 
 "Of course that is not all," he added. "We have 
 a few great men, or rather men with great capabili 
 ties who are earnestly looking forward with the 
 expectation of doing something for our people, but 
 a nation moves slowly. If the present conditions 
 obtain during another decade our independence, for 
 which the Japanese are so fond of saying they have 
 been fighting, will be the independence of slaves." 
 Lowering his voice, he continued : 
 
 "My country s needs fill my days with longings 
 and besiege my nights like a beleaguered city. I be 
 lieve I am experiencing the feelings of many of my 
 countrymen who are ready to give up home, par 
 ents, wives, children, and life, also, for this cause." 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 197 
 
 I searched his face carefully, but the noble senti 
 ment that had inspired his words left no sign of a 
 secondary meaning. Yet the rebuke stung me to 
 the quick. 
 
 "What is the matter?" he asked, searching me 
 from head to foot, for in spite of me the flush 
 deepened over my face. 
 
 "What did you say about giving up?" I asked, 
 uneasily. 
 
 He laughed heartily, but noticing my frown, re 
 plied with the kindly air of one humoring a sick 
 person : 
 
 "You think women may be a help in our struggle, 
 do you? or rather, you think the slave girl would 
 help you. I need not remind you," he continued in 
 an amused tone, "of the status of our women. Do 
 we ever think enough of a girl to give her a name? 
 A woman in our country has no more personality 
 than a horse or an ox." 
 
 "You forget her Majesty," I said. 
 
 "Quite right," he replied. "If we could all marry 
 queens." 
 
 "But," I persisted, "could not a good woman 
 who is in sympathy with her husband s motives be 
 of service, even in this great cause?" 
 
 "Perhaps so," he said, wearily. "If he has not 
 strength and courage of his own, of what worth 
 would such a man be, anyway? The land is full of 
 men that need to be bolstered up by women. There 
 
198 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 are many who have little more vigor than an oyster, 
 and the vision of a strong woman would put them 
 to flight." 
 
 "Pity we have not one of the sages to write your 
 tale of love. We hear of men falling in love with 
 their wives after they have a family prattling at 
 their knees, and I have seen men enamored by danc 
 ing girls and become victims of their insane imagi 
 nation in other ways, but I never heard of a young 
 man falling in love with a woman who was a 
 stranger, much less a slave, and follow her about, 
 as a dog his master. They say in the Western 
 world, where they boast of their civilization, that 
 such things are common ; but they have many strange 
 customs, to follow which is little less dangerous 
 than drinking their wines." 
 
 "Who was it," I replied, "that advised me not to 
 marry the deformed idiot for the sake of gain? 
 Who was it that encouraged me to lay aside my 
 habits of effeminacy and was delighted when I 
 cut my long finger nails? Who was it that has 
 grown eloquent in declaring that all classes should 
 be equal, and if I have shown the fruits of your 
 doctrine, why do you complain? If I am ready to 
 follow her like a dog his master, as you say, and 
 capable of giving up comforts of home, hope of 
 rank, becoming a coolie and offering my life to 
 satisfy my ambition, does it argue that I am less 
 capable of devoting myself to any cause, great and 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 199 
 
 good? Am I less true to you than I was before 
 knowing her ? Have I refused to become heir to my 
 father s estate if he chooses to make me such? and 
 have I not already dedicated it all to our cause as 
 well as my influence as a son of the great Sung-ji?" 
 
 "Alas, my poor boy!" he said, "the heirship has 
 already passed from you and not a cash of the estate 
 could you get, though you begged on your knees 
 for it. Your father heard of your attachment for 
 the slave and fixed the inheritance upon your 
 brother, where, indeed, it naturally belongs, accord 
 ing to our custom. So that if you are to be of aid 
 in the great movements that are pending, it will be 
 because of your own personal devotion. I could 
 wish, however, that you had united with some pow 
 erful family to help our cause ; yet while I laugh at 
 you, Sung-yo, and may have regrets, I shall be 
 your friend, and we shall fight and win on the 
 same field." 
 
 "Who informed my father of my whereabouts?" 
 I asked. 
 
 "Ho-yongi made him a visit, I understand, and 
 your brother gave him some money for his disin 
 terested friendship. 
 
 "During the battle of Pyeng-Yang, Ho-yongi 
 fled with the governor ; but when he learned that the 
 Japanese did not seek the lives of Koreans, he re 
 turned and tried in every way to ingratiate him 
 self with the Japanese officials, counseling them to 
 
200 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 squeeze certain persons of whose secrets he was 
 the sole possessor. Not waiting for their action, 
 he did a little of that work on his own account; but 
 hearing that the Japanese were on the point of ap 
 prehending him, he found it convenient to visit 
 your father." 
 
 "Did he tell my father that I was wounded?" 
 "O, no, simply that you were searching after an 
 ex-slave with whom you had long been enamored, 
 but separated from by the accident of war. He 
 urged your father not to think too hardly of you, 
 as your youth should be taken into consideration ; 
 that it distressed him to bring such ill news, but he 
 thought it was due so loving and indulgent a father 
 to know the whole truth; that there were many 
 young men who went wrong on visiting the great 
 cities without proper associates to keep them right, 
 not that he wished to charge the much trusted Tong- 
 siki with the young man s fall, but great care 
 should be exercised, Indeed, if his Excellency 
 would pardon one, who out of a sense of duty was 
 ready to run the risk of making himself an unwel 
 come visitor, whose one motive \vas to save the 
 great man from imposition and sorrow, he would 
 make bold to speak more plainly. When his Ex 
 cellency s son was in Pyeng-Yang, before the acci 
 dent on the river, he had been discovered raiding 
 the women s quarters of a certain inn, led by his 
 trusted friend. What more natural thing than, 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 201 
 
 when a river accident made it possible to cause it 
 to appear that he was lost, for him to join his 
 paramour ? 
 
 " Do you know that? the old man had gruffly 
 asked. 
 
 "O, no, indeed; he would not say a word to give 
 his Excellency a moment s uneasiness. No doubt 
 it was all report. He simply said, what more natu 
 ral thing for him at that time than to have joined the 
 one he is now with ? He would go, now that he had 
 thrust himself unwittingly where he was not wanted. 
 Strange, he added, with a sigh, how easy it is to 
 be misunderstood. One s best effort of disinterested 
 solicitude may, at best, be a mistake. He would 
 leave. 
 
 "After repeated protest from members of the 
 family he consented to stay a week. He stated 
 that while he was much sought after by the Japanese 
 officials in Pyeng-Yang, yet friendship was a pre 
 cious plant that grew not in every yard, and in these 
 disturbed times, he who would not sacrifice for 
 friendship deserved to be classed among traitors. 
 He stayed a week, then two weeks. 
 
 "The settlement of the property took place at that 
 time and he became very friendly with your brother, 
 and when he left, it required a pony to carry away 
 the cash he had on hand. No one seemed to know 
 where he obtained it, for when he arrived, he 
 brought nothing." 
 
202 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "You have kept these things from me a long 
 time," I said. 
 
 "No longer than necessary. If I had told you 
 while you were in the hospital, you never would 
 have had need of a fortune, and if I had told you be 
 fore leaving, your pride would have prevented your 
 returning. You will come now and make wrongs 
 right as far as you can," he added gently, "but the 
 estate of course is beyond you." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 THE NEW FAITH 
 
 DURING the following afternoon an accident hap 
 pened to the boat, compelling us to tie up for twenty- 
 four hours. The inn was a mile away, and I sur 
 prised myself by walking the whole distance. 
 
 When we arrived, a curious commotion was tak 
 ing place in the village. People were hurrying from 
 all directions toward a- school building situated on 
 the outskirts of the town. Someone was shouting. 
 "Foreigner! foreigner! Let s see the foreigner!" 
 
 Teachers of the new religion had followed closely 
 on the footsteps of the victorious army, and here 
 was one already preaching in a schoolhouse many 
 miles from the open ports. 
 
 Our curiosity led us to the door, and Tong-siki 
 made an opening in the crowd and pulled me after 
 him. Sitting down in the doorway, we found our 
 selves in the midst of a great crowd of jostling 
 sightseers. When our eyes became accustomed to 
 the semidarkness, caused by the doors and windows 
 being filled with curious persons, and the tobacco 
 smoke from the industrious occupants of the floor, 
 we could see the foreigner seated in the place of 
 
 honor, the hottest part of the schoolhouse floor. 
 
 203 
 
204 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 He was not the man that I had seen in Pyeng- 
 Yang. While he was quite as tall, his hair was 
 light. It seemed to be the impression of many pres 
 ent that he could not understand Korean, at least 
 there was little said that was complimentary. His 
 appearance reminded one in a startling manner of 
 our old ideas of the appearance of his Satanic Maj 
 esty. His light complexion with a red cast, caused 
 by the heat of the room, and very light hair re 
 minded his audience humorously of the imaginary 
 figure of the devil often drawn on screens in many 
 of our homes, and it was not surprising that the 
 words, "Foreign devil," were whispered about the 
 room. Those sitting nearest, crept closer and felt 
 of his clothes, hands, and feet, and repeatedly asked, 
 "Has he no sense ? Can he talk ? Do you think he 
 would teach us to talk American?" It was evident 
 that he was waiting for their curiosity to cease, and 
 presently he inquired the names of some who were 
 sitting nearest him. Others he had met before and 
 seemed on terms of good understanding with them. 
 When he spoke, the company received a shock of 
 surprise at the good Korean he used. Finally, he 
 asked them to lay aside their pipes and listen, as he 
 had something of importance to say. He observed 
 that many were standing on the outside, unable to 
 get in ; and that they had nearly ruined the good 
 teacher s windows and doors by punching holes 
 through them, to which they had fixed their eyes. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 205 
 
 "It would/ he said, "be a great pleasure if they 
 would swing all the doors open and thereby save 
 them from further ruin, and allow all on the out 
 side to listen." 
 
 I am glad to testify to the courtesy of that com 
 pany of farmers who laid aside their pipes, a mark 
 of respect paid only to officials. 
 
 The preacher talked a great deal of that with 
 which I have since become familiar; but, at that time 
 it was utterly incomprehensible. He said, among 
 many other things, all men were sinners, which was 
 the work of the evil spirit. In response to the state 
 ment a titter passed among his listeners because of 
 the speaker s likeness to that spirit. He dwelt long 
 on the power of a supreme being called Yasu, who 
 had once been a human being and had died to save 
 men. My curiosity had not been less than that dis 
 played by others, and I stared fixedly at the face of 
 the strange apparition. 
 
 When he closed the talk, arrangements were made 
 for him to eat his supper. That was the most fasci 
 nating part of the whole proceeding. Tong-siki im 
 mediately withdrew, but I stayed. We were not 
 aware of any rudeness; so there we waited and 
 stared at the man, his table of food, much of which 
 he had brought with him, at the fork he used, fol 
 lowing it with our eyes as he conveyed it to his 
 mouth, watched him as he moved his lips, wondered 
 what his food was like, and if it tasted good. Pres- 
 
206 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ently, he threw back his head and laughed heartily, 
 and we all responded with a foolish grin. 
 
 "Dear friends," said he, "I like to have you look 
 at me. I know I am a strange creature among you, 
 and I want you to see all I do, but while you are 
 gazing will you not please wink once in a while ?" 
 
 I felt ashamed and a little shocked as if someone 
 had rudely awakened me from a pleasant dream, and 
 I was dissatisfied with the man and disliked his light 
 hair and red face. He had announced that there 
 would be another gathering in the evening; and 
 would everybody come? I resolved at first not to 
 go, but afterward thought better of it, and when 
 the candles were lighted found myself seated on the 
 floors at one end of the building, with Tong-siki at 
 my side. To my utter amazement, one half of the 
 building was filled with women without a screen 
 separating them from the men. The room was filled 
 with serious people. On the outside, however, the 
 sightseers swarmed and jostled at the doors. Dur 
 ing the long discourse that followed, he spoke with 
 great force and assurance, and moved his hands in 
 gesticulation that held our attention with mesmeric 
 power. He was pleading as if it were for our lives 
 before a judge who had condemned us. The speak 
 er s eyes were even filled with tears, and at the close 
 of the long, impassioned appeal, he called : 
 
 "Yasu will give you life, life, life !" The company 
 swayed back and forth with the steadiness of a 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 207 
 
 pendulum, denoting the profoundest absorption. 
 "Believe Yasu, and to-night, you will have the gift of 
 eternal life," said he. An old man seated behind me 
 bent his head on my shoulder and began to sob as if 
 he had lost his nearest friend, or rather, more like a 
 child crying for his mother. Others followed him 
 rapidly, and to my utter bewilderment, the whole 
 company were soon bowed to the floor, weeping as if 
 their hearts would break. Tong-siki and I alone 
 sat up and seemed miserably out of place. I glanced 
 at Tong-siki. On his face was the gravity of a 
 Buddha. A delirium of ecstacy took possession of 
 many present. They stood on their feet and de 
 clared that the Yasu was within them, and recount 
 ing all their horrible crimes against themselves and 
 others, declared that their guilt was gone, and that 
 they loved the good. Again and again, someone 
 would say, "Eternal life is mine, mine, mine!" 
 
 Tong-siki touched me on the shoulder and we 
 quietly worked our way out of the door and returned 
 to the inn. Other guests were lying on the bare 
 floor, and it was with some difficulty that we were 
 able to get a place large enough for us both. Tong- 
 siki made no remarks, and I finally stretched myself 
 out for the night. He sat there, thoughtfully gazing 
 at the candle, fingering his pipe which he had for 
 gotten to light. Thus I saw him later in the night 
 when I awoke, with the light and shadows playing 
 hide-and-seek across his handsome face. I noted his 
 
208 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 thoughtful sincerity and I warmed to him with the 
 devotion of a young heart to its hero. Thus I see 
 him always as I gaze back through the shadows of 
 events; fearlessly attacking all problems, sometimes 
 seeming to suffer defeat, but never flinching. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 HOME 
 
 Two days later we landed near my old home, and 
 my heart was full as I looked upon old, familiar 
 scenes. I paused on the bank where the overhang 
 ing trees had often shaded me as a boy, in my gam 
 bols with my companions, and with the early au 
 tumn breeze, I could almost hear the lute of old 
 Mayo. The sun brightly warmed the path leading 
 from the river, and autumn flowers nodded to me 
 everywhere. The brook at my side, which for many 
 years had contended with the path for the right of 
 way, sang as merrily as when it beguiled me with 
 hook and line long ago. How my heart leaped as I 
 caught sight of the old home. It spread out in the 
 old familiar way, like a great hen trying to cover her 
 brood that daily grew beyond her motherly ambi 
 tion. 
 
 Laborers who had been my playmates in child 
 hood, were at work in the fields. They saw us one 
 started, then another, then all came pellmell to 
 meet us. Tears came to my eyes when I saw that 
 they were glad to meet the disinherited and dis 
 graced son of the old Sung-ji. My brother came 
 and took my hand, and we walked together. As we 
 
 209 
 
210 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 stepped through the huge outer gate, I turned and 
 looking into his face, said : "I know, it is yours, and 
 you are welcome." He dropped his eyes and said 
 nothing. 
 
 I found my mother; she sat down with me and 
 cried, held my hand and patted it, looked at the 
 marks of toil, and into my face made thin by sick 
 ness, then touched my cheeks with her fingers, and 
 cried again. She took off my rough sandals with 
 her own hands, and as she laid them away, caressed 
 them. She ran her fingers over my forehead ten 
 derly, and through my hair, taking note that it had 
 been cut short by the surgeon at the hospital. Then 
 she murmured, "Dear Sung-yo !" I took her cheeks 
 between my hands and held her eyes to mine. 
 
 "Look, mother, what do they tell you?" I asked* 
 "My life is just as pure and my hands just as clean 
 as they were the day I left you." 
 
 Then I told her the whole story from the time I 
 had parted from her for our trip to Pyeng-yang, 
 which seemed now so long ago. I hid nothing. I 
 showed her the scar in my side. She placed her 
 fingers, on it and cried again. All that was noble in 
 me responded to her touch and tears. 
 
 I found my father very ill. The sorceress had 
 again done her duty, with the result that she had a 
 well-filled cash box, and he was worse for the wear 
 and noise. He was bolstered up on silk cushions 
 and looked so thin and helpless that my conscience 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 211 
 
 smote me sorely for my long absence. I knelt by the 
 side of his bed, and he spoke to me in the old tender 
 tone, and as I looked into his face his lips twitched 
 slightly, and in his weakness tears trickled down his 
 cheeks. 
 
 "Tong-siki has told me," said he, "and I am glad 
 that you are not guilty of crime against the name of 
 your father." 
 
 I sat by his side the rest of the day and told him 
 of my escape from the river, the sea, and the terrors 
 of the war. I could not bring myself to tell of Ewa. 
 My mother could understand, but could he ? Then, 
 too, he was weak, and would it not cause his death ? 
 As I thought the matter over, I grew cowardly and 
 held it back. He spoke with some heat of the 
 snake, Ho-yongi. 
 
 "Wait," said he, "when I get up I will look after 
 him." But he did not get up. "To-morrow," he 
 would say, but on the morrow he would wait for 
 the next day. 
 
 Finally, after a long consultation with Tong-siki 
 he called my brother and me before him. We duti 
 fully placed our heads to the floor in salutation and 
 waited for him to state his will. He told us to come 
 nearer, and we knelt at his side. Then in a weak 
 voice which sounded so strangely unlike him, he 
 told us of his life, his struggles, and his triumphs; 
 of the glorious period when he stood at the side of 
 his Majesty, and the Korean world was at his feet. 
 
212 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 His eyes sparkled as he told of the humiliation of his 
 haughty enemies in the South country. 
 
 "But alas!" said he, "my influence has been wan 
 ing for several years, and now that the war has revo 
 lutionized affairs my influence at the court has gone. 
 Some of my enemies have suffered with me; but 
 there are many waiting for me to enter the Yellow 
 Valley that they may have the opportunity to seize 
 all I have. It is true that I have not been without 
 faults, and there may be some who have grounds 
 for complaint, but they will make a mountain out of 
 a mole hill." Turning to my brother, he said : 
 
 "Chang-yo, I placed the property in your hands 
 some time ago. So it must remain. You can, be 
 cause of your experience, defend it better than your 
 brother. There are, however, rice lands near the 
 city of Pyeng-Yang which yield some profit, they 
 will go to Sung-yo. Tong-siki, our faithful friend, 
 has the disposition in writing under my seal. Ob 
 serve my commands in this matter." He lay think 
 ing awhile, then continued : 
 
 "My funeral must be befitting my rank, that my 
 enemies may not scoff. Bury me on the mountain 
 by the side of your grandfather, a place already 
 marked by the necromancers, promising well for me 
 and fortunes for you. Did not the spirits deal 
 kindly with the son of your grandfather, and may 
 they not deal well with the sons of your father also ? 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 213 
 
 The Yi family of Chung- ju, I fear, has lost 
 everything. You need not further consider that 
 marriage, Sung-yo. Remember my commands. 
 Your mother and Tong-siki have this matter in 
 hand, and will arrange a proper alliance that will 
 bring honor to the family name. The great changes 
 introduced by the successful Japanese may open a 
 way for governmental preferment. If that should 
 be the case, do not, simply out of hatred for our old 
 enemies, or for fear of a struggle with them, refuse 
 to take advantage of any such opportunity. Watch 
 your friends and your enemies, and take advantage 
 of every means to firmly establish the family name, 
 that it may be honored through all time. The shades 
 of your ancestors are looking down upon you. Do 
 not disappoint them. * 
 
 That night when the rest were sleeping, I crept 
 in and told him of Ewa. When I was through he 
 turned to the wall, and I crawled away feeling like 
 an assassin. 
 
 Two days later, there was weeping throughout 
 our home, weeping that could be heard down by the 
 river, and passing boatmen whispered the name of 
 Sung-ji. Some were sad, while others smiled, to 
 some it meant the loss of a protector, and to others, 
 I fear, it meant release from oppression. 
 
 We followed his wishes, and the funeral was an 
 elaborate one. No bier in the neighborhood was 
 pretentious enough, so we had a new one built. 
 
214 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Some of the neighbors said, "that which was good 
 enough for the father ought to be good enough for 
 the son." Others said that "when the pillars of a 
 house become rotten, men always put new tiles on 
 the roof," meaning that we were making a show to 
 cover our poverty. The magistrate expressed his 
 sympathy by sending a letter of condolence, and his 
 runners to take note of our possessions. The latter 
 seemed to augur ill for our future. We hired a hun 
 dred and fifty mourners to carry the largest bier 
 ever constructed in the North country. That instru 
 ment consisted of two long timbers over which was 
 built a framework covered with rich silks, painted 
 with gaudy figures, illustrating the mystic forms of 
 our ancient religion. 
 
 After thirty days of preparation, we took our 
 solemn journey to the mountain. Some of those, 
 whose little holdings had found their way into our 
 estate and had often spoken bitterly of my father, 
 were there to help carry the great man to his final 
 resting place. A line of hired mourners preceded 
 the bier carrying long trailing paper lanterns in 
 gaudy colors, suspended on poles. Immediately in 
 front of the bier marched a bell ringer. He spun 
 round and round like a boy s top, frantically ringing 
 his bell. My mother wept in her rooms, for women 
 never follow their loved dead to the grave. At the 
 rear of the procession followed my brother and I 
 in palanquins, and behind us other relatives of the 
 
SUNG-YO DRESSED IN MOURNING FOR HIS FATHER 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 215 
 
 Sung-ji. On the top of the bier, in front of an 
 awning, sat a man employed to give directions to 
 the company of mourners. He would improvise a 
 stanza of doleful sentiment and all would join in 
 and chant it after him ; then whenever there was a 
 pause, the time would be filled up with prolonged 
 wailings of "I-go-o-o." The whole country re 
 sponded to the cries of mourning, and turned out 
 to see us lay away the remains of the great Sung-ji. 
 Many of the bearers had devoted so much time at the 
 shrine of Bacchus that they were unable to make 
 the whole journey, but it did not interfere with our 
 progress and no one cared. When we arrived at the 
 mountain side preparations for the burial were com 
 pleted; a delay occurred because from fear of 
 the dead, the laborers were drinking and quarreling 
 as if high altercations were the best expression of 
 homage to the memory of the greatest man who had 
 lived during a period of three centuries. 
 
 We had gone out in the early evening, and it was 
 still dark when we returned. A large number col 
 lected in our apartments to while away the remain 
 ing hours of the night, that we might not have to 
 endure the terror of meeting the departed spirits 
 alone. 
 
 The family had dressed in the coarse hemp of 
 mourning, and was conscious of special politeness 
 on the part of our neighbors. 
 
 Tong-siki had superintended the funeral arrange- 
 
216 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ments, and we felt grateful for the order and com 
 pleteness with which all things were carried through. 
 As a distant relative of the family he joined the 
 mourners, but seemed apart from the whole scene, 
 and it was remembered afterward that he did not 
 join in the loud waitings, though his eyes were red 
 and he bore the expression of genuine sorrow. 
 
 The ancestral tablet was duly erected in the room 
 where my father had died, and became an object of 
 reverence, and at stated periods, it was worshiped. 
 The great house became silent and lonely, and many 
 of the hangers-on left when they found that the hand 
 that had so long fed them was withdrawn. 
 
 Tenants announced that they were going to leave, 
 secretly hoping to secure better treatment under the 
 new regime. Hardly were the funeral affairs 
 settled before people, suffering real or imaginary 
 wrongs, united to demand redress and compensa 
 tion for losses of previous years, and our home 
 seemed to be tottering about our ears. The figures 
 which they named were astonishing. They found 
 their master in Tong-siki, and after a conference 
 with him disbanded; then small presents streamed 
 in as peace offerings. When the danger had passed, 
 Tong-siki visited them individually and made care 
 ful inquiries into their complaints. He satisfacto 
 rily righted their wrongs with a small fraction of 
 what they had demanded. The act amazed the peo 
 ple, and they repeated to each other ancient stories 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 217 
 
 of justice exercised by those in power. Thus wisely 
 did Tong-siki secure its dues to the estate, retain 
 the regard of the tenants, and in great measure re 
 dress their real grievances. 
 
 Tong-siki turned over the affairs of the Sung-ji 
 estate to the proper heirs. My brother begged him 
 to remain and administer the estate, but Tong-siki 
 said that he had other duties, the character of which 
 would endanger the safety of all who might be as 
 sociated with him. The statement was repeated by 
 neighbors and they revived the old report that Tong- 
 siki was a dangerous man, and some day, would 
 head a revolt against the government. 
 
 We had laid the Sung-ji to rest, but his control 
 over the home had by no means ceased. All our ac 
 tions were dictated by the iron hand that was fast 
 turning to dust. His control was felt in the formal 
 ities of our home life, dictated by ancient laws; in 
 the vocabulary of those who addressed us ; we could 
 neither travel nor engage in any form of business. 
 We complied cheerfully with these laws, but the cor 
 roding thought that Ewa might have fallen into the 
 hands of the Japanese soldiers, and that I was pow 
 erless to search for her, gnawed its way down into 
 my soul, making me miserable and uncompanion 
 able. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 THE SEARCH 
 
 THE winter passed, and vast changes were an 
 nounced in the government. The old abuses were 
 to be done away with. The magistrates were re 
 called from the interior, and other men, who were 
 supposed to take the changes seriously, were put in 
 their places. Tong-siki was at the capital in the 
 midst of the new political activity, not as an official, 
 but studying and watching the trend of affairs. 
 
 "It seems to me," he wrote, "that the reforms are 
 on the surface, and from his Majesty down are ac 
 ceded to from compulsion, and not from choice. I. 
 hope, however, that the new spirit will get such a 
 start before the natural reaction takes place, that 
 we shall be able to weather the storm." 
 
 Under the necessity of looking after our rice 
 fields, the iron laws of mourning were allowed to re 
 lax, so that spring found me back in the city of 
 Pyeng-Yang. By selling one of my fields, I col 
 lected means to prosecute the search for Ewa. In 
 the city there was not a trace of her, or of the rich 
 Yi. Believing that she would seek the protection of 
 his home, and knowing that he had made friends 
 with the governor, I concluded that they could be 
 
 218 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 219 
 
 found at the capital. Then, changing my mind, I 
 made a trip to the Chinese border, inquiring in every 
 hamlet for information of the old minstrel and his 
 young companion; but the people having been 
 driven from their homes, had only returned at the 
 close of the war, and could give me no information 
 regarding them. The summer was well advanced 
 when I found my way to the capital. Cholera was 
 raging in the city, and hundreds had already been 
 carried out, and placed among multitudinous 
 mounds beyond the city wall. 
 
 I found Tong-siki in the storm center of the 
 country, and, to my great surprise, among conserv 
 ative statesmen as a learner and an instructor. 
 Many were coming to this rugged, brainy man of 
 the North for counsel. I learned that the country 
 was helpless in the hands of its old enemy, the 
 Japanese. They had taken possession of the army 
 and our national independence was threatened. 
 While they introduced many reforms which seemed 
 salutary, yet their insidious hand of greed seemed 
 to be closing on the throat of our national life. 
 Everywhere Japanese citizens clashed with Koreans, 
 always to the confusion and rout of the latter. 
 Wherever Korean laborers were employed in gangs 
 by the Japanese, the club swung and blood flowed 
 freely, and my people were the victims. Then I 
 knew why Tong-siki had become a conservative re 
 former. I found him living with a man by the name 
 
22O EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 of Cho, who had opened his large house for the re 
 ception of such officials as needed a quiet place from 
 the prying eyes of the enemies of reform. He occu 
 pied a small room and received me with great glad 
 ness. After the usual salutations and kindly inqui 
 ries he said: 
 
 "I have been waiting to see you a long time ; you 
 have come opportunely to take part in scenes that 
 will be epoch-making in the history of this country, 
 and perhaps the Eastern world. How well you 
 look!" said he, in his genial way. "What inspired 
 the trip ? You will stay, of course, and take part in 
 these affairs." 
 
 "That depends," I replied, "whether or not my 
 interests can be promoted by remaining." 
 
 "Your interests!" he ejaculated, "ever the 
 same; my, mine/ is the curse of our country. 
 What is it you want ? A magistracy, governorship, 
 or perhaps you are looking for a place in his Maj 
 esty s Cabinet ? You are not the only one ambitious 
 and lacking modesty as to fitness. There are many 
 who are willing to sacrifice themselves and all their 
 remarkable talents to the good of the country if 
 their salary is sufficient, but I had not known that 
 you were ready to add your wisdom to the multi 
 tude of advisers who are daily waiting upon his 
 Majesty. Have you found any trace of her?" he 
 abruptly asked, sobering instantly from his good- 
 natured raillery. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 221 
 
 "No ? I have a great desire to see her, * said he, 
 "she certainly must be remarkable. You say a 
 slave, Sung-yo? Tell me something more of her. 
 Are you really still determined? * His face was all 
 kindliness, and I had need of sympathy. 
 
 "Of her beauty, and intelligence, and mental 
 charms I have nothing to say, for to bring my idols 
 and place them at another s feet is not to invite rev 
 erence, nor am I expecting anyone to see through 
 my eyes, not even so sympathetic a friend as you, 
 Tong-siki. You ask if I am still determined? A 
 few days ago, in one of my journeys, faint and ex 
 hausted, I threw myself on the ground and took 
 from my bag the last crumb that I had, and as I nib 
 bled slowly, that it might last the longer, a tiny 
 crumb fell to the ground, and immediately an ant 
 not larger than the crumb, seized it and began drag 
 ging it to its home. Hardly had it started before it 
 was pounced upon by a larger specimen of the ant 
 tribe, then a battle royal began. They fought till at 
 last the large adversary lay still on the sand. I 
 watched the victor crawl back to the crumb and lie 
 down by the side of it, dead. In this insect tragedy, 
 Tong-siki, I took courage and shall fight on, and 
 shall possess her, though death should be the crown 
 of my victory. I have sought her over hills and 
 across plains, through heat and cold, and always 
 her voice has beckoned me on. In the lights and 
 shadows her form always just eluded my grasp. It 
 
222 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 was ever just over the next hill, just across the next 
 plain. Ah! Tong-siki, do you know aught of her 
 and the rich Yi, or of old Mayo?" I had leaned for 
 ward and was looking into his eyes, and when he 
 spoke it was with great gentleness. 
 
 "No, Sung-yo; I have heard nothing. You will 
 win. But" 
 
 "But, what?" I asked. 
 
 There is something nobler, of which you have 
 not thought." Again he paused. 
 
 "I am listening," I replied. 
 
 "You are battling for the sake of personal grati 
 fication. If it were for a principle, how much more 
 noble ! Then you would renounce your present pur 
 pose, and fight down the passion, and become worthy 
 to be a leader of our people. To live for one s self 
 is a passion of the generation. Think, Sung-yo, the 
 multitudes here are like the swine at the feeding 
 troughs. They have never learned the lessons of 
 our ancestors, nor those which their better nature 
 dictates. Renunciation, Sung-yo, is a doctrine of 
 the ancient masters. Do you not remember the 
 Christians meeting? Did not the Westerner urge 
 renunciation? They have improved upon our phi 
 losophy of self-repression and command devotion 
 to the good of others. The needs of the times show 
 their teachings true. The times demand activity 
 and strenuous zeal till the heart throbs in a consum 
 ing passion for others. You wear your life thread- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 223 
 
 bare to satisfy a passion, and who is the better ? The 
 girl ? Who is able to say so ? Yourself ? You may 
 become satisfied, but that does not argue that you 
 would be better. I am not asking you to repress the 
 eagerness of your nature. I have learned better 
 than to do so, but I would see it turned into other 
 channels that it might bless many in need. 
 
 "I have been studying the secret of success of the 
 Western nations. Their spirit I may not have 
 learned any better than those nations have learned 
 ours, but the closer I observe, certain facts become 
 more clearly interpreted. While many of them are 
 here, professedly, for friendly trade, they show a 
 passion for our exploitation and treat us with con 
 tempt. I do not say that the Western people are 
 great, for I know them only as aliens and my judg 
 ment may be influenced by prejudice. Greatness in 
 cludes generosity, civility, politeness, all of which 
 they lack; but their national ideal is sacrifice and 
 their heroes have lived it. It is this fact that has 
 made them free and powerful. 
 
 "Think of the millions of our countrymen who, 
 under official oppression, are no better than slaves. 
 Think of that foreign island race, whom we once 
 despised, suddenly becoming powerful, daily treat 
 ing us with contempt and insult, even while profess 
 ing to be our friends, denying us the consideration 
 due a foe. Think of the puerility of our statesman 
 ship. We want men, Sung-yo ; men." 
 
224 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 He spoke with great earnestness and reminded 
 me of a mountain torrent, not by its noise, but by 
 its potential force. 
 
 "Our philosophy is not widely different," I re 
 plied. "It is strange to me that I, in pausing to 
 pluck this wild flower, should fall behind in the race, 
 or become less fit to join you in the great work of 
 reform. Why should my zeal for your cause be a 
 whit less ? If you are hungry, you eat that you may 
 have strength for heavy duties. If I have a passion 
 of love, I must satisfy it that I may have heart 
 sinew to battle for the unselfish ends of which you 
 speak. On the other hand, think not, Tong-siki, 
 that I am utterly selfish; would I not die for her? 
 
 "You have told me little of your early years, and 
 slow would I be to walk roughshod into the quiet of 
 your past ; but if at that time you fell a victim to our 
 ancient customs by having a bride chosen for you, 
 one whom you had never seen, of course you loved 
 her not ; though I am far from saying that the mem 
 ory of her grave is not tender, would it be presump 
 tuous for me to infer that you are a stranger to the 
 most holy of all passions, and its ennobling power, 
 and in that case, incompetent to judge in this mat 
 ter? As for the matter of sacrifice if I were as 
 sured that renunciation would work her a benefit, 
 then would I search for her no more. If sacrifice 
 has a subjective benefit by fitting one for public 
 duties could you ask more? Think of what her 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 225 
 
 helpfulness would mean " then I paused, remem 
 bering what a slave-wife would mean in Korean 
 society. 
 
 Tong-siki called loudly to a servant to bring our 
 rice, generously covering my confusion. The serv 
 ant appearing with the tables, put an end, for a time, 
 to further conversation on that subject. 
 
 "It is probable," he added, after a while, "that if 
 the rich Yi were in the city he would have made his 
 presence known, for if my information regarding 
 his history is correct he has been one of those who 
 have an itching palm for official preferment. If he 
 were here, unless hiding for some crime, he would 
 try to take advantage of the reform movement to get 
 into power. Fortune seems to be a facetious god 
 dess, surprising the Outs and sometimes the lowly 
 by putting them in, and hurling the Ins out." 
 
 "Would Yi figure as a reformer?" I asked. 
 
 "O ! no, indeed. How refreshing your innocence 
 is ! Do you think questions of reform mean any 
 thing to these garbage eaters? If he is in the city 
 he must be laying deep plans, and feels that his 
 future is secure, otherwise we would have heard 
 from him. He must have other resources than the 
 friendship of the governor, for that gentleman is 
 much in disgrace for not obeying his Majesty 
 during the persecution of which you and I were 
 witnesses. I advise you to begin combing the city, 
 feeling assured that you will start any quantity of 
 
226 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 vermin. No doubt from the mass you will recog 
 nize your enemy, or should I say friend? I myself 
 will keep a lookout for this excellent gentleman. I 
 can make public inquiries, while you had better work 
 on the sly," he added, rising and adjusting his hat, 
 and left me without a hint of how I should begin. 
 My heart was warmed, for I knew that Tong-siki 
 would indeed search the city, as it were, with a fine- 
 toothed comb. 
 
 For days I stood at the gate of the palace, until I 
 knew the names of every official who entered and re 
 turned, and learned much of their history and hab 
 its. I made the acquaintance of the servants of 
 many wealthy people and those of rank, and joined 
 in their gossip, hoping to gain the information I 
 sought. Mornings I started out with high hopes, 
 and nights returned dejected. Tong-siki greeted 
 me each day with hearty cheerfulness, and deftly led 
 our conversation away from the subject which bur 
 dened my mind, and was delighted when I talked 
 glibly of the court officials, their habits and move 
 ments. He seemed determined to hear nothing 
 about the slave, and I respected his wishes, knowing 
 that he was not insensible to my feelings. 
 
 When he told me of his indefatigable efforts to 
 form an association of the privileged class, who 
 would stand together against both the Japanese and 
 the party who were ready to sell Korea s best inter 
 ests for personal gain, I was amazed at his prodi- 
 
EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 227 
 
 gious labors. At one time he would have a follow 
 ing that seemed to promise great things; and at 
 another time all would leave him, and he would 
 again, with infinite patience, labor on to win them 
 back to his purpose. Again and again, with pro 
 found faith in his countrymen, he would lay before 
 them the ideals of reform and pure government, 
 only to see the edifice, when on the point of com 
 pletion, crumble beneath his hands. They were 
 ready to organize and make ventures for gain, but 
 not for sacrifice. They loved their wealth and ease 
 too dearly to jeopardize them in any scheme for re 
 form. Still Tong-siki labored on he made friends 
 and many enemies. A position in the government 
 service was offered him with the hope that he would 
 be satisfied, but this he declined. 
 
 On several occasions, by making friends of offi 
 cials servants, I entered the palace grounds and 
 familiarized myself with the location of the build 
 ings and their occupants, but my search was fruit 
 less. At the end of weeks of searching I returned to 
 Tong-siki one evening, more discouraged than I 
 had ever been, resolving that I would quit the search 
 in the city and journey north across the Chinese bor 
 der, where rumor had it that many of the Korean 
 refugees had fled after the battle of Pyeng-Yang. 
 
 As I entered our room, Tong-siki was sitting on 
 his mat, soberly looking over a roll of paper, wrink 
 ling his brow in perplexity, and so absorbed was he 
 
228 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 that he took no notice of my entrance. For some 
 time I watched him gaze at the outside of the roll, 
 as if he expected to solve a mystery from its polished 
 surface. Presently he glanced up and smiled a 
 welcome, then turned to the contemplation of the 
 roll of paper. 
 
 "The empty mind and a blank book," I observed, 
 quoting one of our classics. 
 
 "Yes?" said he, absently laying the roll in his 
 open palm, "this is one of the many I have received 
 during the last month, and that fact robs this one of 
 much importance rumors, only rumors." 
 
 "What rumors?" 
 
 "Nothing new," he replied. "Since I have been in 
 Seoul I have heard of little but insurrections and re 
 bellions originating within the capital, and again 
 out in the country, murder of members of the cabi 
 net, regicide, violence and bloodshed, always and in 
 cessantly. Come here," he added, "these walls have 
 more ears than can be found in a drove o donkeys, 
 or at the national examinations. Beneath every pair 
 of ears wags an industrious tongue, you know. 
 Look here!" said he, lowering his voice to a point 
 more difficult to hear than a whisper. "I hold in my 
 hand supposed information of a plot against the 
 lives of members of the royal family, and for the 
 extinction of the present dynasty. It incriminates 
 the most powerful men in the realm, and also the 
 Japanese Minister. I think it is a canard, yet if 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 229 
 
 certain officials knew that I had such a communica 
 tion in my possession, it would cost me my head. 
 I might not object to losing so valuable a part of my 
 anatomy, if, in doing so, I could do any definite 
 good. I do not know from whom this communica 
 tion comes. It was slipped into my hand while I 
 was passing out of the palace grounds about two 
 hours ago. It is a specimen of a great many that 
 have come to me in circuitous ways, but have proved 
 utterly groundless suspicions. The burden of the 
 letter is, that the father of the King purposes to 
 secure the aid of the Japanese, or rather become the 
 tool of the Japanese Minister, for the destruction 
 of the Queen, and perhaps the whole royal family. 
 That the old regent would be ready to dispose of the 
 Queen who has long stood in his way, is evident, but 
 that he should want to destroy the dynasty is ab 
 surd ; that the Japanese should contemplate so enor 
 mous a crime is unthinkable, especially as their in 
 fluence here depends upon winning the good will of 
 our people. The moment that they should try to 
 lay hands on the persons of their Majesties, Japan s 
 influence is destroyed, and only by the force of arms 
 could she hope to control our affairs. The contents 
 of this roll, I think, are simply the vaporings of a 
 diseased mind. How morbidly our people dream !" 
 he added, as he lighted a match and touched it to the 
 roll of paper. He then gazed at the black mass and 
 scowled at it as if still trying to wrench from the 
 
230 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 smoke information of the alleged plot. Plainly, in 
 spite of his assuring words, he was not at ease. He 
 watched the last ring of smoke curl lazily upward, 
 and then looked me over quizzically, and his next 
 words, for a time, drove utterly from my mind the 
 threat contained in the charred roll. 
 
 "Now," said he, "I have seen your friend, the rich 
 Yi." 
 
 "Seen him !" I gasped. 
 
 "I saw him coming from the palace grounds," he 
 added, looking me over with the air of a connois 
 seur. "He was in company with a eunuch and a 
 palace official with whom I have a slight acquaint 
 ance; indeed, I had found track of him two days 
 ago, and to-day I stood a long time at the palace gate 
 waiting for his appearance. I had urgent business 
 away, but remembering your foolish ambition and 
 pinings, called upon my stock of patience. When 
 they appeared, I joined them, and by dint of insinu 
 ations, made myself known to Mr. Yi. He seems 
 to be gazing high. He carried his chin on an angle 
 with the rafters of the houses; his stride is not ex 
 celled by the most artistic strutter in the capital ; he 
 steps high with stiffened knees and glances along 
 the line of his flat nose ; as he expands, the rotundity 
 of his fat body is enough to paralyze the presump 
 tion of any young man. Certain it is that if the 
 poor, helpless Emperor should once get a view of 
 this impressive piece of dignity, he would be un- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 231 
 
 able to resist it. Royal rank would be compelled to 
 protest its unworthiness, and hasten to crown him 
 with all possible honors. He seemed surprised that 
 I was not overcome with his importance, and I fear 
 I pricked a good deal of his vanity by asking him of 
 many of his poor relations, and how they got along 
 with their paddyfields. I was particularly solicitous 
 of the one who fell from the back of his bull some 
 time ago. Of course I did not know that any of his 
 friends had been injured from such a fall, but I 
 knew that he certainly did not know that there had 
 not been such an accident. He looked uneasily at 
 his companions and tried to talk of something else. 
 So effectually did I prick his pride that he almost 
 forgot his strident step, and excusing himself from 
 his companions asked me to his palanquin. Of 
 course I was properly and politely appreciative of 
 his special regard for my company, and my mem 
 ory of your needs led me to accept the forced invi 
 tation to follow him to his home. While I protested 
 and begged to be excused from imposing myself 
 upon his company, words that he struggled to recall 
 fell from his lips repeating his invitation. I think I 
 have never met anyone who so heartily hated me, 
 and at the same time protested pleasure in a new 
 found friendship. I left him, after an hour s con 
 versation, in a room filled with tobacco smoke, his 
 hat and mangun 1 off, one sleeve pushed above his el- 
 
 1 A headband of horse hair or bamboo 
 
232 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 bow, the other hanging pathetically over his hand, 
 suggestive of the struggle he had had to fight with 
 one hand while yielding a surrender with the other. 
 I never took quite so much delight in wringing and 
 twisting the affairs of a man from him before. I 
 hurled Confucian platitudes at him, until he grunted, 
 and groaned, and nodded "yes" at things he wished 
 he had studied when young, but did not care to say 
 so. I hinted of knowledge I possessed of court life, 
 and of power I held in my hands, till he was on the 
 point of making friends; then I got in blows on his 
 humble origin until he fell almost into a heap. As 
 his dignity left him, I fear that mine began to bris 
 tle up under a pair of glasses which I keep about me 
 for special occasions. At last his pomposity utterly 
 left him, and he meekly asked me if I could help him 
 in a plan he had launched. He gave me some in 
 formation and I twisted his topknot, figuratively 
 speaking, until I found what I was after. Eunuchs, 
 I observed, are very good tools for some kinds of 
 service, but, in general, he had better leave them 
 alone. He at last told me that he had a beautiful 
 daughter whom he had placed in the hands of an 
 influential eunuch to train for service in the royal 
 court, as he believed a vacancy would soon result 
 from the death of an invalid palace woman. I asked 
 him on what he relied for success. 
 
 " Of course/ said he, I have remembered the 
 man well in a substantial way, and have promised 
 
EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 233 
 
 more, but most of all, I depend upon the girl s 
 beauty and brilliancy of mind. If he is able to bring 
 her to the attention of the Queen, I have little fear 
 of the results. 
 
 "I asked if his daughter had any objection to 
 going. He replied, that when he told her that she 
 had the choice of going or of becoming the concu 
 bine of a certain old man, she consented to go, and 
 left in a glad spirit." 
 
 "But," said I, as soon as Tong-siki paused, 
 "Ewa, the slave girl, what of her? Did you wring 
 anything from him regarding her?" 
 
 Tong-siki looked me over for a minute and then 
 added, "Who do you think the certain old man is, 
 and who do you think is his daughter?" 
 
 "O !" said I, and never before in all my madden 
 ing search did she seem so far from me. I had a 
 thousand times rather run the gauntlet of the Jap 
 anese terrible inurata and take the chances with 
 Ewa, than attempt her rescue from the guarded pal 
 ace enclosure. The chances for success with the 
 former seemed a certainty compared with the latter. 
 
 When the evening meal was brought in, I pushed 
 it from me and vacantly studied the mat at my feet. 
 
 "When and where does the raid take place?" I 
 asked, a sudden thought bringing me to my feet. 
 
 "To-morrow night at the Kang-wha gate," he 
 replied, looking at me inquiringly. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 UNDER ARREST 
 
 LATE in the evening, I slipped out of the door, 
 and when I looked back at Tong-siki, he was still 
 studying the roll of charred paper, his brow knit in 
 a frown. A gust of wind from the open door sent 
 the ashes whirling about the room and he followed 
 them with his eyes, while the shadows deepened in 
 his handsome face. 
 
 I made my way to the gate that Tong-siki had 
 named, led there by a feeling of intolerable restless 
 ness and misery. I stood for a long time looking at 
 the palace wall till I heard the great city bell toll the 
 curfew, and still I gazed, until the moon sank in 
 the west and the darkness hid the wall from view. 
 She lived and breathed beyond it somewhere. What 
 were her surroundings ? and to what had she already 
 fallen a victim? were the questions that seized and 
 maddened me. 
 
 Suddenly, I was aware of the approach of some 
 one between me and the gate, others followed and a 
 conversation was carried on in a low tone. Some 
 one cautiously turned the light against the wall and 
 gate. I crept close upon them wondering at the 
 absence of the guard, then I recognized the guard 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 235 
 
 with the lantern, and a dozen other uniformed men. 
 Presently the light fell upon the face of a Japanase 
 official. The plot reported to Tong-siki flashed 
 through my mind, and I turned to creep away with 
 the intention of informing him. I had nearly re 
 gained the friendly shelter of a house, when the 
 lantern was turned full upon me; and in a moment 
 I was seized by a dozen men in Japanese uniform. 
 At a word from one who seemed to be in authority, 
 they released their rough hold, and I was placed in 
 their midst. 
 
 What was I doing skulking around the palace 
 gates ? Did I not know that such actions were trea 
 son, and treason meant death ? They had been look 
 ing for just such fellows as I, and, now that they 
 had found me, they ought to make an example of 
 me. 
 
 "Kill him!" said the peevish voice of a country 
 man of mine, and I thought I recognized in the 
 voice an old man whom I had once heard speak at 
 the home of one of the highest officials in the land ; 
 in it I recognized none other than the ex-regent of 
 Korea. 
 
 The ludicrousness of the king-regent standing as 
 watchman outside of the city gate caused me to 
 laugh outright. In an instant, a hand was slipped 
 over my mouth and my hands were bound behind 
 me. A consultation was carried on beyond my hear 
 ing. Presently there was a pull at my sleeve, and I 
 
236 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 was hurried on and told to make no noise. When 
 we entered the lighted part of the city, I noticed that 
 my captor was a Korean policeman, and his sword 
 rattled unpleasantly at his heels. He refused to an 
 swer any questions and ordered me on. There was 
 scarcely anyone on the street at that hour, and I 
 was marched through the city to the Japanese con 
 cession, and lodged in a Japanese prison. 
 
 A spirit of recklessness seized me, and when they 
 cut the thongs that bound my hands and thrust me 
 inside a room, I laughed until my mirthless voice 
 startled me. A kindly disposed Japanese keeper 
 tossed me a pipe and a pouch of tobacco. I broke 
 the pipe into a dozen pieces and hurled them, with 
 the tobacco, out of the door after him. He grunted 
 something and fastened the door upon me. I was 
 angry as I had never been before, and wandered 
 around the small room, feeling of every projection 
 that my hand touched. I felt of the wood bars 
 fastened across a tiny window and tugged at them, 
 then, choosing out one, I lifted in a delirium of rage 
 until the bar broke with a loud explosive noise. The 
 lock on the door rattled and my keeper came in with 
 a light, and attempted to belabor me with a club. I 
 seized his arm, and we rolled together on the floor. 
 I fought with a thrill of savagery until the man 
 under me lay still. The door stood wide open, but I 
 scorned to run ; I wanted to fight. The struggle had 
 occupied only a moment; but the noise had awak- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 237; 
 
 ened other keepers who soon appeared at the door 
 and dragged their fallen countryman to his feet he 
 rubbed his eyes in a bewildered way as consciousness 
 returned to him. They looked hard at me and at my 
 persecutor, and I felt the rage of all my wrong ting 
 ling in my fingertips, and backing into a corner 
 waited for them. They talked excitedly for a few 
 minutes and finally led their companion out and 
 closed the door after them. 
 
 Again I laughed loud and bitterly, till my voice 
 startled me. Twice had these aliens wrecked my 
 hopes, and the most bitter of all feelings, racial 
 hatred, filled my soul. I was positive that the letter 
 in Tong-siki s hands had told the truth ; and that to 
 morrow night there would be bloodshed in the 
 palace ; and that these aliens would attempt to des 
 troy our Queen. The thought quieted me, and my 
 unreasoning rage subsided. Again I felt about the 
 room for a chance to escape, but this time with cau 
 tion. All night I paced about the prison cell, and 
 when the morning light crept through the little 
 window I sat down on the floor, and waited for the 
 keeper to bring me my morning rice. My senses 
 were alert to meet the examination that awaited me. 
 Before the morning was half over the chain again 
 rattled at my cell door, and I was called out and con 
 ducted, with hands free, for examination before a 
 Japanese official. I was asked why I had been 
 prowling around the palace gate at night. I told 
 
238 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 them that I had been simply passing by, when I was 
 suddenly seized by the palace guard and hurried off 
 to prison, never having dreamed of offense, much 
 less a wrong against his Majesty and the laws of 
 this land, or the laws of the great and generous 
 Japanese people. They smiled at the last remark, 
 and asked if I had seen anyone among the guards 
 before, or if I recognized any of their number? I 
 told them that I was a poor man, who carried water 
 in Pyeng-Yang for a living, and had come to Seoul 
 in search of a friend, and that I had never had the 
 privilege of becoming acquainted with the palace 
 guards. Presently the keeper with whom I had had 
 the struggle the night before, was brought in, and, 
 when he appeared with his head bound up, a smile 
 flitted from face to face. He was asked a few ques 
 tions in Japanese, which I did not understand. The 
 questioner then turned to me and asked if I had 
 broken the prison window the night before, and I 
 admitted that I had. 
 
 "Why did you do it?" they asked. 
 
 "To get out," I replied. 
 
 "Did you not know that it was a grave offense 
 and deserved punishment?" 
 
 "I supposed," I replied, "that your excellency 
 would be grateful, if I should demonstrate the 
 worthlessness of the prison." 
 
 "Do you see the man with the cloth about his 
 head?" 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 239 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Did you attack and wound him last night in 
 prison?" 
 
 "No, I did not attack him, but I wounded him." 
 
 "Tell your story," he commanded. 
 
 I told it, as it was, and added, "Your people beat 
 us on the street and in the shop, wherever we come 
 in contact. Then, when we are arrested, even if it is 
 for no act of violence, your officers of the law beat 
 and wound us. Is it not natural for us to turn on 
 the ones who wound us ? Will not the wild deer and 
 rabbit when seized, turn upon their tormentors? If 
 the Creator placed the law in the heart of the brute, 
 why do you deny a human being the same right? 
 Why do you despise the Koreans and ride over our 
 country with shoes of iron ? Is it not because we are 
 not in the habit of resisting our wrongs? When we 
 crouch under your blows, you despise us, and the 
 blows are multiplied. I have not learned that you 
 have any law that allows a prison keeper to deliber 
 ately unlock a prison door and beat an uncondemned 
 man, and if I have showed, in resisting that unlaw 
 ful attack, the spirit of manhood which you prize, 
 why should you condemn me or my countrymen 
 under like circumstances, and make us what you de 
 plore and despise?" 
 
 "Your story regarding your presence at the palace 
 gate is accepted," they finally announced, "but it is 
 thought wise to detain you a day or two, to test 
 
240 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 your good behavior. Do not attempt to escape," 
 they commanded, and I was led away, not to the 
 prison, but what seemed to be a private house. I 
 was given a room with a mat on the floor and to my 
 surprise the door was not locked ; but when it opened 
 for a moment to let someone in, I saw a soldier 
 pacing on the outside. 
 
 When night came, seized with utter weariness, I 
 lay down to sleep. Late in the evening I was awak 
 ened by a Japanese soldier coming in with an armful 
 of blankets. He spread them out on the floor, and 
 removing his clothes lay down on the improvised 
 bed. Soon his heavy breathing announced that he 
 was sound asleep. I crawled to where his suit lay, 
 and removing mine, gradually wormed myself into 
 his. I had nearly completed the task when he awoke, 
 and I barely had time to lie down and feign sleep 
 by heavy breathing, when he sat up. Appearing at 
 last contented with matters, he again lay down and 
 was soon lost in sleep. I crawled to the door and 
 tried to slide it back ; it stuck somewhere and would 
 not move. I ran my hand up the casing and found 
 it fastened with a padlock on the inside. I searched 
 through his pockets, but could find no key, and con 
 cluded it must be somewhere about the sleeping sol 
 dier. I took his suit off and put mine on, then I felt 
 about his blankets. He woke with a start, mutter 
 ing something in Japanese, and reaching out struck 
 a light. The room was small, and I was only an 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 241 
 
 arm s length away. My eyes were closed and my 
 face turned toward him, and peering through my 
 lashes, I watched him examine the lock and raise his 
 pillow and rearrange the key underneath. He then 
 reached over with his foot and gave me a rough 
 kick. I awoke with pretended difficulty, and sitting 
 up stupidly asked what he wanted. Grunting his 
 satisfaction he again lay down. When his loud 
 breathing gave notice of sleep, I rolled close to his 
 blankets and cautiously laid my hand on the top of 
 the pillow ; five minutes later I crowded my fingers 
 under a few inches; in another five minutes my 
 whole hand had passed under the pillow and my 
 fingers touched the depression made by the soldier s 
 head. I slowly doubled up my fist to raise an 
 uncomfortable place in his pillow, hoping that in 
 his sleep, he would unconsciously roll his head 
 from me. Suddenly, his breathing became quiet, 
 and I knew that he was on the point of awaken 
 ing, and my heart stood still. My extended arm 
 had already become stiff and my fingers numb, 
 and I doubted my ability to hold my hand quiet, 
 or of even being able to feel the key should I 
 touch it. Presently, his heavy breathing returned 
 and my hand moved nearer his head; he yielded 
 to the pressure, and I extended my fingers till they 
 touched the tiny ring. Five minutes later, I had 
 removed my hand from the pillow and rubbed my 
 fingers until the circulation returned, then I un- 
 
242 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 locked the door and placed the key beneath his pil 
 low. I had barely completed the task when he 
 awoke, and sitting up, felt for the key, and reaching 
 out gave me another jab with his foot. Half an 
 hour later, I again worked myself into his suit of 
 clothes, and removing the lock, found the outer door. 
 When I had entered, I had taken notice of the curi 
 ously constructed latch, and so was soon out in the 
 open, under the bright, twinkling heavens. 
 
 My feet tingled to run, but I walked leisurely 
 down a side street, then quickened my pace. As I 
 crossed the main street a Japanese policeman spoke 
 to me, but I did not answer him, and, to my dismay, 
 he seemed to regard me with suspicion. He ap 
 proached and examined me closely: "Who are 
 you?" he asked. 
 
 "For the palace gate," I whispered, with a feeling 
 of desperation. "Humph !" he grunted, and moved 
 away. When I reached the Korean part of the city, 
 I breathed freely, and hastened down streets and 
 alleyways that were free from meddlesome police 
 men. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 ATTACK ON THE PALACE 
 
 I REACHED the door of Tong-siki s home and then 
 paused. The attack on the palace would occur any 
 moment, to tell him would only endanger his life, 
 neither could he be of any assistance at this late hour, 
 I thought then, too, I had a purpose of my own, 
 and Tong-siki might thwart it; but no, I must tell 
 him, I again reflected, and rapped at his door. There 
 was no answer, then I called in a low voice, but 
 there was no reply. Remembering his uneasiness 
 over the report, I knew that he would do everything 
 in his power to investigate, and was gone for that 
 purpose, and perhaps, at that moment, was in the 
 palace with the alarm. Feeling a sense of relief, I 
 started for the palace gate, a half hour s walk away. 
 I approached the gate with great caution when 
 suddenly a hand was laid on my shoulder and a lan 
 tern swung in my face. My topknot had been lost 
 at the hospital, and the false arrangement that I had 
 used with my headband, had been pulled off in the 
 struggle with the prison keeper. I was led to where 
 others of my countrymen, dressed in the same uni 
 form, waited. A hand was passed over my head 
 and I was pronounced all right. We stood a long 
 
 243 
 
244 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 time in deep silence, until at last, we heard the meas 
 ured tread of a body of men. As they marched by 
 us, we fell in at the rear. The Kang-wha gate was 
 closed, and we waited till it creaked on its hinges 
 and swung open on the inside, then we all crowded 
 in and stood for some minutes under the arched wall. 
 
 A consultation, like a rehearsal, was taking place 
 among the leaders, and I pushed among them in the 
 hope of gaining information. What was said was 
 spoken in so low an undertone that I caught but 
 little, but from it all I gathered that the purpose was 
 even as the letter had stated they were after the 
 life of the Queen, with the plan of getting posses 
 sion of the government. I tried in the darkness to 
 make out who the conspirators were, but could only 
 ascertain that in the main they were Japanese, as 
 sisted by Korean soldiers; who, since the Chinese 
 war, had been trained by Japanese officers. A chair 
 was waiting nearly in the center of the company, and 
 observing that it was the one I had seen entering the 
 palace grounds at the head of these raiders, I crept 
 up to it, and directly, a light in the hands of a sol 
 dier shot for an instant across the face of the occu 
 pant, and I started to see no less a personage than his 
 highness the Emperor s father. The central figure 
 attracting general attention and from whom 
 orders were rapidly being given, was the high Japa 
 nese official whom I had seen before. 
 
 At sight of him I was amazed beyond expression ; 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 245 
 
 then my amazement grew into hot anger; and, at 
 one moment I had an insane idea that I would at 
 tack the man as he stood there; then a moment s re 
 flection came to my rescue. 
 
 Tong-siki must be in the palace, I reflected, and 
 started from the crowd so suddenly that several 
 turned to follow with their attention, seeing which, 
 I slackened my pace and carelessly wandered to the 
 outskirts of the company, and beyond the line of 
 soldiers. When free I hurried forward to give the 
 alarm at the palace. 
 
 I had gone only a few yards when half a dozen 
 Korean soldiers, some in Japanese uniform, seized 
 me, and I whispered, "Hush ! Make no noise." 
 
 "What are you doing?" they asked. 
 
 "Hush!" I repeated, "they are coming." I took 
 advantage of their momentary hesitation and re 
 turned to the body of men, realizing that the organi 
 zation had been so complete that I could only hope 
 to follow and give the alarm before any violence 
 could be performed against their Majesties. As I 
 turned to the center of the group, I again heard, 
 "The Queen ! the Queen ! the life of the Queen !" 
 
 As the party moved up among the palace build 
 ings, a streak of gray shot across the eastern sky, 
 causing our company to hasten. If there had been 
 nothing previous to mark the soldiers as foreign 
 troops, the alacrity with which they responded to 
 the low commands would have proven their identity. 
 
246 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 We were led in and out among great rows of pal 
 ace buildings toward the one occupied by the Em 
 peror. I was astonished at the ease with which en 
 trance was made, and the total lack of opposition. 
 We were called to a halt and the company was 
 formed in the order of an attacking force, when, 
 suddenly, a scream of terror gave the alarm. Imme 
 diately hundreds of lights flickered among the build 
 ings, calls resounded with sharp commands for the 
 soldiers on guard, and in an incredible short time 
 we were faced by a dusky line of the faithful palace 
 guards. On the moment of alarm, the Japanese sol 
 diers sprang ahead with astonishing precision, leav 
 ing the Korean company straggling in the rear. 
 Shots rang out in our front, but no one fell. The 
 Japanese soldiers replied w r ith their deadly murata 
 and cries and groans followed. As the Japanese 
 charged up the narrow alleyways, I felt a sickening 
 sense of shame to see our palace guard flee before 
 that small body of men. 
 
 I stumbled on a fallen palace guard and he feebly 
 called for help. I raised him up, and, as I did so, 
 his jacket swung back, revealing his side covered 
 with blood. I looked for the wound and then 
 dropped him with a feeling of repulsion. He had 
 been hit in the back. Better die, I thought, then in 
 pity stopped to help, but found that he had already 
 rendered up his life. I worked my way around the 
 line that had been drawn about the palace. A group 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 247 
 
 of So-shi 1 were rushing in and out among the 
 palace buildings calling the name of the Queen. In 
 front of me stood a row of indifferent troops facing 
 the building, the faithful tools of anyone who 
 wore shoulder straps and could call out a command. 
 Except for the shouting of the So-shi, quietness had 
 settled over the palace grounds. Presently screams 
 were heard in the women s apartments. At the 
 sound, I broke through the line of guards and ran 
 for the entrance to the building where I believed 
 was his Majesty. I heard shouting in the rear, and 
 men in hot pursuit. The last year s hardship and 
 exposure had given me endurance, and my pursuers 
 fell behind. At the entrance to the Emperor s 
 apartments I saw a great commotion ; Koreans and 
 Japanese dressed as I was were engaged in a hand- 
 to-hand struggle with a gigantic Korean, who, tow 
 ering above them, swung a club with terrible effect. 
 A light from a torch struck his face and my heart 
 leaped. It was Tong-siki. At the door my pur 
 suers paused, as I was indistinguishable from the 
 jostling mass with swinging arms and legs. I called 
 to Tong-siki and plunged into the center of the 
 fighting mass to get to his side. He saw me, and I 
 noticed a glance of recognition, and that he was 
 bleeding from a wound in the head. It had been 
 too narrow an enclosure and too many crowded into 
 the narrow space to allow the use of the bayoneted 
 
 Japanese professional cutthroats 
 
248 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 gun. Thus far, Tong-siki, with the ironing club 
 in his hand and his back to the wall, had not been 
 at a great disadvantage; but immediately the thin 
 wall partition fell away on our right and gave room 
 for action. The Japanese in front of me lunged at 
 Tong-siki, but was met by a blow on the head. 
 At that moment, a bayoneted gun was raised over 
 the heads of the struggling mob and aimed at Tong- 
 siki s exposed side. I hurled it aside and slashed 
 with my sword, with a wild, vain hope that I might 
 aid Tong-siki and the Emperor, though I had never 
 held a sword before. Like a flash of light when 
 one sees but has not feeling or thought, I beheld 
 a score of arms raised above me and I fell. 
 
 Then I thought I was dreaming in Tong-siki s 
 home and the great bell of the city was ringing its 
 vesper call. The sense of a great duty crept through 
 my brain and I struggled to arouse myself, but it 
 seemed as if I were held down with some ponderous 
 burden; then I awoke, but found the room empty 
 and the body of a huge Korean lying across me. I 
 gained strength and tried to push it from me and 
 my hand was slippery from the touch. I lifted my 
 self on my hands and crawled from beneath the 
 weight and my head was dizzy. I looked at the 
 face of the body at my side with a bewildered sense 
 of familiarity, then my vision cleared and my heart 
 seemed to stand still it was the set face of Tong- 
 siki. I picked up his hand and it lay right where 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 249 
 
 I put it. I lifted the hair that had fallen over his 
 white forehead, and at the touch, I forgot the Em 
 peror and Korea s wrongs. The clatter of feet in 
 the adjoining apartment seemed to be something 
 with which I never had anything to do. Then I laid 
 my cheek against Tong-siki s and washed away 
 the red blotches with my tears. I tqok his head in 
 my lap, and an ugly cut in the back of the head 
 gaped up at me, and I tore up a coat near at hand 
 and bound up the wound; when it was done, the 
 foolishness of the act appeared to me. 
 
 The partition that had fallen during the struggle 
 revealed a gorgeous apartment and I knew it was 
 the room occupied by the Emperor, but its gorgeous 
 trappings had no interest for me. Several members 
 of the So-shi came out of an adjoining room and 
 paused in front of me, exchanged remarks in their 
 own tongue, and one vented his spleen by a kick in 
 my side, then passed on. For this I cared nothing, 
 A great thirst overcame me, and seeing a bowl of 
 water on the table in an adjoining room, I laid the 
 head of my friend tenderly on the floor, crossed the 
 floor and brought the bowl back and raised it to 
 my lips. Then a great sob rose in my heart, and 
 I poured the water over the face of the man before 
 me and wiped it away. 
 
 A stamping of feet drew my attention to the 
 opposite apartment. The So-shi, a dozen in num 
 ber, approached, carrying a burden among them. As 
 
250 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 they swung- into the middle of the room, the morn 
 ing light glanced upon the beautiful silk garments 
 of a woman. They laid her on the floor exposing 
 to my view her face and a deep cut in the throat. 
 At the sight, all the bitter sorrow and pain in 
 my soul turned to hate. Tong-siki s club lay near 
 at hand and I crept over to where it lay. I noticed 
 that it was red the whole length and when my hand 
 closed over it a feeling of grim pleasure, like a hot 
 breath of wind swept over me, and as I crawled 
 back to where his body lay, all the demons of my 
 fierce ancestry awoke with glee, "Kill!" they whis 
 pered, "kill!" and I leaned over the body of my 
 friend and waited coolly calculating the number I 
 might be able to surprise and kill before rendering 
 up my own life. A mat was being placed over the 
 face of the dead woman. I made ready for the 
 onslaught and was half conscious of crowding my 
 toes painfully in the floor, when something hap 
 pened that made me pause in my insane purpose. 
 A young woman was being dragged into the room. 
 Her back was toward me and I was unable to see 
 her face, but something in her graceful, lithe form, 
 fixed my attention with a sense of familiarity, as 
 often will the odor of the rose startle long since 
 dead memories, and the hate in my heart lifted like 
 a sickly vapor. Suddenly, the cover was pulled 
 from the face of the dead and the palace girl rudely 
 pushed forward. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA" 251 
 
 "The "Queen ! the Queen ! O ! O ! O !" the girl cried, 
 and covered her face with her hands. She was 
 released, and fled with the swiftness of a fawn, and 
 there flashed across my mind a familiar scene at the 
 old hermitage. Presently, a second palace woman 
 was dragged into the room, and when the face of 
 the dead was uncovered, she flung herself on the 
 floor and sobbed the name of her Majesty. Thus 
 the murderers proved the identity of their victim. 
 
 The deep shadows of the room where I crouched 
 had hid all my movements, and so far, secure from 
 molestation, I had watched the scene and was torn 
 by a thousand conflicting emotions; hate, revenge, 
 and sorrow held sway, until, at last, the sweet face 
 of the Pyeng-Yang battlefield seemed to look down 
 in mine, and I turned to Tong-siki s marble face 
 and touched it with a feeling of tenderness and 
 whispered his name and the name of Ewa. 
 
 The body of the Queen was hastily wrapped in 
 a rough mat and carried out, the red ooze dripping 
 through as they bore her by me out of the door. 
 
 Hardly had they departed before the smooth, 
 Wrinkled face of a eunuch presented itself, cau 
 tiously, at the door in the opposite end of the room. 
 Then it gazed around with bulging, scared eyes, and 
 withdrew. Presently a huge body presented itself. 
 The light was not strong enough to make our posi 
 tion known, and he wandered about looking into 
 the corners, cautiously, as if on the point of taking 
 
252 EWA; A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 to his heels. As he was about to pass by, I arose 
 in front of him with Tong-siki s club in my hand. 
 With a cry of terror he threw up both hands, and 
 his fat legs shook under him. "I want your help," 
 I said, raising my club ; he fell on his knees with his 
 head to the floor and begged for his life. I had 
 some difficulty in persuading him that I meant no 
 harm, but wanted him to help me carry the body 
 of a man out of the house and to some place where 
 I could look after it, to prevent it from falling into 
 the hands of persons who might be his enemies. 
 I feared that they would mutilate it and represent 
 him as having been the traitor and cause of the 
 Queen s death. When the eunuch understood my 
 purpose he gained courage and readily consented 
 to secure coolies to carry off the dead. 
 
 "Indeed!" said he, "the palace is much polluted 
 and we must cleanse it of all such carrion." 
 
 "Carrion!" said I, "he gave his life for the 
 Queen." 
 
 "Life for her?" he replied, blinking his pig-eyes 
 at me, "what right has anyone from the common 
 herd to presume to offer what naturally she would 
 spurn ?" 
 
 The brutal words and the conviction of his com 
 plicity in the murder enraged me, and I again swung 
 the bloody club. His face blanched and he crouched 
 at my feet. "I will order the coolies," he said, with 
 lips blue with fear, and made as if to leave. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 253 
 
 "Here!" I commanded, seizing the body by the 
 shoulders, "take hold and lift." 
 
 "No! no! no!" he wailed, "I can t touch the 
 dead." Again I swung the club and he knelt near 
 the body and I lifted it by the shoulders and forced 
 him to lock his fat arms around it. Then I lifted, 
 too. 
 
 "Where?" he gasped, the perspiration running 
 down his face. 
 
 "Your apartments," I commanded. He stag 
 gered and I made a motion to draw the club. A 
 prolonged "Y-a-a" was the reply, and we started 
 toward a door that I had not noticed before. The 
 burden was great and required all our effort. We 
 passed out into a narrow alley that led finally to a 
 summer court, where well-tended autumn flowers 
 bloomed everywhere. Panting for breath, we laid 
 our burden down beside the walk beneath a shrub. 
 The eunuch s garments were stained and he stag 
 gered across the yard and pulled them from him 
 with the haste of mortal fear. I gave him no fur 
 ther attention, but sat by the side of my friend in 
 helpless misery. I was aware of persons in the 
 yard, of whom I took no notice, but was suddenly 
 conscious of someone standing at my back, looking 
 over my shoulder at the face on the ground. I felt 
 irritated at the presence of anyone actuated by curi 
 osity and looked up with impatience, and then 
 sprang to my feet. 
 
254 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Ewa!" I cried, and stepped toward her. She 
 did not look at me, probably not hearing. She 
 pointed to the face on the ground. I looked and 
 a great wave of delight swept over me. There was 
 a twitching of the muscles of Tong-siki s face. 
 "Water," I called; the girl sped a\vay and in a 
 moment was back with a gourd of cold water. I 
 reached for it, but she knelt at his side and began 
 bathing his forehead with her own hands. 
 
 She w r as gorgeous in silks and bright colors, and 
 her large sleeves slipped back to the elbow, reveal 
 ing the sign of the cross on her wrist. Her head 
 bent near mine and her hair touched my shoulder. 
 I was still in my Japanese uniform, and blood 
 covered my face. She had not recognized me, 
 doubtless believing that I had really died on the 
 battlefield of Pyeng-Yang. I watched her fingers 
 as they deftly bathed Tong-siki s face, and tightened 
 the bandage around his head. She washed his 
 blood-stained hands. Tong-siki opened his eyes 
 and looked vacantly up, tried to move his lips and 
 closed his eyes again. I laughed, and cried, and 
 took the dear old hand of my faithful comrade and 
 caressed it and midst laughter and tears talked to 
 him in the foolish style of our boyhood days. 
 
 "Wake up, Tong-siki," said I, "Mayo is under 
 the sweet willow with his lute, come where we can 
 see the river in the sunlight; come Tong-siki, the 
 boats are dancing on the water and calling you, the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 255 
 
 path all the way down to the river bank is crowded 
 with flowers." 
 
 He opened his eyes and smiled with a look of in 
 telligence and I laughed and pressed his cheek with 
 my fingers. Then I noticed that the girl had silently 
 withdrawn and was intently gazing at me, her lips 
 white, and the muscles of her beautiful face like 
 statuary. I deliberately reached for the gourd of 
 water and washed the blood stains from my face 
 and hands, and presented my wrist with the sign 
 of the cross. I laid it out against Tong-siki s fore 
 head as if by accident. A company of women had 
 gathered and were standing somewhat aloof, but 
 watched our efforts at resuscitation with great 
 interest. 
 
 "Ewa," I whispered, "you thought I was dead, 
 but I have been searching for you all these months." 
 While speaking I looked at Tong-siki, then glanced 
 at her face ; her breath was coming short and rapid, 
 and the large, dark eyes were searching me from 
 head to foot. "You wanted me to search for you?" 
 I pleaded, with an undefinable fear creeping down in 
 my heart. 
 
 "Water!" Tong-siki whispered, and I called to 
 one of the women standing at a distance. She 
 brought it and placed it in my hands. Violence 
 had, for a moment, eliminated all barriers of rank. 
 I placed the water to Tong-siki s lips, then he 
 wearily closed his eyes. 
 
256 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 When I looked at Ewa she was in the same 
 attitude. 
 
 "No word for me, Ewa?" I asked. 
 
 "Regicide!" she said, glancing at Tong-siki. 
 
 "No! no! he fell in defense of the Emperor," I 
 said. 
 
 Her gaze turned to my Japanese uniform. 
 
 "I? I was at his side, this is a disguise," I said, 
 interpreting her questioning look. 
 
 "Escape !" I said, then I paused ; for the first time 
 her position at the royal court loomed up before my 
 vision. Would she, indeed, follow me? She had 
 the wealth of the country at her feet, and to what 
 distance would her beauty, grace and brilliancy not 
 carry her? My lips grew dumb and I felt faint and 
 helpless. 
 
 At that moment, there was a stir at the yard 
 gate, and the company of bystanders fled for seclu 
 sion. The slave girl alone remained, though she 
 withdrew a few yards. The eunuch appeared with 
 a company of coolies bearing a rough stretcher. 
 
 "Remove this carrion from the palace grounds," 
 said he, authoritatively, as he came puffing to my 
 side, then paused when he saw that Tong-siki was 
 alive. It was evident that he held profound rever 
 ence for my Japanese uniform, which confirmed my 
 suspicions that he had been an accomplice to the 
 crime. 
 
 "Send those coolies out," I ordered, "and bring in 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 257 
 
 a better litter for a sick man." He hesitated, but in 
 five minutes was back with a litter and blankets. 
 
 When Tong-siki had been laid on the litter I 
 told the eunuch that it was too late in the day for 
 me to appear on the street in that uniform, that he 
 must furnish me with something Korean, as it would 
 not be good for either him or me if I were to be 
 found in it, providing the present coup d etat should 
 not prove successful. His face grew purple with 
 wrath and he stormed furiously, that I should class 
 him with the murderers of the Queen. I looked him 
 straight in the face and laughed. 
 
 "Good acting," said I, "keep it up. I see the 
 Japanese and the king-regent know how to choose 
 good accomplices." He disappeared, puffing and 
 muttering, and soon returned with a suit of clothes 
 and motioned me to one of his rooms. 
 
 I felt assured, when I finally looked myself over, 
 that it would puzzle any Japanese policeman to dis 
 cover in me the man who had escaped from their 
 hands the previous night. 
 
 "Hide the uniform," I directed, "till I send or 
 call for it." 
 
 As I walked down the yard to join the coolies 
 who were impatiently waiting with the litter raised 
 on their shoulders, I passed a large shrub in the 
 middle of the compound. A white garment glinted 
 through the branches and I paused in front of it, 
 pretending to adjust my hat. 
 
258 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "Watch," a low musical voice said, "at the home 
 of the rich Yi." 
 
 "Where?" I asked, but she had gone. 
 
 With a hopeful heart I followed the litter through 
 its many windings among the palace buildings; pres 
 ently we were brought to a halt by a large crowd 
 of palace people who were standing in our path. I 
 ordered the coolies to wait and worked my way into 
 the midst of the crowd of scared, w^hite faces. The 
 smell of burning flesh arose from the ground and 
 looking over someone s shoulder I saw a charred 
 heap. "What is it?" I asked. 
 
 "Queen !" was the awed reply. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 STORMS IN THE CAPITAL 
 
 I HASTENED back to the litter and urged the coo 
 lies on. We passed out of a small gate where our 
 guide left us, and I led the way across the city to 
 a foreign hospital, wher our burden was kindly 
 received. 
 
 We laid Tong-siki gently on the warm floor of 
 the hospital. He had said nothing since asking for 
 water. The surgeon looked him over with a non 
 committal face, and told me to return the next day. 
 Being assured that he would have good care, and 
 that in any case I would not be allowed to remain 
 with him, I reluctantly took my leave after a long 
 look at the face of my friend. He did not reply to 
 my inquiries and words of farewell; then I knew 
 that he was, indeed, a sick man. Many days there 
 after I hung around the hospital with an occasional 
 privilege of looking in, but not to speak to him. A 
 piece of broken skull had been lifted from the 
 brain, I was told, and that he might get well. 
 
 Frequently I searched for the Yi home, without 
 success. Tong-siki alone knew where it was and 
 many times I asked myself when he would be able 
 to tell me. 
 
260 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 I took the news of Tong-siki s illness to his old 
 associate, Mr. Clio, who expressed his regrets much 
 as he would if he had seen a neighbor bruise his 
 finger. I was angered at the indifferent interest of 
 the many who had fawned at his feet, hoping for 
 political preferment in case he should succeed. 
 Many of them had acknowledged and praised Tong- 
 siki s moral vigor, but the hand of restraint irri 
 tated them, and they felt a sense of relief in his 
 absence. Their politeness, however, dictated ex 
 pressions of regard. Others had a desire to aid in 
 a real reform, but needed just his rugged leadership, 
 and they were really sorry for losing him. But in 
 none was the grief so deep that they were led to 
 call in person at the hospital. There were those, 
 however, who sent food delicacies and their cards, 
 none of which were allowed to reach him. 
 
 A fever of some sort had attacked the patient, 
 and I had to be content to sit, day after day, on 
 the hospital doorsteps and listen to the monotonous 
 answers to all my inquiries, "Just the same." 
 Finally, one bright November clay, I was told that I 
 might visit him. He was lying in a darkened corner 
 on a mat. I was wholly unprepared for the change. 
 He was but a skeleton, the skin seemed drawn tight 
 over his skull, making his head appear abnormally 
 large. His eyes were sunken and his mouth seemed 
 to stretch across his face, giving it a ghastly smile. 
 
 "Tong-siki !" I half sobbed ; his eyes turned to me 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 261 
 
 with an intelligent look. He spoke weakly but with 
 cheerful accents. Getting better/ said he, "will 
 soon be with you, bride-hunting again." 
 
 Tong-siki s illness had doubtlessly saved his life. 
 The party that came into power, as the result of the 
 death of her Majesty, searched relentlessly for per 
 sons on whom they could fix the name of the crime, 
 to cover up the real criminals. Innocent people were 
 seized, strangled, or beheaded in great numbers; 
 and the country grew weary at the sickening scene, 
 which deceived no one any more than did the burn 
 ing of the Queen s body. At the beginning Tong- 
 siki was searched for as one of the marked men. 
 His death would satisfy many plotters of violence. 
 
 When I found where Mr. Yi lived I hastened to 
 the place, and was filled with dismay on learning 
 that he had fled for fear of being apprehended. The 
 matter surprised me the more that he was in league 
 with the eunuch, who, I knew, was an accomplice 
 with the murderers of the Queen. Something, I 
 argued, must have caused the eunuch s enmity. Per 
 haps he saw an independent fortune in the sole pos 
 session of the girl, and therefore wished to enrich 
 himself by disposing of Mr. Yi. But the more I 
 thought of the matter the less satisfactory did that 
 explanation seem. Mr. Yi being wealthy it would 
 be for the former s interest to continue old relations, 
 unless, indeed, he had already secured Mr. Yi s 
 w r ealth. 
 
262 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 I assumed the role of a servant and visited the 
 household that occupied Mr. Yi s old quarters, but 
 they could give me no information. By none of the 
 old devices, that helped me under disguise, could I 
 join a company of officials servants on their visit 
 to the palace grounds. The new forces in possession 
 guarded their interests with jealous care. I was 
 compelled to wait till Tong-siki should again be able 
 to move among his former associates. 
 
 In the meantime an effort was made by the 
 Royalists to roust the pretenders, but the plan of the 
 attack on the palace was betrayed and the Royalists 
 were seized ; then there was a repetition of slaughter 
 in the prisons of Seoul. 
 
 In January Tong-siki was back in his old place 
 in the house of his former friend, Mr. Cho. Asso 
 ciates who had neglected him in his sickness, gath 
 ered around him now, with many expressions of 
 pleasure over his "resurrection." The great work 
 that he had inaugurated had fallen to pieces. He 
 found some of his associates among the Japanese 
 party, and some among the Royalists, while others 
 who were nearer him had fallen under the knife. 
 A man of less courage would have been appalled at 
 the task. Heretofore, all his movements had been 
 carried on under the greatest secrecy; now, how 
 ever, there were numbers in the ascendancy who 
 found it to their interest to throw off all allegiance 
 to him, denouncing him openly as a foolish and dan- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 263 
 
 gerous dreamer. Again, with his marvelous per 
 sonality and his profound faith in his countrymen, 
 he bent his energies to reorganize his plans. Self- 
 sacrifice was his watchword, which seemed to his 
 associates madness, until they came under his won 
 derful personality. Then, frequently, the idea of 
 renunciation for the love of justice and the glory of 
 their country, became a passion, held in restraint 
 only by his farsighted reasoning. 
 
 Finally it was hinted by his enemies that Tong- 
 siki had struck down the minister of the royal 
 household at the time of the royal coup d etat, and 
 that a certain eunuch had, in defence of his Majesty 
 felled- and seriously wounded Tong-siki, and that 
 he had been in hiding until recently. The report 
 was industriously circulated among the common 
 people and the charges were pushed so hotly that 
 many friends again fell from him, and his life was 
 threatened. 
 
 About this time, the royal decree went forth, 
 ordering all loyal subjects to cut off their top-knots. 
 The people believed that his Majesty had been 
 coerced in this measure by the hated Japanese, in 
 common with everything else that had recently 
 emanated from the palace. 
 
 "Would," the people asked, "our father, the Em 
 peror, wantonly humiliate us to the level of Buddhist 
 priests?" 
 
 They rose in revolt, until the iron hand of mili- 
 
264 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 tary power under the Japanese command forced 
 them to submit. Tong-siki and I had long since 
 under the necessity of the surgeon s knife, lost that 
 heritage of our ancestry. 
 
 "Let the reforms continue," said Tong-siki. 
 "The slaughter of members of the royal family and 
 the degradation of our millions will, doubtlessly, win 
 the love and devotion of Korea to Japan. Let her 
 continue," he said with a smile, "till she has every 
 Korean her bitter foe. True enough, one Korean 
 means but little.under present conditions; but when 
 twelve millions of people become imbued with one 
 idea, it \vill take more diplomacy than lies in the 
 statesmanship of that country to make Korea Japan 
 ese territory. She may land armies ; but that will be 
 only for a day, while our millions are here forever. 
 We shall live and fight on through the centuries. 
 We may not be regarded as a great people to-day, 
 but we have seen many nations who were called 
 great, swept from the face of the earth. Three 
 thousand years rest on our head like a crown of 
 glory. Others may fight harder and with more bril 
 liancy, but none have ever endured as we have. In 
 the past centuries, after our enemies have exhausted 
 themselves in battering down our walls and tramp 
 ling upon our homes, we have risen from the ruins 
 and driven them from our shores. While in the 
 hospital I heard, among many other things, a bit of 
 philosophy He who appeals to the sword, will die 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 265 
 
 by the sword. Korea has never lifted her sword 
 during all her history, except in self-defense, and 
 then only when her would-be destroyers were actu 
 ally on her soil. When a people boasts of armies 
 destroyed and alien peoples conquered, it should 
 remember the irony of Fate, who takes toll of every 
 drop of blood wantonly shed, not from the con 
 quered, but from the veins of the conquerors. 
 Statesmen have profitable lessons to learn from the 
 philosophy of justice. Let Japan use force to our 
 humiliation and force, like a grizzly giant, will arise 
 and beat her to powder at our feet. Do you know 
 why I struggled with the problem of reform with 
 so much confidence? I may perish, but the right 
 will win; such is the law of the sages, and such is 
 the law of the Christians. While in the hospital I 
 had an abundance of time to reflect upon the new 
 religion of the West. New, did I say ? It is as old 
 as the world ; it is God working through man. There 
 is much in it of which I am still a humble student. 
 Justice and sacrifice, Sung-yo, are the words most 
 on the lips of its devotees, and justice, the law of the 
 universe, will be Korea s portion." 
 
 Soon great changes took place in the capital. The 
 Emperor had fled to the Russian Legation and set 
 up his court there. The crimeof the murderers of the 
 Queen, who were now stripped of the glamour of 
 power, stood out in hideous proportions. At this junc 
 ture Tong-siki was able to make his influence felt. 
 
266 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Other leaders started the Independence party 
 movement, from which Tong-siki held aloof. He 
 had a terror of the rule of mobs. When asked his 
 opinion, he replied that it was an organism with a 
 vast amount of enthusiasm, but little reason; as a 
 schoolmaster, it might have its place, but savored 
 much of anarchy. 
 
 When it was understood that the Japanese power 
 over the Emperor had been removed, there was 
 general rejoicing throughout the country and among 
 many of the officials. Tong-siki remarked to those 
 self-congratulatory statesmen, that the ridding of 
 the country of the hateful enemy did not mean re 
 form, or in any measure a betterment of the condi 
 tion of the people, and his kindly remarks regarding 
 the Japanese surprised his friends. 
 
 When Tong-siki was again able to enter the pal 
 ace he made vigorous search for the rich Yi and the 
 slave girl. He learned that the girl had escaped, and 
 that Mr. Yi had fled from the city and was in hid 
 ing, the girl probably with him. It was not until 
 long afterward that I learned that Tong-siki had 
 encountered the eunuch and forced from him these 
 facts. It had cost him, however, a huge sum of 
 money, and the effort had brought him so close to 
 powerful members of the cabinet who hated him, 
 that it had nearly cost him his life. 
 
 All this he kept from me and advised me not to 
 delay my efforts to find Mr. Yi s hiding place. It 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 267 
 
 later developed that the girl having fled from her 
 service in the palace to her old master, the eunuch 
 understood it as a scheme to circumvent him by ex 
 posing his part in the overthrow of the old regime 
 and murder of the Queen. Now that the Japanese 
 influence was gone, his life would be in imminent 
 danger should any of these facts come to light. Ac 
 cordingly, he trumped up a charge against Mr. Yi, 
 and the news of the intended arrest sent that gentle 
 man in a panic to a country hiding-place. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 THE SEARCH CONTINUED 
 
 RETURNING to the city of Pyeng-Yang, I sold 
 much of my remaining property, and again took up 
 my long search through the interior. I traced the 
 party, at last, to a coast steamer, and followed the 
 same route; stopped off at every landing and made 
 diligent search. Of my journeyings, and endless 
 search and multitude of disappointments, I have not 
 time here to speak. 
 
 It seemed to me that the earth had literally opened 
 and swallowed the Yi family. I visited the old Her 
 mitage in disguise, and met the old servant of my 
 previous acquaintance. She was ignorant of their 
 whereabouts, and stated, as her belief, that Mr. Yi 
 had been reduced to poverty. She herself had fled 
 from Pyeng-Yang at the time of the Chinese war, 
 and found refuge at the cave, waiting faithfully for 
 the renewal of her youth. I made a thorough search 
 of the Yi clan, and found out all about his relations 
 to it, and visited hundreds of that name; but he had 
 taken the precaution not to affiliate with any, that he 
 might cover up all his tracks. Agents had sold off 
 his property, and when I searched the country where 
 it was stated the author of the transaction lived, I 
 was told that no such person existed. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 269 
 
 Two years had thus passed when the events of this 
 history crowded rapidly upon me. It was in the 
 southern part of the province of Chue-la. Foot 
 sore and weary, I climbed a mountain path leading 
 to a town where I hoped for a night s rest. One of 
 those late seasons of heavy rain had set in for the 
 last five days, and when I reached the top of the 
 mountain pass, I was told that it would be impossible 
 for me to proceed any farther than the valley below, 
 for at that point, the mountain stream had swollen 
 to an impassable flood. To return to the village that 
 I had left would be a long journey; the town ahead, 
 I was informed, was only an hour s walk, and I re 
 solved to continue to the stream and take my chances 
 in getting across. At the top of the mountain, a few 
 yards from the path, the stream bounded over rocks 
 and shot out, as if propelled by some unseen force 
 hidden in the dark pools of the deep basins of the 
 mountainside. As I journeyed the stream grew 
 larger, roaring and bellowing as it tore downward ; 
 near the bottom the volume of water had vastly in 
 creased; it pounded and thundered till the founda 
 tion of the mountain trembled. At the bottom, the 
 torrent spread out in a narrow plain and flowed with 
 frightful rapidity, as if pursued by our mountain de 
 mons. Farther on, it turned abruptly across my 
 path, beyond which, on the other side, was the vil 
 lage that I had been seeking for a night s shelter. 
 As I approached the usual ford, where in dry 
 
270 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 weather a half dozen stones serve as a crossing, I 
 found a broad stream filled with bowlders, around 
 which the torrent staggered and whined complain- 
 ingly, then hastened down the valley. Ahead of me 
 \vere other travelers, who had been brought to a 
 standstill with the smoke of their homes within 
 sight. On the bank, a large Korean stalked back 
 and forth impatiently, while the bearers of his palan 
 quin lay on the ground, indifferent alike to their em 
 ployer s impatience, and to the stream which flowed 
 so boisterously at their feet. 
 
 As I neared the group, the chair-bearers rose from 
 the ground and seemed to be remonstrating with 
 their master as he stood looking out across the flood. 
 In a moment, he had thrown off his clothes, and has 
 tily tying them in a bundle, fastened it at the back 
 of his head, plunged into the water, and struck out 
 for the opposite shore. I ran to the river bank and 
 watched the progress of the swimmer. He had mis 
 calculated the fierceness of the current, and we ran 
 along the bank to keep pace with him as he was 
 swept down stream. At one moment he seemed on 
 the point of gaining on the current, then at the next, 
 he would be seized by a new force attacking him 
 from behind some bowlder, and hurled back in mid 
 stream. At first he seemed a good swimmer, coolly 
 calculating his chances and working without undue 
 haste, as if intent on husbanding his strength, yet 
 he was soon puffing and staggering, as a man over- 
 
EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 271 
 
 taxed. Below, some distance, at a point which 
 marked the beginning of long rapids, the water 
 became more boisterous, churning and boiling furi 
 ously. The swimmer saw that he was being swept 
 irresistibly toward the spouting rocks, and lunged 
 forward with all his might to make the shore. We 
 shouted to encourage him he gained on the flood, 
 then his strength was gone; a few more feeble 
 strokes and he was back in the middle of the boiling 
 stream. Ahead, the spray shot high in the air, and 
 the stream surged and bounded over the submerged 
 bowlders. To strike one of these rocks meant in 
 stant death, and I held my breath as he swept on to 
 this maelstrom of seething foam. He was looking 
 ahead, and from where we stood we could see his 
 eyes bulging with terror; someone at my side called 
 to him, I know not what, nor could the swimmer 
 hear in that din of hurrying waters. At the begin 
 ning of the rapids, the stream narrowed and seemed 
 to drop away from the flood above and shoot for 
 ward with frightful speed. Having noted the change 
 in the stream, I ran ahead, vaguely wondering if 
 some current would not hurl him shoreward. I 
 reached a certain point, opposite which the stream 
 turned away and made a sharp bend against the 
 other shore, some hundred yards below. Already 
 the swimmer was being hurled down the rapids, and, 
 as I glanced upstream, the converging currents 
 seized and plunged him beneath the surface ; imme- 
 
272 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 diately he reappeared nearly opposite me. I had 
 with unconscious action stripped off my clothes as I 
 ran, and stood with hands raised over my head. As 
 the man came to the surface a dark ring around his 
 waist showed for an instant, and I knew that he was 
 being dragged to his death by a string of copper coin 
 tied there. 
 
 I plunged in and with steady stroke gained on the 
 white body that glanced a moment in the light here 
 and there, was gone beneath the flood then slipped 
 away yonder beyond my grasp. On the right and 
 left, the water churned and jostled against the rocks, 
 and I marveled at our escape. At first I struggled 
 to seize the drowning man, then I pulled steadily in 
 his wake resolving to reserve my strength for the 
 struggle beyond. One moment, in my eagerness, I 
 rashly seized him, and his slippery body glided 
 through my grasp, the act causing a defalcation of 
 our direction, and we barely escaped being dashed 
 on to a pile of ragged rocks. Beyond, at the bend, 
 the stream plunged up against the rocky bank, and 
 seemed shouting and roaring to receive us. I was 
 appalled at the sight and made a lunge for the man 
 ahead and seized the straw rope about the waist ; it 
 gave way, and I was glad to see the body bound to 
 the surface when relieved of its weight of metal. In 
 a moment I had the man by the hair and battled 
 against the current that each moment was hurling 
 us toward those perilous rocks. The fierce strug- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 273 
 
 gle exhausted my strength, and I became confused 
 and had a dim idea that I was to be thrown into 
 the air, like the spray above us, when we should 
 strike the rocks. Suddenly a rock in midstream 
 appeared in our front, and I seized on to a sharpened 
 projection and clung for an instant with my left 
 hand, and thought not of it when the rock cut deep 
 into the flesh. The body to which I clung swung 
 down the stream, away from the rocks near the 
 shore, then I was torn from my hold and we were 
 hurled shoreward, where the tide boiled and surged 
 with such fury. I caught my breath as the water 
 closed over my head. It seemed an age that I lay 
 helpless under that mad flood, my head seemed 
 bursting, and I prayed to the Christian s God. Then, 
 suddenly, we shot to the surface, and as soon as I 
 could get breath, I discovered that we were in the 
 margin of one of those remarkable eddies in our 
 rivers, where the stream in its mad plunge down 
 ward, catches a projection of the bank and is divided, 
 a part turning backward along the shore. A few 
 strokes, and we were floating up stream, with a 
 gentle motion. 
 
 I labored heavily shoreward with my burden, and 
 when my feet touched bottom I staggered to where 
 it was shallow, and waistdeep in water sat down, 
 gasping painfully for breath. I took the head of 
 the drowning man in my arms and tried to hold it 
 above the surface ; I had not seen the face clearly be- 
 
274 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 fore, and as I did so, I flung it from me and rose to 
 my feet, while the body glided into deeper water; 
 it was the face of the rich Yi. 
 
 Then I reached after it and dragged it ashore, and 
 by prodigious effort arranged it on the bank with its 
 head down; then I lay down and thought my 
 strength would never return. I got up and with 
 numb hands and arms tried to work the water from 
 the body I had brought ashore, and it became loath 
 some to my touch. To have left him alone and 
 sought Ewa, who must be near at hand, would have 
 closed all my years of pain and wanderings; even 
 now, like an uninvited guest, the question comes 
 again and again to my mind, would it not have been 
 best? 
 
 I was frequently on the point of turning from my 
 labors of resuscitation; then the face of Tong-siki 
 would seem to stand out before me, and I would hear 
 his words, "Sacrifice, it is the law of the sages and 
 of the Christians" ; so I labored on. Soon the color 
 crept into the face of the man before me; then his 
 eyelids twitched, and he looked up at me with a far 
 away expression ; and I was glad. Finally a cough 
 ing fit seized him, and I sat at a distance watching 
 him pass through the painful struggles of the 
 nearly drowned, when life is again enthroned. 
 
 When he had sufficiently recovered, he rose and 
 looked around and wanted to know what had hap 
 pened ? I told him the story of the accident, leaving 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 275 
 
 out no detail; he heard me through and looked his 
 gratitude, but finally started and felt at his waist for 
 the string of cash, and looked suspiciously at me. 
 
 "See," I said, with a feeling of contempt, "I am as 
 naked as you are, have I your money?" He looked 
 down-ashamed. 
 
 The sun was touching the horizon when we were 
 able to rise and start toward the village then was I 
 glad with a hope that the years of struggle were at 
 an end. My lips burned with questions as to the 
 slave girl s whereabouts and her welfare, but dared 
 not speak of those things. I had an intuition that if 
 she were still in his possession, he would guard her 
 with fierce jealousy, and no sense of gratitude on his 
 part would protect me from violence. I determined 
 if she were here that no power on earth could 
 separate us again ; the resolve grew into a fierce pas 
 sion, and I was impatient to measure strength and 
 will with the man before me. 
 
 On the outskirts of the town, Mr. Yi called to a 
 neighbor and secured clothing. I followed him into 
 the village. He could hardly have chosen a better 
 place to hide from the enraged officials of the capi 
 tal. The town was hemmed in among the moun 
 tains and difficult of access from any direction. The 
 people were exceedingly poor and evidently held 
 little communication with the outside world, and 
 the houses were miserable huts. Mr. Yi s home, 
 while the largest in the town, was nothing more 
 
276 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 than a large straw hut divided into several small 
 rooms. I discovered later that he had bought up 
 most of the rice land in the immediate vicinity of 
 the town. 
 
 I was glad that he did not recognize me as the man 
 who had carried water to his door, and played the 
 lute at his feet in Pyeng-Yang. Time and exposure 
 had made many changes in my appearance. 
 
 As we entered a street of the town, a girl with a 
 cloak drawn over her face, stepped in behind my 
 companion, and he greeted her with a word of kindly 
 recognition. She followed close at his heels, and I 
 concluded that she must be of his household. Some 
 thing in the short dumpy figure trudgingf between 
 us, reminded me of someone I had seen before. As 
 our course zigzagged through the narrow streets, a 
 great crowd gathered at our heels, with a multitude 
 of questions regarding Mr. Yi s escape. He admit 
 ted that I had helped him out of the river, though I 
 thought it was with an air of reluctance, but I had 
 my reward by being regarded a hero. Where had I 
 come from, and what had I come for? What was 
 my name ? How long would I remain among them ? 
 were among the multitude of questions hurled at me. 
 I answered them all with frankness. There are little 
 more than a hundred surnames in our country, and 
 I stood in little danger of discovery by giving them 
 my true name. 
 
 The dumpy figure in front of me followed faith- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 277 
 
 fully behind us, turning around a muddy pool here, 
 and over a pile of rubbish there, always with her 
 diminutive foot in the tracks of Mr. Yi. 
 
 When we reached the house I paused at the com 
 pound gate with the proper respect for the house. 
 Mr. Yi turned to direct me to an outer reception 
 room, and as he did so, the girl dropped the cloak 
 from her head and faced us. I was spellbound, and 
 stared at her in amazement. She was humpback 
 and ugly, the face that I had seen while peering 
 through the window years ago in the city of Pyeng- 
 Yang ; she was my betrothed whom I was still bound 
 to marry by the customs and law of our country. I 
 stared at the apparition till the girl covered her 
 head, and Mr. Yi called me to my senses by asking if 
 that was the custom in my section of the country to 
 stare at young women. His face was near mine, and 
 he breathed heavily as he spoke. 
 
 Stammering an apology, I went into a room where 
 neighbors had already gathered, hoping to have a 
 chance to hear more of our escape from the flood. I 
 sat down confused, and answered their many ques 
 tions absently. They muttered among themselves 
 something about unsociability, and finally drifted 
 from the room. 
 
 The owner of the beautiful slave girl, was the 
 father of the deformed creature, through whom my 
 father had intended to refill his money boxes. If 
 Mr. Yi should find out who I am, thought I, he 
 
278 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 might have the papers of the contract in the hands 
 of the nearest magistrate in a few hours, then my 
 misery would only begin. 
 
 When the last neighbor had worked his feet into 
 his sandals and disappeared I was left quite alone. 
 I walked about the room and peered through the 
 cracks of the door, into the open yard about the 
 house, hoping for a view of her, for whom I had 
 sought so long and eagerly. 
 
 At the hour for the evening meal, Mr. Yi came 
 in and sat down, and I wondered if the slave girl 
 would bring the rice ; when the door at last opened I 
 looked up with my heart in my mouth, but it was not 
 she, nor did she appear later to carry away the 
 tables. At last when the meal was over, I began to 
 question Mr. Yi as to his history, in the usual polite, 
 indifferent way of our people. He replied evasively 
 to my question regarding his children; he still had 
 two daughters; his sons had all died; as to slaves 
 he had none, they were more trouble than they were 
 worth. Yes, he had been to the capital, and had 
 seen something of life there; on making the remark 
 he drew himself up, and for the next hour main 
 tained a bearing of considerable importance. When 
 I told him that it was surmised that a certain 
 eunuch had taken part in the Japanese raid on the 
 palace, he looked at me sharply and appeared sus 
 picious of my purpose in coming to the town. I 
 told him that the eunuch had lost his political influ- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 279 
 
 ence, and Mr. Yi seemed pleased and talked with 
 more freedom. I mentioned the fact that one of the 
 palace women, the most talented and beautiful, was 
 suddenly missing, and that there had been no trace 
 found of her ; some thought that she had committed 
 suicide ; others thought that she had been destroyed 
 at the time of the Queen s death, while others be 
 lieved that she had been spirited away and was still 
 living in seclusion, and that, when it should become 
 advantageous for her captors to do so, they would 
 return her to the royal family. I hinted that the 
 country was being searched for her, and I pitied the 
 man who fell into the hands of the law on her ac 
 count. 
 
 He moved uneasily, and covertly watched my face. 
 
 "Yes," said he, "I would not want to be in the 
 place of any man who had caused the wrath of a 
 member of the royal family." 
 
 "It seems to me," said I, "that the only way for 
 anyone in that position would be to marry off the 
 girl as soon as possible and get rid of her." 
 
 His startled look warned me that I was pushing 
 affairs too fast, and I hastily changed the subject 
 of conversation, nor did I return to it again that 
 evening, but rattled on regarding my purpose to 
 visit a friend in the South. While I talked he ex 
 amined me minutely, and seemed pleased to note that 
 my hands were heavy with toil, and that my skin 
 had been burned to a dark brown by exposure to the 
 
280 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 sun. I endeavored to give him the impression of the 
 utmost frankness, and clung in my speech to the 
 provincialism of the North, with which I was 
 familiar from boyhood. He strove clumsily at first 
 to draw me out as to my knowledge of affairs at the 
 capital. I permitted him to lead me on and answered 
 every question from the standpoint of gossip. So 
 and so had said this and that. 
 
 When we parted late in the evening, he acknowl 
 edged with openheartedness his debt of gratitude to 
 me for saving his life. He was sorry that I had lost 
 my suit of clothes, but out of gratitude he would give 
 me a suit. Indeed, what was a suit of clothes com 
 pared to one s life; also, no doubt, I had had money 
 in my bag, but never mind that, just name the 
 amount and he would replace it, and trust to the 
 honesty of the chair-bearers to return it when the 
 water went down; but what was a few strings of 
 cash in a case like this, indeed, he would double the 
 amount, so that I would not need to delay my jour 
 ney to meet my friend. He knew what a terrible 
 thing it was to be separated from friends ; he would 
 have an early breakfast, and I might get off as soon 
 as daylight; his gratitude would do more for me, 
 he would send someone to help me on the way; he 
 had a donkey and would be glad to loan me the ani 
 mal to ride, if I would accept such service; indeed, 
 he would accompany me himself, and at that point 
 he became warm in his protestations of a feeling of 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 281 
 
 friendship that would not let him commit such an 
 act of gratitude to a servant. When I protested his 
 gratitude knew no bounds; he would have the don 
 key saddled and at the door at daylight; and he 
 would accompany me for a distance of at least two 
 days ; and, as he thought the matter over, he would 
 like to make the acquaintance of the friend of whom 
 I had spoken so warmly. 
 
 When at last he had left me, I lay down for the 
 night with the feeling of disgust of one being out 
 witted. 
 
 All night I revolved schemes for remaining and 
 felt humiliated that I had so blundered in conversa 
 tion, as to make my host determined to get rid of me. 
 I could only think that his panic must be from fear 
 that I would learn something of the girl, and report 
 her whereabouts to the officials in Seoul. That being 
 the case, I knew that he would either succeed in re 
 moving me, or in spiriting the girl away. I mused 
 much over his unreasonable fear of the Seoul offi 
 cials, and the probable absolute indifference of even 
 the eunuch, regarding him or the girl. 
 
 At midnight I carefully crawled to the door and 
 stepped out. When I could get my bearings I made 
 a circuit of the outside of the compound and exam 
 ined every detail with minute care. Returning, I 
 tried to pass from the room to the inside compound. 
 I had hardly stepped into the yard when a dog set 
 up a furious barking. I softly withdrew and laid 
 
282 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 down. Hardly had I done so when I heard my Host 
 shuffling about the yard ; the dog came to my door 
 and laid down on the step. His master brought a 
 light and seemed to be examining the walks and 
 steps. The shrewdness of the act astonished me; I 
 reached for my sandals and felt of the bottoms, dry 
 ashes crumbled beneath my fingers. Hastily brush 
 ing the bottoms, I placed them at the outer door, 
 and then lived a five minutes of agony to know 
 whether he had discovered my tracks on the steps. 
 The lamp approached, and a cuff sent the dog across 
 the yard. I felt easier, for I was sure that the animal 
 had obliterated any marks of my sandals ; evidently 
 his suspicions were of the liveliest kind, and I real 
 ized for the first time the task before me. 
 
 True to his promise of the previous night, food 
 was brought before daylight; and I soon heard the 
 stamping of horses feet and the harsh bray of a 
 donkey, \vhich proclaimed that my host had meant 
 all he had said. A half hour later Mr. Yi ap 
 peared and, seeing that I had not touched the food, 
 hastily inquired the cause. I apologized for the in 
 sult offered his house, but the struggle in the river 
 the previous day had made me ill. Dismay was 
 written all over his face; down in my sandals some 
 where I laughed uproariously, though my face was 
 filled with pain, for I had practiced the expression 
 for the last three hours, indeed, the lack of a night s 
 rest after the fierce struggle of the afternoon had 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 283 
 
 left my eyes red and smarting, but I had not been 
 so hungry since I ate rice with the Chinese at the 
 time of the war. I begged him to send the table 
 away, which he did, and I followed it with my eyes, 
 regretfully. The doctor soon appeared, and his 
 drugs nauseated me ; I was glad, as it proved that I 
 was sick, and it helped me to get rid of the drug. 
 
 All day I tried to interpret every step about the 
 building, but felt sure if my host intended to re 
 move the girl, he would not do so so until night had 
 come. At noon, I was persuaded to eat something, 
 and there was evident hope in Mr. Yi s heart, but at 
 night I was manifestly worse, and my host s solici 
 tude decreased as my illness seemed to increase. 
 
 At midnight I heard a shuffling of feet, and mur 
 muring of voices in the softest undertone, I crept to 
 the door of my room which opened into the com 
 pound and working a hole through the paper cover 
 ing, I could see that several persons were preparing 
 to leave, among them were two women. When 
 they had passed into the street, I made ready to fol 
 low. 
 
 Beyond the house a lantern was lit, and I was able 
 to make out my host. The sight pleased me, as he 
 would not be able to spy on my movements. I fol 
 lowed the party through the streets and out in the 
 open country, and was surprised when an hour 
 passed then two and still the party walked on. 
 Finally they led the way into a hamlet nestled up 
 
284 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 among the overhanging rocks of the mountain. I 
 closed up the distance between us so as not to lose 
 sight of them. Someone met them at a compound 
 gate and the company talked and chattered without 
 restraint. Noting the house they entered, I crawled 
 so close that I heard my host give directions in a 
 tone of authority, so I knew the building belonged 
 to him. I lingered till I heard him say that he 
 would return on donkey-back, then I fled with all 
 haste that I might outstrip his donkey, the occa 
 sion giving speed to my feet. 
 
 At the early cock crowing I was again creeping 
 into the room I had left, and soon I was in profound 
 sleep, and when I awoke it was nearly noon of the 
 next day. Food was brought, and I announced that 
 I was better and would be moving. My host poured 
 upon me genuine hospitality, and urged me to stay 
 until wholly recovered. In mid-afternoon, however, 
 he consented to my determination to leave and, true 
 to his promise, accompanied me on his donkey till 
 we reached an inn some forty li from his village. 
 With many expressions of gratitude for his hospi 
 tality on my part, and protestations on his part, we 
 separated, he taking his way homeward, and I, for a 
 hearty supper and a mat for a good night s rest. The 
 next day I explained that my health had been poor, 
 and I would spend the day in rest, and in the mean 
 time made close inquiries regarding the topography 
 of the country. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 285 
 
 While lying on the floor in the inn, impatient for 
 the day to pass, I looked over head and noticed what 
 appeared to be a gourd from which extended a pro 
 jection, like a handle. I looked at it indifferently for 
 some time with my mind absorbed with the purpose 
 before me. I made many foolish vows and called 
 the gods to witness that in the duel with the power 
 ful Yi, I would win, or perish in the attempt. 
 
 A breath of air stirred among the beams over 
 head, and the string, dangling from the gourd, swung 
 back and forth, and held my attention. I got up 
 and looked more closely, then tugged at it. Instead 
 of a gourd, as I thought, I held in my hand a lute 
 covered deep with dust. A strange sensation crept 
 over me; I carried it to the door and brushed it free 
 of dust, then my hand shook. I was repeating in 
 my heart, "Mayo ! dear old Mayo !" I knew that the 
 ringers that had touched and caressed it so often 
 were idle and would be so forever. Somewhere in 
 a gruesome prison house he was lying, and his music 
 forever hushed and silent. 
 
 I called the innkeeper and he told me the story of 
 its possession. 
 
 Said he : "More than a year ago, an old man was 
 found ill one morning some fifty li north, and the 
 people, for fear that he would die on their hands, 
 and they would have the trouble of digging a grave 
 for him, had carried him during the night to the 
 next town, and the next village not wanting the task, 
 
286 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 in their turn, picked him up, and carried him on; 
 this move was repeated by each village until, at last, 
 he was laid in our streets, with the lute still in his 
 hands. He was very weak, mostly from the lack 
 of food. I gave him a bowl of rice, and tears of 
 gratitude trickled down his face and he kissed my 
 hand. When it was suggested by someone that he 
 give up his lute to pay for the food he was eating, 
 he refused the rice and clung to the instrument. 
 None of us wanted the care of a sick man, much less 
 his death in our homes, and, it being warm weather, 
 he was left out on the roadside. In the night, the 
 people heard the sweet tones of his instrument ac 
 companied with the quavering and halting voice of 
 the minstrel. He was singing a strange new song 
 that he had found among the Christians, My father 
 is rich in houses and lands/ The notes yearned and 
 cried about our houses all night like the wail of an 
 infant. When the light of morning was breaking, I 
 went out to him, but he did not look at me. His 
 eyes were fixed in the distance ; he had ceased play 
 ing, but his fingers were on the strings ; my father ! 
 he whispered, my mother ! then his lips were silent 
 and he still gazed in the distance." 
 
 When the innkeeper had told his simple story, I 
 brushed my sleeve across my eyes, and asked where 
 he had been buried? 
 
 "Half of the town had heard the singing and were 
 in tears; the next morning we agreed to bury him 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 287 
 
 properly, so we rolled him in bandages and a dozen 
 men carried him to yonder knoll and buried him 
 there," said he, pointing some little distance above 
 the village. 
 
 "I took the instrument/ he continued, "as I had 
 given most of the cloth for the burial. I pulled it 
 from his stiffened ringers. Some advised me to 
 throw it away, but I have not been afraid of it." 
 
 "The last of a great race of men," I said. "I knew 
 him and want the instrument for a keepsake." 
 
 On learning that I could play it, he consented to 
 receive the price of the cloth, that he had brought, 
 and I was glad that I had not permitted myself to 
 refuse, at the hand of the rich Yi, much more than I 
 had lost, nor did I complain when the innkeeper 
 reckoned up an enormous amount of cloth for the 
 burial shroud of one man, and a high price per yard. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 SEARCH REWARDED 
 
 IT was a market day in the town, and I bought a 
 farmer s shield-like hat, large enough to drop over 
 one s face if one chooses not to be seen. 
 
 When the sun had dropped well into the west, I 
 started back by a circuitous route, for the village 
 that I had visited the night before. I spent the 
 night in the open, under a huge tree in a grove above 
 the village. The town was too small to boast of an 
 inn ; nor would I have wanted to stop with the peo 
 ple overnight. 
 
 In the morning I began at one end of the town, 
 playing and singing at the front of dwellings and 
 shops, receiving a cash here and another there. 
 Thus I earned my breakfast. Finally, I reached the 
 house where I had seen the rich Yi enter the previous 
 night, and crossing to the opposite side of the street, 
 played, but receiving no attention from its inmates, 
 I walked slowly to the front of the house and took 
 note of every detail of the structure. It was as un 
 pretentious as the score of others about it. From 
 the size of the dwelling I believed that the occupants 
 must be small in number. I played and sang over 
 long at the gate, but no one greeted me, and my 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 289 
 
 heart sank. A crowd of boys were at my heels, and 
 I must needs move on. 
 
 Could it be possible that she was not there, and 
 that the move of the night before had been a ruse 
 on the part of the wily Yi, knowing that I would 
 watch and follow. Then I remembered the girl s 
 strength of character and felt ashamed to think that 
 I had expected her to run to meet me at the first 
 sound of my voice, at the risk of disclosing our re 
 lations. 
 
 In the afternoon, I again made a partial round of 
 the village, and stopped before the gate of the Yi 
 house. I did not dare to own the bitterness of my 
 disappointment, when I turned away without seeing 
 signs of life within. 
 
 Just before it grew dark, I climbed up the moun 
 tain side, and stood in front of a great rock where I 
 could be easily seen by anyone from the Yi com 
 pound. Then, as the shadows of the night deepened, 
 a thousand specters of doubt assailed me. Two 
 years had passed since I had seen her, or had known 
 anything of her ; in that time what change may not 
 have taken place? I shuddered when I recalled the 
 methods used, at different times, to compel her to 
 become the wife of men of other people s choosing. 
 Who could forever resist such a system of remorse 
 less persecution ? Then, as I thought of the purpose 
 of the rich Yi to make her his concubine, I was 
 seized with a chill of ague and hate for the round, 
 
290 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 fat face of her master. I wondered why I had not 
 left him alone after dragging him out of the water. 
 How long it seemed since that terrible struggle ! If 
 I had merely turned his head uphill instead of down, 
 or if I had simply left him alone ! Tong-siki s face 
 crept into the gloom, and I knew that my thoughts 
 were murder, and I sat down in utter wretchedness. 
 The reaction of the last few days, from feverish an 
 ticipation to disappointment, touched my soul with 
 its icy fingers of despair. If Ewa had been there 
 and free, there would have been some sign of recog- 
 .nition, I bitterly thought. That people were in the 
 house, I knew from the smoke rising from the chim 
 ney at evening time. It all meant, it seemed to me, 
 that she had become the property of another. At 
 times, as I sat there in my despondency, the chirping 
 of crickets and katydids beat in on my mind; then 
 again, I heard nothing and felt nothing but the 
 maddening misery of my own heart. 
 
 Thus I sat till the twinkling lights of the houses 
 beneath went out, and the people were wrapped in 
 the quiet of slumber, and a late moon had risen, cast 
 ing the shadows of the mountain at my back, out 
 over the village and far out across the plain, as if 
 jealously sheltering the evil thoughts of men and 
 pityingly covering their passions and misery. I 
 thought of old Mayo and his wonderful talent; of 
 his great devoted heart ; of his fate turned out on 
 the street to die without a kind word, or tender hand 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 291 
 
 to make him forget the sting of death. Music had 
 been a phantom leading him always, but to no desti 
 nation. Had I, like him wasted the years for a 
 Will-o -the-wisp, glad, if at last I might, though 
 robbed of the reality, caress the memory of a sweet 
 voice and kind looks and in my despondency, my 
 soul whispered it would be even so. 
 
 As I looked before me, suddenly a white garment 
 glinted in the shadows, and I was aware of a figure 
 moving noiselessly up the path toward me. On it 
 came, with now and then a pause as if uncertain of 
 the way. A great hope surged through me and I 
 waited without a sign. Unconsciously, I put out my 
 hand and it touched the lute. I picked it up and 
 passed my fingers over the strings, the apparition 
 paused and seemed on the point of taking flight. 
 
 "Ewa," I said, and in a moment was at her side. 
 . I led her to the foot of the great rock. She 
 came as innocent as I had known her years ago at 
 the Hermitage. How long we sat there, her head 
 pillowed on my arm, I do not know. Out in the 
 village, a cock called with clarion-like note, and im 
 mediately lights twinkled from a window here, and 
 another there, warning us, that the intruding day 
 was near at hand. 
 
 Then she told me of the struggle of these months 
 and years to preserve her maidenhood for me. She 
 knew that I would come, she said, and told me how 
 she had watched the faces of strangers and listened 
 
292 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 to the sound of every voice, and on that morning 
 had heard and seen me before I reached her house, 
 and followed me with her eyes all day long. She 
 told me how she had held before the mind of her 
 master the possibility of again placing her in the 
 palace, thereby making her a source of wealth and 
 power. She knew vastly more about the eunuch 
 than he did, and though her master was in mortal 
 fear of him, she could keep his hopes alive to his all- 
 mastering passion for national rank. She told me 
 of their long flight from the capital, and how she, 
 herself, had planned so that there could be no trace 
 of them found among his relatives, as that was the 
 only means she had to gain complete control over 
 him. While it would hide her from me, yet it was 
 the only way to protect herself from the aggressions 
 of the Yi clan. She told me how her master at last, 
 despairing of a chance to replace her in the palace, 
 had proposed to make her his concubine; and how 
 she had fled to a precipitous rock on the mountain 
 and threatened to throw herself down if he should 
 attempt to approach her; how on that rocky pinna 
 cle she had pointed out to him the advantage of her 
 return, and had herself started a messenger north 
 ward to make investigations, and her master had 
 again yielded, and they were waiting daily for the 
 return of the messenger, which accounted for Mr. 
 Yi s fright on my making close inquiries regarding 
 his family. He feared that the messenger had been 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 293 
 
 detained, and that I was a spy, seeking his life. She 
 told me how she had long played upon his greed for 
 gold and rank, and was afraid of a time when his 
 passion for her woukl outweigh his avariciousness ; 
 but now that I had come to claim her, her troubles 
 would be at an end. The future, she said, with a 
 happy smile, held no fears for her. 
 
 "At those times of struggling, I looked north and 
 prayed for your coming," said she. "Once I ran 
 away, and I might have escaped ; but where ? Fort 
 unately I fell in with a Christian family, and oh ! 
 Sung-yo ! I learned a great lesson a lesson of obe 
 dience and sacrifice. I learned of the Christian s 
 God, and then returned to serve my master. He was 
 so glad to see me back that he forgot to rave, as is 
 his wont when he is defied. I told him that the 
 Christian religion sent me back. He thought that 
 it must be a good religion, and asked many ques 
 tions about it; but, when I told him that it meant 
 sacrifice for the good of others, and the giving up 
 of ambitions, if they were for selfish ends, he asked 
 no more questions, but simply said that no doubt 
 it was a good thing for servants, but for a man of 
 affairs like himself, it was foolish and undesirable." 
 "O,how I prayed for your coming! He answered 
 me. The Christian God is my God, and I will ever 
 more obey him. I have never in all my years of 
 slavery obeyed anyone to whom I had not given 
 will. There are two now whom I will obey Him, 
 
294 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 and, how sweet, to will my life into yours. I am 
 yours forever and ever. I am happy, happy," and 
 tears stood out on her long lashes. 
 
 A delirium of ecstacy swept through me, and 
 somewhere down in the elemental regions of the 
 soul, arose feelings that caressed with the voice 
 where words were dumb ; and all my years of strug 
 gle and pain were as if they had never been. The 
 moonlight swept back the shadows of the mountain 
 and I found her large dark eyes gazing into mine, 
 and I said many things and she replied in words 
 that I have long since hid away in the sanctuary of 
 my memory. Nor will I do violence by entering 
 there. In lonely hours I walk around its closed 
 walls with gentle tread and dumbly feel its surface, 
 and when I press my lips against the wall it glows 
 and palpitates with dear words and looks that will 
 never die. When the moon s rays bent westward, 
 aslant in our faces, we talked of the future, and of 
 my history. I told her of my family, of the hunch 
 back girl whom I had seen, for the second time, on 
 the day that I had fished her master out of the flood, 
 to which she replied by a merry laugh, then soberly 
 said : 
 
 "You were mistaken. It is true that she is de 
 formed, but she is intelligent, and more than all, 
 affectionate, and I love her." 
 
 I told her of the accident of my posing as a seer 
 on that island. All these things she had heard from 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 295 
 
 the lips of old Mayo. I told her of the few acres of 
 rice land I still owned in the region of Pyeng-Yang. 
 
 Then I urged her to flee with me. Starting in the 
 early evening of the next night, we could reach the 
 seacoast before pursuit could be made. Boats were 
 to be had which would take us north; then in the 
 shadow of the palace wall we would be safe. Tong- 
 siki was my powerful friend, and my father, the 
 old Sung-ji, though dead, still had many friends 
 who would do much under a promise of a little 
 money. 
 
 I painted in glowing colors the future ; how Tong- 
 siki was heading a new order of things, and that I 
 had dedicated my life to his service for our country ; 
 how she and I would bless our people in our lives ; 
 womanhood would be freed and have equal rights 
 with men in the law courts ; slavery would be abol 
 ished; how her sweet face should look into the face 
 of multitudes, as a mother in the face of her chil 
 dren, and she should wipe away their tears. She 
 was silent, and I thought I saw in her face a re 
 fusal, and a strange fear crept down in my heart. 
 
 "Our country is calling for you," said I. "The 
 tide that laps the shores murmurs the name of Ewa 
 Listen ! the breezes that rustle over these rugged 
 peaks calls you, every wild flower on the mountain 
 nods to Ewa, and every wounded face trodden down 
 by the wayside beckons to you. The sun will not 
 beat upon you, and the cold will pass by another 
 
296 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 way; for nature will join in shielding you. Come," 
 I cried, and when my voice broke, she put her arms 
 around my neck and said: 
 
 "I am yours for your own dear sake, and if that 
 will make your arm strong and your heart brave to 
 dare I shall be content ; but listen fifty li from here 
 is a Christian chapel where, sometimes, is performed 
 the marriage rite. I am a Christian. I was not 
 born a slave. I am by right a free woman, and if I 
 will, I may accompany you there." 
 
 A little later, we arose and walked together to the 
 bottom of the hill, and I stood a long time looking 
 down the moonlit road where she had gone. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 UNTIL DEATH 
 
 WHEN the sun rose, it found me twenty li to the 
 south, singing from door to door. Through the 
 forenoon cash flowed into my hand a steady stream. 
 At noon, I bought my dinner, then lay down on the 
 floor of an inn and was lost in profound slumber. 
 
 When the candle was lighted, I awoke with a 
 start, and was soon out on my way back to the vil 
 lage that sheltered Ewa. In two hours time I stood 
 with her by the side of the gray rock. After a mo 
 ment of hushed greeting, she led the way into the 
 street and turned northward. I tied her bundle in 
 mine, with a sweet sense of ownership. All nigHt 
 we traveled on, and I wondered at her buoyancy and 
 tirelessness. When the light of day broke over us 
 she trilled and whistled to the multitude of birds 
 that awoke around us with their morning song. In 
 stead of the demure pensive maiden, one always ex 
 pects, she was radiant with life, and talked of the 
 habits of birds and wild animals of the hills. She 
 ordered me to stand still while she chirruped to a 
 sparrow till it was almost within her grasp, then she 
 laughed with musical sweetness. I trudged heavily 
 at her side, feeling my dull inferiority. Each mo- 
 
298 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ment brought fresh surprises, and, marveling, I tried 
 to place her among other women. "Not a type of 
 a class, but a rare specimen of what our women 
 might be," I thought. 
 
 When we arrived at the village of our destination 
 Ewa pulled her cloak over her head and I led the 
 way, as she directed, to a house near the center of the 
 village, where we parted, she retiring to the women s 
 apartments. The sound of happy greeting assured 
 me that we were with friends. The door was opened 
 to me by the church caretaker, at the front, and I 
 was bidden to enter with great heartiness. The 
 usual salutations \vere exchanged, and then I ex 
 plained the nature of our visit. 
 
 "Just in time," was the reply, "our pastor will 
 be here this afternoon. Was I a Christian? No? 
 Who did you say she was? That slave girl, did 
 you say?" 
 
 The next moment, to my amazement, he was 
 slamming the door behind him, and his animated 
 greetings reached my ears. The door swung back 
 from its insecure fastenings, and I saw Ewa de 
 murely bowing as any country maiden, her vivacity 
 having all fled. In a moment my host was back. 
 
 "Of course you don t understand," said he, 
 briskly, interpreting my look of inquiry. "Chris 
 tian communities live differently. We speak to the 
 women, and they are not afraid of being greeted. 
 We are all on a plane of equality. While they have 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 299 
 
 their place and we ours, as the Creator intended, 
 yet she is not beneath us in point of respect or privi 
 leges. Yes, it was difficult at first. We had to sac 
 rifice some of the rubbish of our old customs and not 
 a little pride. There is power in the cross to make 
 right all our ills. The time is coming," he added 
 with enthusiasm, "when injustice will be no more; 
 when both men and women shall have their rights ; 
 when in all our land there will not be heard the fall 
 of the paddle of the yamens." 
 
 It seemed to be a favorite topic of his, and I was 
 bewildered with what the Christians had accom 
 plished in their communities, and with what they 
 proposed to do. He talked of what they had done, 
 as Tong-siki talked of what we would do ; but then, 
 I reflected, "they are dealing with small groups 
 of illiterate people; while we are working with the 
 forces that are at the head of the nation, and must 
 be able, if successful, to do in a day what will re 
 quire many years for the Christians to do." 
 
 When the pastor arrived I was surprised to see a 
 tall Western foreigner. He greeted me heartily. He 
 had much to do in preparing his group of Christians 
 for an evening gathering, at which certain rites, in 
 connection with their reception into the church were 
 to be performed. The paradoxical attitude of the 
 Christian teachers astonished me. They used every 
 means possible to secure a follower, but made his 
 entrance into the church exacting and extremely 
 
300 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 difficult. I saw discipline as rigid as that of an 
 army; yet the people loved the man who presided 
 over them, and I had no doubt that they were ready 
 to pluck out their eyes for him. 
 
 Late in the afternoon, arrangements were made 
 for the wedding ceremony. I was coached on a 
 certain formula of which I remembered nothing. I 
 had not seen Ewa since arriving, and when she was 
 brought in her head was covered. A large body of 
 Christians and a few townspeople crowded the 
 place, till they blocked the doors with eager faces, 
 and extended back, a jostling mass into the dusty 
 street. We were finally led into the open court, 
 where there would be more room. Mats had been 
 spread on the ground, and someone slung an awn 
 ing across bamboo poles, and the affair took on an 
 appearance of importance. Feeling bewildered, I 
 asked what I was expected to do; saying that the 
 lessons that I had committed had eluded my grasp. 
 I was told to do as ordered at the time. Then Ewa 
 was told to do as ordered at the time. They 
 smiled when they saw me remove a bit of her chang- 
 ot 1 to see if it were really she. She smiled back at 
 me, and when I straightened up I saw only her dear 
 face, around which the company appeared as a halo. 
 I was repeating answers to questions as they were 
 dictated to me. 
 
 J A face covering used for the seclusion of women. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 301 
 
 "Will you love her?" the light-haired preacher 
 asked. 
 
 "Why, yes; I can t help it," I replied, and felt 
 surprised at the titter that followed. Then I re 
 peated "till death us do part." 
 
 Then Ewa was speaking and answered all their 
 questions without prompting. 
 
 The ceremony was over and they led my bride 
 away, and I drifted into the crowd, and interest in 
 me seemed to have vanished. I sought Ewa, and, at 
 first, had to converse through a third person. Pres 
 ently she appeared and requested a stay for a few 
 days. 
 
 I rightly surmised that she wanted me to learn 
 more about the new faith. Books were placed in 
 my hands and I labored with them faithfully for 
 three days. I had never been a dull student, but 
 here I made a complete failure; while I droned 
 over these books and listened to enthusiastic appeals, 
 my mind was elsewhere, planning for our journey 
 northward. We must hasten to the coast, I thought, 
 and take the coast steamer without delay. I gave 
 ready assent to everything. It seemed to me that 
 the Christians were good, the world was good, ancl 
 even the round face of the rich Yi was tolerable. v - 
 
 During these days, I saw nothing of my bride 
 except a silent greeting now and then at the door 
 of the women s apartments, or a privileged glance 
 at her as she stood among the other worshipers. On 
 
302 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 a certain afternoon, I followed her out on the hill 
 side among the second growth pines, and she told 
 me the whole story of her life ; how she had grown 
 up with better favored children, and had observed 
 all that they learned ; how they became willing asso 
 ciates; and how she loved to compel them to search 
 her out and ask favors of her; how, in a spirit of 
 amusement, someone had tried to teach her to read ; 
 and how she never forgot a character and sought 
 eagerly for more, and soon astonished her master by 
 supplying a Chinese character that he wanted in a 
 certain letter he was writing to a magistrate; how 
 she spent every hour possible in the woods, be 
 coming familiar with the birds, dumb animals and 
 insects; how some regarded her with superstitious 
 reverence; how she had conquered her master and 
 put her life in the task; how he feared and loved 
 her; and how she feared him. While talking she 
 had been looking steadily in my face and suddenly 
 asked : 
 
 "Do you believe?" 
 
 "Yes ! that is, I suppose so, I believe you, and re 
 ligion is a part of you." She looked away with a 
 baffled air and seeing her distress, "Tell me," I 
 urged, "I will listen." 
 
 "No one can tell you more. It is doing, not hear 
 ing," she replied, and a look of suffering came over 
 her face. I was angry with the Christians, but be 
 fore I could say anything she spoke: 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 303 
 
 "Do you know where I must go when we leave 
 here?" 
 
 "Go?" I repeated, "to the capital where we shall 
 be secure from pursuit," and I was on the point of 
 launching out with a minute description of the plans 
 that I had materialized for our safety, and the happy 
 future in store for us. Her look of pain deepened 
 and checked my words. 
 
 "Do you know what I have made you?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "A happy man," I said, and laughed loudly. 
 Tears came into her eyes, and I bent down playfully 
 to laugh away her mood, she lifted her hands, and I 
 sat down by her side soberly. 
 
 "See!" said she, extending her wrist, "a long 
 time ago some superstitious impulse seized my mas 
 ter to have me branded or marked in some way. He 
 remembered an old tradition of our race, that our 
 ancestors tattooed their bodies. If he has an idea, 
 however erratic, he never releases it, and in time 
 he brought a needle and pigments, and tattooed the 
 sign of the cross on my arm, performing the work 
 with his own hands. His superstition infected me, 
 and I believed I was to become a victim of the cross, 
 indeed, there were times when I should have wel 
 comed that instrument of torture if it would have re 
 leased me from pending dangers. I often went to 
 the store-room where the heavy piece of wood was 
 kept, and passed my hand over it; it seemed terri- 
 
304 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ble to me, yet I often sat by it and stroked it with 
 my hands, as if it were a living thing. You know 
 that on our street corners there are found the vil 
 lage idols with their hideous faces. Well, on the 
 rough front of the cross I could see a face, and in the 
 superstition of my childhood, I talked to it and 
 promised that some day I would embrace it and yield 
 my life there. In these morbid fancies I would 
 often, in my dreams, feel the thongs on my wrists 
 and ankles, and feel the cross under me. 
 
 "When I thought you were to be sacrificed in the 
 city of Pyeng-Yang, I wanted you with all my soul. 
 I knew your previous national rank and the con 
 descension you made in loving a slave. I knew that 
 you could never marry me, but I wanted to mark 
 you as a slave, then I could visit your grave and call 
 it mine. I, therefore, crept into your cell that awful 
 night in Pyeng-Yang. 
 
 "Finally I became a Christian, and the thing of 
 shame and expected instrument of my death, I found 
 to be an emblem of holiness and victory." She 
 paused, and commenced humming a Christian hymn 
 in a sad, low voice, "In the cross of Christ I glory." 
 "Then all my fear of the heavy beam," she added, 
 "was gone, and I became proud of the mark on my 
 arm and made a vow to Him who yielded up his life 
 on the cross that I would be true to Him ; and I saw 
 in the cross the hope of Korea, and not her misery 
 and ruin. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 305 
 
 "Then, at last, Sung-yo, you did find me as I 
 hoped and feared you came and my soul knew 
 you for its master the only human being that has 
 been its master." Here her voice sank to a whisper 
 and her eyes for the first time fell to the ground, and 
 she continued: "I yielded to you my heart; nay, a 
 storm seized me and swept me to you ; and, after I 
 had done the irrevocable thing and had broken my 
 vow, I thought that you would become a Christian 
 and understand." 
 
 "Understand!" I gasped. 
 
 "I thought," she continued in the same low tone, 
 "if you knew Him, you would know what duty 
 means how one can cheerfully lay aside friends 
 and the fruits of years of sacrifice, with love and 
 hope and life." Her face grew white and she mois 
 tened her lips and lifting those wonderful eyes to 
 my face, continued, "I must go back to my master." 
 
 I looked at her for some moments and tried to 
 solve the riddle with a feeling of numbness creep 
 ing over me. After a few moments waiting, the 
 force of her words dawned upon me. 
 
 "Go back?" I repeated, "go back to your master? 
 but you belong to me you were not born a slave 
 you were stolen from freedom and your father was 
 murdered and your mother was also sold into worse 
 than slavery and her baby torn from her arms ; and 
 you what had you done in your innocent baby 
 hood that you should live under the lash ? By what 
 
306 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 law, whether Christian, or otherwise, are you re 
 quired to return to him? Nay, but does not a just 
 law rather insist that you have the rights of liberty? 
 Indeed, what is this Christian law that strengthens 
 the hands of the vicious and cruel, and is ready to 
 seize a helpless, bruised captive and return her to 
 a monstrous enemy, to be torn and trampled under 
 foot? Nay, I am more just than your new faith, 
 dear maiden. I swear by all that is good, and I 
 must include your God, that I shall give every ounce 
 of my flesh and my last drop of blood, rather than 
 let you fall into the power of your old master. You 
 are mine by your Christian laws; for were we not 
 wedded under those laws, and did they not say you 
 were mine? Then if mine, how, then, his? Said it 
 not till death ? You are mine ! mine ! mine !" 
 
 I spoke with passion and a feeling of intense hate 
 for the rich Yi sprung up in my heart. "I will 
 kill him," I thought. 
 
 She took my hand and held it to her cheek and 
 tried to soothe me for I was trembling with ex 
 citement. She gave vent to notes of music words 
 of no language, but resembling the soft tones of a 
 cooing dove ; its tender yearning sweetness drove my 
 passion from me. 
 
 Finally she said, "That is why I said I broke my 
 vow, I have done you a great and terrible wrong." 
 I attempted to speak but she checked me. "In my 
 weakness I proposed to you a means of our mar- 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 307 
 
 riage and was happy. Alas for our happiness! I 
 am strong now. You are right regarding the 
 cruelty and ruin worked against me and my family. 
 I do not propose to return to my master because 
 they killed my father and sold my mother into slav 
 ery ; but, because I fled from my master as a crimi 
 nal flees from justice, and in the eyes of the law I 
 have merited punishment. Thereby have I brought 
 my new faith into contempt. The people will say 
 that the Christians are thieves and encourage law 
 lessness. Think not that my bondage is not hateful 
 to me, or that the presence of the rich Yi does not 
 fill my soul with moral nausea, and that the life 
 vvith you would not be sweet, but I have another 
 Master, whom I must not disobey. For his sake I 
 must give up happiness and go back to my terrible 
 bondage." She paused, then spoke rapidly, as if in 
 fear of losing her courage. 
 
 "For you to return with me means that you are 
 also a slave in the eyes of our law. You have a 
 great work with your friend Tong-siki, and the 
 slave girl would be a curse in your home. While 
 our hearts are young, we might ignore the opinion 
 of others; but a time would come when your slave 
 wife would be a blight upon your life. Who in that 
 proud capital would accept you, who, according to 
 our laws, as long as bound to me, is as much a slave 
 as I?" 
 
 "It would be vain to hope that my master would 
 
308 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 part with me unless, indeed, you could place him 
 in power at the capital, but your own principles for 
 bid such an act even though the gift might lay in 
 your hand. I am your wife. Cruel death may find 
 me sometime, but it will be as your virgin wife." 
 Her voice had grown lower and lower, and broke 
 at last. 
 
 "When will you go?" I asked, as if I had accepted 
 her arrangements. 
 
 "After dark to-night," she replied, searching my 
 face, as if disappointed that I had accepted her 
 decision. 
 
 The next night found us on our way back, and 
 Ewa s protestations grew feeble when I announced 
 that I was going with her, and a positive happiness 
 rang out in her voice. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE 
 
 THE dawn had just set loose its thousands of 
 echoes when we arrived at the village where lived 
 the rich Yi. As we made our appearance in his 
 compound, a huzz of excitement went over the place. 
 Ewa s absence had not been noticed; everyone sup 
 posing that she was still at the retreat where her 
 master had tried to hide her from me; at that place 
 it was thought she had returned to her master. 
 Outside of her master s immediate presence she was 
 in the habit of doing as she chose, and, having 
 hinted of leaving, no one had raised any inquiry. 
 Seeing me in her company seemed to argue trouble 
 from Seoul, and the suspicion that I was a spy was 
 confirmed. 
 
 Soon Ewa s master appeared as if in great haste, 
 and when he saw me his jaw fell, and stammering 
 wanted to know when I had come back, and where 
 I was going. Ewa took the matter out of my hands 
 and making room for her master and me to sit 
 down, remained standing in a respectful attitude. 
 
 "Listen," said she, "I have something to tell you. 
 Years ago I had a father and he was wealthy, more 
 wealthy, if my baby memory serves me right, than 
 
3io EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 you, sir, have ever been. He was seized one day 
 by a magistrate and beaten until he signed away all 
 his property, and his mangled body was brought 
 home. We took refuge in a servant s quarters. 
 There lived in that town a man by your name, sir, 
 and for information and aid to the magistrate, he 
 reaped large benefits from my father s property. 
 The night after my father s burial, a party of young 
 men came from the home of this neighbor who had 
 caused our ruin and tried to seize my mother and 
 carry her to his home, to a life infinitely worse than 
 that of slavery. She fled with me on her back. For 
 a time fortune was kind to us, but, after days of 
 exposure and hunger and weariness, we were over 
 taken and my mother sold on the street as you would 
 sell a wandering horse or cow. I was torn from 
 her arms and, to confuse my mind in the matter, I 
 was passed through the hands of several persons 
 under pretense of a sale, until I was finally owned 
 as a slave by the man who caused the murder of 
 my father." 
 
 During the recital Mr. Yi had moved uneasily 
 and his face became livid; he made as if to speak. 
 "Wait!" said she, "I have more to say. I hated 
 the hand that fed me. I saw on it the blood of my 
 father and mother. I was obedient, but often looked 
 at my face in deep pools, and resolved that, at some 
 time, I would throw away the life that was becom 
 ing intolerable under the control of a murderer. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 311 
 
 Then there came into my life a face with true, 
 simple manhood, and he gave himself to me, not in 
 words, but by looks then I wanted to live. I saw 
 him stricken down and I supposed dead on a battle 
 field, and again I sought the pools for escape. 
 Finally I fled from my master s home and I found 
 the Christian s God, who sent me back to him, and 
 taught me to look at his red hands with peace in 
 my heart. A few days ago the dead came back to 
 me," and she laid her hand in mine as she spoke, 
 "and we went to a Christian chapel and were mar 
 ried according to the ordinances of God. He is my 
 husband yea, I am his forever. In a few days we 
 might have been in Seoul under the protection of 
 powerful friends, but I came back because I am a 
 Christian, and he, also." 
 
 She had not taken her eyes from her master s 
 face from the beginning, and spoke in a low, clear 
 voice. He had been looking from face to face, and 
 when she said married, he caught his breath, and 
 when she ceased speaking, looked as if he had re 
 ceived a mortal blow. "Married !" he echoed, "mar 
 ried, did you say? when?" "Four days ago." 
 
 He staggered to his feet and lowered a moment, 
 swaying like a drunken man, his face purple with 
 wrath. I had risen with him, and -Ewa stood with 
 her large eyes fixed upon his face, her lips white. 
 His words came in muffled sounds, without articu 
 lation, first like base rumblings, then in a high fal- 
 
312 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 setto. I touched Ewa s arm and we stepped out into 
 the open yard. He followed and tramped back and 
 forth in brute fury. Finally his words were clear 
 enough. 
 
 "Curse her ! kill her ! kill them ! hate me, did you ? 
 hand red, is it? murderer, you say?" 
 
 I noticed a division among the servants; two, 
 who evidently had been in his service a long time, 
 stood attention, seemingly expecting to receive an 
 order to perform some service, while others, em 
 ployed from the immediate section, shrank from 
 him. 
 
 Presently he broke in a long stream of invec 
 tives, reviling his slave and coupling my name with 
 hers in passionate denunciation. He strode up to 
 her with uplifted hand as if to strike, and shot his 
 face out into hers; she did not flinch; indeed, she 
 had not taken her eyes from his face since he began 
 to rave. 
 
 So far I had not said a word. She had adroitly 
 concentrated his whole attention upon herself, and if 
 I had left her alone with the problem, how different 
 the results might have been ! When I saw his hand 
 raised, my blood leaped, and in an instant I had 
 struck him across the cheek, a blow that staggered 
 him and made my hand tingle long afterward. In 
 stantly he was upon me like a mad bull ; with a 
 club I felled him to the ground. The next moment 
 a dozen hands were at my throat and I lay on the 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 313 
 
 ground some yards from him, my hands pinioned 
 behind me. Slowly he raised his fat body from the 
 ground ; wiped the blood from his forehead, where 
 I had hit him ; at the sight of which his fury knew 
 no bounds; seizing the stick that I had dropped he 
 lunged at me and I knew that it meant death; then, 
 at a bound, Ewa was between us. 
 
 He paused and looked her over, and laughed a 
 diabolical laugh. "I kill my slaves when I want to 
 and have no more use for them ; four days ago, did 
 you say?" Then he called to his servants. Two 
 of them seized Ewa by the wrists, while a third 
 tugged at a lock on a door opening directly upon 
 the yard, but moved with slow reluctance. Yi 
 cursed the man and with his own hands tore the 
 door from its fastenings. A heavy cross was 
 dragged out, and at sight of it fiendish delight filled 
 his soul. 
 
 Ewa was unresistingly laid on the cross face 
 downward, her arms extended, and with his own 
 fingers, her master tied her arms and feet, the while 
 cursing and reviling; then over her clothing he 
 poured a pail of water that the paddle might bite 
 the harder. 
 
 The head servant was commanded to strike; he 
 lifted the paddle over his head and it came down 
 with a thud; but so skillfully aimed that the end 
 struck the ground, doing the girl no harm. Again 
 and again he struck fierce blows, but they hurt her 
 
314 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 not. I called and begged them to put me in Ewa s 
 place; I threatened; I promised money; I pleaded 
 and commanded. 
 
 "Your turn is coming, son of Sung-ji, slave !" 
 he raved. 
 
 Suddenly he saw that the beating was a farce, and 
 seizing the paddle from the hands of his minion, he 
 struck the girl a terrible blow. There was a shock, 
 an upward spasmodic throw of the head, but no 
 word escaped her. Again and again he struck her, 
 but still she made no sign. At each blow I writhed 
 and tugged at the thongs, and cursed the man that 
 bound me. Then one of the servants eagerly offered 
 to do the beating, and reaching out his hands, he 
 interfered with the descending paddle, and instead 
 of falling on the thighs of the girl it struck her 
 across the back. A shudder ran through her frame, 
 and she laid her head down on the rough beam. He 
 again raised the paddle and struck her across the 
 thighs, as he had intended, but she felt it not. A 
 servant begged him to look at her face, and he 
 stopped beating. Others cut the thongs that bound 
 her hands and feet, but she did not move; then 
 they picked her up and carried her into a room 
 near at hand and laid her on the floor. Her master 
 looked after her with his hands hanging helplessly 
 at his side, his fury gone. 
 
 Someone cut my hands loose and I ran to Ewa ; 
 no one interfered. I called for water and it was 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 315 
 
 brought. I took her head in my lap and called her 
 by name "Ewa! Ewa! O, Ewa!" I bathed her 
 head and hands and then laid my cheek against hers, 
 and hung her arms around my neck, but they 
 dropped limply at her side. A drop of blood was on 
 her lips and I kissed it away; I forgot the presence 
 of others and begged her to wake up and come out 
 with me where the birds were singing. "The quail 
 is whistling for you, Ewa," I cried, "the flowers are 
 nodding with smiles for you; every blade of grass 
 is a beckoning hand. Come, Ewa, wake up, come 
 with me." 
 
 Heavy breathing at the door caused me to glance 
 up ; Yi stood alone, his face draw r n and old. When 
 he saw Ewa s face he stumbled back into the yard, 
 and I heard prolonged waitings "I-go-o-o." 
 
 At sight of him, a fury for revenge surged 
 through me, and laying the dear head down I went 
 out into the yard with a terrible resolve burning in 
 my breast, but what I saw stayed the tide of passion. 
 Yi, with his head down on the ground, was wailing 
 as our people wail for the dead. He had picked up 
 a stone and was beating his own head with it and 
 crying in unmistakable anguish. I kicked him sav 
 agely and he looked me over as if his eyes had not 
 taken me in. 
 
 Returning to Ewa, I straightened her limbs, and 
 again bathed her face and hands. Presently her 
 color returned and eyelids trembled. She looked up, 
 
316 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 dazed, and I held my breath, waiting for a sign of 
 consciousness. Presently she looked into my eyes 
 and smiled, and I bathed her face in tears. "Don t," 
 said she, and placed her arms about my neck. I 
 laughed and asked her if she would sit up. "Come," 
 I said, "we are free, let us go." Her arms fell 
 away wearily, and she looked at me long, with a 
 puzzled expression on her face which changed to 
 pain, then to pity. Finally she asked me to raise 
 her feet; I did so, and she watched me intently and 
 sighed. 
 
 "They are dead," she whispered, "they are dead." 
 An ugly, deformed girl crept in at the open door 
 and held Ewa s hand. "More deformed than you, 
 mistress," Ewa said. "I am half dead, while you 
 may walk and live." Presently she asked for a 
 needle and pressed the point into her limbs, "dead !" 
 she said, "dead!" 
 
 I put my face down to hers. "Better had it been 
 if I had not wakened, "she whispered, then she closed 
 her eyes and appeared to sleep, but finally opened 
 them and smiled up in my face. 
 
 "I have thought it all out. You must return to 
 your people and fight the battles for our country 
 with your friend. You said many things that made 
 me happy; chief of all was the prospect of living 
 to help other women; I would be a burden now. 
 My master will not beat me any more, he will have 
 to feed and clothe that which he has mangled, while 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 317 
 
 life lasts. He beat me because he loved and hated 
 me; he will love me no more, nor will he hate me, 
 now that there will be no cause for jealousy. He 
 wanted a bright toy that he always both feared and 
 loved, then he trampled it beneath his feet; he will 
 look at the battered body and wonder why he cared 
 anything for it. I will suffer no more with him 
 than " here she paused and battled with her feel 
 ings, "than I would with you. I would like to look 
 in your eyes and have you touch my hand, and your 
 voice would soothe the pain, and you would tell 
 me about the birds and flowers, but that would bur 
 den you. When a woman is useless she should be 
 thrown away. God made her so." 
 
 I protested in tears my love and constancy. I 
 said that she had offered her body to be battered 
 and bruised for me; that if she had not inter 
 fered I would have been a worse mangled heap than 
 she. 
 
 "Leave you here? Never! Where I go, Ewa, 
 you go. I followed you as a boy races over the 
 fields after the thistledown, I sought through toil 
 and want, through heat and cold, but you were 
 always just beyond my grasp. I wearied not 
 through the years, and when, at last, I held you in 
 my grasp, the years of struggle were as nothing for 
 the joy of possessing you; but I seized you too 
 rudely, and now you are crushed and broken. If 
 I had not struck your master, he had not bruised 
 
318 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 you. You gave your life for me, Ewa. Leave you 
 Ewa ? Never !" She looked up with a glad light. 
 
 "Say it again!" she said, "say it again, say you 
 gave your life for me, Ewa/ 
 
 "You gave your life for me, Ewa/ I repeated. 
 She smiled and closed her eyes in evident physical 
 pain. Later she looked up. 
 
 "Go !" she said, "you are his slave as much as 
 I ; he will mangle your body worse than mine. Go !" 
 she whispered through white lips, "go while you 
 have time." I answered by putting my cheek 
 against hers; she looked baffled, but smiled. 
 
 I watched at her side through the day, and when 
 her mind wandered, a great anguish crept down in 
 my heart and I feared what my lips refused to name. 
 
 The hunchback dressed the bruised body with a 
 tenderness and dexterity that surprised me, and I 
 wondered that I had ever thought her foolish. 
 
 When night closed in I remembered that I had 
 not seen Yi since morning, and that his wailings 
 had soon died out. I went out into the yard with 
 reckless indifference to danger, sought for him as 
 a person does a reptile, whose proximity is intol 
 erable, yet fascinated with a horror of its nearness. 
 I searched through the grounds and noted the 
 absence of servants; then I smiled with the fierce 
 gladness at the thought that they had fled to escape 
 complication with the law, and that other members 
 of the family were cowering in some neighboring 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 319 
 
 ward, leaving me to uninterrupted revenge. At the 
 end of the compound I tugged open a door; on the 
 farther side of the room sat the object of my hate. 
 I had picked up an ironing club and at a bound stood 
 over him, "Die !" I said, through clinched teeth. 
 
 He looked up with a dull light in his eyes, and 
 raised no hand in defense; "die!" he repeated, and 
 chuckled softly to himself then he looked across 
 the room and his jaws dropped, and he twined his 
 fingers foolishly. He had dragged the cross into the 
 room and was looking at the terrible instrument of 
 torture. "She was there," he whispered confiden 
 tially, "I saw her with blood on her lips." 
 
 My hand dropped to my side and I backed out 
 of the room, and left him still gazing at the cross, 
 a silly look on his face. "Justice," I thought, "has 
 already taken its revenge." 
 
 I found Ewa with a bright spot on either cheek, 
 and her mind wandering. She talked of her walks 
 among the groves that she loved so well, of picking 
 flowers and listening to the birds. All night long 
 I sat on one side, and the hunchback girl on the 
 other. It was evident that the slave girl had been 
 greatly loved by her young mistress. In the early 
 morning Ewa asked for water, and as I held the 
 cup to her lips she smiled into my face. 
 
 "It is better," said she, "you need not leave me 
 now, it will not be long, and then you will not Be 
 a slave." She then looked at her wrist. 
 
320 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "It was the cross, my ruin/ she sighed, "and my 
 hope, the hope of Korea, Sung-yo. I have a request 
 will you grant it, Sung-yo?" 
 
 "With my life," I replied. 
 
 "Bury me secretly, and do not bring my master 
 before the magistrate ; I am only a slave and it will 
 be easy. Only a complaint from you would cause 
 his punishment. Vengeance is mine, saith the 
 Lord, " she quoted with faltering voice. 
 
 I promised. 
 
 "And, Sung-yo?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You will not seek personal revenge?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "The rock where we sat in the moonlight, when 
 I came to you the wild pigeon nest in the top of 
 it bury me in its shadow, Sung-yo in the place 
 where we sat and I was happy, Sung-yo and 
 Sung-yo ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "The Christians do not swathe the dead with 
 bandages, but dress them as if living, and leave their 
 faces uncovered, and lay them away tenderly, as if 
 they were going to sleep. You will look in my 
 face, Sung-yo, before they drop the cold earth 
 upon it?" 
 
 "Yes, Ewa," I sobbed. 
 
 "Now, say it again you gave your life for me, 
 Ewa. " 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 321 
 
 "You gave your life for me, Ewa," I repeated, 
 and she smiled. 
 
 "O! Sung-yo, would that I could give you a 
 thousand lives. My arms are heavy, Sung-yo lift 
 them up and put them around your neck so." 
 
 "On the Pyeng-Yang battlefield you promised 
 that somewhere, where men s spirits roam, you 
 would meet me. You will, Sung-yo?" 
 
 "Yes, Ewa." 
 
 Her voice staggered and her arms fell limply at 
 her side, and when she spoke again it was in a 
 whisper. 
 
 "The cr oss, S Sung-yo." 
 
 I closed the dear eyes, and the hunchback girl, 
 with streaming face, brought in garments, some of 
 which I knew to be her own, made of the finest silk. 
 How beautiful Ewa looked ! It was, as she had said, 
 simply going to sleep. 
 
 When night fell again, I labored at the foot of 
 the great rock, and the shadows of the mountain 
 covered my misery. My pick struck deep into the 
 bosom of tender memories, and each blow deepened 
 my anguish. 
 
 The procuring of a coffin would raise questions 
 in the neighborhood, and I would not be able to keep 
 my promise, so I made a bed of pine boughs at the 
 bottom of the grave. 
 
 An hour before daylight I had returned to the 
 hut and fastened my precious dead in a long mat 
 
322 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 and raised it to my shoulders. The village was hid 
 in slumber, and followed only by the faithful hunch 
 back girl, I staggered up the mountainside and laid 
 my burden tenderly down beside the open grave. 
 
 We had no need of a lantern ; the moonlight had 
 driven back the shadows of the mountain, and I 
 laid the remains of my bride on a pillow of pine 
 boughs with the damp, cold earth walling it in. Then 
 I lit a handful of pine splinters; when the light flick 
 ered and went out, I covered her face with a bit of 
 matting. I picked up the hoe, but my fingers refused 
 to hold it, then I went to the foot of the grave and 
 arranged the dear feet, and tried to sprinkle them 
 with earth. 
 
 The hunchback girl took the hoe from my trem 
 bling hand, and I climbed out on the warm earth 
 and hid my face between the loose sod and the rock, 
 and covered my ears. When the light of morning 
 spread over the mountain, I arose and took the hoe 
 from the blistered, trembling hands, and rounded 
 the mound of earth high and pressed it smooth ten 
 derly, as if my fingers were touching her dear face. 
 A delicate, hemp sandal lay on the ground and I 
 picked it up and hid it in my bosom. Over my head, 
 on the top of the naked rock, a dove cooed for its 
 mate, and I turned my face northward to the distant 
 hills, and the anguish swelled within me. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 DANGERS AHEAD 
 
 A STEAMER was announced off at sea, and I went 
 down to the jetty to watch with others who were 
 anxious to take passage northward. I had been 
 waiting a week at the port of Kun-san, with a score 
 of others, for the incoming steamer. Their anima 
 tion and hopelessness at sight of the smoke on the 
 horizon, stirred no response in my heart. When 
 the anchor dropped out in the bay, I took a sanpan, 1 
 rode out and climbed up the gangway. 
 
 A Japanese sailor addressed me in a coarse lan 
 guage, and I was compelled to show my ticket to a 
 dozen irresponsible persons, but I cared nothing for 
 these things. 
 
 A few hours later we were steaming out to sea. 
 I leaned on the rail and fixed my eyes on the south 
 ern horizon, beyond which, somewhere, was a 
 mound, and I looked as I have done each day, and 
 shall do through the years. 
 
 Before darkness settled over the sea dinner was 
 announced for steerage passengers, and I went be 
 low. We had reached the open sea, and the steamer 
 rolled and pitched in a most alarming way. On 
 
 1 Japanese row-boat. 
 
 323 
 
324 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 shore some had eaten nothing that clay, in order 
 that they might be able to take the value of their 
 passage money out of the company in heavy meals, 
 but now they had changed their minds. 
 
 I was not sick, so carried my bowl of rice out 
 on deck for the sake of fresh air through someone 
 at my elbow was discourteous enough to hint that 
 I needed fresh air. Opposite me sat a fat passenger 
 who also held Neptune in contempt. He wore a 
 spotless suit, and hat and shoes made of the finest 
 material. He held a fan before his face to ward off 
 the offensive odors of the ship. He sat with dig 
 nity, and looked with a glance of hauteur at his 
 fellow passengers, as if he scorned the humiliation 
 of traveling steerage. When he spoke he assumed 
 the look of benign condescension, and many were 
 the deferential glances to flatter his vanity. The 
 preservation of his dignity seemed to have been his 
 life s ambition. His feet were curled under him in 
 the approved attitude of the sages. The little table 
 of rice was at his feet, while a bowl of soup and a 
 bit of fish completed his bill of fare. He raised the 
 bowl of soup and glanced up, as if he indulged in 
 such vulgar acts of eating only when aboard ship or 
 in the company of his inferiors. With maddening 
 dignity he carried it to his lips, but a sudden, swift 
 roll and plunge of the steamer sent the warm liquid 
 slipping up his sleeve and over his immaculate silk 
 coat. He set the bowl down with a loud, undignified 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 325 
 
 snort and a look that could have annihilated the 
 steamer and many square miles of the sea. The next 
 plunge of the steamer sent the bowl rolling across the 
 deck and the bowl of rice dancing after it. Our 
 dignified friend, seeing his dinner fleeing, sprang 
 to his feet with the agility of a coolie and gave pur 
 suit. Down they went across the deck, the bowl 
 leaving a white path of hunger tempting rice in its 
 wake. At one moment his fingers had nearly seized 
 the fleeing bowl, when a second roll of the steamer 
 gave it another turn and, describing a semi-circle, it 
 passed between his feet and started for the gangway 
 leading to the main deck, with the fat man in pursuit. 
 His fellow passengers were delighted. As the bowl 
 reached the gangway, in his zeal to seize it before 
 the fatal plunge, he lunged forward and, slipping on 
 the scattered rice, shot with toboggan swiftness, 
 head foremost, down the dozen steps and landed 
 comfortably on top of the empty bowl. He lay for 
 a moment as if expecting someone to help him up ; 
 but a shout of uproarious laughter from a score of 
 throats jogged his ancient brain into the realization 
 that he was in a new Korea, where every man is 
 expected to look after himself. Picking himself up, 
 he made his way up the gangway with profound 
 gravity, sat down in the stained garments and 
 ordered another bowl of rice, scornfully indifferent 
 to the ripple of merriment that still echoed among 
 the passengers and sailors. 
 
326 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Till then I had not given my fellow passengers a 
 thought. Now I noted that they were made up 
 from all the East: the heavy Chinamen, unobtru 
 sively sitting in groups of their own nationals, who, 
 when the rice tables were carried away, began rat 
 tling the dice; the versatile Japanese with a disgust 
 ing lack of dress, sitting together chattering like a 
 company of magpies ; Koreans in dull, stolid groups 
 giving way to every other aggressive passenger. 
 Their seeming pusillanimity maddened me, but I 
 was as helpless as any other one of our millions who 
 live under discriminating and unjust laws. I saw 
 pacing the deck, among first-class passengers, Ameri 
 cans, Europeans, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. 
 The whole world seemed to be represented aboard 
 that little steamer. 
 
 While my fellow passengers were scrambling for 
 sleeping places and spreading out their blankets on 
 the rough boards of their bunks, I stood out by the 
 rail in the bright moonlight. 
 
 Thousands of phosphorescent stars danced at the 
 side of the steamer and a brilliant pathway of light 
 stretched across the sea toward the moon that scu d- 
 ded through the sky and hid for a moment behind a 
 billowy cloud and then burst forth into new glory, as 
 if insistent, that in a world of shadows there is 
 light and hope. 
 
 Long I looked down the pathway of light thinking 
 or rather feeling, forward into the future. Grim 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 327 
 
 fate, the result of our cruel times, had shattered at 
 my feet all that I loved, and yet over its ruins stern 
 duty seemed calling me. My feelings were not. 
 without bitterness. Sweet faces and tender looks, 
 like the fragrant violet beneath the heel of the war 
 rior, are to be trampled upon and bruised till one s 
 blood should bathe them into new life. "Domestic 
 peace and security must be bought for the next gen 
 eration by the lives of this," I reflected ; "My coun 
 try s needs require the shedding of blood." In my 
 sore, grief-stricken heart I felt ready for that day. 
 
 Suddenly I was awakened from my thoughts by 
 a hand on my shoulder and, turning, found myself 
 face to face with Tong-siki. His long absence 
 and my struggles and defeats made me cling to him 
 with a delight that surprised and pleased him. His 
 healthy, vigorous look and cheerful spirit put new 
 life into me. We sat down against the skylight of 
 the throbbing, tumbling boat, and he demanded of 
 me the story of the last two years. I told him, 
 leaving out nothing, and he listened without a word 
 of comment, and I might have thought that he heard 
 nothing if each glance had not shown his eyes bent 
 searchingly upon me. When I had told all, he sat 
 in a long thoughtful silence, then spoke as if it were 
 the result of his meditation. 
 
 "Wonderful! Wonderful what the new religion 
 can make out of even a fragile slave girl. Sought 
 death, did she, rather than bring reproach upon her 
 
328 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 religion? Yet some among us, who boast of our 
 strength, find it a trying ordeal to summon courage 
 to die for a principle. You have suffered, have 
 you?" he added, "but you have a healthy look and 
 I think a healthy brain. You have learned the great 
 lesson that these are not the times to be satiated with 
 good things. Stripped of all selfish happiness in 
 any one individual you may be able to devote your 
 self to the happiness of the many. Forgive me if 
 I seem unsympathetic; you know that I would give 
 my right hand to promote your happiness, and, 
 while I sincerely sympathize and sorrow with you 
 in your loss, yet I am glad, with a gladness that I 
 cannot explain, that I find you ready to devote your 
 life to our common cause." 
 
 Then he told me, in turn, of his life of the past 
 two years. He was now on his way from Japan, 
 returning to the scenes of his old struggles. 
 
 Soon after our separation he had been marked 
 as a dangerous man and sought after by the authori 
 ties. He was charged with being a traitor. The 
 fact that he offered his life in defense of the Em 
 peror was ground sufficient for jealous officials at 
 the capital to seek his life. Most of his friends fell 
 away in a day. The Independence club was glad to 
 receive him, and were stirred with his manly states 
 manlike appeals. Soon that organization was at 
 tacked, and its leaders imprisoned, or driven from 
 the country. Among them were some who lost their 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 329 
 
 heads. To remain in the country for the time meant 
 total impotency and consequent ineffectual battling. 
 While the spirit of reaction was taking place he had 
 resolved to study the Japanese system of govern 
 ment, and had gone to the country for this purpose. 
 His enemies said that he had fled from justice. 
 
 Japan, Tong-siki said, was truly friendly and 
 desired the best interest of Korea, if it did not 
 conflict with her own interest. Her officials opened 
 every avenue possible for him to gain information. 
 Statesmen sat with him in patient effort to satisfy 
 his appetite for knowledge. 
 
 The trouble between Japan and Korea lies with 
 the multitude of Japanese riffraff who have found 
 their way to Korea, and are outside the Korean law 
 and control, and over whom Japan exercises lax au 
 thority. Except a small circle of respected Japanese 
 citizens in our country, the thousands are eagerly 
 engaged in our exploitation. These people, and a 
 few incompetent officials of the Japanese govern 
 ment, have been the bane of Korea. 
 
 "Either their people," said he, "will be better con 
 trolled by the Japanese authorities, or our streets, 
 in the near future, will run red. Our oppressed race 
 will turn upon their persecutors as soon as they are 
 permeated by the spirit of freedom. 
 
 "But that is not the matter that presses upon me 
 at present. You may have heard that there is a 
 price set upon my head, and when I put foot on my 
 
330 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 native soil I shall have set in motion the machinery 
 of patriotic devotion and unselfish solicitude for his 
 Majesty. To make sure that the royal family is 
 safe, and, casually, that their hold upon the treasur 
 er s spigot is secure, members of the Cabinet will 
 try to rid the land of my presence. 
 
 "Look at me, Sung-yo. Do you think I look like 
 a fanatic who would seek to throw his life away for 
 a dream ? Yet I am going back to offer my life for 
 my country. The world laughs at us and asks in de 
 rision for an exhibition of manhood, and our people 
 themselves turn to tradition for those who have died 
 for principle. We do not know how to live because 
 we do not know how to die, and we do not die well 
 because we do not live well. If, by giving my life, 
 I could inspire the mind of many hesitating young 
 men of our country to dare to do for our country s 
 reform, it would be a happy gift. 
 
 "I may escape the knife, and have taken every 
 precaution to do so by making friends with power 
 ful Japanese diplomats, who will attempt to look 
 to my safety, but I have little confidence in them. 
 Not that they do not purpose to aid, but diplomacy 
 is strong only where there is a supposed exchange of 
 advantages, or w r here there is a hint of battleships. 
 In my case neither condition exists. Beyond a kindly 
 feeling, my life means nothing to the Japanese, 
 while my destruction is supposed to mean the sta 
 bility of the present system of official tyranny in 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 331 
 
 Korea. I want to live, but there are a great many 
 things worse than death; cowardice is one. My 
 place is in the capital, in the hurly-burly of strife, 
 and if I fall, there will be mighty men to take my 
 place. 
 
 "I understand that the magistrate with whom 
 you and I had an interesting acquaintance in Pyeng- 
 Yang on the occasion of our first visit there, is now 
 in Seoul and is rapidly rising among the guardians 
 of Korea s greatness. Rumor has it that he is trying 
 to ride two horses at the same time. His sagacity 
 has evidently revealed to him facts that everyone 
 knows, namely, that there is to be a struggle between 
 Russia and Japan for supremacy in the East. One 
 day he gets down a map of Asia, and opens his eyes 
 wide at the extent of Russia s domains ; then sends a 
 visiting card to the Russian Legation with the an 
 nouncement that he is on his way to pay his respects 
 to the representative of the greatest country on the 
 earth. The next day news from his spies announces 
 Japan s war preparation, and he hastens to the Jap 
 anese Legation to knock his head on the ground to 
 the representative of the mightiest country on earth. 
 What concerns me most at present is that he is wait 
 ing to receive me, with his humiliation in Pyeng- 
 Yang burning in his memory. I suppose I could 
 buy his love with a few strings of cash ; but such a 
 purchase would nauseate one in one s grave; yet 
 some think the practice honorable. 
 
332 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "An associate of his who has turned traitor to his 
 political friends has been rewarded with a govern 
 ment appointment at the port, ostensibly Superin 
 tendent of Trade, but in reality, appointed to seize 
 all progressionists that should attempt to return 
 from abroad. 
 
 "He wrote me many loving letters, and I expect 
 that on my arrival he will express his solicitude by 
 having a servant with his overgrown visiting card 
 at the steamer anchorage, to beg the humble privi 
 lege of entertaining me before I proceed to the capi 
 tal. If he concludes that my bones are worth pick 
 ing, the exploitation will be his, and I will have the 
 blessed privilege of sneaking into some hiding place, 
 while he will deliver up some wretch to the talons of 
 the noble tribunal in Seoul, who may, after the deatli 
 sentence is passed, discover that the victim is the 
 wrong man. Never fear, Sung-yo, I intend to part 
 with no cash, nor self-respect to buy safety either 
 at the port or the capital." 
 
 We sat on the wind-swept deck far into the night, 
 and he told me of his many experiences in Japan, 
 with many references to Japan s eagerness to meas 
 ure strength with Russia. 
 
 "That pending conflict," he said, "is what has 
 hastened my return to Korea. It will make little 
 difference which country is victorious, for in either 
 case, we will be the victims of exploitation, unless 
 we can prove to the world that we are fit to govern 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 333 
 
 ourselves. We have failed to prove it so far; but 
 there is manhood and patriotism enough in the 
 country, if it could be marshalled at the right point, 
 to make Korea repeat the wonderful development of 
 Japan. All we want is that the powers will hold 
 off and give us a chance. 
 
 "The most bitter thing that I have had to meet 
 since I have been traveling among Americans and 
 Europeans in Japan is the settled opinion on their 
 part that Korea is naturally the rightful prey to 
 either Japan or Russia, provided that they go to 
 war. The logic of their reasoning would be hugely 
 amusing if it did not have such a terrible aspect back 
 of it. 
 
 "For the sake of argument, we might suppose that 
 there was a war brewing between Canada and Mex 
 ico and, therefore, because either belligerent would 
 march troops into the territory of the United States, 
 the victor should, forsooth, possess that country 
 by right of conquest. Thus are we to be right 
 ful fruits of Japan s conquest over Russia, or Rus 
 sia s conquest over Japan ! 
 
 "There are in Europe many smaller countries than 
 ours, whose territorial integrity is preserved and in 
 dependence recognized by the family of nations. In 
 view of that fact, a remark I heard from a promi 
 nent American casts great discredit upon his boasted 
 reasoning faculties. He said that there were not 
 people enough in Korea to live a separate life. I 
 
334 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 listened to the statement with a gasp of amazement, 
 remembering that at the time of America s Inde 
 pendence, they had not one third the number of peo 
 ple that we have to-day. 
 
 "Obedience to the laws of health and sanitation 
 has added to Japan s population twenty millions of 
 people within the last thirty-five years. Let us learn 
 the same lessons, and within one generation we 
 shall have a population of twenty-five millions of 
 people in Korea. 
 
 "In estimating the future the only safe method is 
 an examination of the past. What has Japan done 
 for us? Her previous effort toward reforming our 
 government bore some bitter fruit. A natural result 
 of her puerile methods. Her statesmen held joint 
 meetings with our Cabinet and raised the considera 
 tion of the customs of our people. Finally they ap 
 peared before his Majesty and with profound grav 
 ity advised him, with a hint of Japan s military pow 
 er to compel the people to cut off their long coat 
 sleeves, cut the hair off from their heads, and break 
 their pipestems in the middle. The last seemed 
 strange when one reflected that nicotine reaches the 
 lips sooner through a short pipestem than through a 
 long one. 
 
 "We submitted to the cutting and breaking. Some 
 of us got mad and threw stones, while others of us 
 laughed uproariously in our shortened sleeves. For 
 months the country rocked with silent laughter at 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 335 
 
 the work of foreign statesmen. Then the noble top 
 knot was reerected. 
 
 "The really big thing that they did was to com 
 pass the murder of the Queen, which you and I 
 saw. Yet I must think, that in some sentimental 
 way, the Japanese wish us well. But to fight big 
 battles and win victories, and administer the affairs 
 of an alien race are two vastly different problems. 
 The latter will never be done successfully by a peo 
 ple who despise the subjects of the administration. 
 Japanese, as individuals, must learn to respect Ko 
 reans, as individuals, before they can commence the 
 alphabet of our reform. 
 
 "What Russia may elect to do, provided she 
 gains control of Korea, is a deeper question still. 
 International jealousy, in that case, would be in 
 finitely stronger and might serve to check that coun 
 try where Japan would be allowed a free hand. 
 Still, much would depend upon the reforms we may 
 be able to inaugurate in Seoul." 
 
 I tried to dissuade Tong-siki from returning to 
 the capital at this time, urging that it would be a 
 useless sacrifice, and that I did not believe the people 
 were educated to the point where they would appre 
 ciate, or respond to such sacrifice. 
 
 He replied that life in a foreign land, while his 
 country was suffering and endangered, had become 
 hateful and intolerable. 
 
 "I was never given to impatience," he added, look- 
 
336 EVVA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 ing over the prow of the steamer at the white-capped 
 waves glistening in the moonlight, "but since coming 
 aboard this steamer I have, with difficulty, controlled 
 my impatience to set foot on shore and meet what 
 ever awaits me. It may be it probably will be 
 death." 
 
 The moon had dropped below the horizon engulf 
 ing the ship in the deeper shadows of the night be 
 fore we turned in. Tong-siki left his first-class 
 privileges and joined me among the steerage pas 
 sengers. By wedging ourselves between two half- 
 seasick men, who were rolling and sliding with each 
 movement of the ship, we found rest for the remain 
 ing hours of the night. Tong-siki immediately fell 
 into a deep sleep, but I tossed and tumbled in fear 
 ful apprehension of what the morrow would bring 
 forth for my friend. 
 
 I must, at last, have dropped into a sleep, for sud 
 denly I sat up, confused by the clatter of feet over 
 head. Light was shining in at the portholes, and 
 many of my companions had gone on deck. I looked 
 for Tong-siki, but he was gone. Suddenly the fret 
 ful jamng at the stern of the steamer announced 
 that we were coming to a stop. A splash at the prow 
 with the long cable rumbling through the ship s 
 nose, declared us at anchor. 
 
 I ran on deck. Already we were being sur 
 rounded by Korean boats, and half naked men were 
 climbing over the ship s side. Japanese sailors were 
 
I VVA: A TALE OF KOREA 337 
 
 trying to beat them back with club and fist, but on 
 they came with bruised heads and backs, yet with 
 out retaliation. All for the privilege of carrying a 
 passenger with his bundle to the landing. With 
 the brawn of the ox and the courage of heroes, these 
 despised and oppressed men of the sea fought for 
 their livelihood. Such fearless resolve would be 
 terrible if organized under arms, I reflected. 
 
 A half hour later Tong-siki came to me carrying 
 in his hand a huge, red visiting card from the Super 
 intendent of Trade and a note containing a polite, 
 urgent request that he would accompany the bearer 
 home; also saying that he regretted exceedingly that 
 duties compelled him to remain on shore, denying 
 him the pleasure of an earlier personal greeting. 
 
 The passengers were rapidly leaving the ship. 
 Bidding the bearer of the letter to wait, Tong-siki 
 led the way to his cabin, and having carefully closed 
 the door, he took off his underjacket, and asked me 
 to exchange mine for his. Wondering, I exchanged 
 him my coarse one for his, which was made of the 
 finest silk. 
 
 "Keep the jacket," said he. "Do not part with 
 it for a moment, wear it night and day. If at any 
 time I should send for you, either in the port or at 
 the capital, come to me immediately, and do not 
 hesitate to promise any amount of money that may 
 be demanded for such a privilege." 
 
 T promised. 
 
338 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 "We shall separate at the landing. It will be bet 
 ter that you seem to have no connection with me," 
 said he. "You are without money," he added, press 
 ing a small roll of bills in my hand. Then he told 
 me where I should wait in Seoul, and not leave the 
 place till he should either join me, or send for me. 
 
 "Buy a better coat," he added, looking me over ; 
 "you will need to look well to be of service to me." 
 
 Then, following a habit of his which I have never 
 seen in anyone else, he put both hands on my shoul 
 ders and looked long in my face and smiled happily, 
 and when I looked the misery and fear that I felt, 
 he laughed heartily. 
 
 "Tong-siki, don t do it," I urged, desperately. 
 
 "Too late to turn back now," he said "even if I 
 should desire to do so. At least a half dozen pairs of 
 eyes watched us enter this cabin ; and then, too, you 
 have forgotten the kind invitation from the Superin 
 tendent of Trade. Of course I will accept it. I sup 
 pose I might put up with my friends, the Japanese, 
 but that would only delay the issue." 
 
 He looked in my face steadily, with the hunger of 
 a great soul in his eyes, then said : 
 
 "If I fall, Sung-yo, will you take my place?" 
 
 I promised. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 FOR His COUNTRY 
 
 I HAD been eight days at the inn designated by 
 Tong-siki, waiting for news from him. Rumor had 
 it that he had been arrested and condemned to death, 
 and that the Japanese officials had protested against 
 his execution without a trial and that their request, 
 which amounted to a demand, had been complied 
 with. 
 
 Tong-siki s silence, however, seemed the confir 
 mation of my worst fears. Supposing, I argued, 
 that his Majesty had sent down an order for an im 
 partial trial, no one could be sure that the order 
 would reach the Department of Justice before the 
 deed would be carried out. I remembered occasions 
 when actions of that Department dragged through 
 years, delaying cases of moment to the national in 
 terest, till, through utter weariness, the country 
 turned its thoughts to other things; yet others, 
 where personal interests were at stake, were disposed 
 of with an alacrity that would have astonished the 
 law courts anywhere else in the world, and I grew 
 despondent when I reflected that fierce, personal 
 jealousy and hatred were the chief factors to deter 
 mine the fate of my friend. 
 
34 EVVA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 All that last day of waiting and watching, the 
 wind blew heavily up the streets, lifting clouds of 
 dust and driving them into the shops and inns, blind 
 ing one and piling up little heaps around the cracks 
 of the doors and on the window sills. Strings of 
 pack-ponies clattered by, their riders ducking their 
 heads and bracing against the wind. The heat was 
 oppressive, and when one attempted to slack one s 
 thirst, the taste of dust and sand was left in one s 
 mouth. The weather irritated one, something finer 
 than dust permeated the atmosphere, tingling and 
 jingling one s nerves. Loose paper on the walls and 
 windows buzzed and whistled wearisomely, while 
 around the corners of the buildings the wind jostled, 
 tugged, and roared, and as it swept down the moun 
 tainside over the city, wailed and whined griev 
 ously. 
 
 A school building adjoining the inn, where a score 
 of boys had daily bellowed out their lessons, was on 
 that day silent, save now and then an uproarious 
 spurt of noise which died away as suddenly as it 
 began. Passing guests stopped long enough to 
 order their meals, and eating in silence hastened on 
 into the driving dust. When night fell the wind 
 still howled and bellowed about the streets. 
 
 I lay down for the night more depressed than I 
 had ever before been, and imagination involuntarily 
 conjured up gruesome scenes, and in them was al 
 ways the face of Tong-siki. Had not he trusted my 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 341 
 
 fidelity to his wishes, I should have rushed out on 
 the streets and away from the city to shake off the 
 dismal depression of mind. Thus I lay awake feel 
 ing, rather than hearing, the wind without, till about 
 midnight when a fresh rattling of the door that 
 opened on the street, seemed to have a personality 
 about it, lifting it out of the general hubbub. I lis 
 tened, and when it was repeated, went to the door 
 and opened it. A gust of dust-laden wind flung in 
 at the candle till its flame narrowed down to a tiny 
 point of light, and for a minute I could see nothing 
 without. Then its rays flared up and fell on a dark 
 figure of a uniformed policeman. 
 
 He silently handed me a card on which was neatly 
 written the name of Tong-siki. 
 
 "Where?" I asked. 
 
 "The Supreme Court Prison," he replied. 
 
 A moment later, I was at the man s heels. He led 
 me through portions of the city that I had not vis 
 ited before. He carried no light, and it was, evident 
 that he did not want to be seen. When we entered 
 the main streets, I noticed that the storm had put 
 out most of the lights. Occasionally we overtook 
 watchmen, to whose greetings my guide scarcely 
 grunted a response. We paused at the entrance of a 
 large dismal looking building and my guide knocked. 
 The door opened from within with a loud squeak, 
 and I found myself half-blinded fry a dozen lanterns 
 in the hands of gatekeepers, messengers, and others,, 
 
342 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 My guide did not pause, but led me to a room near 
 the entrance, and without ceremony opened the door 
 and motioned me to enter, then closed it after me. 
 
 A man sat on a cushion in the middle of the room. 
 At his side was a small table, on which lay paper, 
 brush, and ink, suggesting that he had been writing. 
 He glanced up, then folded a piece of paper and very 
 deliberately put it in an envelope before taking fur 
 ther notice of me. 
 
 "Want something?" he said at last. 
 
 I told him my name, and he made the usual for 
 mal replies with frigid gravity. I waited for him 
 to speak to unravel the mystery of Tong-siki s card. 
 With an imperturbable face, he turned to his paper a 
 moment, then glanced at me, his face an interroga 
 tion. I knew that he had sent for me, and that no 
 one, without his consent, could have gained entrance 
 to the prison yard that night, and all my senses were 
 awake to see what move he was planning. 
 
 "Your man brought this," I said, handing him 
 Tong-siki s card. He took it and laid it on the table. 
 
 "A friend of Tong-Siki s and want to see him, 
 do you?" he said. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Can t be done, impossible," said he, with unneces 
 sary vehemence. "His Majesty has ordered the 
 arch traitor executed. It is to take place to-morrow 
 at daylight," and he rolled the words and hugged 
 the sounds as if tHey gave him inward delight. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 343 
 
 "He is in the death cell now," he continued, to 
 open it would invite investigations. You people of 
 the common herd, who associate with traitors and 
 anarchists, should be with him. Do you think I 
 would let you in that cell to-night ? You showed the 
 usual wit of your class in coming here. We, who 
 have the arduous duty of protecting his Majesty, 
 and devote ourselves unceasingly to the safety of the 
 royal family, whose only thought of reward is the 
 consciousness of having done our duty, have many 
 ways of securing traitors and their accomplices. 
 Sometimes it is the handcuff, while at other times 
 a visiting card will do the work;" he said, looking 
 fiercely at me from under his broad hat rim. Re 
 turning the look with calm indifference, I said: 
 
 "So you sent the prisoner s card to lure me here 
 for imprisonment, to suffer under the charge of 
 abetting a crime?" 
 
 "Judge for yourself, are you not here ?" he replied, 
 hotly, noticing the scorn in my voice. 
 
 "It is a lie," I said, without heat. 
 
 He looked at me a moment, as if his ears had de 
 ceived him, then I repeated: 
 
 "It is a lie." 
 
 He sprang to his feet and called at the top of his 
 voice, panting with excitement. A prolonged 
 "Ya-a-a" came in response. A dozen feet were at 
 the door, and it was flung open with a fierce jar. For 
 a full minute the man hesitated, then motioned his 
 
344 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 minions away and sitting down, looked at me 
 steadily. 
 
 "Who are you?" he asked. 
 
 "You, yourself, have said that I was a friend of 
 Tong-siki s," I said recklessly. "You sent me his 
 card at his request with the hopes of obtaining 
 money from me." 
 
 "Hopes!" he echoed. 
 
 "Your threat to imprison me does not frighten me 
 at all, though I doubt not it would satisfy your 
 spleen, but I have more confidence in the strength 
 of your greed. If it is money that you want, now 
 that we understand each other, name your price." 
 
 "Who are you?" he again asked. 
 
 "Whoever I am disposed to represent myself for 
 the present, your description of me is satisfactory. I 
 am Tong-siki s friend." 
 
 He looked at my sunburnt skin and heavy hands 
 and seemed puzzled. 
 
 "Of course," I said, "if you have nothing further 
 to say I may as well go, inasmuch as I did not seek 
 your presence." 
 
 "You understand little my responsibilities. Loy 
 alty to the authority that is over me is the first prin 
 ciple of my life. You must know that to open a 
 prison door is to run incalculable risks. What inter 
 est have I in a traitor? Why should I run the risk 
 of my life for him? If you have money to pay the 
 price of a man s life, you might possibly see him." 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 345 
 
 "At how much do you value yourself?" I asked 
 with a sinking heart, remembering that I had not 
 money to pay heavily, and I knew that Tong-siki 
 had been robbed of everything that he may have had 
 with him. 
 
 "You will lay twenty thousand yang on this 
 table/ said he, "for a half hour in that prison." 
 
 I looked down to hide the dismay that I felt. It 
 would take months for me to visit my old home and 
 raise that enormous sum of money. 
 
 "A huge sum for a short visit," I said, in the 
 effort to gain time." 
 
 "I have no more to say," he replied, with impa 
 tience. 
 
 "When?" I asked. 
 
 "On this table within an hour," said he, tapping 
 the table with menacing irritation. 
 
 "Show me the prisoner," I replied in blind faith, 
 remembering Tong-siki s words : "Pay any amount 
 that may be demanded for the privilege of coming 
 to me." 
 
 "There are empty cells with stocks, and racks, 
 and all the machinery necessary to wring gold from 
 any lump of clay, and you may refuse to pay if you 
 want to," he said, with a look of sinister resolve. 
 
 I nodded in reply to the threat, and without an 
 other word he stepped into the yard, and I followed. 
 He led the way to a heavily barred door and an at 
 tendant unlocking it, swung it open for me to enter, 
 
346 EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 then closed and locked it after me. Immediately I 
 heard the tramp of the guard at the door, -and a sec 
 ond tramping up and down in front of the building. 
 
 Inside the prison was absolutely dark, and I stood 
 at the door with a chill of apprehension, much won 
 dering if I had been indeed trapped. I struck a 
 match and held it above my head. The room was 
 small with a clay floor and walls heavily planked on 
 the inside. It was close and suffocating from the 
 heat and lack of ventilation. The match burned 
 dimly in the thick atmosphere and revealed the 
 dense darkness of the place. 
 
 "Peace to you," came a cheerful voice from the 
 shadows, and my heart leaped at the dear, familiar 
 sound. 
 
 The match flickered and went out, but I found my 
 way across the room where sat Tong-siki, his legs 
 extended and his feet in stocks. He did not chide 
 me for tears, but comforted me, as if I were the one 
 waiting death in the noisome prison, and he the one 
 who had come to me. In the dark, I ran my hands 
 down to his feet and strained at the timbers that 
 held him, and he laughed. 
 
 "A light, Sung-yo the lamp is beyond my 
 reach/ he said. 
 
 I lit a tiny lamp hanging from the roof, and 
 kneeling down looked him over. He bore marks of 
 suffering, yet his eye and voice spoke in the old, 
 happy way. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 347 
 
 "So you had faith in me to do blindly what I 
 asked. It is worth one s life to feel that there is even 
 one person who trusts one implicitly." He looked 
 his gratitude, and reaching under the jacket that I 
 had worn from the moment we had made the ex 
 change on the steamer, fumbled with the seam of the 
 lining for a moment, then ripped it from its place. 
 
 "There," said he; "see what you have, but don t 
 turn into the light. These walls have eyes as well 
 as ears." 
 
 From the lining I removed six one hundred yen 
 notes. 
 
 "That is all," said he; "will it do?" 
 
 "One to spare," I replied. 
 
 "In the other side are papers, but no money. They 
 are addressed to different persons, and they contain 
 matter with which I want you to become familiar. 
 It will require money to carry on the campaign plans 
 that have taken me, in counsel with others, years to 
 materialize. They are all explained among these 
 papers. Guard them, with the names of the persons 
 found there, with your life. You will not be 
 searched here. I took care of that before sending 
 for you. You have paid a price that protects you to 
 this extent. Money on the one hand, and fear from 
 being haunted on the other, will work wonders. 
 Greed and fear are the two great mastersprings of 
 most people s actions." 
 
 Then he told me how he had attempted to com- 
 
348 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 municate direct with his Majesty, to warn him of 
 the calamity that threatened the country from ag 
 gressive foreign nations; how, in failing, he had 
 stood before the Prime Minister and had pleaded for 
 Korea, as a man pleads for his life; how he had 
 urged reforms, and for a brief period had divided 
 the councils of the nation ; how, for fear of the in 
 fluence of so masterful a person, they had united in 
 ordering his death. 
 
 When Tong-siki had told of his failure, he 
 dropped his head on his bosom, and for the first time 
 during the years that I had known him, tears 
 trickled down his face. "What do I see, Sung-yo? 
 I see a great war and Korea lying between the ter 
 rible armies crushed and bleeding. A foreign power 
 ruling our people, harnessing our rivers for their 
 own peoples, hewing down the mountains for their 
 own wealth, spanning the country with their roads, 
 the whirr of the factories and thunder of the loco 
 motive under strangers hands, and our people their 
 slaves and pitifully poor." 
 
 The next instant his cheerfulness had returned. 
 
 This is not loss. It is gain. I am simply a step 
 ping stone to better conditions. They are fools 
 enough to think, that in killing one, they kill the 
 cause for which we stand." 
 
 "No hope for escape, Tong-siki ? ; I asked again, 
 foolishly struggling at the heavy beams that held 
 him down. 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 349 
 
 "I escape at daylight. Tell the people, Sung-yo, 
 that I die for them. Tell all that love liberty, that it 
 is better to die for it than to live in luxury without 
 it The price of liberty the world over is the blood 
 of its devotees, and I gladly give my life for it." He 
 paused a moment and said : 
 
 "You remember the Christian chapel that we vis 
 ited on our way home after the battle of Pyeng- 
 Yang, and how joyous the people seemed? I found 
 out the reason of their joy. Your Ewa learned the 
 same lessons, and I shall see her, Sung-yo. 
 
 "Years ago, I laid my little three-year-old boy in 
 the dust, and during all these years his prattle has 
 been in my ears, and his little hand has clung to my 
 fingers. During these years of separation, he has 
 grown in wisdom and knowledge. In his natural 
 development, untrammeled by the limitations of sin 
 ful flesh, he has sped on and outstripped his halting, 
 staggering father, and somewhere up there he 
 has touched the border line of the angels, and on the 
 morrow when the shock of the executioner has 
 hurled me across life s boundary, speeding down the 
 shining way to meet me, I shall see him and shall 
 delightedly put my heavy fingers in his tiny hand, 
 and he will lead me up to the Master, and he will 
 show me the wonders of that wonderful land. 
 Don t think, Sung-yo, that I shall be afraid. He 
 who was born of woman will understand." 
 
350 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 A jarring of the heavy door, as the fastenings 
 were being pulled down, announced that I had 
 stayed out my time. I flung my arms around Tong- 
 siki. "Don t cry," he said, in his old hearty way. 
 "This is not defeat ; it is victory." Then he pulled 
 me down in front of him, and looked in my eyes and 
 smiled. 
 
 The next moment the keeper was inside searching 
 their prisoner carefully to see that I had left nothing 
 with him to help him free himself, or take his own 
 life, or as a telltale of a midnight visit. 
 
 I was led out, and sat some time in the keeper s 
 room, lost in my own grief and misery, till he re 
 minded me of my contract ; I laid on the table in 
 front of him five hundred Japanese yen. 
 
 He took them up and examined each crisp note 
 carefully. 
 
 Then I noticed for the first time, that I had seen 
 him before, when, like a flash, I again saw the en 
 counter with Tong-siki on the streets years ago, in 
 the city of the north, and I wondered at the monster 
 who had followed his victim to the prison cell, as 
 suming the role of prison-keeper that he might gloat 
 over Tong-siki s ruin. A feeling of loathing filled 
 my soul, and when he fumbled as if searching to 
 make proper change, I waved his hand aside and 
 sought the door to get from his presence. As he 
 opened the door for me, he smiled at the money in 
 his hand. Standing on the outside, I said: 
 
EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 351 
 
 "Twenty-five yen for the body outside the city 
 gate." 
 
 "Fifty," said he ; "and pay on delivery." 
 
 I nodded fearing to speak lest I should do him 
 violence, and the prison-yard gate closed behind me. 
 
 It was still dark when I reached my inn, and never 
 before did the moments of darkness seem so pre 
 cious. 
 
 I walked out through the small city gate leading 
 to the general burying fields, covered with a multi 
 tude of mounds, where my late contract would be 
 fulfilled. As the darkness deepened, just before 
 dawn, a great horror filled my soul. The dust storm 
 had spent itself, but my throat ached as if parched 
 with thirst and coated with dust. When the dawn 
 shot a line across the sky, I retreated, and hid under 
 the stone arch of the gate. Light looked in at me 
 and mocked me. The sun rose and shot his shafts 
 into my hiding place. Morning life around the gate 
 of the great city moved, and throbbed, laughed, 
 sang, and chattered and held disputes. 
 
 "Who are these for whom he has given his life," 
 I thought; "these, who neither care nor know?" 
 
 At mid-forenoon, two men staggered through the 
 gate with a burden between them rolled in a mat. 
 They followed me out across the hills, and when 
 they had finally laid their burden down, I sent them 
 back to the city for proper means to bury the patri 
 otic dead. 
 
352 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 Lost in my bitter grief, I sat at a distance from 
 the shapeless bundle, surrounded by the mounds of 
 the dead. There was no one moving in the vicinity, 
 but the old life crowded the distant gates of the city 
 and fretted itself with its petty, sordid interests, un 
 moved by the tragedy of a life given for it. I 
 turned my face to the bundle which lay some yards 
 away a breeze lifted a corner of the mat and 
 seemed to stir it the whole length. The motion 
 resembled so exactly that caused by a hand tugging 
 at the bundle that my eyes became glued to it. 
 
 "Ah, Tong-siki," I thought, "our land was poor 
 before, but to-day gaunt hunger stares across every 
 threshhold in the land. The people thought that 
 they were robbed before, but to-day every home has 
 lost father, son, or brother." 
 
 A stir about the matting brought me to my feet 
 in foolish superstitious fear, and my legs shook un 
 der me. Then, like a flood of light, hope filled my 
 soul and I ran to the bundle of matting and fev 
 erishly tore at its fastenings. A hand slipped out 
 into view with the color of life upon it. My knife 
 slid down the matting and Tong-siki sat up, his 
 eyes blinking in the rays of the bright sunlight. 
 
 "Well," said he; "that was a rough ride. I 
 thought they would never get here." 
 
 Before Tong-siki spoke, I had been pulling at his 
 shoulder, twisting this way and that, with no 
 thought of what I was doing. At the sound of his 
 
EWA : A TALE OF KOREA 353 
 
 Voice, I came to my senses. "Why, Tong-siki ! 
 didn t they hang you ?" I said, my face close to his. 
 
 "Are you sorry?" he replied, his old smile return^ 
 ing. "Hang me! I should think they did! They 
 thought they had done it. Cowards and assassins 
 do their work ill. Fear of the Emperor s orders 
 must have cut the operation short. When I came 
 to myself, I was being jogged along in that roll of 
 matting. Ugh ! it was hard work to breathe in there, 
 and harder still to lie quiet until they laid me down. 
 Our barbarous method of burying criminals saved 
 my life; a coffin would have smothered me. I had 
 a ghostly scheme for the purpose of sending my 
 kindly disposed bearers in panic from the field, but 
 I heard all you said, and knew that you were left 
 alone. I hoped, though, it seems vainly, that your 
 love for me would prompt a last glance at my face." 
 He paused, and after a few moments of reflection, 
 added : "Come, we must dig my grave." 
 
 No two men ever dug a grave with such delight. 
 When the matting was covered and the mound 
 rounded high, he looked down at the grave and 
 soberly said : "Tong-siki is dead, but Sang-ho lives. 
 Can you remember, Sung-yo? Sang-ho lives." 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 He turned and looked out over the city a long 
 time ; tears stood out on his cheeks, and he spoke as 
 if echoing a great conviction : 
 
 "Korea shall be free she will be made free." 
 
354 EWA: A TALE OF KOREA 
 
 An awed, bewildered feeling possessed me, and I 
 gazed up into the face of this wonderful man, in 
 whose heart there was no malice, nothing but ten 
 der solicitude; who had repeatedly out-maneuvered 
 an army of bitter enemies, and defeated death, and 
 his words fell on my ears like the words of a prophet 
 arising from his own closed grave, and echoed in my 
 soul an unalterable confidence 
 
 "Korea shall be free she shall be made free/ 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 ... 
 
 SEP 5 1953 Ml 
 
 REC D 
 
 NOVl7tS60 
 
 8 1970 4 
 BECTD LD 
 
 JAN 2 5 70 -5 PM 
 
 LD 21-95m-ll, 50(2877sl6)476 
 
2.6) (, . 5 J