WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFF! 5 
 
REESE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Deceived ,190 . 
 
 Accession No. 9.1.3.9.1... Class No. 
 
In the Mikado's Service 
 
BOOKS BY 
 WILLIAM ELLIOT GREFFIS. 
 
 The Romance of Discovery. 
 
 The Romance of American Colonization. 
 
 The Romance of Conquest. 
 
 The Pathfinders of the Revolution. 
 
 In the Mikado's Service. 
 
 Each volume fully illustrated, ismo. $1.50. 
 
DOWN THROUGH THE GATEWAY .... THE PROCESSION WENDED.' 
 
In the Mikado's Service 
 
 A Story of Two Battle Summers 
 in China 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE " ROMANCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY SERIES, 
 NDERS OF THE REVOLUTIO 
 LITTLE HOLLAND," ETC. 
 
 "THE PATHFINDERS OF THE REVOLUTION," "BRAVE 
 
 Illustrated by William F. Stecher 
 
 W. A. WILDE COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON AND CHICAGO 
 
Copyright, iQor, 
 
 BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY. 
 
 /4// rights reserved. 
 
 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE, 
 
To FRANCES 
 
 91391 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAFFER 
 
 I. JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE . . n 
 
 II. JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC . . . . 22 
 
 III. A RIDE ACROSS THE CONTINENT ... . 34 
 
 IV. THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY . 40 
 V. COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN . . . 49 
 
 VI. LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS . . . 66 
 
 VII. MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING . 83 
 
 VIII. As A SHUTTLE, To AND FRO . -99 
 
 IX. ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR . 116 
 
 X. THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT . , . I3 1 
 
 XL FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY IN KOREA . 147 
 
 XII. A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE IN A KOREAN VILLAGE 166 
 
 XIII. THE BATTLE OF PING YANG . .' - 182 
 
 XIV. THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD . . 199 
 XV. THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT . .215 
 
 XVI. THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO ... 226 
 
 XVI I. THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL . . 243 
 
 XVIII. IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR . - 262 
 
 XIX. A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS . . , . 273 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XX. THE SIEGE IN PEKING . . . ' . . 297 
 
 XXI. " EXPANSION " JAPANESE AND AMERICAN . 315 
 
 XXII. THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CHINA . . 325 
 
 XXIII. To THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS . . 334 
 
 XXIV. THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS . . . 344 
 XXV. A MARRIAGE BEFORE THE DRAGON THRONE . 356 
 
Illustrations. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " Down through the gateway ... the procession wended " 
 
 Frontispiece 60 
 
 " They began to rush back " ', . * . . 32 
 
 "The Japanese officer's cap was raised to Captain Halley" 133 
 
 The Battle of Ping Yang . . . 193 
 
 " The Boxers charged on a run " 2 9 
 
IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 
 
 O that is what comes of teaching these Jap- 
 anese English and chemistry, is it?" 
 
 The question was asked in the dining room 
 of the International Hotel on the Bund, or street 
 facing the water, in Yokohama, the port set between 
 the white cone of Fuji San and the sapphire waters 
 of Mississippi Bay. The questioner was Arthur Van 
 Velsor, a New York lawyer and also a " new Ameri- 
 can," fresh from the steamer. On a vacation trip 
 round the world, he was visiting his quondam col- 
 lege mate in Rutgers College years ago, now well 
 tanned by twenty years of Japan's sunshine. 
 
 Roofed as to his head with what looked like a 
 white sugar scoop banded with buff linen, and neatly 
 cased in a Chinese tailor's suit, was the one ques- 
 tioned. He made explanation thus : 
 
 " Yes, Jozuna was the brightest student among the 
 freshmen, in his class, in the Imperial University of 
 
 ii 
 
12 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Tokio. He beat all his fellows in the laboratory. 
 He was always thinking out some new device. He 
 was a superb penman, draughtsman, and artist; 
 withal, a man of fine sentiment and a patriot. 
 Might have become an inventor and made a fortune 
 if he hadn't gone into violent politics." 
 
 " But what made him want to blow up cabinet 
 ministers with dynamite ? " 
 
 " Well, you see I'm not certain that he did. But 
 in Japan here, where the old feudal system has been 
 abolished less than twenty-five years ago, 'the pas- 
 sionate instincts of clanship ' furnish mightier motives 
 than real patriotism, as we understand that word." 
 
 " What is the point of that remark ? " 
 
 " Well, the Japanese profess to have a written Con- 
 stitution, go by majorities, rule by party government, 
 and all that, according to the latest political improve- 
 ments. Yet when the Nagato clansmen were ousted 
 and a new cabinet, made up chiefly of Satsuma poli- 
 ticians, came in, Jozuna took it as a personal matter. 
 He began to lay in ammunition and make ready for 
 two funerals, one in state in Tokio and one less stately 
 for himself." 
 
 " How did he go about it ? " 
 
 " Well, his shining exemplar was that ' Jap of the 
 period' who, in evening dress suit, silk hat, patent 
 leathers, and immaculate shirt linen, used his silk 
 umbrella to hold a gaspipe dynamite cartridge. He 
 
JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 13 
 
 hurled the tube at the Mikado's minister of foreign 
 affairs, when that worthy was riding in his car- 
 riage." 
 
 " With what success ? " 
 
 " Don't you know ? The assassin killed no one 
 but himself, but the emperor's minister, who was sup- 
 posed to favor foreigners too much, has only one leg 
 now." 
 
 " But are you sure that your pupil Jozuna, whom 
 you incubated in science, really meant to break shell 
 as a full-fledged dynamiter ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; not a particle of doubt in the matter. 
 Why, he was seen by the government spies here in 
 Yokohama entering a hong " 
 
 " A what ? " 
 
 "Why, you tenderfoot, don't you know the dis- 
 tinction the great gulf fixed on all holy British 
 ground between a ' merchant ' and a ' shopkeeper ' ? 
 The former never hangs out a sign bearing anything 
 except the name of the firm or individual. He is 
 clubbable in society a pewholder who prays in his 
 hat a veritable microcosm of all Britain. At the 
 antipodes yes, the nadir is the ' shopkeeper,' who 
 retails under a sign. A ' hong ' and a * shop ' are as 
 different as Heaven and Hades. Why, man, even if 
 there were but two white women in a newly opened 
 heathen seaport of China, dying of homesickness, a 
 merchant's wife would no more call on the shop- 
 
14 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 keeper's wife than a star would drop in a well. A 
 * hong,' mark you, is a merchant's sanctum." 
 
 " I see. But how did the spies get evidence of 
 intent of crime ? " 
 
 "Why, in this way. The hong of Mixer & Co. 
 was the only one in the settlement that sold the stuff 
 now so fashionable in Japan for demolishing unpopu- 
 lar railway stations and obnoxious politicians. What 
 else could the fellow have gone into this particular 
 hong for ? " 
 
 "Well, that is no proof that your friend, Jo-Jo 
 what do you call him ? really wanted to buy 
 the compound for evil intent, or had murder in his 
 heart. Was he tried in court?" 
 
 " Tried ? Why, man, you don't know this coun- 
 try ; at least, in this year of grace 1893, and of Meiji, 
 or civilization, the twenty-sixth. No, sir; his steps 
 were dogged, and when once on the streets, he was 
 arrested." 
 
 "Tortured and made to confess, I suppose? I've 
 read frightful accounts of barbarities practised on 
 the accused in Japanese prisons. Quite equal to the 
 horrors of the Inquisition and the Middle Ages." 
 
 " Yes ; once it was so. What is more, I have seen 
 them in my time ; but, thank God, Japan is past such 
 savagery now. The torturing of prisoners is twenty 
 years out of date. No ; Jozuna was the nephew of 
 a high officer ; his uncle, still in office in the imperial 
 
JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 15 
 
 cabinet, used his influence to get his nephew off to 
 America, on condition of his never coming back to 
 these shores. So the lad was shipped off on the 
 Pacific Mail steamer, and is now living quietly in 
 New York, I think." 
 
 " Do you believe him guilty ? " 
 
 " How can I believe otherwise ? The evidence is 
 all against the boy." 
 
 " Nonsense ! all circumstantial, with suspicion and 
 malice in the heat of politics behind the charge, I'll 
 wager ! " said the lawyer, with warmth. " While 
 clan government by irresponsible ministers rules this 
 country, I despair of its civilization. The idea of 
 Japan's wanting recognition by Western and Christian 
 nations as an equal ! Bah ! But, tell me, did you 
 see Jozuna before he was spirited away ? " 
 
 " No, except for a half minute. Hadn't seen him 
 for years. When he left school, which he had to 
 do early in his course, he was engaged for a while 
 in railway surveying, and I lost sight of him ; but 
 one day, while on the hatoba, or landing stage, a 
 sampan was putting off for the City of Peking, which 
 had steam up for San Francisco " 
 
 " Sampan ? Remember, old chum, I don't carry 
 a dictionary of Pidgin-English. Explain." 
 
 " Oh, yes. A sampan is well, literally, ' three 
 boards.' I might be scientific and call it a 'for- 
 tuitous concourse ' of planks in the form of a boat. 
 
1 6 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 But, really, a Japanese sampan is pretty and clean, 
 driven by sculls and, with expert fellows, a racer." 
 
 " All right; go ahead." 
 
 " Well, where was I ? Oh, yes. In the sampan 
 sat an elderly officer of some sort with Jozuna. Sud- 
 denly, seeing me, the young man bade the scullers 
 rest their bent oars on the wooden pins a moment. 
 Then he called out in English, * Teacher ! teacher ! 
 please accept this, and think of me ! ' putting in my 
 hand a scroll of paper. * Believe that I am a goose. 
 I'll ask no more.' 
 
 "That was all. In a moment more the sculls 
 churned the water and the boat shot off. I knew 
 not what was meant, for I had then heard nothing 
 of the accusation, though from the Japanese stand- 
 ing around I soon learned the whole story thus end- 
 ing in banishment and exile. A half hour later I 
 secured all the details from the returned govern- 
 ment officer, whom I recognized as an old ac- 
 quaintance." 
 
 " And believed the story, I suppose ? What was 
 in the scroll he handed you ? " 
 
 " I have it hung up on my wall, mounted on silk as 
 kakemono and memento. It is a picture of a squad- 
 ron of wild geese sailing across the night sky under 
 the full moon. Come up in my room and see it." 
 
 Even from the view point of one familiar with the 
 matchless creations of native artists, from the days 
 
 \ 
 
JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 17 
 
 of Kano to those of Hokusai, the sketch of Jozuna 
 (it was from the young man's hand and so signed) 
 was a fair one. Certainly it was very spirited. In 
 the centre, the great silver luminary had emerged in 
 full orb from the shadowy mass of clouds on the left, 
 making full splendor in a summer night's sky. The 
 moon hung far above the outlines of mountains and 
 forest and the glint of rippling streams below. 
 There were in the landscape suggestions of habi- 
 tations and of watchers of the great mirror hung 
 in the sky. These lent a human interest to the 
 scene. 
 
 But the charm and potency of the picture was in 
 the movement depicted. Far off to the right was 
 the scarcely recognizable rear of a line of passionate 
 and winged life, making a bridge between inky 
 night and day-like splendor. Buried at one end 
 in the blackness of darkness, the van emerged into 
 momentary resurrection of flashing silver. It was a 
 serried array of wild geese. One by one appearing 
 from the dexter side, these trumpeters of the air 
 bathed themselves in the glory of the sun's reflector. 
 Then they disappeared into sinister oblivion, as of 
 life from death. In that one moment of white 
 glory, their flashing plumage seemed to excel even 
 the serene radiance which they borrowed. Yet the 
 intensity was but for a moment, for it was immedi- 
 ately lost in the deepest blue. 
 
i8 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " By Jove, that's fine ! What did he mean by giv- 
 ing you a picture like this? Any personal signifi- 
 cance ? " asked the visiting friend. 
 
 "Oh, he did nothing more than what his coun- 
 trymen do habitually. It is their custom to make 
 pretty little gifts on all occasions, especially at part- 
 ing with a friend." 
 
 "Yes, but was there not some sentiment in the 
 subject itself, apart from the gift ? " 
 
 " Hardly," responded the owner and pedagogue, 
 to whom, to speak plainly, art was a dead language. 
 To him the value of a picture was chiefly in the 
 frame. As to the rich symbolism of Japanese art, 
 despite long residence in the " Land of Dainty Deco- 
 ration " and of passionate and purifying love of 
 nature, he was a total stranger. 
 
 " No ; the painters have painted, and the poets 
 have raved over the moonlight for ages. On bright 
 nights, you'll find thousands of Japs " 
 
 " Hold on there, don't say that abominable word 
 ' Jap ' again. Now, chum, you will acknowledge it 
 isn't fair to the Japanese. Why don't we say ' Brit ' 
 for British, * Eng ' for English, or ' Germ ' for Ger- 
 man. Do say Japanese." 
 
 " Beg pardon, you're right, my legal friend. I'll 
 swear off from saying ' Jap ' and be less curt and 
 more polite. Well, to resume, you'll find thousands 
 of Japanese down on the bridges and up on their 
 
JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 19 
 
 balconies, gazing at the moon. And, I must say, 
 there seems nothing more graceful in their eyes than 
 a wild goose. Nor are they far wrong. But as to 
 any special meaning in the gift, apart from friend- 
 ship, I don't suspect any." 
 
 " Kuruma ! " This was the word shouted into the 
 room by the hotel " boy," who announced further that 
 two jin-riki-shas were in waiting. 
 
 The conversation ceased, and as the two went out 
 they saw standing a brace of men in the shafts, each 
 of whom was reenforced by two lithe runners to go 
 tandem. Kamakura, with the great image of Dai 
 Butsu and all of nature's glories on hill, plain, and 
 seashore, and the relics of Japan's mediaeval capital, 
 was to be visited and " done " before evening. 
 
 That night the friends parted, the pedagogue to 
 resume his daily grind at school, and the globe-trotter 
 to steam away for Hong Kong, India, and around 
 the world indeed, but by way of Kobe and Nagasaki. 
 He would visit Royal Seymour Burnham, an old 
 friend, a silk merchant, and, like himself and his late 
 comrade at the hotel table, one of the several Rut- 
 gers graduates in Japan. 
 
 On "the natty little treaty port" of Kobe, as his 
 old classmate had first described it in his letters years 
 ago, Arthur Van Velsor, the New York lawyer, 
 looked with amazement. Instead of one row of 
 foreign houses, fresh and staring new, near the 
 
20 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 native town of respectable size, as the photograph 
 once showed, he now looked on a glorious city. 
 
 Awaiting him with hearty welcome was a portly 
 gentleman well into his forties, who shook his hand 
 warmly. The two friends had not met since "on 
 the banks of the old Raritan " they had two decades 
 ago drunk cider at the Piscataway press, rowed with 
 the Septem Virs on the river, and sung college songs 
 on the campus. Burnham, " luckiest fellow in the 
 class," as Van Velsor dubbed him, had won (away 
 from him) and wedded the prettiest girl in New Jer- 
 sey's fairest county. Then, lured by the tales of the 
 Japanese in Rutgers of the wonders of the silkworm, 
 he sailed for the Land of the Rising Sun soon after 
 graduation. Beginning modestly, he had learned 
 the ways of the natives and the aliens, had watched 
 the markets on both sides of the sea, and had slowly 
 but steadily reached prosperity. As the Japanese 
 say, he had " raised a mountain." His oldest son, 
 Clarence, now nineteen, had left him to cross the 
 sea and come under Alma Mater's wings at New 
 Brunswick. 
 
 " You ask me about your boy Clarence ? Well, he 
 is in the same class with mine," said Van Velsor, 
 " and thriving finely. His tastes are markedly liter- 
 ary. Shouldn't wonder if he turned out a famous 
 author, Mrs. Burnham," he added, turning to the 
 hostess. 
 
JAPANESE POLITICS AND DYNAMITE. 21 
 
 " Why ? " does some one ask. 
 
 With so many topics of mutual interests the con- 
 versation prolonged itself until well into the middle 
 of the morning. Then the two friends went out for 
 a stroll to the Nunobiki waterfalls, still chatting over 
 things American. In the afternoon after lunch, or 
 " tiffin " as they call it in Japan, the two old college 
 friends took a trip to Kioto to see the sights. In- 
 deed, Royal Burnham gave up business and every- 
 thing else to entertain his friend during the several 
 days which they happily spent together. 
 
 Van Velsor resumed his functions of globe-trotter 
 and sight-seer by mounting again the deck of one of 
 the Japanese steamers plying to Nagasaki. He was 
 to go to Hong Kong, expecting thence to sail north- 
 ward to Shanghai, visiting the ports, and after seeing 
 Peking to get home if possible through Asia and 
 Europe by way of Siberia and Russia. 
 
 Let us now look at Jozuna and Clarence Burnham, 
 who had before this travelled in the other direction, 
 and part way, at least, around the world. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 
 
 WE must now tell the story of the young 
 Japanese, Jozuna, and of his adventures 
 on sea and land. 
 
 He had often, in his student days, when all the 
 boys in Japan were in a fever of excitement about 
 seeing America, dreamed of crossing the Pacific. 
 Now, in Japanese dreams, the dragon is the engine 
 of locomotion. More than once, while asleep, he 
 had imagined himself astride of one of the soaring 
 monsters, careering over mountain-tops and across 
 seas, but as often woke up and found himself inside 
 the quilts, instead of on the salt water. 
 
 To-day, on real shipboard, he was moving to 
 America, a lonely exile. Apparently, he knew not 
 a soul on board. Long and eagerly he gazed on his 
 home land, upon the peerless Mount Fuji, then 
 capped with gathering vapors. After his native 
 shores had vanished below the earth's curve, and 
 even Fuji's crest was under the horizon, Jozuna's 
 heart sank, and for an hour he was in the depths of 
 
 22 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 23 
 
 misery, yet only to rise up again in the joy of hope 
 and with the determination of a stoic. 
 
 " For," said he to himself, " now I am free. I am 
 more my own master than if I remained at home. I 
 shall, at least, not be obliged to serve in the army as 
 conscript, like so many of my schoolmates and fel- 
 low-countrymen. Nevertheless, I hope some day to 
 follow the flag of sunshine. Many of my friends 
 would give a ringer if they had my privilege of 
 travelling across the great deep to the Western world. 
 Have I not heard how, in the old days, not a few 
 risked their lives to get on board an American ship 
 to see what they called the ' barbarian ' countries ? " 
 
 " Why, you are thinking out loud, old fellow, and 
 still calling us Americans ' barbarians ' too, are 
 you ? " 
 
 Jozuna felt a gentle slap on his shoulder, and, turn- 
 ing halfway round in mild anger, was greeted with 
 a hearty laugh. At once he recognized his young 
 American friend, Clarence Burnham, with whom he 
 had grown up as an almost constant playmate when 
 he and his parents had lived in Hiogo, the great 
 Japanese city adjoining Kobe. 
 
 " So we are fellow-voyagers and shipmates, are 
 we ? " said Jozuna. " I am glad of it." 
 
 " Yes, old fellow ; but what made you talk about 
 4 barbarians ' ? " 
 
 " Well, I was only thinking aloud. Seeing Mount 
 
24 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Fuji sink below the horizon made me go down very 
 low in my mind. It was like catching cold in the 
 heart. Then the thought that I was going to see 
 America so raised me up again, that my story is like 
 that which they tell in the province of Omi. There, 
 they say that the earth sunk down to form Lake 
 Biwa, while the land rose up to make Fujiyama," 
 and again Jozuna laughed. 
 
 " Come, come, Jozuna, that won't do, you can't get 
 out of it in that way. Explain about that word ' bar- 
 barian.' I thought you were civilized. You know 
 you do not like us Americans ever to use the word 
 ' native ' when speaking of you Japanese, though we 
 ourselves think it good English, and are not ashamed 
 of it." 
 
 " I will, and I beg a thousand pardons of you. I 
 was thinking, how when your Commodore Perry's ship 
 first came to Shimoda, our famous Shoin risked his 
 life to get on board the frigate Mississippi, and how, 
 when he failed, he was caught and imprisoned in a 
 cage. Of course, I had to think in the language of 
 that day, when our fathers never spoke of Americans 
 as anything but ' hairy foreigners ' and ' barbarians ' ; 
 yes, and ' crab-writing barbarians ' too, because they 
 seemed to us Japanese to write backward. Of 
 course, in those dark ages, we Japanese thought 
 everything done in our country was exactly right, and 
 that what you Americans did was upside down. But 
 you forgive me, don't you ? " 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 25 
 
 "Why, certainly, Jo," said Clarence Burnham, 
 resuming his old boyish familiarity as to names. 
 " I'll forgive you. ' Put it thar and shake,' as the 
 sailors say," and they shook hands, both laughing. 
 
 From that time forth the two lads were true ship- 
 mates. Each one tried to add to the other's amuse- 
 ment and to make the sixteen days' passage as 
 pleasant as possible. After hours spent in reading, 
 games, telling stories, or other amusements, or in long 
 walks on the ship's cleanly scoured deck, Jozuna, 
 who seemed to have sharper eyes than his American 
 friend, or who loved nature better, pointed out many 
 things that no one else seemed to notice. It was he 
 that first discovered the tremendous fleet of little 
 jellyfish, or " Portuguese men-of-war," through which 
 the steamer was ploughing or churning its way. The 
 deep greenish blue of the ocean was handsomely set 
 off by millions of these spreaders of opaline and 
 translucent sails, through which the sunlight sifted. 
 
 " What do you call these tiny kurage ? " asked 
 Jozuna. 
 
 " Oh, our common name is the ' Portuguese men-of- 
 war,' " said Clarence, who at once became interested 
 in looking at the blues, reds, and greens of these 
 creatures that seem to be made up of gelatine and 
 water. 
 
 "Portuguese men-of-war?" asked Jozuna, "what 
 a name ! Why do you call them that ? " 
 
26 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 "Don't know," said Clarence, " unless it be because 
 they carry powerful batteries of nettles. If you 
 should ever get a broadside of the poison of these 
 jellyfishes while you're out swimming, you'd think 
 it was a round of grape-shot fired into you." 
 
 " No doubt. I never felt it myself, but I remem- 
 ber a fisherman howling with pain. He had been 
 attacked, or shall I say, rammed, or fired upon by 
 one of these ' men-of-war,' as you call them. But 
 oh, look there!" 
 
 Jozuna's sharp eyes had again caught the prize 
 sight of the day. It was a school of whales seen 
 over the port side of the steamer, three-quarters of 
 a mile away, perhaps. A mother-whale had come 
 up to blow. It was the spouting of the aerated 
 water that first attracted Jozuna's attention. But 
 while they were looking the two cubs, or little 
 whales, began to appear, blowing their tiny geyser- 
 like streams as if for dear life. Soon, in their frolic, 
 they were leaping over their mother's back. 
 
 " How I wish our Tosa whale catchers were here 
 with their nets. They'd have three prizes at least." 
 
 "Nets?" said a bystander. "What can they do 
 with nets, without harpoons or bomb lances?" 
 
 Then Jozuna went on to tell the story of how, 
 when a boy, he had visited his uncle in Tosa, a whal- 
 ing master who employed scores of fishermen in cap- 
 turing whales with great nets made of ropes, four 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 27 
 
 inches thick, and with meshes four feet square. 
 The great Black Tide, the Gulf Stream of the Pa- 
 cific, which runs up from below the Philippines, 
 passes Japan and bends over toward the Aleutian 
 and Kurile islands, is the great highway, the feeding 
 and play-ground of the whales. The sentinels in 
 the fishing villages, watching on the cliffs, would 
 give the signal to the fleet of boats, which were 
 rapidly sculled out to the scene of action. While 
 the scullers looked after the management of the 
 craft, the net men joined forces and, quickly pay- 
 ing out the seine, formed a semicircle. Then 
 rapidly moving toward the shore, they were pretty- 
 sure to enclose one of the monsters of the deep, 
 which, when in shoal water, was quickly finished with 
 lances and heavy arrows skilfully shot into vital 
 parts. 
 
 Jozuna then went on to tell how, after landing the 
 whale, they cut up the blubber and made oil, and 
 how the meat was chopped up and sold in the shops. 
 The titbits were sent to the officers of the castle 
 town ; for, strange to say, while many of the gentry 
 considered sweet potatoes as vulgar and beneath the 
 diet of a gentleman, there were some who really 
 delighted in whale flesh, and, as to certain cuts of it, 
 thought themselves epicures. 
 
 " Will you explain to me, sir, something I was told 
 in Tokio ? " said one of the gentlemen tourists on 
 
28 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 board, as he adjusted his eyeglasses and gave a 
 quizzing look at the Japanese. 
 
 " With pleasure," promptly replied Jozuna. 
 
 " I was told by a friend to go to a Japanese restau- 
 rant and call for ' Mountain Whale,' well cooked, and 
 seasoned with soy." 
 
 At this Jozuna laughed uproariously. 
 
 " I don't wonder you laugh," said the gentleman ; 
 " I did the same before I went, wondering what a 
 whale could be doing up in the mountains. But 
 when the whale steak was served to me, I found it 
 was venison, and of good quality, too. But why in 
 the world do they call it ' mountain whale ' ? " 
 
 "Oh," said Jozuna, "my friend Mr. Burnham here 
 tells me that you have people in America who profess 
 never to taste meat on Friday. But don't you sup- 
 pose that once in a while a man might possibly eat 
 flesh, though he called it fish, or swallowed it under 
 some other name ? " 
 
 " I shouldn't wonder," laughed the tourist ques- 
 tioner. " One touch of nature, you know. Does 
 that explain the situation in Japan?" 
 
 " Well, this I know," said Jozuna, " many of our 
 Buddhists believe it is perfectly right to partake of 
 whale, or fish, or the flesh of certain wild animals, 
 who deem it wicked to eat deer or any domestic 
 creature. Yet they know how to get over the diffi- 
 culty by calling their venison ' mountain whale.' " 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 29 
 
 "Yes," said Clarence Burnham, "that kind of a 
 trick must have been in vogue a good while ago, for 
 I have read the sign on the Japanese restaurants in 
 every place in Japan I have visited. You can get 
 ' mountain whale ' almost anywhere, but I'll wager 
 it is not always venison. Sometimes it's wild boar, 
 and if it isn't sometimes common beef, then I don't 
 know anything." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted here by a perfect 
 storm of yells. These proceeded from the steerage, 
 where hundreds of Chinamen were being brought 
 over as passengers to America. It sounded as if a 
 great riot of some sort had broken out. The young 
 men rushed forward to look down the hatchways 
 and see what was going on. 
 
 Getting a coign of vantage, they were able to look 
 upon what resembled in its sights and sounds a pan- 
 demonium. Scores of Chinese men were throwing 
 about their wooden dishes, upsetting tubs of boiled 
 rice and bowls of cooked fish, meanwhile yelling and 
 shouting at the top of their throats. A number of 
 the lustier fellows seemed to be trying to batter down 
 the doors that shut them in, and which, when open, 
 led into the gangway by which one could reach other 
 parts of the ship. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Clarence of one of 
 the ship's officers, who did not seem in the least 
 disturbed. 
 
30 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Oh, nothing but what always happens when we 
 put on board a green lot of Chinamen just off the 
 paddy fields. Old passengers know better, but these 
 fellows, only a few days ago, were tramping in their 
 rice swamps, toiling outdoors from morning till 
 night. They come on board and, for the first time 
 in their lives, have all they want to eat or can pos- 
 sibly stow away. Their eyes are bigger than their 
 bellies, and after four or five days of stuffing without 
 any regular exercise, they lose their appetites, which, 
 for them, is a new thing. Not knowing what is the 
 matter with them, they loathe their food. Then, at 
 once, they think that something has been put in their 
 ' chow ' to make them sick, and that the ship's officers 
 are doing this to make money off them. 
 
 " But, look ! " said the officer, as he pointed to the 
 storeroom where the clean rice, the dried fish, and 
 various other indescribable articles, wholesome but 
 uninviting, that make up the ordinary Chinese diet, 
 were stored ; " these are bought from honest Chinese 
 purveyors, and we give these passengers better than 
 what they are accustomed to, and all they can pos- 
 sibly want. Dyspepsia is a new disease to people of 
 this sort. Indeed, it is almost as aristocratic as the 
 gout. Then there are ' lawyers' among them that stir 
 up the crowd and excite them. We always know what 
 is coming and prepare for it by shutting the gang- 
 way and getting the hose ready. All of a sudden 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 31 
 
 there is an explosion, just as you see now, but it is 
 all right, the water will be turned on in a minute." 
 
 " What do you mean, sir ? " 
 
 " Oh, we have only to bring the hose to bear and 
 give them a wetting with cold water, and they will 
 cool off. Here they come. Stand aside, please." 
 
 Jozuna and Clarence turned aside just in time, for 
 along hurried two burly sailors dragging the hose 
 tipped with a brass branch pipe, which they pointed 
 toward the doors, then well belabored on the other 
 side by the angry leaders of the mob. 
 
 "All ready! " cried the officer. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," said the man with the branch pipe. 
 
 Two other sailors now went forward in readi- 
 ness to lift the iron hasp that should open the door 
 quickly. The water already turned on was issuing 
 in a lively stream, which the pipe-holder temporarily 
 turned into a scupper. 
 
 " Open ! " cried the officer. 
 
 Thereupon each jacky, turning the hasp, threw 
 back his half of the double door, then stood deftly 
 behind it. So suddenly did the doors fly apart that 
 a half-dozen Chinamen, pressed by their pushing 
 comrades behind them, fell forward pell-mell in a 
 heap in the gangway. It was as if a sausage had 
 suddenly been squeezed of its contents. At the 
 same moment the pipe-holder turned the stream of 
 cold water full into the faces and all over the crowd. 
 
32 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 The effect was electric. The yells ceased. The 
 Chinamen literally turned tail. They began to rush 
 back again, while the sprawling fellows picked them- 
 selves up and tried to get inside. The pipe-holder, 
 directed by the officer, seeing the results of the first 
 hydropathic application, raised the stream and began 
 to sprinkle and douse the crowd far inside, so that, 
 scattering like sheep, they quickly relieved the press- 
 ure. Then, dragging the hose and branch pipe 
 clear inside the door, the hoseman was able to play 
 skilfully over the entire mass. The fun did not last 
 very long, for the dyspeptic rebels quickly turned 
 into cool-headed men and sought their berths and the 
 space below. In five minutes the battle was won. 
 It was a new sort of prescription for indigestion. 
 
 " Well, that is a water cure," said one of the pas- 
 sengers. " Is it always infallible ? " 
 
 " Never knew it to fail," said the officer. "This is 
 my seventh experience, and our men seem to like the 
 job." 
 
 Evidently the old sailors, however, took it more as 
 a matter of routine duty than of novelty, for on the 
 face of only one was there a grin, and he was a new 
 man. The others quickly and quietly opened the 
 scuppers and turning off the water began to swab 
 the deck, not only of the extra moisture, but of the 
 broken dishes and pecks of rice and boiled fish which 
 the surfeited Chinamen had kicked over in their dis- 
 
THEY BEGAN TO RUSH BACK.' 
 
JOZUNA CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 33 
 
 content. Heaved into the ocean, Neptune and all 
 his mermaids profited by the feast. 
 
 Thus day by day passed, until at last the four 
 thousand miles of brine had been traversed, and al- 
 ready in propitiation of the gods of land and sea, 
 the Chinese pagans were casting overboard sham 
 money made of gilt paper and other offerings. 
 
 " What fools their gods must be to be deceived by 
 such stuff. Why, it isn't even good gold-leaf, but 
 only ' Dutch metal/ downright brass," said Jozuna, 
 who had not attended the Christian missionary schools 
 in vain. 
 
 All were expecting a glorious landfall, hoping to 
 see the Golden Gate. Yet as not every one first rec- 
 ognizes Japan by catching a glimpse of the peerless 
 mountain or the superb summer green of the land- 
 scape, as not every one first descries the Emerald Isle 
 in a robe worthy of its name, so, California, the " Land 
 of the Mountain of Gold," of which Jozuna had so 
 often dreamed, was first discerned as a low strip of 
 yellow mud partly visible through overhanging fog. 
 Before the vapory pall lifted, they were well into San 
 Francisco Bay ; but soon landmarks, spires, and 
 stately edifices were clear to the view. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 A RIDE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 
 
 IN spite of all that he had heard and expected to 
 see in San Francisco, Jozuna was amazed at the 
 vast size and altitude of the structures around 
 him. The many-storied edifices and the long line of 
 imposing dwellings overpowered him. He almost 
 refused to believe that these were the results of 
 human industry. To him they seemed rather the 
 work of the gods. He wanted to walk in the middle 
 of the streets, in fear lest they should fall down 
 upon him. The cornices seemed to frown at him. 
 
 As the two young men travelled across the coun- 
 try, they resolved, instead of taking the " long haul," 
 going from one end of the country to the other, like 
 an " original package " of freight, from consignor to 
 consignee, to break their journey and see some of the 
 places by the way. 
 
 " I can't tell you about these Western cities," said 
 his fellow-traveller to Jozuna. "They are not like 
 those old ones on the Atlantic coast, where Boston 
 goes for brains, New York for money, Philadelphia 
 
 34 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 35 
 
 for family stock, and Washington for political com- 
 pany, though I know that in Chicago they always 
 ask what you can do. By the way, I heard an Aus- 
 tralian at the ticket-office to-day asking to be booked 
 to Chick-a-go. So prepare, old fellow, to be inquired 
 of a good deal. You are in a land where they ask 
 questions, though I'll warrant you nobody will in- 
 quire, as you Japanese always do, especially if it's a 
 woman, ' How old are you ? ' Please don't fire that 
 interrogation at any American lady." 
 
 "Yes," said Jozuna, "they have already poked 
 curious questions at me in the street cars. One man 
 said, ' Hello, Washee ! ' I thought at first he meant 
 to call me an eagle, thinking of our Japanese word 
 (washi), which sounds that way ; but, when he asked 
 whether I was going out to get the Monday's wash, 
 I said, 'I beg your pardon, sir, to what do you 
 refer ? ' and he said, ' Oh, why, John, aren't you in 
 the laundry business?' and I told him 'no.' Why 
 did he ask me that question?" 
 
 Then Clarence explained to his friend how expert 
 the Chinese had become with soap and starch, water 
 and the washboard. Coming first to this country 
 and washing clothes for the miners, they had by 
 sheer force of conservatism kept in the same groove 
 of business, "especially," as Clarence said, "when 
 they thus run in opposition to women more than to 
 men." 
 
36 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " But almost every one takes me for a Chinaman. 
 One man asked me if I had cut off my queue, which 
 we Japanese never wore, for we were never con- 
 quered by Manchus or any other foreigners. Our 
 fathers used to have top-knots on their noddles ; but 
 Japanese of to-day do not wear them, unless it may 
 be a good ways back in the country." 
 
 The truth was that the indiscriminating American, 
 who was somewhat off in his geography and weak in 
 his ethnology, even went so far as to talk to Jozuna 
 about opium-smoking a habit unknown in Japan. 
 One lady asked him if his sisters had their feet 
 bound. In a word, Jozuna, though his stature, com- 
 plexion, and even eyes were sufficiently different from 
 a Chinaman's, was usually taken for one. 
 
 " But perhaps I'll be able to show them that I am 
 not a Chinaman, but a loyal subject of our emperor," 
 said Jozuna, one day, to Clarence Burnham. 
 
 At Rochester the two friends parted, for Jozuna 
 wished to visit a fellow-countryman, very artistic in 
 his tastes, at Slatington, Pennsylvania, and to do so, 
 took the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Clarence Burn- 
 ham, who had a through ticket, and could not change 
 his route, bade his young friend good-by, expecting 
 to meet him in New Brunswick. 
 
 Jozuna had no trouble with the tickets, but the 
 baggagemen had anti-Chinese prejudices which they 
 did not hesitate to show. They were so slow, and 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 37 
 
 even insolent, about taking off the old and putting 
 on the new checks, that Jozuna remonstrated with 
 the baggage-master. 
 
 " How is it ? I have crossed your country and at 
 all the stations the railway men were polite to me. 
 What's the reason that here in Rochester they are 
 gruff ? " 
 
 " Oh ! " said the surly man of leather straps and 
 bits of brass, "we have no use for Chinese." 
 
 " But I am not a Chinese," said Jozuna. 
 
 " Not a Chinese ? Come now, little John, what are 
 you, then ? " leered the baggage-master. 
 
 " I am a Japanese," said Jozuna, proudly. 
 
 " Oh ! you are a Japanese, are you ? Why, give us 
 your hand. We like your country's people," and the 
 trunk man seized Jozuna' s hand and gave it such a 
 hearty squeeze that the owner hoped such an experi- 
 ence would not soon happen again. It positively 
 hurt him. 
 
 " There you are," and a clean white card check, in 
 place of the dirty brass, was placed in Jozuna's hand. 
 "We'll serve you better the next time you come. 
 Good-by," and the train pulled out, soon leaving be- 
 hind Rochester's mid-air image of Mercury standing 
 on a chimney, as if like Santa Claus he was about to 
 soar again for other places of business. 
 
 More lonely than ever, Jozuna rode through the 
 lovely lake region of New York, which along Cayuga 
 
38 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 reminded him of Lake Biwa, but without the white- 
 walled feudal castles of his native land. 
 
 From Slatington, after a brief visit, he rode to New 
 York. He had not spoken a word to Clarence Burn- 
 ham as to why he had left Japan, nor had his com- 
 rade asked him. He was now desirous of avoiding 
 his countrymen, either at New Brunswick or in New 
 York, as far as possible. 
 
 On Manhattan Island Jozuna found temporary em- 
 ployment as draughtsman in an engineer's office. 
 He occupied his spare time by mastering the mys- 
 teries of the great Suspension Bridge, and of elec- 
 tricity, and in working in houses and the machine 
 shops so far as he could get entrance and be free 
 from annoyance. 
 
 It was at the Imperial Consulate of Japan that he 
 amazed those who knew him, by declaring his inten- 
 tion of descending voluntarily from the social grade 
 of Shizoku, or gentleman, to that of heimin, or com- 
 moner. As such he was so enrolled. 
 
 He struck them with equal surprise by requesting 
 a fellow-countryman, skilful with the tattooing needle 
 and color, to work upon his breast a design drawn for 
 him by his artist friend at Slatington. Many weeks 
 were necessary to prick and stain in the design, 
 but when finished it was clear and startling in its 
 realism. 
 
 It was the old picture, hung aeons ago, in the night 
 
A RIDE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 39 
 
 skies of Japan, by the Creator, and for ages His chil- 
 dren there have loved the divine original. 
 
 Out of the inky-blue sky, and from deeps upon 
 deeps of shadow, the emerging line of plumed trum- 
 peters of air moved into the silver light of the full 
 moon, flashing, careering, bathed in silver, trans- 
 figured for a moment, only to retreat into the caverns 
 of darkness. 
 
 Here was a triumph of art upon the human cuticle. 
 It reminded one of the old philosopher in Kioto, who 
 envied the tattooer that could so permanently decorate 
 the bodies of men, while he, the penman, though 
 seeking mind and heart, had to be content to write 
 only on paper. 
 
 So months moved on and years slipped by. As in 
 a prison, "a dead man out of mind," a distant bird 
 invisible in the inky night sky, Jozuna, cut off from 
 his countrymen, unknown save to very few, passed 
 months in toil. Yet all the time his eyes burned 
 with a fierce resolve. He waited for an opportu- 
 nity to prove himself a goose. 
 
 Meanwhile, let us look at Clarence Burnham's en- 
 vironment and adventures. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 IT was a mysterious invasion, that of the Japanese 
 of the old college town of New Brunswick on 
 the Raritan, in 1868. 
 
 The place was famous for visits. The New 
 Hampshire Yankee and the New Jersey Dutchman 
 had here met and fused together long ago, compro- 
 mising by giving the town a German name. The 
 Hessians and the Continentals had later come to 
 stay, or to chase each other backward and forward. 
 
 Indeed, even yet the fields, in the Raritan valley are 
 redolent of army rations of a German sort. Are not 
 the meadows well sprinkled with the garlic that com- 
 pletely falsifies Longfellow's attribution in " Evange- 
 line " of sweet breath to " the kine of the meadows " ? 
 Nay, does not spring butter taste strongly of the 
 struggle for freedom ? Moreover, is not a local in- 
 sect still called the Hessian fly ? In the far interior 
 do not mothers still terrorize rebellious Jerseymen of 
 tender years, with the threat of the Hessian alleged 
 to be coming again ? 
 
 40 
 
THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY. 41 
 
 Yes, the old town had had many visitors. Later 
 had swarmed in the ebony sons of freedom, for here 
 had been a station on the Underground, as well as 
 on the Camden and Amboy, and the railway later 
 named after the state of Pennsylvania. Both Eman- 
 cipation Day and the Fifteenth Amendment had 
 been celebrated by the blacks, many times over. 
 
 Tradition told even of redmen, and the names of 
 their villages are still reechoed on the maps. Last 
 of all came the little brown fellows from over the 
 sea. 
 
 They arrived at first by twos and threes. In old 
 Japan, in Tycoonal days, American professors and 
 engineers had been reckoned as mechanics, and there 
 were searchings of hearts in the Yedo palaces as 
 to whether these men were pundits, or only " base 
 mechanicals," and it was debated whether they 
 should be awarded audience. So also in American 
 homes, the tables whereon were daily served stu- 
 dents' hash and coffee quivered with the question 
 whether these new Asians were " colored people," 
 or could sit down side by side with white folks. 
 Christianity and common sense won the day, and 
 the first two brown boys were welcomed. 
 
 Still, in a certain house one nervous old lady who 
 had read about hara-kiri (nearly always spelled 
 Harry Karry) was "glad these strangers had a seat 
 at a good distance from the carving-knife," lest being 
 
42 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 suddenly offended they might commit the " happy 
 despatch " there and then. The Japanese, she had 
 read, had a habit of taking revenge on those who 
 insulted them that was quite reflex and recurved. 
 " They usually killed themselves to spite others," 
 she was told. 
 
 But what a covert missionary retort they did give, 
 even though their English was so scanty, and on 
 etiquette they said not a word. They seemed not 
 only very polite, but they wore their courtesy like an 
 easy garment, to which they had long been used. It 
 was too genuine, too much like native air, to have 
 been " learned in America," or elsewhere than home. 
 
 True, because / is Chinese and r Japanese they 
 asked for a " ramp" to light themselves to bed. 
 Again, one nearly scared the spinster landlady out of 
 her wits, ploughing for a moment in her bosom a deep 
 furrow of regret that she had even taken the boys in 
 at all, when one lad, who wanted to pay her a com- 
 pliment, asked her how old she was. She after- 
 ward learned that one of the first questions in the 
 Sunrise Land, after an introduction, is the friendly 
 one, " Your honorable years, how many ? " 
 
 Indeed, it seemed almost like a moral box on the 
 ears, or a nudge in the back, or a hunch, such as peo- 
 ple give each other in church when the sermon is 
 pat, that these brown boys had a hard finish of ele- 
 gant manners that quite outshone that of the boys 
 
THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY. 43 
 
 even of Somerset County, fairest of the fair counties 
 of New Jersey. 
 
 The mystery deepened when, instead of two, there 
 came ten, twenty, thirty Japanese lads, and still the 
 wonder grew that they were all polite, polished gen- 
 tlemen. "How strange," thought Mrs. Gunders, who 
 kept a students' boarding-house, and yet with her 
 sister attended every meeting in the First Reformed 
 Church. ".These young men come from Japan 
 where we send missionaries, and yet how polite they 
 are ! I don't know what to make of it." 
 
 Still further the wonder grew ; for within two 
 years after the first pair of restless, black, penetrating 
 eyes had gazed upon the unwonted sights of dashing 
 locomotives and long freight trains, of troops of pigs 
 rooting up suburban sods, of roosters high up on 
 church spires, and what not, there were already three- 
 score and ten young Japanese in the city on the 
 Raritan and the villages adjoining. Evidently they 
 had not discovered the United States in general, but 
 only New Brunswick in particular. 
 
 Behind this mysterious movement there must be 
 some powerful force, perhaps some striking person- 
 ality, pushing these young men on and on, yes, seven 
 thousand miles from home ; and there was at Naga- 
 saki a mighty man, but a modest one, who, incar- 
 nating in himself the best traditions of brave little 
 Holland and the great American nation, was per- 
 
44 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 suading the hermits to send their sons abroad. 
 Taking his advice, many a lion " cast his cub into the 
 valley," which is Japanese thought for letting the pet 
 son travel abroad. 
 
 Perhaps all these lads, some of them with their 
 top-knots hardly cut yet, came to the capital of the 
 Reformed Church in America, because they did not 
 know that there were in the great United States other 
 schools and colleges, and, indeed, how should they in 
 1 867 ? As soon as they did learn the reality, they 
 and the Jersey towns were relieved of congestion, 
 and Young Japan was more healthfully and profitably 
 distributed. For nothing was better for the mastery 
 of the English language than that they should not 
 be together and talk Japanese. 
 
 But the scattering did not take place before, in 
 Willow Grove cemetery, white tombs of marble 
 showed how, in noble thirst for truth and knowledge, 
 some of the eager students had found honored rest- 
 ing-places in alien soil. Our American climate re- 
 sents familiarities. The habit of young Asians of 
 relieving themselves of underclothing, especially of 
 abhorred woollen, during a January thaw, or a balmy 
 day in March, did not tend to lengthen life. Even 
 an American summer is not made by one swallow. 
 
 It was Clarence Burnham's good fortune on reach- 
 ing " Japanese town," as some jealous and envious 
 Princetonians sixteen miles away called New 
 
THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY. 45 
 
 Brunswick, to find what were advertised as "rooms 
 and board " at the Misses Hilary's house. The first 
 attacks of homesickness were hardly over before 
 Clarence could write home to his parents, speaking 
 most warmly in praise of his hostesses, and his " home 
 away from home " as he called it. Eight students 
 received their daily sustenance at the Misses Hilary's 
 table, four of whom were " roomers," two being Jap- 
 anese, one from Satsuma, and the other from Echizen. 
 Pious, elderly, sedate, the maiden ladies were some- 
 times nearly shocked at the hilarity of the young 
 fellows. Having both been school-teachers in their 
 earlier days, their tendency to be precise, and to 
 correct the young roisterers, often issued in strained 
 situations. It took Clarence some time to find out 
 the safe channel of speech, in order to steer clear 
 both of the rocks of impropriety and the mud banks 
 of dulness, on which the ship of conversation would 
 be hopelessly stranded. 
 
 Sometimes the zeal of certain old ladies in New 
 Brunswick to have the whole batch of lonely pagans 
 in the city converted at once, passed beyond bounds 
 of wisdom. Many and various were the traps set for 
 these little flies to walk into the various parlors of 
 the sectarian spiders. Once, too, when a Christian 
 of the real sort, a manly classmate, had come to talk 
 with one of the brown lads, now pallid and wasted 
 with consumption from over-study, the reply which 
 
46 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the Oriental made kindled intensest admiration, even 
 when it wrought pain. 
 
 " No/' said the sick one, " life is like a candle in 
 the wind. Mine is nearly blown out, and I shall not 
 offer to your God and Christ only the snuff of my 
 existence. I never insult my friends, and if half of 
 what I have read or have been told about Jesus is true, 
 then he is my friend, and I want my people to know 
 him. If I had my life to live over again and had 
 been taught, as you have been, I might believe and 
 act differently. Good-by, classmate." 
 
 These were nearly the last words of the boy for 
 whom a lonely widower-father was sorrowing under 
 the shadow of Japan's lordly mountain of Hakusan. 
 There, under the shelter roofs and over the heavy 
 pedestals of masonry, built by the government, had 
 hung for centuries the edicts of the Emperor's Su- 
 preme Council commanding that " charity be shown 
 to widowers, widows, orphans, the childless and sick," 
 and also the ban laid upon the "corrupt sect" of 
 Jashiu (Jesus), for these were the days of " the frogs 
 in the well that know not the great ocean." 
 
 The Japanese first compelled and then won popu- 
 larity, for they made themselves winsome lads among 
 us. Funny indeed are the ways in which the Ameri- 
 can shows his likes and dislikes. Of course, not 
 only the society faddists, but also those having Jap- 
 anese to board or entertain, desired to show their 
 
THE JAPANESE INVASION OF NEW JERSEY. 47 
 
 spoil. Exploiting their conquest, they at first intro- 
 duced the little brown fellows as "princes." If 
 " daimio " had been a little easier on the tongue, or 
 more facile in the spelling, they would have been 
 content with this rank for their proteges. 
 
 Quite occasionally the " princes " would fall short 
 of revenue, and then it was a pitiable spectacle which 
 human nature exhibited. Men and women vain in 
 society and " liberal " in opinions would, as a rule, 
 give no help, while those called " bigots " made up a 
 generous fund from their own purses. For months 
 and years, they poured out their money unstintingly 
 to aid the makers of new Japan to come to get their 
 American education. They did not know at the time 
 whether their bread cast upon the waters would re- 
 turn again or not, though it all did. Such unexpected 
 kindness had the effect of thoroughly opening the 
 eyes of the Japanese statesmen to the real feelings of 
 our people toward Japan. In this manner, far more 
 than through bombardment, did Americans thus con- 
 quer the heart of Japan. 
 
 It was great fun and constant delight in those 
 days to watch the ways of the future admiral in 
 the Japanese navy, the coming envoy of the Mikado 
 at Washington or to the European capitals, the 
 governors of provinces, and the embryo captains 
 and generals in the army that in 1894 annihilated 
 China's drilled troops and astonished the world by 
 
48 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 conquering in Asia an area larger than the Japanese 
 Empire. 
 
 They played football, rowed on the river, went 
 duck-shooting, and climbed up hotel stairs for the 
 thrilling sensation of descending on the elevator. 
 To see them get themselves acquainted with Ameri- 
 can ways and peoples, to say nothing of local peculi- 
 arities, was an edifying lesson in human nature. 
 The average Caucasian lacks discrimination, indeed, 
 very much as a Chinaman does, and so it came to 
 pass that even the sons of Japan's prime minister 
 were asked on the street car if they were out seeking 
 laundry orders. Indeed, the questions fired at them 
 about starch and soap puzzled them as much in New 
 York as those in San Francisco bothered Jozuna. 
 
 Young Nippon could not at once interpret all the 
 phenomena, nor appreciate all the sweet reasonable- 
 ness of the American's glorious civilization. Fur- 
 thermore, the clay of his own feudalism stuck to 
 him. It is a tradition at New Brunswick that even 
 on the public street, as well as in private, not the 
 low-born (for there were then no such) but the low- 
 rank lad would cringe before his blue-blooded or high- 
 ranked superior. Once, when a son of the Empire 
 State had, as a little peppery Japanese thought, in- 
 sulted him, the Asian gravely asked permission of his 
 American teacher to be allowed to kill the offender. 
 Surprise was great when permission was denied. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 
 
 WE must now see what kind of a student 
 Clarence Burnham was making while in 
 old Rutgers' halls. It is needless to say 
 he was very happy. 
 
 College life seemed to him a new world. The 
 earnestness of the professors, who were always ready 
 to help a faithful student, the real kindness of his 
 precise and matter-of-fact, but warm-hearted host- 
 esses, the society of student comrades, and of the 
 city people, the glorious beauty of the river, valley, 
 and hills, the marvellous color effects of the red soil 
 and the clover, the wonderful shaped evergreens and 
 deciduous trees, and especially the gorgeousness of 
 their autumnal coloring so different from anything 
 he had seen in Japan filled his days with delight. 
 His tasks were very congenial, for he was by in- 
 heritance and tastes a born student. Faithful alike 
 in preparatory study and in the class room, he was 
 the pride of his instructors. To some he was as 
 olive oil on the waters to calm, when others in the 
 class, dull or lazy, were as petroleum on the flames. 
 
 49 
 
50 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 There was an irascible professor, whose breakfasts 
 seemed to have a habit of chronic disagreement with 
 him, civil war going on continually between brain 
 and stomach, with little hope of truce. The fellows 
 nicknamed him "Tenpenny," in reference to his sup- 
 posed ability, when in a rage, to bite off the head of 
 a nail of that weight. One day when a chronic 
 " flunk," who had dishonored the plough by leaving 
 it, not like Cincinnatus, or Putnam, for duty's sake, 
 but for the law, in hopes of fat fees and social honors, 
 had tortured Tacitus into pitiable English, old Ten- 
 penny threw down his book and stormed out : 
 
 " Mr. Jacks, go back to the plough whence you 
 came. You'll never make the Raritan flow back, 
 nor earn your salt at law. Mr. Burnham, read." 
 
 Thereupon, as Clarence rendered the passage, old 
 Tenpenny's wrinkles smoothed out visibly. He 
 seemed another man, his face oozing out joy until 
 Jacks, with dogged perseverance, or. lawyer-like per- 
 tinacity, asked a question. 
 
 Still unreconciled to have the plough deserted by 
 any one but a Putnam bound for Bunker Hill, old 
 Tenpenny's wrath was again excited by Mr. Jacks's 
 query. 
 
 " Mr. Jacks, it is said that one fool can ask more 
 questions than ten wise men can answer." 
 
 " Oh ! " mumbled Jacks inaudibly, " that's why we 
 poor fellows flunk so often." 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 51 
 
 Fortunately, old Tenpenny did not hear the re- 
 mark, but it was the talk of the fellows for days. 
 
 It was not only in the classics that Clarence Burn- 
 ham excelled, but in our glorious English mother- 
 tongue he forged ahead, excelling in composition, 
 platform speaking, and debate. In the library of 
 the Literary Society, Philoclean by name, he revelled 
 in the treasures of books, old and new. 
 
 " It would be a calamity to make a business man 
 of you, as your father expects, according to what 
 you tell me. I hear excellent things of you from the 
 professor of rhetoric," said Prex to Clarence Burn- 
 ham one day, as they walked up the blue shale path 
 on the campus. 
 
 Prophetic words ! 
 
 How things " on the banks of the old Raritan " 
 looked to Clarence Burnham may be seen in some of 
 his letters home, especially in those when, as he once 
 penned the phrase, he "mounted on stilts." His 
 professor of rhetoric rather encouraged him to do 
 this occasionally. He wrote : 
 
 "What traveller on the Atlantic coast does not 
 know New Brunswick ? In prehistoric days, after 
 Cromwell had cut off the head of one King Charles 
 and then had his own corpse uncoffined and stuck on 
 a spike by another King Charles, the site of our col- 
 lege town was called somebody's swamp. When the 
 first of the young Georges came on the throne the 
 
52 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 British, varying their varied line of French, Dutch, 
 Spanish, and other kings by a German variety the 
 settlement in the swamp shared the fate of many 
 towns and streets in America. It took on, in actual 
 fact, a German but not a Hanoverian name. 
 
 " At the head of navigation of the river and at the 
 end of a canal coming out of the coal regions of Penn- 
 sylvania, it is a mighty place of boats and steam- 
 ers. You can see it, as the lightning train flies up 
 from Philadelphia, or down from New York. The 
 grassy slopes of the campus reach almost to the steel 
 rails, kept polished by endless swift wheels. Flank- 
 ing the path up to the quaint and venerable main 
 college building, called after some queen, are two 
 hollow rings or cylinders of upright iron railings, set 
 as a gateway. These remind me of a certain musi- 
 cal instrument, used by the Mikado's musicians, made 
 of a bundle of upright bamboos. Simply because 
 of a president's whim, they have weakly replaced 
 with ugliness ancient strength and beauty, in the 
 form of oldtime masonry with ball top. 
 
 " Everywhere the red shale soil is in bright evidence. 
 Indeed, it so clings, with the tenacity of an old 
 friend, to the shoe uppers or soles, that denizens 
 of the New Red Sandstone belt in New Jersey are 
 betrayed even in the metropolis. As the train shoots 
 over the river, one sees the dull, copper-colored cliffs, 
 on which the windflower blows and the saxifrage 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 53 
 
 waves. These cliffs skirt the canal and tell a geo- 
 logical story. 
 
 " Over on the hills to the left and northwest rises an 
 august edifice. It is the theological mill, out of which 
 are ground both the grist and the millers for the 
 little church, historic, venerable, and noble, that kin- 
 dles its beacon lights of hope and salvation chiefly 
 along the river valleys of New York and New Jersey. 
 Heavenly seems the beauty of the springtime and 
 autumn to my student eyes, so long used to a differ- 
 ent sort of beauty and landscape in Japan. 
 
 " I have read Ruskin much, and hope some day to 
 see the Swiss wonders of the sky, the Italian sunsets, 
 and the empyrean that vaults the Mediterranean. 
 Yet I cannot imagine any more glorious caverns of 
 light and color than those which, from the banks of 
 the Raritan, I witness at least fifty times a year." 
 
 It was a hoary tradition on the campus by the 
 Raritan that no freshman should carry a cane or 
 wear a high hat. It was expected also, unless it 
 were his sisters or kinswomen, no freshman should 
 keep public company with the ladies. Indeed, it was 
 the unanimous decision of the college corporation, 
 in its august whole, and in all its parts, patrons, 
 trustees, faculty, alumni, and undergraduates, that 
 no freshman must fall in love^ or even think of such 
 a thing. Such indiscretion was, in the eyes of the 
 seniors, little more than a crime. 
 
54 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Something of the same sentiment and unwritten 
 law prevailed at the Young Ladies' Schools in the 
 city. It might be true that " New Brunswick is the 
 mother of the Reformed Church," and that these 
 girls' schools, as the little sister of a senior, seeing 
 one of them, in a picture, so near the Theological 
 Seminary nafvely suggested, " Here is where the 
 young ladies go to be ministers' wives " ; but no such 
 purpose was confessed. At one of the girls' schools 
 it was a rule that no inmate should go riding with a 
 gentleman unless he were her father, brother, or affi- 
 anced. When a certain damsel in pupilage applied 
 for the privilege of accepting an invitation to ride 
 out, the following was the version of a shorter 
 catechism : 
 
 " Is he your father ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Is he your brother ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Then, since you have asked, knowing the rules, 
 you must be engaged." 
 
 " No, I am not yet, but I expect to be before I get 
 back." 
 
 She was allowed to ride. Clarence Burnham, 
 freshman, had, of like expectations, none. Yet one 
 day there was a brilliant wedding in the Second 
 Reformed Church, and the result proved that " noth- 
 ing is so certain as the unexpected." 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 55 
 
 The daughter of one of his mother's old friends 
 was to be married, so Clarence was invited. As the 
 bridal train of six white-robed virgins gathered in the 
 vestibule of the church, where they prepared to move 
 up the middle aisle with fashionable and funereal 
 slowness, there and then and for the first time Clar- 
 ence Burnham felt a peculiar inward thrill as he 
 looked upon fair Marian Hopewell. Her compara- 
 tively simple costume only heightened her color and 
 loveliness. She wore " a dress of some snowy tissue, 
 gathered into puffs, on which lay bright green leaves " 
 his description of a lady's dress usually, for some 
 reason he never could explain, caused smiles among 
 his women friends; but to his eyes the maiden's whole 
 appearance seemed as natural as a white rose with 
 its accompanying foliage. Under a wealth of golden 
 hair shone a pair of blue eyes that so seemed to 
 rain influence on him that he wondered if they 
 ever thus affected any other mortal. Fairest of the 
 fair seemed her face. He thought he had never 
 seen aught on earth so lovely. It was for him 
 the discovery of another new world, for Clarence 
 Burnham had never known before that the universe 
 contained anything so entrancingly lovely as Marian 
 Hopewell. 
 
 "Now," said he to himself, yet almost out loud, "I 
 can understand what the poet of Japan meant, though 
 I thought it was only fancy 
 
56 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " One glance at her eye, 
 And you lose your city, 
 Another, and you would 
 Forfeit a kingdom. 
 
 " Yes, those eyes ! They pierced me. No wonder 
 the same country's poet spoke of soldiers winning 
 their blood victories with sword and dagger, while 
 women pierce with an eye glance and shed no blood." 
 
 Slight interest had Burnham in the nuptial cere- 
 mony itself, save as a type and premonition; but 
 again, as the bridal procession moved down the aisle, 
 that vision dazzled his eyes and fired his soul. 
 
 Alas for his hopes ! He met Marian Hopewell 
 only for a moment at the reception, and again it 
 seemed as if his breast had become too small to 
 hold his heart, as with a smile she told him that she 
 must leave town for her home far up on the Hudson 
 River that afternoon, but oh joy! she would be 
 back again for several days at Commencement. Her 
 younger brother Victor was then to enter Rutgers as 
 freshman, and she would come for a visit of several 
 days. 
 
 Here begins a story that cannot be told, save only 
 in issues and results. Clarence waited through weeks 
 that seemed leaden-footed, until first the wind-flower 
 and anemone and then the June roses bloomed, and 
 at last the day of glory, music, flowers, beauty, and 
 thrilling sensations was in view, when she was to come. 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 57 
 
 It was a day of tremendous fuss and bustle all 
 through the town, and even in the surrounding 
 country, when the initial hours of commencement 
 day had fully come. Every pretty girl, so fortunate 
 as to have a student friend in Queen's College, was 
 to wear her very best gown, and to balance repose- 
 fully on her head the most absolutely unique creation 
 of the milliner. A brass band from the metropolis on 
 Manhattan Island had been engaged, months before, 
 to come over, and of course to sound its very sweet- 
 est strains. There was to be music galore at the 
 exhibition the night before, at the Commencement 
 exercises in the great white church in the morning, 
 and at the college ball in the evening. Besides this 
 triple task of the men of wind, strings, and percussion, 
 each musician must serve as fragment or attachment 
 to various interludes, class dinners, serenades, etc., so 
 that when the total episode was over, each man of 
 brass, catgut, or drumsticks looked very much like a 
 derelict drifting on the ocean of exhaustion. 
 
 At the Commencement exercises, the band was ex- 
 pected to play all the popular music that was not 
 only "new" but "up-to-date," besides giving a funny 
 sort of a hodge-podge of college airs with occasional 
 toots and whistles in between. For the sandwiching 
 of favorite pieces in between the speeches, every stu- 
 dent had his choice and nominated his favorite com- 
 poser. In those days pretty much every one in the 
 
58 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 class that wanted to, could speak, and there was 
 music with every speech. 
 
 On that day of the seniors' culmination, the holy 
 songs of the Sabbath and the solid old tunes of Dun- 
 dee and St. Stephens and Dennis, gave way in the 
 white meeting-house to the flimsy strains of Strauss, 
 Offenbach, and Sousa. It was the custom, too, fo ; 
 all the friends of the young orators to furnish bou 
 quets, wreaths, floral monograms, and society badge,' 
 in flowers, sometimes with gold-stamped ribbons, an<* 
 in every case a card attached, so that every " culmi 
 nator," as the orator and graduate was called, did seerri 
 literally to reach the pinnacle of glory, when his head 
 barely appeared over the mountain of offerings. Then 
 as a veritable walking flower garden, he moved off and 
 away with heaps of perfume and color in his arms, 
 and, to confess it, sometimes clear over his head. 
 Indeed, it looked Shakespearian, as if the very woods 
 of Birnam were moving to Macbeth and Dunsinane. 
 
 For months previous, the teapot tempest of college 
 politics had been brewing. About the first day in 
 the month of roses, its spout fairly puffed like an 
 engine, for then the " marshal president " was elected. 
 This was an honor for which all students strove. When 
 won, it seemed almost visibly to add to the stature of 
 the possessor of that pretty little wand, a foot long, 
 and tipped with a gilded acorn, which descended from 
 time immemorial to the winner of the prize of office. 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 59 
 
 It was plaited over with the colors of the literary 
 society and the Greek letter fraternity to which the 
 proud owner belonged. 
 
 With its ribbons fluttering in the wind, the marshal 
 president arranged his forces for the procession from 
 college door to church, into which were to pass the 
 Prex, the trustees, the dignified visitors, and eminent 
 platform ornaments. After these, first in the serried 
 lines of student fry, the gowned seniors, looking in 
 their black robes like white-throated crows, were 
 ranged. Next came the juniors and sophomores, 
 and, last of all, the freshmen, or, rather we should 
 say, the freshmen came first right after the brass 
 band, but not to remain at the head of the line. The 
 tactics in vogue, which at first delightedly surprised 
 and later deeply humiliated Mr. Greenie Fresh, who 
 supposed he was to go in first, were on this wise. 
 
 First of all in the campus parade, after the brass 
 band, duly arrayed in lines by the marshal-president, 
 came the prospective freshmen and the wandering 
 " peris outside of paradise," who, in the local slang, 
 were called "rats," but who, as grammar school 
 seniors, hoped in the autumn to enter the college 
 halls. Some of these youthful sons of hope and en- 
 thusiasm, despite apparent shyness, not knowing local 
 history and precedents, were highly elated at heading 
 the procession, wondering why such honor had been 
 thrust upon them. After these temporarily first, who 
 
60 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 were to become last, followed in double lines the fresh- 
 men, sophomores, juniors, the sacred and gowned 
 seniors, and after them the adult dignitaries. When 
 all was ready, the marshal-president gave the signal 
 to the brass band leader. 
 
 Thereupon broke out a tempest of delightful noise 
 from every instrument of wind and percussion, and 
 the column swung forward to the movement of the 
 music. Down through the gateway and past houses 
 lined at the windows with admiring or critical specta- 
 tors, the procession wended its way into the street, 
 and then, within the churchyard gate, through the 
 summer snowstorm of white tombstones and the 
 billowy sea of grassy mounds to the church door. 
 
 There it halted and then the grammar school 
 "rats" and the inexperienced freshmen found that 
 the last was first and the first was last. At one 
 wave of the marshal-president's wand, down sank 
 freshman pride and hope, like the band of Roderick 
 Dhu. The column opened and widened, and up and 
 through the perspective of the two long lines of young 
 men facing each other, the dignitaries and seniors 
 moved. These entering the church took their places 
 on the platform, the undergraduates and upper class 
 men finding places in the reserved part of the house 
 or bestrewing themselves among the groups, where 
 pretty girls and boon companions or admiring rela- 
 tives were gathered. The freshmen were lost in 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THERTAN. 61 
 
 the crowd. The "rats," for the most part, herded 
 in the uncertain rear between pews and wall, or in 
 the vestibule. 
 
 Fascinating and bewildering was the scene within. 
 If Clarence Burnham had ever nourished the horrible 
 suspicion that college life consisted chiefly of toiling 
 during half of every twenty-four hours over text- 
 books and dictionaries, and at least one-quarter of 
 them in semi-imprisonment in class rooms, with 
 dried-up professors or badgering tutors, he was here 
 relieved and most heartily Tightened. 
 
 He could see to-day but one great ocean of bright 
 eyes, rosy faces, gorgeous millinery, and attractive 
 gowns. The music was exhilarating. The fans, the 
 flowers, the chat, and the radiant smiles between the 
 speeches, when the band played, made him as happy 
 as one of those " boys around the monkey cage " at 
 the circus, of which he had had experience, and of 
 whom he had so often sung. He was made all 
 the happier by seeing, without jealousy or envy, 
 the orators not only holding the attention of their 
 hearers, but reaching the acme of glory when they 
 walked off balancing their piles of bouquets, wreaths, 
 baskets, of all things lovely in floral possibilities. 
 
 It seemed to him very much like heaven to enter 
 into that senior's rapture of fair maidens and flowers, 
 smiles, compliments, and congratulations. It felt 
 very much like the seventh heaven of delight when 
 
62 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 he met and talked with Marian Hopewell. He even 
 thought that when he met her and she put out her 
 hand to welcome him, with a smile that he never 
 forgot, that she had been waiting for him, and would 
 even have missed him had he not come. In her 
 presence, and in the happy group of maidens and 
 swains, he was like a bubbling fountain of joy. 
 
 Like a hundred other groups, this, in which Clar- 
 ence was, would not stop either chat or giggle, in 
 spite of old Prex's remonstrances. Both Clarence 
 and Marian often talked, I am sorry to record, even 
 while the orations of some one of the dozen or so of 
 orators mellifluously flowed on. Prex, after working 
 his face first into a redness and then a purple that 
 suggested apoplexy, finally gave up the task of lictor 
 and thrashed the fair anarchists no more. Then, as 
 by common consent, the hum of conversation ceased, 
 the later orators had quiet, and the freshet of fun 
 and chat broke loose only during the intermissions 
 of brass band music. 
 
 Only once during the exercises was there anything 
 startling. Only once was the audience put in terrible 
 and sympathetic fear, lest the possibilities of a stom- 
 ach should be forever ruined. This was not when 
 one of the " culminators," famous as a champion in 
 the boat races, was presented with a magnificent 
 spoon oar, twelve feet long and gorgeously wreathed 
 with flowers that shed perfume, as the trophy was 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 63 
 
 carried up the aisle to be put in the victor's hands. 
 No, envy was then the only emotion ; but, in the 
 second instance, the hair on many scalps almost rose 
 erect with fear. 
 
 A " culminator," having ceased his speech, appar- 
 ently disdaining flowers, waited in expectation of 
 something to emerge out of the air "a bolt from 
 the blue," as it were. It came. It was a white ball, 
 thrown right out of the audience by one of the base- 
 ball team. For a moment it seemed as if the impos- 
 ing stomach of the president was to be either wholly 
 perforated or pummelled into miseries, many and 
 fatal, by what seemed to be a big grape-shot whiz- 
 zing through the air, apparently as swiftly as if shot 
 from a cannon. Vain fear ! It was caught on the 
 fly, and in one hand only, by the orator, who alertly 
 saved Prex's diaphragm, and brought down the house 
 in thunders of applause. 
 
 Afternoon came. Clarence Burnham could not go 
 to the alumni dinner, for he was only, even now, a 
 sophomore. His sensations of awe had been miti- 
 gated moderately, for he had actually seen one Com- 
 mencement. Yet he was hardly prepared for the 
 shock which came to him on meeting one of the theo- 
 logical professors. Going to call upon his father's 
 old friend, and to bear greetings, they chatted awhile 
 about things local. Clarence innocently asked the 
 old gentleman whether he had attended the Com- 
 
64 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 mencement. To his surprise the learned man re- 
 plied ; " No, I never go to Commencements. They 
 are always a great bore to me." 
 
 At this the young man looked up in wonder and 
 surprise that fairly bordered on horror. The words 
 seemed incredible. Commencement a bore ? Com- 
 mencement with its roses, flowers, music, and lovely 
 maidens, and all the brightness and joy of the glad 
 occasion, a bore ? The very words savored of both 
 sacrilege and insanity. How could a man say such 
 things ? Innocently, Clarence looked up at the ven- 
 erable gentleman, wondering if he were ready for the 
 lunatic asylum. 
 
 However, he was happy enough. Marian Hope- 
 well's brother, an incoming freshman, had actually 
 invited him to come up to their home at Eagle's 
 Nest. Burnham accepted with a promptness that 
 seemed to give Victor something like an electric 
 shock. Eagle's Nest, named from an Indian tradi- 
 tion, rather than from any manifest geographical sig- 
 nificance, lay on the slope of hills overlooking the 
 Hudson River. 
 
 Marian's father was a domine, or minister in the 
 Reformed Church, and would have been horrified to 
 have any one write him down as a " dominie," as our 
 ignorant dictionary makers do. He lived in the par- 
 sonage with the apple of his eye, his only daughter 
 Marian, and the crown of his hopes, his only son 
 
COLLEGE DAYS ON THE RARITAN. 65 
 
 Victor Hopewell. To this lovely home, full of light 
 and delight, Clarence Burnham was invited to stay a 
 week, the lad Victor promising him good times and 
 plenty of fun. The elect guest had almost to hold 
 his pulse when he declared he would be most happy 
 to accept. To him were promised seven of " the days 
 of Heaven upon earth." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 
 
 TO Clarence Burnham, the prospect of a visit 
 to what was to him enchanted land made an 
 alluring vista. Had he not read Irving's 
 legends of Tarrytown and the Catskills, of Brom 
 Bones and Rip Van Winkle ? He was now about to 
 see the mystic region in which these things that did 
 not happen were more real to most readers than those 
 which had "gone through the formality of taking 
 place." 
 
 When a boy, a Parisian gentleman in Kobe, of 
 whom he learned the language of sunny France, had 
 told him of the enjoyment derived from reading 
 Irving's stories of the Hudson River region. An- 
 other of his father's friends, a Londoner, narrated a 
 striking personal experience in Rip Van Winkle 
 country. He had been, in his earlier life, a painter 
 of stage scenery. Copying faithfully from American 
 pictures, he put on the theatre canvas, as a back- 
 ground for the play, the Catskill Mountains, the low 
 foreground, and the Hudson River. Twenty years 
 
 66 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 67 
 
 had passed by, and he had forgotten all about his 
 former work with the brush and the pigments. 
 Visiting America to see his son in Albany, he took 
 the night boat in New York. Waking in the morn- 
 ing, when the steamer was near Catskill, he went out 
 on the deck. How strange ! There was a landscape 
 which he had seen before. Yes, there ran the river, 
 rose the mountains, and rolled the meadows. How 
 puzzling ! He had never been in America before. 
 Was it a dream ? 
 
 Now, had he been a Buddhist, he could easily have 
 explained his feelings. In some other incarnation he 
 had been existent in this part of the world. One of 
 the comparative folk-lorists might have told he was 
 as Irving's Rip Van Winkle, whom the Tarrytown 
 author had first imported from Germany, and then 
 made to sleep and wake in the Catskills, and play 
 tennis with Henry (or in Irvingese, "Hendrick") 
 Hudson's sailors in the mountains. 
 
 Nothing so psychical was necessary, however, and 
 memory alone furnished the clew to the riddle. The 
 incidents of his past life trooped back, and among 
 his recollections was one of his painting in London 
 the stage scenery, now so grandly enlarged in the 
 original itself. 
 
 In New York, Clarence Burnham hunted up his 
 old friend Jozuna, and told him where he was going, 
 even to Rip Van Winkle's country. The subject 
 
68 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was suggestive. Soon they had entered into the 
 region of Japanese folk-lore, which both knew so 
 well. 
 
 " In my country," said Jozuna, " we have two dif- 
 ferent Rip Van Winkle stories : one of land, and one 
 of water, one up in the forest and mountain, and one 
 down in the deep sea, one wet, one dry." 
 
 "Yes, very appropriately," said Clarence, "the dry 
 one is Chinese, for what Chinaman likes the sea ? 
 Your true Japanese loves the water, and so Urashima, 
 the hero, goes down into the palace on the deep 
 ocean's floor." 
 
 " Yes, and while there forgets all about the lapse 
 of time, for he is in love, you know. I wonder if 
 that is your case ? " 
 
 Clarence blushed, but just at that moment Jozuna 
 was called away. 
 
 While the American boy is composing his thoughts 
 for an answer, should Jozuna return to his question, 
 we may explain that in the Chinese story a wood- 
 cutter goes up into the mountain and there sees two 
 genii playing, not ninepins, but chess. While the 
 woodcutter looks on, they put in his mouth something 
 pleasant, shaped like a date stone. This is to warn 
 him not to give any advice as to how the game should 
 be played. Leaning on his arm he continues watch- 
 ing the moves, until suddenly a fox runs across the 
 space in the woods, when the woodsman starts to 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 69 
 
 pursue it. The stone falls out of his mouth. Then 
 the man comes to his senses. He finds his knees 
 stiff. A white beard, that has grown two feet long, 
 sweeps his breast. His axe is a mass of rust, and the 
 handle worm-eaten almost to dust. Hobbling down 
 to his village no one knows him, and he soon dies. 
 
 In the marine story, a fisher's boy, who is kind to 
 turtles, rides on the back of one of them down to the 
 Sea Queen's palace, on the ocean's floor, built of gold, 
 silver, and gems. With love and feasting, he enjoys 
 what he supposes is half a week. Asking to return 
 to earth to visit his parents, he finds that in his native 
 village no one knows him. Feeling lonely, he opens 
 a box given him by the Sea Queen, who had charged 
 him on no account to look into it. As he lifts the lid, 
 a purple cloud issues. He falls down an aged man 
 and is soon dead. He has been away three hundred 
 years. 
 
 When Jozuna returned, begging pardon for his few 
 moments' absence, Clarence Burnham noticed that he 
 was pale and excited. 
 
 " What's up, chum ? Have you heard bad news ? " 
 
 " Bad ? No, sir. I count it the best of news. 
 There's going to be war between my country and 
 China, within a year, as sure as I live. I'm glad of 
 it, for I'm going to be in it !" 
 
 " What makes you so warlike all of a sudden ? " 
 asked Clarence. 
 
70 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Well, my country has suffered enough of insult 
 and humiliation from China in the past, and since we 
 have adopted so much of Western civilization, the 
 Chinese have shown only contempt for us. They 
 still call us wo-jin dwarfs, you know. If war 
 comes, I hope Japan will show to the world her true 
 spirit and power." 
 
 k< Yes, I hope so, too. It is not creditable to the 
 nations of Europe that they do not know either the 
 spirit of the Japanese, or what is going on in Japan, 
 or the difference between the Chinese and your 
 people." 
 
 " Difference ! Why, even the average American 
 doesn't suspect any difference. He thinks we smoke 
 opium, bandage the feet of our women, eat rats, and 
 wear pigtails. But this I worry over less than that 
 they still think us barbarians. The American news- 
 papers even now predict an explosion of savagery. 
 What I want the world to see is that Japan has a life, 
 a literature, and a civilization of her own, so that after 
 this war, that is surely coming, the world will know 
 Japan and the Japanese as they never knew our coun- 
 try and people before." 
 
 " But you make me ashamed of my country, and 
 Christendom in general, when you intimate that it 
 will take a war to show them how civilized Japan is." 
 
 " Yes, Americans think Japan a place in which to 
 get green tea and curiosities. They look at us almost 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 71 
 
 entirely from across the trade counter. Yet how 
 many know, I wonder, of our schools and hospitals, 
 of our army and navy, of our ambulance corps, or 
 that our government is a signatory to the Geneva and 
 Paris conventions for robbing war of its barbarities 
 and horrors ? " 
 
 A knock at the door at this moment gave oppor- 
 tunity to Jozuna to introduce his friend, Mr. Niver, 
 a middle-aged gentleman, who had been in Japan 
 some years before, and had also visited China and 
 Korea. Hearing from Jozuna what the topic of 
 conversation was, the probability of war between 
 Japan and China over Korea, Mr. Niver joined in 
 the talk. 
 
 " Yes, young men, I too greatly fear there will be 
 war before many months. The high-handed proceed- 
 ings of the Chinese envoy in the Korean capital will 
 not long be borne by Japan, whose patience shows 
 signs of being exhausted. The Peking government 
 is deliberately attempting to thwart Japan's plans of 
 reform inaugurated by Count Inouye, to annihilate 
 Korean independence, to hold Korea in vassalage 
 to China. Japan wants her peninsular neighbor to 
 adopt the modern civilization of the West. China is 
 forcing Korea to revert to Chinese semi-barbarism." 
 
 "What do you anticipate will be the outcome if 
 China and Japan should come to blows ? China has 
 vast resources and no end of soldiers. Will she not 
 
72 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 soon exhaust Japan ? You know the general impres- 
 sion among Americans." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Niver, "and I am surprised at it. 
 But mark my words. China with all her hordes, and 
 an army that is mighty on paper, has only about 
 twenty thousand real soldiers. Japan has a thoroughly 
 drilled modern army." 
 
 " Then you imagine Japan will win ? " 
 
 " Certainly. The Japanese will go through Korea 
 and China as a knife goes through cheese. Nothing 
 but the intervention of Russia, in combination with 
 some European power, will prevent the Japanese 
 from entering Peking and winning Manchuria." 
 
 Jozuna's eyes snapped as he heard the praises of 
 his fellow-countrymen. He was not without anxiety, 
 however, and said to Mr. Niver : 
 
 " Yes, but China has a fleet of iron-clads, some of 
 them battleships, while we have not one, only cruisers. 
 Personally, I am not afraid for our soldiers. I know 
 too well what they did in Korea in Taiko's time in 
 I 57 2 ~ I 597> but our ships are so light, and the 
 Chinese have some American officers aboard." 
 
 " True, but the difference between your people and 
 the Chinese is that you do not adopt, you adapt. You 
 take a thing apart to see how it is made. You thus 
 understand why a thing is so. The Chinese imitate, 
 but do not grasp the reason of a thing. Give me 
 valor and intelligence against mere force and superior- 
 ity in numbers," 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 73 
 
 " Jack rather than the giant," said Clarence Burn- 
 ham, with a laugh. " But tell me where will the first 
 big battle be fought?" 
 
 " Well, after the skirmishes and small affairs south 
 of Seoul, the Korean capital, in the provinces in 
 which insurrection is chronic, the decisive battle will 
 be at Ping Yang in the north. All past history and 
 geography show that. I believe the Japanese fleet 
 will sweep the seas clean, capture or sink the big 
 European-built Chinese ships, or drive them into port, 
 attack them with their torpedo-boats, and then blow 
 them sky-high with their torpedoes." 
 
 " Why, Mr. Niver, you believe in the Japanese even 
 more than I, though I have grown up among them." 
 
 " Yes, and haven't I good reason for my faith ? " 
 and here his face glowed with some inner pleasures 
 of memory, and he seemed to be looking into the 
 past. " Didn't I have a hand in opening their eyes 
 years ago, and are not many of my own boys, whom 
 I helped to train, now in the government, the army, 
 and the navy ? Life in Japan is worth living now, 
 for everything is open to the common people on a 
 basis of justice, the courts, the schools, the army, 
 navy, business of every sort, in a word, no caste ; and 
 promotion in every line of enterprise." 
 
 " Hurrah for the Emperor and Everlasting Great 
 Japan ! " cried Jozuna, half laughing, half crying. 
 
 " But the forts, which at Port Arthur and Wei-hai- 
 
74 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 wei guard the gates to Peking. What of those ? " 
 asked Clarence. 
 
 "Trust the Japanese general to understand the 
 flanking business. What our Stonewall Jackson and 
 Phil Sheridan could do in our Civil War will be done 
 in China. Between the army and fleets the forts will 
 fall." 
 
 " I am glad to find you believe in the torpedo-boats, 
 Mr. Niver, and that you have so high an idea of our 
 people," said Jozuna. " There are so few who 'take 
 Japan seriously/ as my employer says. To think 
 that we must win honorable recognition by war and 
 bloodshed, rather than by peaceful means. Why, 
 think of it ! Look at our medical colleges and expe- 
 rienced surgeons, our Red Cross Society, our trained 
 nurses, our rules of humane warfare, and then con- 
 trast these with China, in which such things are 
 unknown." 
 
 "Yes, I am ashamed of Christendom," said Mr. 
 Niver. " There is that crass superstition of a ' yellow 
 peril ' ! There is that long refusal of European gov- 
 ernments to acknowledge the rights of Japan. Then, 
 note the utter ignorance of so many of our people 
 who know only of Japan in the comic opera of ' The 
 Mikado/ which of itself is enough to make the 
 blood of a Japanese boil. Why, think of the state of 
 affairs in decrepit and corrupt old China. Only the 
 three provinces under Li Hung Chang's rule will 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 75 
 
 fight at all. The other provinces and millions will 
 care next to nothing as to what goes on. It is im- 
 possible to get the truth about warfare told in the 
 distant provinces. The poor Chinese military must 
 go to war without surgeons, medicines, or a hospital 
 corps. The soldier is killed happy man ! If he is 
 wounded, he must crawl away and die in agony. I 
 venture to predict that as soon as war is declared, 
 all the Japanese in China will be hunted down, and 
 killed like wild beasts, while in Japan the Chinese 
 will be protected." 
 
 " Good ! " said Clarence, impressed with Mr. 
 Niver's earnestness. 
 
 " Yes, and you'll find that the Tokio statesmen will 
 be very particular not to offend civilization, but will 
 earnestly seek to win the world's applause. On 
 every squadron of war vessels, and with every army 
 corps, they will have a lawyer, yes, and one who 
 knows international law. The Japanese believe in 
 victories of peace even more than those of war." 
 
 " Hello ! some one's knocking. Come in," cried 
 Jozuna. 
 
 " Telegram," shouted a small boy in red-corded 
 blue coat and trousers and with metal frontlet. He 
 handed a yellow envelope, laid open on his time book, 
 to Jozuna for signature. 
 
 His friend from Slatington had been so impressed 
 with news from home and Korea that he had tele- 
 
76 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 graphed : " Yuen's conduct daily more offensive. 
 Pro-Chinese party in power in Seoul. Tong Haks 
 in Seoul petitioning the King rejected. Outbreak 
 certain. Will bring on war, for pro-Chinese party 
 will apply to Peking for military aid." 
 
 After Jozuna had read the message aloud, Mr. 
 Niver remarked quietly : " Yes, that means war. I 
 have studied this Tong Hak movement, called ' Ori- 
 ental Culture,' and though nominally a plea for 
 the East against the West, it is, in reality, a revolt 
 against Confucianism and corrupt Korea. It will 
 be too much for the weak government of Seoul to 
 handle. Then will come Chinese intervention, next 
 Japan's armed protests, then war, and then the 
 skinning of the dragon. China will be humbled. 
 History moves from Europe to the East. Good day, 
 gentlemen." 
 
 The two young men, "just for fun" and "old 
 times," then went to a Japanese restaurant in New 
 York, dined, and bade farewell to each other. Jozuna, 
 still secretive, never intimated a word of his purpose, 
 even as he had locked in his heart his reasons for 
 leaving Japan. 
 
 He had read and acted, but first he had prayed : 
 " Heaven open the way. Give me first safe flight and 
 arrival, then a dark night, and last and evermore a 
 full moon," was his petition, as he bowed his head 
 and clapped his hands together. 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 77 
 
 On his employer's table next morning lay a note, 
 which on being opened, read : " Good-by ; thank you 
 for your kindness. You will never see me again. I 
 have gone to be a goose. Jozuna." 
 
 When the American head of the house read this 
 puzzling enigma of a letter, his late Japanese helper 
 was a hundred leagues on his westward way toward 
 Japan, that island empire which to China lies at the 
 root of the sun, and to Korea is the Sunrise Kingdom, 
 but which to us Americans, with our New Pacific, 
 is the land toward the sunset. 
 
 Jozuna faced China, death, and fame. 
 
 Clarence took the day steamer for that particular 
 portion of land lying on the eastern slope in the Hud- 
 son River valley, whence, looking across to the sunset, 
 the Catskills seem to be but a sapphire bed, on which 
 lies "the old man of the mountain," enjoying his 
 unbroken sleep of aeons. 
 
 With patriotic thrill and a joy all his own, Clarence 
 drank in every hour of that lovely day in latest June 
 as if it were a draught of nectar. He was seeing 
 this historic centre of his own country. The elec- 
 tric air, the fascinating scenery, the joy of motion, the 
 animated life on the deck around him, the sure con- 
 fidence that little Japan would humble proud China, 
 and the immediate hope of a week's experiences that 
 might, in its issues, affect happily his whole life, 
 marked that day with a bright red letter in the golden 
 
78 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 book of memory. Along the glorious Palisades, 
 radiant in the morning light, into and through the 
 sheen of Tappan Zee, past Stony Point of Revolu- 
 tionary memory, among the superb highlands of the 
 Hudson, and into the region of river-side cities and 
 famous historic settlements of the Huguenots, the 
 Palatines, and the Netherlanders, who helped so 
 nobly to make the greatest of the states, the steamer 
 " tied up " early in the afternoon at the desired land- 
 ing-place. 
 
 Stepping off the boat, Clarence Burnham found 
 himself on a wharf well filled with crates and baskets, 
 and lined on both sides with men trying fisherman's 
 luck. Not seeing Victor Hopewell, whom he ex- 
 pected, he imagined he might have to wait on the 
 dock some time. Remembering that two college 
 mates, named Rockerfeller and Lasher, hailed from 
 this quarter, he went up to a man in a group and 
 asked if Mr. Rockerfeller lived near by. All four of 
 the men smiled, and one answered : 
 
 " Well, yes, about twenty-five of him. Which one 
 do you mean ? " 
 
 Clarence, forgetting for the moment his college 
 mate's first name, answered, " The one who is cousin 
 to Mr. Lasher." 
 
 At this the four men doubled up and laughed 
 heartily, while others, overhearing the conversation, 
 joined in a smile that was decidedly audible. 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 79 
 
 " Well, sir, there are at least twenty of him, too. 
 The two families almost make this place." 
 
 By the time that it became clear to the traveller 
 that he had dropped into one of those Hudson River 
 settlements in which there were large families with 
 many sons and much intermarriage, Victor Hopewell 
 appeared with carriage and pair of horses for the 
 five-mile ride into the back country. He pointed out 
 on the way the neat, substantial-looking homes of his 
 college mates. In about an hour and a half they 
 had ascended the slope to where, on a ridge over- 
 looking the landscape and river, the parsonage, like 
 a chick under the wing of a mother hen, nestled be- 
 neath a wide-spreading elm. 
 
 The story of that week was one of hearts. It can 
 be told here only in bare outline. 
 
 No more than four days of walks and drives, of 
 chat and reading on the leafy vine-draped porch, had 
 passed before Clarence Burnham told her, yes, 
 blurted out, his love. Boy-like, he plunged in, 
 attempting to capture by storm, sword in hand, 
 as it were, the intrenchments that guard the heart 
 of a maiden who is daughter, as well as damsel. 
 Instead of making slow shall we say sure ap- 
 proach by zigzag and parallel, he thought, at least 
 he hoped, to win by immediate assault and frontal 
 attack. Nor, like a good engineer, had he surveyed 
 the whole around, or calculated elements and forces. 
 
80 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 In a word, he was a brave novice, but not a cool 
 veteran. 
 
 But no overwhelming victory was won. Was it a 
 drawn battle ? 
 
 The situation was this. Marian was a Christian of 
 the genuine sort. From her girlhood, her heart had 
 been set on going " in His name " to some part of the 
 earth to tell the good news of God to women as well as 
 to men. The one intense, yes, the very deepest feel- 
 ing of her life was hostility to the systems of pagan- 
 ism that held down her sex in ignorance and cruelty. 
 Ever since she heard one, whom she called " the sunny 
 missionary," tell of beautiful Japan, that yet did not 
 educate her women, her purpose began to form. 
 
 As she listened to the venerable man from Amoy, 
 who pictured foot-binding and neglect of Chinese 
 women, and the slaughter, by abandonment, of 
 China's female children, and heard the missionary 
 ladies of Arcot describe the slave life in the zenanas 
 of India, her resolve was fixed. With this purpose 
 ever in view, she had entered and graduated from 
 Vassar College. Nor had her resolve weakened, but 
 was rather confirmed when her mother, who had 
 approved and inspired, left her for the House of 
 Eternity in 1890. 
 
 Now, her father, after three years' widowerhood, 
 was about to remarry. This was her time to trans- 
 late purpose into action. She had been already sev- 
 
LOVE AND WAR CLOUDS. 81 
 
 eral weeks under appointment to go to China, and 
 would sail in October " missionaries' month " on 
 the Pacific steamer. She expected, God willing, to 
 celebrate her next Christmas and New Year's Day, 
 January I, 1894, in Peking. 
 
 The golden week all too quickly passed away, and 
 Clarence left Eagle's Nest for a pedestrian tour 
 through the Catskill Mountains. After this, in 
 search of both- experience and emolument, he spent 
 some weeks in the service of one of the great daily 
 newspapers of the metropolis. He was astonished 
 at the tremendous energies daily evoked for the 
 making of these world-moving powers, and he real- 
 ized as never before how a metropolitan journal puts 
 the whole world under tribute, as it daily pictures its 
 history. Clarence Burnham did not know but that 
 journalism might be his vocation. At any rate, the 
 opportunity of seeing " the world and his wife " in 
 their various places of behavior and possibilities, was 
 of vast value to him. Human nature, as seen by a re- 
 porter, is amazingly varied. Apart from his outdoor 
 adventures and experiences, expertness with the pen 
 in the use of his native tongue was with Clarence 
 Burnham not only a thing to be desired, but, as De 
 Quincey says, " It should be sacred ambition." 
 
 The summer passed away, and the time drew near 
 when, on the self-same day, Clarence Burnham must 
 return to college and Marian Hopewell was to cross 
 
82 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the continent to take steamer for China. His ambi- 
 tion was wholly literary, hers to be the missionary of 
 the Lover of our Souls to her sisters. She would 
 obey the call that had come first. She would think 
 of a human lover and of marriage afterward. 
 
 So they parted friends, warm and true, but she 
 under no vow or bond. He pleaded that she would 
 plight her troth and wear on her finger the golden 
 band which he longed to place on it. 
 
 " No," said she, " I shall not bind you. You are 
 free ; but as for myself, I shall marry no other. 
 Don't write to me. Keep silence ; but five years 
 from this day, if your mind changes not, and your 
 heart is the same, come to me." 
 
 So Clarence Burnham went back to the red shale, 
 to college work, and also to anxiety, for Jozuna's talk 
 and Mr. Niver's prophecy of war in the East had dis- 
 quieted his mind. Few, indeed, could then foresee the 
 future ; but every yard of the road to Peking, both by 
 land and water, was known to the Japanese, and every 
 road of the Korean path to Manchuria. Quietly, 
 wisely, Japan was training her young men against 
 the perils alike of sham Christianity and the militant 
 hatred of China, for the Middle Kingdom looked upon 
 Japan as a renegade and deserter from the traditions 
 of Orientalism as stereotyped by Confucius. 
 
 We may now take a glimpse of the damsel-errant 
 in China, and look into the mysteries of the Middle 
 Kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 
 
 MARIA'N HOPEWELL mightily enjoyed her 
 journey across the full stretch of her native 
 land. She had often seen, bathed in, sailed 
 over, and played in the Atlantic, and lived for weeks 
 on its strand. Now she waited with childlike glee, 
 and with some spark of the feeling of a discoverer, 
 for a sight of the wonderful Pacific, so associated in 
 her mind with Spaniards and pirates and Sir Francis 
 Drake, and American whalers, explorers, missiona- 
 ries, and pioneers. 
 
 In crossing the flowery prairies, moving swiftly 
 through the canons, as the locomotive whistle awoke 
 a chorus of echoes, in climbing up or sliding down 
 the Sierras, she found few of the striking phenomena 
 of which her father had told her. Twenty-five years 
 before he had journeyed on wheel and rail from 
 Manhattan to the Golden Gate, and had seen many 
 wonders now vanished. The " cities" of prairie 
 dogs, the herds of antelope, the occasional drove 
 of bison, the canvas villages and board towns, the 
 
 83 
 
84 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 crowds of blanketed and begging Indians at each 
 station, were things of the past. 
 
 Though she looked for some man that had been 
 once scalped, she found none. Instead of finding 
 Cheyenne a group of shanties, she saw a fair, fresh 
 city of elegant dwellings, noble church spires, and 
 imposing school buildings, with all the signs of more 
 glorious things to come. Every day was an exhilara- 
 tion, and the ride through the Sierras a rapture. 
 
 In San Francisco she was met by Dr. Clinton, the 
 veteran missionary or apostle, to use a Greek word 
 meaning exactly the same thing with whom and 
 his wife she was to cross the Pacific. In build, 
 appearance, rugged strength, quiet dignity, kind- 
 liness, and a genius for being helpful, he reminded 
 her of nothing more than that famous Dutch in- 
 vention called a domme-kracht, which we call a jack- 
 screw. 
 
 On her way over she had this stumpy tool give an 
 exhibition of power that surprised her. One of the 
 trucks of the Pullman car needed repairs in some 
 part of its interior economy. The train was stopped 
 and the tool brought. In five minutes, with the ap- 
 plication of the muscle of a single man to the levers 
 of the jack-screws, the whole truck and rear half of 
 the car were lifted and the defect quickly righted. 
 Somehow she correlated the jack-screw and the mis- 
 sionary, for he seemed to be one of the lifters of the 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 85 
 
 empire of China. In her letters home she always 
 spoke playfully of her elderly friend as "Jack." 
 One day, happening to tell Dr. Clinton of her fan- 
 cies, he exclaimed : 
 
 " A compliment, indeed. Supposing that I call you 
 ' Yeast Cake,' for I expect you to raise up the mass 
 around you. There's room in China for all the 
 chemical and spiritual, as well as mechanical, force 
 one can bring." 
 
 " Mechanical ! Why, Doctor, then you believe in 
 engines and telegraph poles." 
 
 " Yes, I profess to the world that I am an advance 
 agent of Christianity and soap, and I want my fellow- 
 countrymen to bring machine shops, railways, and 
 engineering of many sorts. Next to the gospel, our 
 Chinese brothers need soap and oxygen, drainage 
 and ventilation. Somehow they seem to have an 
 antipathy to pure air, water and machinery." 
 
 " They need godliness, and what is next to it also. 
 What else, Doctor ? " 
 
 " Much in all directions. So much, my young 
 friend, that I look upon the man or woman who 
 has for China's diseases only one specific, as a crank. 
 You'll meet many of this variety of our species. One 
 man thinks railroads are the panacea ; another, unre- 
 stricted trade ; another, science and general education ; 
 another, foreign conquest by one nation or partition 
 among several ; but the most numerous specimens of 
 
86 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the species you and I are apt to meet are of the 
 evangelistic sort, who fancy that what they call the 
 gospel especially their stripe is the heal-all and 
 save-all." 
 
 "Why, isn't it, Doctor?" 
 
 " Certainly, when it is pure and original the 
 Christ's own, that gives a man not only a new mind, 
 but makes over his body and improves the home 
 and society. I welcome the engineer, teacher, 
 plumber, trader, printer, and any and all good men 
 and women who will open my Chinese brother's 
 eyes, get him out of his rut, help him to see the 
 wealth in the ground, and know what the fertile earth 
 and its hidden treasures can do for him. Most of 
 all, I want God's truth to so fill the Chinaman's mind 
 that he will have no room for the devils and demons 
 that now crowd his universe. I want all parasites 
 and microbes of paganism killed off. Convince 
 a Chinaman of the Heavenly Father's love and of 
 ours who represent Him, and China's greatest curse 
 witchcraft is banished." 
 
 "Witchcraft! Are the Chinese bothered with 
 that? Anything like the Salem variety?" 
 
 " It overspreads every function of life in China. 
 It is like the colossal roc in Arabian Nights story. 
 Its eggs hatch out every form of deviltry known, 
 and will yet ruin China. You'll see enough of it 
 when you are among people who think the dragon 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 87 
 
 swallows the sun, and who kill or save their babies 
 according to the dogmas of witchcraft." 
 
 " Do you think these witchcraft ideas are power- 
 ful enough to drive men into fanaticism ? Have they 
 had anything to do with the outbreaks of mob violence 
 in times past ? " 
 
 " I really believe so, and if ever there is any gen- 
 eral uprising against foreigners, I fear for the peace 
 of China. Any unscrupulous Tartar in high office 
 could make a political engine of this feeling among 
 the masses and direct it against ' the outside barba- 
 rians,' as they call us. But don't fear." 
 
 " I shall not," laughed Marian. " I have counted 
 the cost." 
 
 This ended their conversation for that day, and the 
 next they were on the ship. 
 
 We pass over the details of the journey across the 
 greatest of oceans. There was the usual company 
 of merchants, tourists, missionaries, naval officers, 
 going out to relieve comrades, returning Japanese, 
 and characters of every sort. 
 
 After twenty-five days of life afloat, weary of water 
 both blue and yellow, Marian was glad to set foot 
 upon soil that, for five years' at least, was to be as 
 home to her. After the usual stops at the ports of 
 Japan, enabling the party to get a glimpse of the 
 " Princess Country " and its evergreen beauty, the 
 steamer ploughed her way westwardly to Shanghai. 
 
88 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 One morning she noticed that the deep sapphire 
 tinge of the water had changed to dingy yellow. 
 She asked Dr. Clinton the cause. 
 
 " Nothing more than Tibet and Mongolia come 
 down to flavor the Pacific, and give it local color. 
 It's like the Chinese themselves," said the Doctor, 
 who rarely lost a chance to philosophize. 
 
 " In what way ? " 
 
 "The Yang-tse River has for ages been carrying 
 down the fine soil from the mountains and plateaus, 
 a thousand miles back in the interior, and depositing 
 it to form whole provinces. Kiang-su, the first land 
 and province we shall see, is all alluvial. So the 
 character of the people in China has been formed by 
 precedent and habit for two thousand years and more, 
 and neither these nor the people can be changed in 
 a day." 
 
 " So the Chinese will not reform quickly, then, like 
 the Japanese." 
 
 " No, indeed. The islanders can easily throw 
 away what they only borrowed. The Chinese will 
 be in no hurry to part with what their ancestors 
 invented and the ages have tested." 
 
 Marian Hope well's particular work in Peking was 
 to assist her friend, Mrs. Drayton, a veteran in the 
 service of the Master, whom she had met while in 
 Vassar College, and who by one broad hint and warm 
 invitation to Marian to be her fellow-worker had 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 89 
 
 clinched the nail of resolve which others had driven. 
 Mrs. Drayton, once a maiden of rare beauty and 
 graces which came both from inheritance and culti- 
 vation, a lover of society and of good things, withal 
 an heiress of tens of thousands, had wedded and was 
 a widow within twenty months. Though reared in 
 a Philadelphia family noted during generations for 
 liberal giving, no alabaster box or priceless oint- 
 ment being thought too good for the Lover of Souls, 
 Mary Drayton astonished her friends one day by 
 the quiet announcement that she was going to China, 
 and would take her fortune with her. 
 
 And she did. In China's capital she spent wisely 
 her fortune, making every tael tell for her yellow 
 sister's sake. She trained Chinese girls in the arts 
 of the needle, the nursery, bedroom, and kitchen, and 
 taught them how to make homes measurably like 
 that from which she had come. She introduced 
 them to the noblest literature this race has produced. 
 Severe in opinion, and hating with perfect hatred that 
 Confucian system in vogue about her that meant 
 atheism in philosophy and degradation of woman, 
 she was all sunshine and help in the Mission Home. 
 
 After twenty years of toil in China's unpaved capi- 
 tal city, which is all mud in wet, and dust in dry, 
 weather, she visited her home land. Shrinking from 
 public address, she influenced more than one life by 
 her quiet conversation. Through her many a noble 
 
90 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 American girl was led to follow her Master gladly, 
 even along thorny paths in China. 
 
 To Marian Hopewell it was a wonderful revelation 
 of sweet womanhood to live in the same home with 
 the now silver-haired Mary Drayton. Such discov- 
 eries were as secret springs enriching her own soul. 
 
 Years before, after her first homesickness at Vas- 
 sar, she had written home that she had never known 
 that there were so many lovely girls in the world. 
 Again, even in China, a sweet surprise awaited her. 
 She had never seen at close range any Chinese but 
 those men whose interests were chiefly in what related 
 to soap, water, starch, and washable clothing. Now, 
 to be with pretty babies and little girls with olive skin 
 as soft as velvet, with eyes merry with laughter and 
 bright with affection, gave her new ideas of humanity 
 in this part of the world and opened her mind's eyes 
 widely. It seemed as though all China had bathed 
 seven times in the river Jordan. 
 
 It was like discovering a new world to learn that 
 the Chinese had plenty of poetry, and that among the 
 little folks or their nurses hundreds of " Mother 
 Goose " rhymes and jingles were current. For every 
 finger and toe of the baby there was a nonsense story 
 or bit of nursery lore. Not a few of the pretty fairy 
 stories she heard from the Chinese women who helped 
 in the Home, were like those with which her own 
 memory was stored from Grimm or the "Tanglewood 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 91 
 
 Tales." Many of the games of the boys and girls in 
 the street seemed very pretty. Often they were very 
 lively. Occasionally some of the travelling showmen 
 that amuse young folks were invited in, and for a 
 sum in cash equal to a dime of our money the whole 
 household could be entertained with the Chinese 
 Punch and Judy, a trained bear's tricks, a boy acro- 
 bat, or the funny and startling wonders wrought by 
 sleight of hand. 
 
 Yet there was a dark side also in the Chinese girl's 
 life. The pagan fashion of foot binding, which com- 
 pressed the feet into unnatural smallness, was a source 
 of pain that shadowed half the young life. 
 
 Night life in Peking was in one respect strange. 
 When cloudy or very dark, there was a silence as of 
 death ; whereas, on moonlight evenings, Marian heard, 
 even from afar, a continual buzz and hum from the 
 moving crowds. One evening, in company with Dr. 
 Clinton and one of the senior helpers in the native 
 church, Marian took a walk through the most popu- 
 lous part of the great city to see and hear. They 
 were provided with lanterns and candles. In Asiatic 
 countries, where public street lighting is not the rule, 
 municipal law requires all abroad to carry lanterns. 
 
 In passing along a street in which were the walled 
 gardens of some wealthy man, a scream of pain was 
 heard from inside the wall. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! what's that ? " cried Marian, who imag- 
 
92 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 ined a murder might be going on. " It's a girl's voice. 
 Is she being killed ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, only by fashion," answered Dr. Clinton, 
 quietly. " Murder among ordinary people is very 
 rare in China." 
 
 "It's only a little girl getting her feet bound," 
 explained the Chinese gentleman. " It hurts very 
 much for a few weeks, though sometimes for years." 
 
 " Ai-oh, ai-oh ! " moaned the poor creature, and 
 then a shriek pierced the air, or at least Marian's 
 ears. 
 
 " Is she lying out on the ground or on the grass?" 
 asked Marian. 
 
 " No, she is in bed, but the bed is in an outhouse 
 or a summer pavilion in the garden." 
 
 " Why do they put her there ? " 
 
 " Because it is the rule that if the girl cries so as 
 to disturb her father and mother, she must sleep 
 somewhere outdoors." 
 
 Stopping for a moment, and with the aid of the 
 lantern, the Chinese teacher showed by motions how, 
 after happy babyhood was over, the girl's feet were 
 so squeezed with stout bandages that foot and toes 
 were crushed into a hoof, or, as he, using the native 
 term, called it, a "golden lily." The pain was excru- 
 ciating. 
 
 " Oh, why do they how can they practise such 
 cruelty ? " 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 93 
 
 " Lady, in China, a girl cannot get a husband 
 if she have natural, or, as our people say, big 
 feet." 
 
 The thought of millions of girls at that moment 
 in China writhing in torture was like a pang of 
 physical pain to Marian. She wondered if there 
 were not some way of rescuing the poor, crying 
 sufferer. 
 
 " No," said Dr. Clinton ; " this is a respectable 
 family and home, and their privacy is inviolate. 
 Besides, you'll have enough to try your feelings. 
 Better save your sympathies and turn them all in the 
 channel that will tell best in results. This is just 
 why I consented to give you this night's adventure 
 and experience. I have something else in reserve 
 for you." 
 
 About half a mile farther they stopped at a house 
 of the ordinary sort that seemed to be well known to 
 the Chinese helper, who gave a low, peculiar sound, 
 or call, that was answered promptly from within. It 
 was a woman about forty years old that appeared. 
 
 " Is it cast out ? " asked the helper. 
 
 "Yes, 'twas laid down three hours ago. It cried 
 awhile, but it has been silent for some time. I think 
 it is dead now. Will you and your honorable friends 
 see it ? " asked the woman. 
 
 Dr. Clinton whispered to Marian that this woman 
 was an attendant at his mission chapel, and the ser- 
 
94 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 vant in the family of a Chinese ivory-carver, who 
 lived in this house. He also told Marian not to utter 
 a word, and especially to restrain any expression of 
 her feelings. 
 
 On the floor of a sort of a storeroom or outhouse 
 lay a baby, apparently seven months old. It was 
 wrapped up, indeed, but only with one thickness of 
 its ordinary clothes, so that its sex could not be de- 
 termined. It was not specially wizened or thin, and 
 bore no outward marks of disease. In very low 
 whispers the woman explained to Dr. Clinton, who 
 translated quickly to Marian, that it was a female 
 child, and that for four weeks or more some mysteri- 
 ous disorder of the bowels had troubled the little one, 
 causing it to cry a great deal, and thus disturb its 
 parents' sleep. No medicine seemed to reach the 
 trouble, and the native doctor had given it up. The 
 mother pleaded that they should wait another week 
 and keep on trying remedies, but the father decided 
 that it was not a real child, but only one that seemed 
 to be a human being, and in reality a demon. So 
 the usual Chinese custom was followed, and the 
 expense of a funeral saved. 
 
 " A clear case of belief in witchcraft ! The Chi- 
 nese think evil spirits possess children. When medi- 
 cines fail to operate properly, they think the child is 
 bewitched or demon-possessed. So they expose it in 
 an outhouse. If it survives, which is very rare, all is 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 95 
 
 well. They nourish and rear it. If it dies, they 
 conclude it was -only a demon. Not so very different, 
 you see, from the way our ancestors had for detect- 
 ing witches. They threw them in the water. If 
 they sunk and drowned, they were innocent. If they 
 floated and swam, they were witches." 
 
 " Poor thing ! Oh, God, strengthen me to fight for 
 mercy and truth ! " It was Marian's heart, not lips, 
 that spoke. The Chinese woman lifted up the little 
 pallid form. It was rigid. No warmth of life was 
 there. Marian touched its little cheek and felt a cold 
 thrill. 
 
 " It will soon be time to give notice to my master, 
 who told me to report to him before the hour of the 
 passing of the dead cart." 
 
 " That's economy. It saves the expense of funer- 
 als," said Dr. Clinton. "Come, we must leave." 
 He gave the woman a small coin, and thanked her. 
 
 The party then proceeded to the helper's house. 
 Within were no idol shelf or ancestral tablets. The 
 usual smells, in which incense was the first and bean 
 oil the next, seemed to be absent from this plain but 
 very neat home, into which the helper's wife bade 
 them warm welcome. With true courtesy she seemed 
 to welcome and enjoy the visit of the American 
 young lady, while the presence of Dr. Clinton was 
 sufficiently familiar to take away that sense of em- 
 barrassment which is so apt to torment a woman in a 
 
96 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 land where social life as understood in Christen- 
 dom is unknown. 
 
 The purpose of a visit at such an unusual hour had 
 been previously explained. So the good Chinese 
 housewife had ready refreshments of hot tea, rice, 
 and cakes, which were grateful to the palate and 
 keenly enjoyed by all. 
 
 "We are quite imperial in our hours to-night, or 
 shall I say this morning," for it was just past mid- 
 night, as Dr. Clinton spoke. 
 
 " Why so ? " asked Marian. 
 
 " Because the Emperor always gives audience at 
 daybreak, and sometimes as early as 2 A.M. Indeed, 
 one country, long a vassal of the Middle Kingdom, 
 takes even its name from this circumstance." 
 
 " Oh, do you refer to Cho-sen or Korea ? I 
 always thought the name, meaning Morning Radi- 
 ance or Matin Calm, came from its own beautiful 
 scenery." 
 
 "No; I rather suspect ' the little Outpost State,' 
 'the little sister among the nations/ 'our vassal,' as 
 the Chinese say, took its poetical name from the favor 
 granted at an audience with the Chinese Emperor in 
 the hour of dawn." 
 
 " Then, if in the war which you think must come 
 soon between China and Japan, the little peninsular 
 kingdom is made free and independent, 'its name will 
 be changed ?" 
 
MARIAN HOPEWELL IN PEKING. 97 
 
 " Yes, I rather think so. Being so small, it will of 
 course assume a lofty style and title and become an 
 empire, say Dai Han, or Great Han, with an em- 
 peror." 
 
 After this chat on things past and future, the house- 
 wife prepared a couch with screens in one of the 
 three rooms that make up the average Chinese house, 
 that Marian might have two or three hours of rest, 
 while all sat dozing until nearly four o'clock, when 
 they were awakened by the rumbling of the dead 
 cart. 
 
 All rose, and without lighting their lanterns, for it 
 was quite light, they went out. They first took a look 
 at the vehicle. It was a big, clumsy affair, drawn by 
 two oxen, and across the front of it were large Chinese 
 characters which read " For Infant Corpses." Fol- 
 lowing it for over half a mile, they saw the vehicle 
 stop at three places and receive what seemed bundles 
 of rice straw, which in reality contained the dead 
 bodies of little ones, which were thus disposed of in 
 mass, without the expense of so many individual 
 funerals. 
 
 Satisfied with her investigation into Chinese methods 
 of economy, Marian thanked the native helper and 
 bade him good-by. She was accompanied farther, 
 even to the door of the Mission Home, by Dr. 
 Clinton. 
 
 After this night adventure, life for Marian resumed 
 
98 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 its ordinary round. In the outward monotony of 
 daily tasks and toil, she found wondrous variety of 
 thought in thus coming daily in contact with a new 
 type of mind. Her own being " set to hallow " all 
 she found, she won, as Keble's verse promises, " new 
 treasures still, of countless price." 
 
 Nevertheless, she did not forget the student who 
 had asked her to share her life with his. She had, 
 indeed, placed the seals of silence upon him, but this 
 was but to test the strength of his affection. In joy- 
 ful hope she waited during years, as many as the 
 fingers of her hand. She wondered where and how 
 they should meet. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 
 
 WHEN Clarence Burnham found that Jozuna 
 had left New York and started for his 
 home land, he felt more lonely than ever. 
 With the one he loved passionately, and his boy hood's 
 friend and travel companion both in the Far East, he 
 was seized with a desperate fit of the blues, of home- 
 sickness, of desire to be at the ends of the earth. 
 He cancelled an engagement in athletics, withdrew 
 from his comrades, and hied to Willow Grove ceme- 
 tery. There, walking in the paths and among the 
 mounds and the monuments inscribed with the pic- 
 ture language of the Far East, he found congenial 
 exercise of his emotions and relief to his feelings of 
 sadness. The news from beyond the Pacific por- 
 tended war, and somehow Clarence Burnham's 
 thought ran on dying for one's country. He pic- 
 tured death on the battle-field, the war-ship's red 
 deck, or patriotic sacrifice on the torpedo-boat. 
 
 " They all served their country well," said Clarence, 
 half aloud, as he read the Japanese inscriptions, and 
 
 99 
 
ioo IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 compared the eager ambitions of those who died in 
 bed and were shrouded in serge with those who might 
 die on deck or be shrouded in ice. Despite the cold 
 of late February, he sat on the graves and thought of 
 Japan, wondering if in the shock of battle with great 
 China the smaller nation should emerge victorious. 
 Japan had turned her back on China's effete civiliza- 
 tion, and had turned her face to the West and to Chris- 
 tendom. This, China would never forgive, and since 
 Japan's action might loosen the allegiance of other 
 vassal and pupil nations, the Peking government 
 looked upon Japan, not only as a renegade, but as 
 " a neighbor-disturbing nation." If there were 
 war, would not Japan with her superb army make 
 conquests on the Asiatic continent, and then would 
 not European nations, nay might not our own 
 country, be drawn in the vortex of war ? At least, 
 would not our soldiers as well as sailors be needed 
 to protect Americans in the ports of China and 
 Japan ? 
 
 Was it strange that then and there Clarence Burn- 
 ham fell into a revery, wondering if he should ever 
 be a soldier. He smiled at the idea, when a voice 
 seemed to say, 
 
 " You will." 
 
 He started and looked around. There was no one 
 near. He heard nothing more, but he did feel a mo- 
 mentary chill, as if he had been unconscious of the 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 101 
 
 flight of time while sitting on the frozen ground, 
 longer than a wise man, even with a thick ulster over- 
 coat, ought to do. He had no sooner turned from 
 the side into the main avenue of the cemetery than 
 he saw a telegraph boy dismounting from a bicycle 
 at the gate outside. 
 
 He had a cablegram addressed to Clarence Burn- 
 ham, whom, after much seeking and inquiry, he had 
 now found. Clarence tore open the flap. The mes- 
 sage was in type- script and read at a glance : /'Your 
 mother died yesterday. Await letter." 
 
 When Clarence Burnham read the words, he was 
 dazed. It seemed not the first, but the third heavy 
 stroke of Providence. The words of an ancient suf- 
 ferer rose to his lips, " Lover and friend hast thou 
 put far from me and mine acquaintance into dark- 
 ness." The bitter pangs of grief were his as he 
 thought of his mother, now no longer on earth, as the 
 one from whom he had first learned love. No more 
 would her help and counsel be his. A great spring 
 and inspiration in life were gone. 
 
 Yet even in that very first moment of keen sorrow, 
 there was still another feeling, scarcely less painful 
 to bear. He felt a presentiment that his student days 
 were over and his hopes of literary fame dashed, his 
 ambitions stifled. 
 
 The college men wondered during the next week 
 or two what was the matter with Burnham. He 
 
102 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 evaded answers to direct questioning, and said noth- 
 ing about his private grief. 
 
 Until his father's letter came, he was haunted by 
 vague fears that his career as a student was closed. 
 It was his mother that had always encouraged him 
 to study, and bade him look forward to the life of a 
 scholar and writer. For his wife's sake, Mr. Burn- 
 ham had yielded, though he preferred his oldest 
 child to be a business man, and ultimately to become 
 partner with him. 
 
 Would now his father summon him to Japan to 
 put him in the hong, or counting-house ? The idea 
 of leaving the world of books, of students and pro- 
 fessors, and all the glory and fun on " the banks of 
 the old Raritan," was terrible. To go back to Japan 
 to spend his days with tricky Japanese traders, 
 among Chinese shroffs (money changers), in hand- 
 ling bales of silk, and in shipping goods, was not 
 to his taste. To watch the market for "hanks," 
 "reels," cocoons "whole" or "pierced," to look after 
 bantos (clerks) and godowns (storehouses), seemed 
 not only unattractive, but monotonous and dismal. 
 
 He was not long kept in suspense. Before the 
 end of March came the black-edged envelope con- 
 taining the letter expected and feared. It told the 
 story of brief illness and of quick parting of wife 
 and mother from her dear ones. It was pleasant 
 to know that Mrs. Burnham had so endeared herself 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 103 
 
 to the Japanese women and children, working for 
 their good "just like a missionary," as was said. 
 They asked for the privilege, which was given, of 
 rearing over her grave a fitting memorial stone. 
 
 This was like a wafting of perfume, as when 
 winds blow laden with the offering of flowers that 
 bloom in the night Clarence not only loved his 
 mother in filial devotion, but was never happier than 
 when others seemed to appreciate her. He was 
 touched by the tokens of love won by an alien from 
 the native people. To him the Japanese were not 
 "strangers," "heathen," or oddities of creation, but 
 real human beings, as certainly children of the 
 Heavenly Father as men with white skins or 
 straight eyelids. This part of his father's letter 
 made his eyes moisten. 
 
 Then followed what seemed the decision of fate. 
 For several years past the conditions of business 
 had threatened to compel a change. Mr. Burnham 
 proposed to settle in Yokohama and begin business 
 under different methods. The loss of his wife pre- 
 cipitated this decision. Clarence must leave college, 
 choose a business career as helper of his father, and 
 set out from New Brunswick at once. 
 
 There could be no arguing, denying, or evading. 
 "The decree of the Emperor is like perspiration 
 it never goes back," says the homely Japanese prov- 
 erb. To Clarence Burnham the word of his father 
 
104 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was as imperial decree. Whether hard or easy, 
 pleasant or unpleasant, he would be as a Samurai of 
 Japan, and obey with alacrity. Had his father bid- 
 den him commit hara-kiri and open his body in token 
 of a son's loyalty, who could doubt but that Clarence 
 would have promptly obeyed ? Living among the 
 Japanese had stiffened this American's ideas of loy- 
 alty and service. 
 
 One rosy streak lay on the dark sky of his parent's 
 command. It appealed to the lad's love of adven- 
 ture. Mr. Burnham had some accounts to settle at 
 Shanghai and Tientsin, before he took the new step 
 in business. Clarence could go to China from San 
 Francisco, and, if he wished, since he might get 
 no further vacation for many months, come back 
 to Japan via Korea. 
 
 " Well, I must make the best of it," said Clarence, 
 as he folded up the letter. Then notifying Prex 
 and the faculty, he quickly disposed of his portable 
 belongings in trunk and grip, turning over as 
 souvenirs to his Japanese student friends all the 
 adornments of his room and various college trophies 
 that were not of a personal nature. In New York 
 he called on his quondam friend, the newspaper 
 manager, who hinted to Clarence that genuine news 
 from Japan was always welcome. 
 
 We pass over the details of the journey which 
 Clarence Burnham took westward in order to get to 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 105 
 
 the Far East. In five days he had crossed the great 
 United States, whose grandeur in area and variety 
 of resources one can never fully appreciate until he 
 has made the same record of travel and observation. 
 Making prompt connection with the steamer at San 
 Francisco, sixteen days were spent between the 
 Golden Gate and Yedo Bay. 
 
 Like good fortune awaited him in Yokohama, and 
 after making quick passage thence, between one 
 sunrise and a second sunset to Kobe, he looked 
 again upon the scenery of his boyhood. He saw 
 again his father and brothers and sisters, visited his 
 mother's grave, during the steamer's stay of one day. 
 He was on deck again, when the full moon revealed 
 once more, as he had so often seen it in childhood and 
 dreamed of it in America, the lovely land, and, what 
 the Dutch call the water-scape, of ocean-girded Japan. 
 
 " It must seem hard to you, my boy, after cutting 
 short your college career, to send you off so sum- 
 marily to China ; but the business is pressing, and 
 what I most fear is the quick outbreak of war. In- 
 deed, even as it is, hostilities may begin before you 
 get back." 
 
 " Don't think of me, father," said Clarence, cheer- 
 fully. "When I once made up my mind to leave 
 college, and renounce my literary ambitions for busi- 
 ness, I accepted the whole situation cheerfully. All 
 I ask now is that you will trust me fully." 
 
io6 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Why, certainly, my son, I do. Did I seem not to 
 do so ? " 
 
 " You did, father ; but now as regards my travels. 
 I understand that I must be spry about business 
 in Shanghai and Tientsin, and I shall be. But 
 I imagine that you will not need me in Yokohama 
 for at least two or three, possibly four, months 
 yet?" 
 
 "You are correct, Clarence. I see you want to 
 take in Korea. All right. Do so if you can, but 
 there are two dorits in the matter." 
 
 " What, father ? " 
 
 " Don't take too great risks, and don't bring me 
 into debt." 
 
 Clarence laughed, and just then the call "All 
 ashore " sounded. So, 'mid the bustle of departing 
 landsfolk and the abundant " Good-bys " and " God 
 bless yous," Mr. Burnham made his way to the 
 wharf. 
 
 The cabin was full of ladies and gentlemen, while 
 the steerage was crowded with Chinese passengers, 
 who, fearing that war would soon force them to leave 
 Japan hastily, thought it best to go at once. They 
 believed they did well in taking Father Time by the 
 foremost hair of his forelock. 
 
 Several of the thousand tongues of Dame Rumor 
 were busy. One declared that a Chinese battleship 
 had sunk three Japanese men-of-war. Another 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 107 
 
 hinted that there was a man on board, a Yankee, who 
 had some wonderful scheme for blowing up a whole 
 fleet in a moment. It was to be very easily clone by 
 a secret compound, to be made effective in half-sub- 
 merged bottles. For a small fortune he was willing 
 to sell his secret, or, for a proper consideration, even 
 to attempt its execution in person. 
 
 In the smoking room, Clarence heard some won- 
 derful stories. Fortunately, however, he was fairly 
 familiar with that " higher criticism," which he had 
 noticed so scared nervous old ladies and gentlemen 
 in and out of the churches in the United States. 
 This now stood him in good stead. He was soon 
 able to see, in spite of the thick tobacco smoke in 
 the saloon, that nervousness and fear, and the pro- 
 pensity in the average human being to gull and be 
 gulled, was the basis of some of the tall edifices of 
 fancy then erected in the air. 
 
 In truth, no one knew anything about facts and 
 certainties, though the signs of war were threatening. 
 Not a few of the pessimists agreed that the race 
 would surely be to the swift, and the battle to the 
 strong, or, in other words, that Japan was going to 
 the dogs and would be " smashed " by China. At the 
 beginning, the smaller country might strike quickly 
 and hard, but in the long run, if war continued, 
 China's superior resources would tell, and Japan 
 would be ruined. 
 
io8 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Most of the talkers were dwellers in the ports, 
 though of but a few years' residence in the East. 
 Nearly all labored under the very common but very 
 mistaken notion that the Chinese were, in our use of 
 the term, a nation as well as a race, and had a gov- 
 ernment in the sense that Germany or the United 
 States has a government. 
 
 " You're all mistaken, gentlemen," growled a gray- 
 beard, as he shook out the ashes of his pipe into the 
 cuspidore. " If war comes, it will be a fight between 
 a brainy athlete and a stupid giant, and all about a 
 pygmy too. Japan is the athlete, China the giant, and 
 Korea the pygmy. The one brainy, young, and strong, 
 has resources enough besides knowing just what to do. 
 That's Japan. China, besides being very old and as 
 little organized politically as a jellyfish, will, pretty 
 soon, not know what to do. Only a few coast 
 provinces of China will fight. The others will look 
 on while Russia steps in. Whichever way it may go, 
 the Bear sees his way to a good meal." 
 
 Off went the unpopular prophet to bed, and others, 
 including Clarence Burnham, soon followed. 
 
 In depressing contrast to the landscape of Japan, 
 our young traveller found the coast of China low, 
 yellow, and uninviting. He was hardly prepared for 
 what he saw, for he had heard this seacoast province 
 of Kiang-su spoken of as the Garden of China. This 
 is a vast alluvial plain created by the slow processes 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 109 
 
 of nature. Just as Holland is a deposit of mud and 
 sand tumbled down from the highlands of France and 
 Germany by the Maas and Rhine, so Kiang-su, over 
 three times -the size of the Netherlands, is the creation 
 of the Yang-tse River. 
 
 After passing the expanse of yellow-brown mud, 
 the outlook became more encouraging. Anchoring 
 off the Wusung bar, the steamer prepared to send 
 the bags of mail and the passengers up to the city of 
 Shanghai by a tender. 
 
 "What are all those British warships which we 
 saw lying off the mouth of the Yang-tse ? " asked 
 Clarence of his elderly friend, the prophet of the 
 smoking room the night before. 
 
 " Don't you know, my boy, that the British lion 
 doesn't propose to lose anything by a war in the 
 East? England will declare Shanghai outside the 
 sphere of military operations. British trade inter- 
 ests must not suffer ; for with an Englishman trade is 
 first, and God next, and fair play to either Japan or 
 China comes just when, and only how and when, it 
 suits John Bull's pocket-book." 
 
 Clarence looked at the grizzled face of " the 
 prophet " and wondered if he were the reputed Yan- 
 kee fleet-destroyer. He finally concluded he was a 
 New Yorker of Irish extraction. 
 
 The elderly man pointed out the route of the first 
 railway in China built in 1876 from Wusung to 
 

 no IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Shanghai, which, from the very first, the " literary 
 fellers " of China had opposed, because it was for- 
 eign. Hated by the lovers of superstition and 
 learned ignorance, who are as owls and bats to any- 
 thing savoring of Christianity, progress, and western- 
 ism, the railway, though popular, was doomed. 
 These literary Confucianists first got up an accident, 
 and then a riot. By government order, the ties and 
 rails were torn up, and the rolling stock sent to 
 Formosa. Not even a "streak of rust" remained in 
 this year, 1894 A.D., to tell the tale. 
 
 Passing the forest of vessels at anchor, the mills, 
 factories, and shipyards, Clarence was soon in the 
 heart of Shanghai. 
 
 He gave a day or two to seeing the pretty " foreign 
 concessions " and " settlements," the chief " hongs " 
 and "consulates," American, English, French, Jap- 
 anese, and German. These were shining, bright and 
 clean, while inside the great walled city of natives 
 seemed to lie the kingdom of nastiness. The nar- 
 rowness and filth of the streets, the stench of the 
 drains, the odors of opium, oil, and burning joss- 
 sticks assaulted his nose, and he was glad to beat a 
 retreat. In the evening, when the electric lights 
 made second day in the foreign city, wherein lodge, 
 besides five thousand Europeans and Americans, 
 over two hundred thousand Chinese, he was not im- 
 pressed with the morals of the "model settlement." 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. in 
 
 What with native and imported wickedness, the place 
 seemed to be one more in the list of at least a hundred 
 others, each named " the wickedest place on earth." 
 
 On the second day he called at the hong of a well- 
 known firm and arranged his father's business mat- 
 ters. As the work required but one or two hours of 
 the morning, he was free to accept an invitation from 
 Mr. Gordon, one of the firm, to ride out in the after- 
 noon and dine at the club at six o'clock. 
 
 Everywhere the talk was upon the coming war. 
 Everybody seemed to feel cock-sure that China would 
 quickly drive the Japanese out of Korea, sink the 
 Mikado's fleet, and then seize Yokohama and bom- 
 bard Tokio, unless the Japanese should, before this 
 dire eventuality, sue for peace and pay indemnity. 
 
 The ride took them in and out of all the foreign 
 quarters and past pretty much everything to be seen, 
 besides along the Bubbling Well Road. Yet what 
 interested Clarence Burnham most of all was a Brit- 
 ish steamer that had just come in from another 
 Chinese port. It was, as Clarence roughly estimated, 
 of about two thousand tons burthen, and might re- 
 quire a crew of sixty men. 
 
 11 1 am interested in that ship," said Mr. Gordon, 
 " for it is to carry Chinese troops to Korea. It will 
 easily hold a full regiment." 
 
 " Do the Chinese own it ? " 
 
 " No ; it belongs to a steamship company in Lon- 
 
ii2 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 don, which carries on trade with China and India. 
 The Chinese government has chartered it. The man- 
 darins put down two hundred thousand dollars in 
 bank to-day, to cover the cost of possible loss or 
 injury under the charter, apart from the price of the 
 vessel." 
 
 " Supposing war should break out ? " 
 
 " In that case the steamer would belong to the 
 Chinese, and the European officers would leave it. 
 But no war is likely to break out very soon. Of 
 course the Japanese will back down when they find 
 ten thousand of the best Chinese troops already on 
 the ground." 
 
 " What ! Ten thousand ? Are they there now ? " 
 
 " No ; but they will be in less than a week. Seven 
 Chinese and three British steamers are already busy 
 at Tientsin in transportation." 
 
 " How I should like to see Korea ! " mused Clar- 
 ence, out loud. 
 
 " Would you really like to go ? " asked Mr. Gordon, 
 in pleased surprise. 
 
 " Yes, certainly ; if a suitable opportunity is of- 
 fered." 
 
 " I am glad to know this, for Captain Halley, the 
 master, who was at my office this morning and is to 
 dine with us at the club this evening, said that he 
 wanted a young man, American or British, as clerk, 
 who could talk Japanese. He anticipates no trouble, 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 113 
 
 6ut in the event of meeting a Japanese man-of- 
 war, or of leaving his ship and remaining in Korea 
 and opening negotiations with merchants and Japan- 
 ese shipping men, he should need a young man like 
 yourself. He sails to-morrow at noon with his ship 
 in ballast for Tientsin." 
 
 At the club that evening Clarence Burnham was 
 introduced to Captain Halley, and was charmed with 
 him. The shipmaster broached the subject of going 
 to Korea to the young man, offering him good pay 
 as captain's clerk for two months, or until they came 
 back from Korea. If Captain Halley remained in 
 that country for business, mutually profitable arrange- 
 ments might be made, provided Mr. Burnham in 
 Japan could spare his son. Clarence's decision must 
 be made at once. 
 
 The spirit of adventure was strong. Clarence 
 Burnham accepted. Next morning, after writing a 
 long letter to his father, explaining everything, he 
 was on deck at n A.M. At noon the anchor was 
 weighed, and within thirty hours dropped again at 
 Tientsin. The low-lying Taku forts, looking like 
 a line of huge boxes, had been passed at the mouth 
 of the dirty, muddy, tortuous Peiho River. 
 
 Clarence Burnham was excited at the idea of 
 being within eighty miles of the maiden whose face 
 was as a photograph on his heart. Yet he wrote no 
 letter, for he had promised to keep silence with lip 
 
ii4 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 and pen for a half decade of years. He would 
 gladly have gone ashore and spent a day or two in 
 seeing the famous city, named the Ford of Heaven. 
 As it was, he had but a few hours, which he made 
 the most of in a jin-riki-sha ride. There was the 
 walled city with massive gates, and beside it the 
 larger Chinese unwalled city and the foreign settle- 
 ment, all enclosed, besides much land given to farms 
 and graves within a mud wall. For the first time, 
 seeing so large a portion of the soil taken up by bur- 
 ial places to the detriment of the living, he realized 
 how true it was that " China is a country ruled from 
 the graveyard." 
 
 With the Taku forts, Tientsin formed the guard- 
 gate to Peking. Nothing was now thought of on 
 shore or on deck but the despatch of soldiers to 
 Korea. Besides the usual craft moored in the 
 stream, including the inevitable British gunboat, was 
 the fleet of eight transports gay with flags, making 
 a striking sight. The Chinese dragon on triangular 
 yellow bunting seemed especially ready and rampant. 
 For two days Clarence was busy during every mo- 
 ment, while the ship was being watered and provi- 
 sioned, and made ready by the carpenters for the 
 accommodation of eleven hundred men and a twelve- 
 gun park of field-artillery. 
 
 All being ready except the living cargo, the fleet 
 dropped down the river. The peach and apple bios- 
 
AS A SHUTTLE, TO AND FRO. 115 
 
 soms in the thousands of orchards, that once in the 
 the year, for a few days, glorify this flat plain, had 
 fallen. Yet the greenery of the gardens and fruit 
 trees was very pleasing to the eye. The channel 
 went winding through its circuitous mazes that make 
 the water distance from Tientsin to the Taku forts 
 at the river's mouth compare with the length of the 
 land journey as sixty-seven to forty. At the forts 
 two Chinese men-of-war lay at anchor, waiting to act 
 as convoy. The drilled troops, for these were the 
 best in China's army, very large on paper, but very 
 small in the number of trained soldiers, left their 
 camp and quickly embarked. 
 
 Gayly, with a thousand flags fluttering in the breeze, 
 the fleet of ten steamers, carrying over six thousand 
 Chinese braves, sailed away. Another left the next 
 day. All these crossed the Yellow Sea to their des- 
 tination, and landed their forces at Asan in Korea, a 
 few miles southwest of the Korean capital. 
 
 Captain H alley's vessel was not ready to start 
 until the next day, July 23. Then the last man, 
 with cartridges and equipment, was on board, the 
 ammunition and field-guns housed and stored. There 
 were two Chinese generals. With water ballast to 
 keep the ship steady, but with nothing on board but 
 soldiers and their arms, ammunition, equipment, and 
 rations, the steamer soon left the low shores of north- 
 ern China behind her and sped to her fate. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 
 
 AT San Francisco, Jozuna was so fortunate as 
 to meet a high officer in the Mikado's govern- 
 ment, just returning from diplomatic business 
 in Europe. In former feudal days, when the ties of 
 clanship were so strong, this gentleman had been the 
 friend of his father. Jozuna told him his whole story, 
 and proved to him his innocence of the charges and 
 suspicions against him. 
 
 Fortunately this gentleman was a near friend of 
 the captain of the Japanese man-of-war Naniwa, 
 which was then lying in the harbor. The comple- 
 ment of the warship was short, and the petty officer 
 in charge of the most important branch of the noc- 
 turnal powers of the ship, the searchlights, was then 
 lying sick in a San Francisco hospital. Jozuna's 
 friend made known the young man's especial abili- 
 ties as an electrician and mechanical engineer, of 
 which the captain was delighted to hear. The up- 
 shot of the matter was that Jozuna was appointed to 
 a position which put him in charge of the special 
 
 116 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 117 
 
 night lights, so necessary in view of the fact that the 
 Chinese were well provided with torpedo-boats. 
 
 Owing to his thorough acquaintance with delicate 
 machinery and all electric work requiring nicety, both 
 in apprehension and in practice, Jozuna soon was not 
 only master of his particular business on the ship, 
 but was a great favorite among the officers of his 
 rank and grade. 
 
 It is a strong tradition among the Japanese naval 
 officers that politics should have no place in forming 
 an estimate of their duties or of the character of a 
 fellow-officer. Indeed, on the Naniwa there were 
 at least five in the line and two in the staff among 
 the commissioned officers, and nine of the crew, whose 
 fathers or relatives had been adherents of the old 
 Tycoon, and in arms against the Mikado in the old 
 days before '68. Some of the crew had even been 
 concerned in " the great rebellion in the southwest," 
 or "the Satsuma rebellion," as it is more commonly 
 termed. 
 
 Yet all this was as very ancient history, seeming 
 to the Japanese, who lives fast in this era, as far back 
 as are the days of the battles of Scot and Southron, 
 of Bruce and Edward, and vastly further back in 
 their imagination than the days of Confederate and 
 Federal, of gray and blue are in ours. 
 
 When the war cloud, no bigger than the Korean 
 Kim's hand, rose over the Yellow Sea, the Naniwa 
 
n8 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was looked to as one of the vessels which, from her 
 swiftness, gun power, and ease of evolution, would 
 in all probability be one of the first in active service. 
 Shortly after her arrival at Sasebo, the great navy- 
 yard not very far from Nagasaki, her complement 
 was filled. Many more Japanese officers on shore 
 leave or other duties had sought eagerly for the 
 honor of being on this superb vessel. 
 
 Her armament consisted of two twenty-eight tons 
 Armstrong, six fifteen-centimetre Krupp cannon, and 
 twelve quick-firing and machine guns, and her men 
 were all in splendid discipline. If one judged by the 
 spirit in her officers and crew, the Naniwa, as she 
 lay in the harbor of Sasebo, tied to her anchors, was 
 rather like a war-horse, impatiently champing the bit 
 held by a firm hand, than any inanimate thing. 
 
 Late in July, when the smart young Japanese 
 officers at Shanghai and Tientsin telegraphed to the 
 naval department in Tokio that the Chinese trans- 
 ports had sailed, the message within half an hour 
 of its receipt was received also at Sasebo, but with 
 orders to the fleet to sail. In ten minutes the joyful 
 news went round the deck of eight of the warships 
 of the Mikado's navy. 
 
 " At last Time's horse has galloped to my door and 
 bidden me mount. Into the saddle I leap, and then, 
 O steed, ride on ! " said Jozuna to himself. 
 
 Opportunity had come in through the political 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 119 
 
 situation. Between the athlete Japan and the giant 
 China lay the pygmy state of Korea. In its unfixed 
 political status, the very weakness of this uncertain 
 country was a constant menace to the peace of the 
 East. An insurrection broke out in a central prov- 
 ince, which the feeble government at Seoul was 
 powerless to suppress. The pro-Chinese party of 
 Korean nobles sent to Peking asking aid of the 
 Emperor of the country which proudly calls itself 
 the Middle Kingdom, that is, central in the earth, 
 with vassal nations all around. At once the Queen 
 Dowager, real ruler of China, gave the order for the 
 despatch of a military force to put down the revolt, 
 China thus acting as suzerain of a tributary state. 
 
 Japan's jealousy was roused. She protested 
 against the sending of Li Hung Chang's drilled 
 troops into Korea as the violation of treaty. When, 
 lured from his safe retreat in Tokio by a false tele- 
 gram and bank drift, Kim, the Korean political 
 refugee, was assassinated in Shanghai, and the 
 Chinese government made indecent haste to send his 
 body to Seoul to be dismembered and exposed as 
 public carrion, popular wrath in Japan burned like 
 the volcano fires of Asama. Thus both the Japanese 
 people and the government . were one in sentiment. 
 Pending the negotiations, any further despatch of 
 troops to Korea was declared to China, by the states- 
 men of Tokio, to be an act of war. 
 
120 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 China's answer was one of insult and defiance 
 She held Korea to be a subject state, flaunted her 
 claim of the right to despatch more soldiers, and did so. 
 
 This is why three of the fastest Japanese cruisers, 
 the Akitsushima, Yoshino, and the Naniwa, were to 
 steam ahead at full speed, and intercept the trans- 
 ports. Five others were to follow immediately. 
 Every one of the eight Japanese names of ships was 
 as poetic, as classic, as suggestive, and as calculated 
 to inspire patriotism in a Japanese as is the name 
 of the Constitution, the Alliance, the Kearsarge, or 
 the Brooklyn with us. The admiral had his flag 
 hoisted on the Yoshino, and, of course, by all the 
 rules of courtesy on the seas, any war vessel of any 
 nation would, on seeing it, salute it with the usual 
 number of guns. 
 
 With lusty cheers and singing, the little brown men 
 on deck hoisted the anchors by steam, and out the gal- 
 lant fleet sailed to the west. Quickly traversing the 
 Korean Archipelago, they moved up northward into 
 the Yellow Sea and took up a position in a line west- 
 ward from Asan in Korea, south of the capital. At 
 once they began to cruise up and down, from north 
 to south, so as to be sure not to miss the coming 
 prize. It reminded Jozuna of what he had read of 
 Piet Heyn, the Dutch admiral, waiting for the Span- 
 ish "plate fleet" loaded with silver from South 
 America. 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 121 
 
 It was about seven o'clock in the morning, on the 
 25th of July, when near Phung Island the lookout 
 on the Naniwa caught sight of two ships. These 
 he made out to be Chinese men-of-war, which were 
 apparently coming from the neighborhood of Asan. 
 The captain of the Naniwa supposed that the fleet 
 of transports had arrived with their freight of soldiers. 
 This the Chinese certainly knew, while the Japanese 
 supposed it; but the Chinese also knew that on the 
 day before the Japanese troops in Seoul had attacked 
 the king's palace, in order to drive out the pro-Chinese 
 faction and to compel reforms, and that the news was 
 in Asan by half -past five in the afternoon of the 24th. 
 The Japanese, being at sea two days, did not know just 
 what had gone on in Korea, but their orders were strict 
 to stop all Chinese vessels coming to Korea. On the 
 other hand, the Chinese knew that the war was on. 
 
 In this respect, the Chinese were in possession of 
 the same advantage which, in 1812, our commodore 
 John Rodgers had when in command of the frigate 
 President he opened fire on the British ship Belvidera, 
 whose captain did not know that war had been declared 
 by Congress. 
 
 So it came to pass that in July, 1894, at the open- 
 ing of the strife which secured Korean independence, 
 the Japanese were as much surprised as was the Brit- 
 ish captain seventy-two years before; and no doubt, 
 on the other hand, the Chinese commander expected, 
 
122 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 like Rodgers, to capture his prize, but, like him, was 
 doomed to disappointment, as we shall see. 
 
 The Japanese officers did not know what to 
 make of it when they saw the Chinese warships 
 approaching so near, yet firing no salute to their 
 admiral's flag. 
 
 " What does that mean ? " said one officer to another, 
 as with their glasses they surveyed the on-coming 
 Chinese man-of-war, and actually saw the guns run 
 out. 
 
 " It's a mystery, and things look suspicious. Why, 
 really they seem to be cleared for action." 
 
 The next appeal was to the ear. They heard the 
 gongs beating to quarters. 
 
 " They are all ready to fire, sir," said the quarter- 
 master, who, with his long glass, could see the men 
 in their places at the guns. 
 
 The drum beat to quarters now rang out clear on 
 all the three ships flying the sun banner of Japan. 
 All were ordered to be ready for instant action, special 
 care being taken that no nervous hand should let a 
 shot fly until the right moment, if at all. 
 
 There was rather a narrow channel between the 
 two islands of Phung and Shapain, and it required 
 careful navigation to keep from getting aground. 
 Feeling sure that a battle was imminent, the Japanese 
 struck out on the southwest course, in order to get 
 into the open sea. Without notice, the Tsi-Yuen, 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 123 
 
 the nearest Chinese ship, opened fire. The shot 
 struck in the forward part of the ship, knocking some 
 splinters of steel off the gunwale, just where it curved 
 toward the prow, but doing no serious damage. 
 
 That shot opened naval war between Japan and 
 China. The athlete and the giant had joined com- 
 bat. It was soon to be a case of pit and pick-axe. 
 
 It is evident that the Chinese had mistaken the 
 motives of the Japanese, who had quietly ignored 
 the lack of naval etiquette in not saluting their 
 admiral's flag, and moved off and away from such 
 impolite people. Then the Chinese commander, 
 flushed with that conceit, which it will require centu- 
 ries to eradicate from the national mind, immediately 
 leaped to the conclusion that the Japanese were run- 
 ning away ; whereas, in reality, they were only get- 
 ting out of the very narrow channel in which steaming 
 straight ahead was very difficult. 
 
 So there was nothing to do but to begin war. It 
 was with the Japanese, as Parker stated the situation 
 at Lexington, in 1775: "Men, stand your ground. 
 Don't fire until you are fired upon ; but if they want 
 a war, let it begin here." 
 
 Now in the Chinese account of the battle, pub- 
 lished later, which showed how well Dr. Clinton 
 understood his Chinese neighbors, it is said that the 
 Japanese fired first. Then the Tsi- Yuen opened all 
 her guns in broadside. Within a quarter of an hour 
 
i2 4 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 she had so riddled the first Japanese man-of-war that 
 the captain hoisted the white flag. The Japanese 
 admiral had been already killed, because one big 
 shell directed at the Yoshino had knocked to pieces 
 the bridge and sent the high officer flying in the air. 
 There, very high up in the gayly colored but imagi- 
 nary pictures of the conflict, he was seen turning a 
 somersault, and before he had reached the water he 
 had turned several more. 
 
 Alas, for China's lack of "truth in the inward 
 parts " ! The fact is that the Chinese captain was a 
 brave fellow and engaged his two ships against over- 
 whelming odds. As a loyal officer under orders to 
 protect his convoy, no matter what it might cost him, 
 he dashed into the Japanese squadron, hoping to dis- 
 able the ships, drive them back, or, at least, by keep- 
 ing up a running fight, to get them away from the 
 Korean coast. 
 
 In such an event the transports would be safe 
 and the soldiers be landed without molestation. 
 Brave even to rashness, he did his best, and later 
 fought in the big fight between the fleets off the Yalu 
 in September. Then he was rewarded by having his 
 head cut off some weeks later. 
 
 Perhaps he did not know that either one of the 
 Japanese men-of-war, the Yoshino or Naniwa, with 
 their splendid equipment and discipline, was a match 
 for his two ships. Bravely he continued to fight for 
 an hour and a half. 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 125 
 
 Let us now look on the Japanese deck and see how 
 his first battle looked to Jozuna. Fortunately, unlike 
 the men in the engine-room, and before the boiler 
 fires, he could see or hear much of what was going 
 on. 
 
 First of all, taking care that everything pertaining 
 to his apparatus was safely stowed away between 
 decks, an operation, or rather inspection, that con- 
 sumed several minutes, Jozuna was then positively 
 startled by the silence of every one, and the almost 
 oppressive orderliness of everything on board. The 
 men gathered in the casemates and about the guns, 
 on the upper deck, at the quick-firers, and in the crow's 
 nest. They waited as if they had been used to such 
 exercise, and patient waiting while doing nothing, all 
 their lives. Only three or four moved about. They 
 were throwing wet sand over the decks, and this he 
 knew meant that blood might soon flow and make 
 the decks dangerously slippery. At each hatch the 
 hoisting gear was in activity and ammunition made 
 ready. The surgeons and their assistants were al- 
 ready prepared with all their terrible steel tools, 
 which, cold and glittering, seemed then far more 
 fearsome than any unseen possibilities of shot and 
 shell from the Chinese ships. 
 
 Jozuna thought he had never before seen the pol- 
 ished cannon look so beautiful. It reminded him of 
 the glistening of the scales on venomous serpents, 
 
126 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 and the coldness of the metal, soon to be hot enough, 
 of the dull, lidless eye that sparkles when fangs dart. 
 
 Jozuna's part by day was to act as aid to carry any 
 extra orders of the captain to any part of the ship. 
 It was just when in a moment's revery over the like- 
 ness, in nature and in old names, of the cannon and 
 the serpents, that the sharp report of the heavy Chi- 
 nese rifle made war's terrible music. Masses of 
 white smoke seemed to blossom out on all sides of 
 the mouth of the long tube, blooming for a second 
 or two in the summer air, like mighty peony flowers 
 of white interlaced with red. 
 
 In his excited condition, the time was vastly longer 
 than the chronometer measured. It seemed that the 
 time from the first flaming out from the muzzle, until 
 the slight jar to the ship from the concussion of the 
 steel shot, which struck her side near the bow, was 
 almost half a minute, though in reality but scarcely 
 two seconds. 
 
 Another surprise awaited Jozuna, who, though he 
 knew his own countrymen so well, was hardly pre- 
 pared to find them so cool and calculating, when 
 handling the mighty engines of modern warfare 
 which had been constructed in the West. The orders 
 of the Japanese captain, as passed to every gun offi- 
 cer, whether of the heavy rifles or the repeating and 
 machine artillery of smaller calibre, were to fire and 
 to keep firing, but in every case to take aim. 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 127 
 
 Then for several minutes there rained a tempest of 
 iron, and yet not for some seconds after the order 
 had been given did the two heavy guns thunder, for 
 the range finders were proudly deliberate. They 
 knew their game and their own power, and the waters 
 were smooth. When once they opened fire, the ten- 
 inch projectiles were not wasted. Shot after shot 
 struck the hull of the Tsi-Yuen, and pretty soon she 
 began to look like an old colander at a rummage sale. 
 The rapid-firing guns swept the Chinese deck with a 
 hail of smaller shot. In one of the intervals, with his 
 glass, Jozuna could actually see rills of blood pouring 
 out one of the scuppers. 
 
 By and by something like a lull came, when the 
 Tsi-Yuen seemed to be getting into a position to give 
 her an advantage over the Yoshino. This gave the 
 gun captains on the Naniwa the opportunity to train 
 their twenty-eight-ton Armstrong guns, so as to strike 
 their foe, if possible, at the water line, and blow her 
 up. 
 
 Meanwhile the Yoshino discharged a torpedo out 
 of her forward tube. Out like a flying fish flew this 
 new creation of man. With its pointed snout and its 
 twisting tail hissing and gurgling through the waters, 
 it seemed to seek viciously its prey. Had it struck, 
 the Tsi- Yiien might have gone to the bottom. 
 
 It missed. 
 
 Jozuna, as he saw it curl round the stern of the 
 
128 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Chinese vessel, thought he heard a cheer raised from 
 the Chinese deck, but a great cloud of white smoke 
 blew in his face, and he could not for the moment see 
 anything, for the Naniwa's big guns had again spoken, 
 and never were shots more decisive. 
 
 One penetrated the Chinese ship, struck immedi- 
 ately under her bow gun, and burst there. In one 
 moment the gun was knocked over and twenty men 
 lay dead or dying on the deck, most of them killed 
 within a very short distance of the cannon, though 
 some, who were far distant down the deck, were struck 
 with the splinters of steel and wood, and three were 
 wounded in the room beneath. The other shell ripped 
 up the deck and upset two guns, the fragments of 
 the exploding shell battering the gun-carriage out of 
 shape. Those who saw the lucky shots from the 
 Naniwa told their comrades, but there was no cheer- 
 ing. Nevertheless all who could, looked over to the 
 Tsi- Yuen and saw a white and a Japanese flag hoisted. 
 Yet, when the Yoshino moved over to the Chinese 
 ship to demand her surrender, one or two guns again 
 opened against the Japanese, and the Tsi- Yuen moved 
 away, steaming toward China. The Yoshino pursued 
 and used her chasing guns, but the Chinese vessel got 
 away, and reached Wei-Hai-Wei in a condition truly 
 pitiable. 
 
 As for the other Chinese ship, the Kitang- Yi, she 
 was perforated in many places. Badly damaged and, 
 
ON BOARD A JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR. 129 
 
 indeed, crippled by the shot of the Akitsushima, she 
 speedily left the fight and ran away, disappearing in 
 the Korean mud, offshore, where her men, leaving 
 her in their boats, got safely to land and marched to 
 the camp at Asan. Whether disabled by a shot in 
 her engine-room, or magazine, or why only one-third 
 of her upper deck was found above water two days 
 later, the fire having eaten away what the explosion 
 had spared, is not known. 
 
 The lookout from the forward military mast of the 
 Naniwa reported to the captain that the Yoshino was 
 returning, for no one knew but that the whole Chi- 
 nese fleet might be near, and that two other steamers 
 were approaching and were already in the offing. 
 He soon made out by his glass that one was a small 
 Chinese war vessel, a despatch-boat, and that the other 
 was a transport flying the British flag. Soon the 
 powerful glass of the man in the crow's nest made 
 out that there were large numbers of Chinese soldiers 
 on board of her. 
 
 Jozuna noticed that even before the Chinese war- 
 ship came within close range of the Japanese cannon, 
 she carried a white flag in token of her surrender. A 
 prize crew was sent on board from the Akitsushima t 
 with orders to follow the victor ship. 
 
 Matters were now getting to be of an exciting 
 nature. Jozuna had been to his first battle, but as 
 no one on his ship, nor even in any of the three Jap- 
 
i 3 o IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 anese war vessels, had been hurt, it did not seem very 
 different from the ordinary "general quarters" and 
 gun drill, though it is true that the men working the 
 heavy cannon had thrown off all their clothing except 
 their trousers, and that some of the Chinese shells 
 burst near enough to make the ears tingle and heart 
 beat faster. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 
 
 AS the big transport approached, Jozuna caught 
 sight of the flag that rose and fell in the fit- 
 ful morning breeze. It was that of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 What might happen if the red flag of the crosses 
 of St. George and St. Andrew was fired on ? Jozuna 
 was not a lawyer, but he knew there was one, well 
 acquainted with naval and international law, with the 
 rear-admiral on board the Yoshino. He was not 
 startled when signals were hoisted, ordering the trans- 
 port to stop. Nor again was he surprised when the 
 engines of the big vessel ceased pulsing, and she first 
 drifted quietly in the water and then came to a stand- 
 still. 
 
 But when the two guns of the Naniwa were fired, 
 Jozuna was not sailor enough to know, or had forgot- 
 ten, that these were only "blind " or blank cartridges, 
 ending in smoke, and merely polite invitations to cast 
 anchor. He was fearfully excited at the idea of his 
 countrymen doing anything to excite the ire of 
 
i 3 2 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Englishmen, or that might lead to trouble with the 
 British government. His father had told him of 
 Shimonoseki, when, in 1864, the batteries of proud 
 Choshiu had been crumbled to pieces and their guns 
 taken to the military museums of Europe. 
 
 Furthermore, one of the vital elements of success in 
 "Jack's fight with the giant " was that Japan was not 
 to be hampered in her wager of battle with China, 
 but should have fair play. It was therefore with a 
 sense of relief that he saw the anchor of the trans- 
 port splash into the sea, and that he heard it make a 
 gurgling as it sank into the waters. 
 
 The captain of the Naniwa now gave orders by 
 signal to the transport to follow her as she went to 
 rejoin the main squadron. To make sure that this 
 order was in force, he wrote it out and sent it by 
 an officer. Jozuna was perfectly delighted when the 
 captain told him to join the lieutenant, who, with a 
 boat's crew, was to be sent to the transport. 
 
 The language of communication at sea, when 
 beyond range of the trumpet, is by colored flags of 
 various sort, the colors and shapes standing for letters 
 or words. It was quarter past nine in the morning 
 when the Naniwa signalled by two flags, J. W. (" Stop 
 immediately "). Then came the two blind guns. Next 
 were hoisted the two little signal flags, which read 
 L.P. (" Anchor "). The captain of the Naniwa was, 
 however, as eager at that moment to capture the flying 
 
THE JAPANESE OFFICER'S CAP WAS RAISED TO CAPTAIN HALLEY. 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 133 
 
 Chinese warship, still in sight, as to catch the trans- 
 port. 
 
 So when Captain H alley, for it was none other, saw 
 the Naniwa in motion, he raised four flags, one above 
 another, on the halyards, which read D.N.W.R., and 
 meant " May I go forward ? " This question in the air 
 was immediately answered by the repetition of the 
 Naniivrfs first signal. 
 
 It was nearly an hour and a half from the first tele- 
 phone, or telephan, if we may coin the word, 
 when Jozuna was in the boat with the lieutenant. 
 Ten white-jacketed Japanese sailors quickly rowed 
 the boat over to the obedient ship. Jozuna followed 
 the lieutenant up the gangway. On deck the Jap- 
 anese officer's cap was raised to Captain Halley, 
 behind whom stood Clarence Burnham, and at some 
 distance appeared the commanding figure of the 
 German engineer. 
 
 As the two comrades looked into each other's eyes, 
 there broke out a tremendous storm of emotion within, 
 though on either of their faces there was scarcely a 
 sign of recognition. By living long among the sons 
 of Nippon, the American youth had learned the les- 
 son not only of mastery of temper and patience under 
 hardships, but of control of the features, so that no 
 jealous or suspicious Chinese officer suspected for a 
 moment that these two youngsters were old friends. 
 
 On going to the cabin, the pair of friends had a 
 
134 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 chance to grasp hands and to chat for a few moments, 
 hurriedly explaining to each other the how, why, and 
 where, while the Naniwds lieutenant, having inspected 
 the vessel's papers, went over the ship. He found out 
 at once her character, that she was to all intents and 
 purposes, though British-owned, a Chinese ship, and 
 loaded with what was contraband of war. He left 
 hurriedly, before Captain H alley could make further 
 explanations. 
 
 It was after the lieutenant had returned to the 
 Naniwa that the signal was given to the transport to 
 follow after the man-of-war, but instead of the engines 
 being started, the transport's flags were run up, ask- 
 ing for a boat to be sent again for communication. 
 
 The captain of the Nanizva divined that the Chinese 
 officers were hindering Captain H alley from obeying 
 his orders, and his guess was as true as his guns. As 
 soon as the Chinese warriors realized that they were 
 to be taken in charge by the Japanese, they refused 
 to let the ship be moved. 
 
 So again the captain of the Naniwa sent his lieu- 
 tenant with another officer, ordering them to bring 
 off in the cutter all the foreigners or Europeans on 
 board the transport. Jozuna was fortunate in being 
 again ordered along. Stepping from the boat to the 
 gangway ladder, he met Captain Halley, who came 
 forward, earnestly warning them not to expose their 
 lives by coming up on deck, for a double mutiny had 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 135 
 
 broken out on board, of both Chinese officers and 
 men. 
 
 He told the Japanese that the argument of the 
 Chinese officers was that they had left Taku before 
 war was declared. The Peking government had 
 paid a large price for the ship and the officers for 
 their passage, and they considered they had a right, 
 before a declaration of war, to be landed either at 
 Asan or Taku, and they wanted Captain Halley to 
 turn back to China. 
 
 Jozuna could see, yes, and hear, the Chinese sol- 
 diers, who were fearfully excited, rushing about the 
 deck in the wildest manner and looking over the sides 
 of the ship. Some of them had arms in their hands. 
 Whispering this to the foremost officers, all three laid 
 hands on their swords, and the German engineer on 
 the transport joined the captain in warning them not 
 to board. Jozuna did not see his friend Clarence at 
 this visit, for he was under arrest, as it were, with a 
 revolver at his head. 
 
 When the two friends met again on the Nani- 
 wa's deck to compare notes, this was the story of 
 what took place on the transport. 
 
 " You know, Jozuna, that the lieutenant, having 
 ordered the captain to follow the Naniwa, left the 
 ship very abruptly." 
 
 " Yes, that's true. What else could he do, when 
 our captain was anxious to pursue and capture the 
 
136 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Chinese warship, and every second made him chafe, 
 especially as he expected a battleship or two to 
 heave in sight." 
 
 "Well, at any rate," said Clarence, "Captain 
 Halley cannot speak Chinese, and the German engi- 
 neer was the only one on board who could. You 
 know the Chinese never can think as individuals, 
 they always get excited and act in the mass. From 
 the moment that your blank shots were fired, the 
 Chinese generals lost all self-control, and excitedly 
 told the German interpreter that they would die 
 rather than be taken prisoners." 
 
 " Of course they did," said Jozuna. "They are so 
 wretchedly ignorant of international law that they 
 live in the third, instead of the nineteenth, century. 
 They supposed they would be brutally beaten and 
 tortured, instead of being treated as gentlemen and 
 their men as honorable prisoners of war. We ad- 
 mired the plucky captain who fought us this morn- 
 ing, but we could not honor these fellows." 
 
 "Well, at any rate, they made the German tell 
 Captain Halley that he must turn the ship back to 
 Taku ; but your lieutenant had gone off in his boat 
 before the German engineer had made clear what the 
 Chinese officers had demanded. When the Chinese 
 soldiers understood that they must follow the Na- 
 niwa, they lost their heads and got into a panic at 
 once, rushing about the deck as if mad. I never saw 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 137 
 
 such wild creatures. I thought if we had only a 
 hose ready to squirt cold water over them, as was 
 done on the Pacific mail steamer, we might have 
 cooled them off." 
 
 " What a pity you or we couldn't give them water 
 instead of fire. Well, what next ? " 
 
 " Well, do you know that the generals then actu- 
 ally gave orders to arm the soldiers, declaring that 
 they would fight the Japanese rather than be taken 
 prisoner. At this Captain Halley called a council of 
 the Chinese officers and of the foreigners on board 
 and gave notice, through the German engineer, that 
 they should all leave the ship if the Chinese intended 
 to fight. 
 
 " At this the Chinese generals angrily left the con- 
 ference and called out to their officers to detach 
 parties of soldiers to guard davits and boats, and to 
 hold as prisoners the captain, his clerk, the German, 
 and all the foreigners in the engineering department 
 down below 
 
 " ' Shoot them dead, every man of them, if they 
 show any signs of obeying the Japanese orders or 
 leaving the vessel.' " 
 
 "Poor fellows!" said Jozuna. "What a terrible 
 thing ignorance is. Why, if these Chinese had only 
 known anything, even the A B C of international 
 law, they would have trusted themselves to us at 
 once, and have saved themselves and their soldiers." 
 
138 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " So you see," said Clarence, " like the Dutch that 
 once took Holland, the Chinese had captured their 
 own steamer. When your captain again ran up his 
 signals for us to follow the Naniwa, the German 
 asked Captain Halley to hoist his talking flags and 
 to ask for another boat. This time, when the lieu- 
 tenant and yourself came, you could not see what 
 was going on on board, but the Chinese generals had 
 regained their senses. They ordered a double file of 
 their trustiest men to keep back the swarm of excited 
 soldiers that were raging like maddened tigers. But 
 for the loaded and cocked guns, and the line of 
 bayonets, some of them would have rushed to the 
 gangway and fired upon you. I could see you and 
 the lieutenant with your hands on your swords, as the 
 German engineer tried to explain that Captain Halley 
 was not free to obey the orders from the Nanivua" 
 
 " Yes," said Jozuna, " I had to translate between 
 the German, who could talk English, and our lieu- 
 tenant ; and I remember that while the request of the 
 Chinese seemed so reasonable to the German and 
 Captain Halley, it seemed most unreasonable to our 
 lieutenant. When we went back, the matter was 
 talked over in the cabin for nearly a half hour. 
 Then I took out the order from the captain to run 
 up the signal M.L. ("Leave the ship immediately"). 
 
 " Why, how could we do that ? " asked Clarence 
 Burnham. " Every davit was guarded by at least 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 139 
 
 ten Chinese soldiers, and not a boat could be swung, 
 so Captain H alley ran up another signal. It was 
 praying by bunting. I can laugh at the prayer now, 
 but it was no fun then." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Jozuna, "we read it with our 
 glasses right away. It said, ' Not allowed/ In a 
 moment or two we saw another, and read it, 'Send 
 a boat.' Another prayer, wasn't it ? " 
 
 "Why didn't you send the cutter ? " asked Clarence. 
 
 " Why, old chum, just look at it from our side. 
 We had spent nearly four hours in negotiations 
 which were fruitless, and the Chinese war vessels 
 might be coming at any moment and gobble us up, 
 for our captain was possessed of the idea, which 
 seemed very reasonable then, that the whole of the 
 Chinese fleet, with battleships and torpedo-boats, 
 was coming, and might at any moment appear." 
 
 "Well, that does alter the case," said Clarence; 
 "but with pandemonium let loose on the Chinese 
 ship, and men looking murderously at us, with arms 
 in their hands, our hearts sank when Captain Hal- 
 ley put down his glass and read the letters HJ. 
 (" Boat cannot come"). Then I began to pray. Curi- 
 ously enough I said within, ' Now I lay me down to 
 sleep,' and got through the four lines before I real- 
 ized that it was rote rather than reality. 
 
 " I had scarcely got to ' the fifth wheel in my 
 coach,' of rather worthless petition, I fear, when 
 
140 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Captain H alley roared out, 'They are surely going 
 to sink us, so go down to the engine-room and tell 
 the engineers to be ready to come up on deck at a 
 second's notice/ 
 
 " I went down and warned the men, five foreigners, 
 one of them a Manila man. When I reached the 
 deck again, Captain Halley pointed his finger toward 
 the Naniwa and said : ' Look ! They are hoisting 
 the red flag ; that means they are going to open fire. 
 Now, boy, you come with me; and if the Chinese 
 don't kill us before we get there, we will go to the 
 wheel-house and get life-preservers, jump over the 
 ship's side, and take our chances in the water.' 
 
 " All this time the Chinese were yelling out that 
 no foreigner should be allowed to leave the ship, but 
 the Chinese sailors knew enough about signals to 
 realize that the Naniwa would soon open her 
 batteries. While their attention was thus taken up 
 with watching the warship, we dashed down from 
 the bridge and into the wheel-house. Horrors ! 
 There was only one life-preserver. 
 
 " ' Here, boy, put this on yourself, and I'll take my 
 chances/ said Captain Halley. 
 
 " Just at that moment I saw the torpedo tube of the 
 Naniwa shoot out a torpedo, which must have missed 
 us. I had no time to argue with Captain Halley, but 
 I was bound he shouldn't run any more risk for me, 
 so I threw down the life-preserver threw it at him, 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 141 
 
 I may say. Then, getting out of the wheel-house, I 
 jumped out in the air, on the side opposite from the 
 Naniwa, and down into the sea. Well, sir, I shouldn't 
 have believed how much I could have thought and felt 
 inside what was probably two or three seconds ; but I 
 seemed to be in a storm, and all the whole world 
 sun, moon, and stars seemed to be exploding. 
 ' The crack of doom,' which I had so often heard 
 about, seemed to have come in a rattle." 
 
 " I suppose that was the time our two big guns 
 fired the shells that hit the transport just at the water 
 line ? " said Jozuna. 
 
 " Yes, but besides the big shells, there were other 
 shots, for I am sure that a whole broadside must have 
 been fired. The moment I came up out of the salt 
 water I remember the taste of it and had rubbed 
 my eyes for a second, the whole air seemed to be 
 thick with smoke and the finest kind of coal dust, 
 which had come down in a shower. The shell must 
 have exploded right in a coal bunker and pulverized 
 the coal, so that the dust filled the air. When I fully 
 regained my eyesight and other senses, I could see 
 that the transport was sinking at the stern. She 
 had lost her funnel and almost seemed to have com- 
 mitted hara-kiri, for her centre works were gone. 
 
 "This was not the worst. From along the gun- 
 wale and between the deck ports the Chinese soldiers 
 on board were firing as if they were bound to kill all 
 
142 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the foreigners struggling in the water. I saw Cap- 
 tain H alley and the German engineer, some distance 
 away from me, the former with a face black as a 
 Guinea negro's, from the coal dust, while nearer 
 the hulk were scores of Chinese, swimming like my- 
 self for dear life. All around me the bullets from 
 the Chinese on the ship were tearing the water and 
 splashing it over me, and I saw three or four poor 
 fellows thus killed by their own countrymen. 
 
 " I wondered how long my strength would hold 
 out, even supposing that I was not hit by one of the 
 Chinese rifle balls. I was not afraid of any of the 
 balls from the machine guns of the Naniwa, which I 
 could hear rattling and tearing through the air above 
 me, for I was on the other side of the transport, so 
 that her hull was between me and the man-of-war. 
 Soon the Naniwas firing stopped, and the air was 
 clear. 
 
 " In about half an hour from the moment she was 
 first struck, the ship went down, stern foremost, and 
 by that time I was beginning to feel my strength give 
 way, and expected soon to be drowned. How curious 
 it seemed ! I thought of pretty much everything in 
 creation : my boyhood days and all that I had ever 
 done that was wrong, especially against my mother, 
 and yet I was determined to keep alive as long as I 
 could. 
 
 " It was a terrific sight when the transport threw 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 143 
 
 her bow up in the air and seemed almost to hurl defi- 
 ance at the warship that had struck her, and then 
 disappeared. I saw your boat moving about, throwing 
 life-preservers to the Chinese, and you know how I 
 yelled to you." 
 
 "Yes, my brave fellow," said Jozuna; "it was the 
 happiest day of my life when rowing toward you. 
 After we had picked up the captain and Manila 
 man, I asked the officer for the honor of letting me, 
 all by myself, help you into the boat." 
 
 It was indeed true that out of the foreigners on 
 board all were missing except the four picked up by 
 the two boats of the Naniwa, which was expecting 
 the Chinese fleet, and so steamed away. 
 
 In thirty-six minutes after the torpedo had been 
 discharged, the ship was below the waves. Immedi- 
 ately after the first firing of the shell that tore out the 
 interior works of the transport, the air was so filled 
 with coal dust that, between it and the smoke, the 
 gunners on the Naniwa could for a few moments see 
 nothing. Yet within that black cloud there went on 
 a hell of terror and wild firing ; for, like dogs in the 
 manger, the Chinese soldiers who were unable to 
 swim fired not only at the foreigners, but at their own 
 comrades in the water. It is as probable that the 
 missing Europeans went down under the balls as 
 that they were drowned. 
 
 The next day the French gunboat Lion, passing by, 
 
144 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 found forty-five of the survivors clinging to the mast 
 of the sunken ship and brought them to Chemulpo, 
 in Korea. Nearly five hundred more of them were 
 able in their boats to get to land, or to swim ashore 
 to some one of the islands which in that wonderful 
 Korean Archipelago are so numerous as to make the 
 king of Korea "the sovereign of ten thousand isles." 
 About a hundred and twenty of these poor fellows 
 were brought to China by the ill-fated German gun- 
 boat Iltis. 
 
 It came to pass that because the Japanese had sunk 
 a ship flying the British flag, a storm of protests and 
 a war of words broke out, which for weeks together 
 concealed from the world the fact that here was a 
 nation thoroughly up on points of international law, 
 and yet able to conduct war on thoroughly business- 
 like principles with rapidity and power. 
 
 "Why, think of it," said Captain Halley, as he 
 talked with the captain of the Naniwa two days 
 afterward, when both he and Clarence Burnham were 
 invited to dinner in the officer's mess room, and when 
 the admiral of the squadron honored the company 
 with his presence, "we have always thought you 
 Japanese were an emotional people. The world 
 thinks that the Chinaman is the cool and stolid man, 
 able to control himself, while the Japanese is excit- 
 able and apt to lose his head in a crisis ; but I con- 
 fess that, although I don't enjoy war, it seems a 
 
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT. 145 
 
 wonderful thing to me that within seven hours of one 
 day, your three ships, Admiral, should have destroyed 
 one Chinese man-of-war, driven away another dis- 
 abled, captured a gunboat, and sunk a transport." 
 
 The admiral bowed. Though in reality his head 
 was level, yet he was pleased; for Englishmen are 
 not usually profuse in compliments to the Far East- 
 erns. 
 
 Captain Halley went on, " It seemed to me mag- 
 nificent that instead of pursuing the Chinese ship to 
 sink her, the Yoshino should come back to be ready 
 for the expected Chinese fleet, and that you stuck to 
 the business of prime importance, that on which you 
 were sent, of intercepting the transport." 
 
 Both admiral and officers who had had to decide 
 very quickly concerning the sinking of the ship were 
 not at all sorry for what they had done, notwithstand- 
 ing that over all the East the British flag is one that 
 demands and commands respect. Indeed, this is true 
 all over the world ; for the red flag of the double cross 
 is looked up to with awe. Nevertheless the Japanese 
 decided quickly because they knew the nature of the 
 charter in case of hostilities breaking out, the ship 
 was Chinese property ; and war had broken out. 
 They believed, therefore, that the world would ap- 
 prove their decision. 
 
 Who knows but that the armed collision between 
 China and Japan, which changed the face of the 
 
146 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 East and the currents of the world's history, had its 
 pivot in the sinking of the transport. Had these 
 eleven hundred troops, together with the able German 
 who had given China her modern forts and trained 
 officers in engineering, landed at Asan, the Chinese 
 might have been emboldened, and the Japanese made 
 so prudent that the advantage which they gained by 
 the military triumph at Asan, on the 3Oth of July, 
 might never have been won ; and, instead of an unin- 
 terrupted chain of Japanese victories, a different set 
 of precedents might have altered the whole cam- 
 paign. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY IN KOREA. 
 
 THE time had come for Japan to let the world 
 know that she was tired of receiving insults, 
 slights, and the ignoring to her loss of the 
 world's code of law, either at the hands of China or 
 of any of the so-called Christian nations. For the 
 first time the money-loving British, as well as other 
 people supposed to worship "the almighty" shilling, 
 franc, mark, croner, or dollar, were taught that pro- 
 fessed neutrals must not try to coin money out of 
 belligerents, unless they are willing to take great 
 risks. 
 
 " But it's awful," said Clarence Burnham to Jozuna, 
 after they had got by themselves, "to have a thou- 
 sand men ' sent to eternity,' as we say, in a few min- 
 utes, in this way." 
 
 "Well, what can you do with armed men, who will 
 not surrender, and declare, because they have superior 
 numbers, that they will fight rather than surrender, 
 especially after the captain of a man-of-war has kept 
 his signals flying four hours ? These Chinese officers 
 
148 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 are alone responsible. You told me yourself how they 
 drew their fingers across their throats, to let you know 
 what would happen if you obeyed us. Thus they 
 threatened the lives of those who had warned and 
 informed them. You remember what your own Gen- 
 eral Sherman said." 
 
 "Well, 'that beats the Dutch, it does indeed/ that 
 you, a Japanese, should quote our American generals 
 against us." 
 
 "Oh, it's not the first time," said Jozuna, "that 
 we've done or can do it. When those wild fellows 
 in Tokio assassinated our cabinet officer, Okubo, I 
 remember how some Americans talked to me about 
 Japan's being a barbarous country ; but I replied, 'Yes, 
 but didn't your Lincoln and Garfield suffer in the 
 same way ? ' I had to defend my country, you see." 
 
 " Well, you have me, my chum, but Sherman was 
 right. But, by the way, how curious it is, isn't it, 
 that the American schooner which in 1866 violated 
 the frontiers and broke the neutrality of Korea, by 
 dashing into the Ta-Tong River, whether to rob the 
 graves or open illegal trade, I do not know, was 
 named the General Sherman. After the Koreans 
 had killed the last man and burnt the ship, there 
 began those diplomatic negotiations that opened 
 Korea to foreign trade and residence, and out of 
 that has grown this big war which has now begun. 
 How mighty strange that I should be in it, and that 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 149 
 
 we should here quote General Sherman, whose re- 
 mark, to the effect that war is not Heaven, amuses 
 you so." 
 
 The war had opened, and as soon as the events of 
 the closing days of July were known in China and 
 Japan, the respective governments made formal 
 declaration to the world. Contrast the tone and 
 wording of the two manifestoes. 
 
 On the one hand, we have the angry utterances of 
 a barbarous giant, conscious of his size and the num- 
 ber of his hordes, yet drunk with conceit and the lust 
 of vengeance, who looks on his enemy as a dwarf. 
 He orders to the slaughter tens of thousands of his 
 men who must face death, wounds, and disease with- 
 out hospitals, surgeons, or nurses. He does this with 
 little or no regard for the principles of civilized war- 
 fare, as already accepted by the living and progressive 
 nations. 
 
 On the other hand, in dignified language, with a 
 clear insight into the principles involved, and in the 
 firm conviction of right, the government of Japan 
 speaks as an athlete, who, in self-discipline, knows 
 his strength, thrice armed because he " hath his quar- 
 rel just." Already a signatory to the congresses of 
 nations and the codes of civilized law, with all the 
 reserve force of centuries of training in self-control 
 and self-respect, and with sincere acceptance of mod- 
 ern science and philanthropy, with skilled surgeons, 
 
150 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 nurses, and hospital appliances, both in the field, and 
 on ship, and at home, little Japan, with one- tenth the 
 area and population of China, never flinched. Taking 
 up the gauge of battle, government and people resolved 
 on land and sea, with do-shi (one purpose), with one 
 union of hearts and hands, to persevere to the end, 
 whatever the cost. The whole Japanese people be- 
 came a Do-shi-sha (a Society with One Endeavor). 
 
 It were less important to inform our readers how, 
 with marvellous order, celerity, and secrecy, Japan 
 called out her reserves and moved her active army 
 with their guns and horses into Korea, than to tell 
 of the fortunes of our two heroes. Within ten days 
 from the receipt of orders in the camps at home, 
 twenty thousand Japanese soldiers of all arms had 
 landed in Korea. Each man was perfectly equipped, 
 and all were united in one burning desire Jo do their 
 emperor honor and exalt their country. 
 
 A military cordon was quickly drawn around the 
 Korean capital, and a force sent to Asan. Through 
 terrible difficulties of flood and field, the Chinese 
 camp was reached, attacked, and broken up. Four 
 thousand or more Chinese were thus sent fugitives 
 into the country. 
 
 By the connivance of the pro-Chinese Koreans, 
 most of these were able to reach Ping Yang in the 
 north, where Li Hung Chang's drilled army and 
 the Manchurian cavalry had seized the city and all 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 151 
 
 the advantageous points, fortifying them so as to 
 make their position seemingly impregnable. Long 
 training under German drill-masters and engineers 
 had resulted in making these men of North China 
 so much finer in appearance than those from the 
 southern provinces, out of which come all our Chi- 
 nese in America a body of superb troops under 
 competent officers. With the aid of thousands of 
 Korean laborers impressed into their service, they 
 had reared twenty-seven forts, and finished them 
 according to the science of our day and times. 
 
 Against this mass of fortifications, garrisoned by 
 thirteen thousand men and abundantly supplied with 
 cannon, the Japanese were to march in three divi- 
 sions, westwardly from Gensan on Broughton's 
 Bay, up southward from Seoul, and eastward from 
 the fleet, cooperating in that same Ta-Tong River 
 into which the General Sherman had sailed years 
 before. 
 
 History has told the story in detail of the army ; 
 but our narrative, which deals with Clarence Burn- 
 ham, must show how it came to pass that, suddenly 
 blossoming into a war correspondent, he was able 
 from the heights of Peony Mountain, overlooking 
 Ping Yang city and its battle-fields, to see most of 
 the details of one of the greatest of the decisive con- 
 flicts in modern times. 
 
 It came on this wise. The captain of the Naniwa 
 
152 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 had himself seen Clarence Burnham rescued, and 
 learned the story of his life from Jozuna. He was 
 rather pleased to find one so familiar with Japanese 
 affairs, not only with the general run of manners and 
 customs, but also with the language and national 
 lore, and even acquainted by experience with the 
 ways of the Japanese in eating and drinking and 
 tramping, knowing the soldier's diet and discipline ; 
 and, withal, being a young fellow of snap and grit, 
 his heart was quite open to an idea which Jozuna 
 had proposed, and Clarence Burnham kept pressing. 
 
 It was nothing else than to be allowed to accom- 
 pany the army as war correspondent on its campaign 
 through Korea. The old literary ambition having 
 repossessed him, the boy had nursed it, and, though 
 it seemed like stretching the license given him by his 
 father, he would venture. After having escaped 
 Japanese torpedoes and bombshells, steamer explo- 
 sions and Chinese rifles, Clarence Burnham felt for 
 the moment as if he had thus far led a charmed life. 
 He believed that damage might happen to somebody 
 else, but was not likely to come near him. He knew 
 how well New York editors valued knowledge, at 
 first hand, of battles and campaign news, and he 
 resolved to profit by this as well as to gain experi- 
 ence. 
 
 So while Captain Halley and the Chinese pris- 
 oners, transferred to the despatch-boat, were sent to 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 153 
 
 Sasebo, Clarence Burnham was put on board a ves- 
 sel going to Chemulpo. He carried, indeed, a piti- 
 fully small amount of personal baggage, most of 
 which Jozuna had lent him ; but, what was more than 
 gold and gems to this enterprising young American, 
 it included a letter to the Japanese general com- 
 manding. 
 
 It set forth that Clarence Burnham was not only 
 well qualified and acquainted with the hardships he 
 must undergo in camp and diet, as well as in the 
 risks of a soldier's life, but that he might be also 
 valuable from his knowledge of two or three lan- 
 guages. The captain had known his father and 
 vouched for his character. He therefore begged the 
 general commanding to grant Clarence Burnham's 
 request, and, if necessary, to telegraph to the depart- 
 ment in Tokio to gain official permission to follow 
 the army north as war correspondent 
 
 The vessel arrived off Chemulpo at an unfortunate 
 hour. It was low tide, and between the ship and the 
 beach for the beautiful new Bund, or thoroughfare 
 facing the sea, and built with stone and concrete, that 
 now welcomes the newcomer, was not then even in 
 dreams lay a vast expanse of shamelessly exposed 
 soil apparently taking a sun bath. In exasperating 
 delay they waited, until the great ugly stretch of 
 mud uncovered by the ebb had been first washed, 
 then caressed, and finally made to disappear under 
 
i 5 4 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the mighty flood tide ; for the West Korean coast is 
 a place of tidal wonders. 
 
 Clarence beguiled the waiting hours by picturing 
 to himself the events of the fairy tale, and how 
 Japan's Queen Jingu, far back in the misty centu- 
 ries of mythology, had made the mighty tides come 
 and go by casting in the water, at the critical 
 moment, the flashing jewels of the ebbing and the 
 flowing tide. Thus she overwhelmed the Korean 
 host and ships, and floated her own army on to vic- 
 tory. Out of this fairy tale grew the age-long claim 
 of the Japanese to Korea. 
 
 Once on shore, he was able by means of his im- 
 posing document to pass the challenging sentinels 
 and reach Seoul, the Korean capital. With slight 
 delay, despite the press of business, he was ushered 
 into the commanding general's presence. 
 
 Now it is never a good thing to ask a man for 
 money, until he has had his breakfast. The best time 
 for a favor is probably within half an hour after a 
 good dinner has been finished. Clarence Burnham 
 had the good fortune to appear before the general 
 just when, having deposited under his diaphragm a 
 good warm meal that suited his taste, he had doffed 
 his "armor," as he called his military uniform, and in 
 comfortable kimono was lounging on a Korean tiger- 
 skin in a bamboo easy-chair. 
 
 Somehow the whole matter of the American lad's 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 155 
 
 boasting that he could eat and enjoy a Japanese sol- 
 dier's rations struck the general as a good joke. 
 Serious as the business was, he made up his mind 
 to have his fun out of it. If all were well, he might 
 be as jolly as Daikoku, the patron of happiness and 
 wealth. After keeping up a severe air with a ter- 
 rible scrutiny and a veritable Gatling-gun fire of ques- 
 tions, he asked the would-be correspondent if he 
 were hungry. As Clarence had tasted nothing for 
 six hours, in his eagerness to get at the Japanese 
 commander, he could honestly say " yes." There- 
 upon an orderly was despatched to bring in a sample 
 soldier's meal. 
 
 Back came the orderly with a Korean tray, or low 
 table, on which were arranged the eatables which in 
 nature, quality, and amount made an exact copy of 
 a Japanese soldier's rations. 
 
 " Set down the tray before the gentleman," said 
 the general to the orderly. This was done. 
 
 "Attention, fall to and eat," cried the general. 
 
 Clarence saw the point at once. The general was 
 testing him as to his use of chop-sticks and his skill 
 in disposing of Japanese victuals with these two 
 sticks. He would also find out whether Clarence was 
 shamming or "playing badger" instead of "opos- 
 sum," as we should say in pretending to like sol- 
 dier food. 
 
 But Clarence, who had eaten many hundreds of 
 
156 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 meals in Japanese hotels, and had known some of the 
 young officers in the barracks, was perfectly at home. 
 He seized the chop-sticks, holding them in the cor- 
 rect way, as every one of us holds our jaws, one 
 being fixed fast, the other wagging loosely up and 
 down. The lower stick rested firmly on the middle 
 finger and space between thumb and index finger 
 while clamped down by the lower joint of the thumb, 
 held on top. The loose stick, which did the business, 
 resting on the first joint of the forefinger, was moved 
 up and down by the first and second fingers. 
 
 Clarence, quickly getting the eating tools into easy 
 and proper position, went at the boiled rice with 
 gusto, filling his mouth without dropping a grain of 
 the snow-white cereal, which was cooked as only the 
 Japanese know how to cook it making it neither 
 a poultice, nor a soup, nor a deceptive thing which 
 is glue on the outside and like oak within. Then 
 he attacked the vegetable mess and got it all down 
 without sign of anything but appropriateness and 
 enjoyment. The black beans and pickled daikon 
 radish also disappeared. In due time Clarence cried 
 out, with correct accent, "Ippai, arigato" (Enough, 
 thanks). 
 
 When, at a sign from the general, the orderly asked 
 if he would have any more, Clarence again bowing 
 said, " Mo-yoroshi " (Quite sufficient), at which the 
 general and the young officers around him roared. 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 157 
 
 "Jodzu ni dekita" (Cleverly done), cried all to- 
 gether in a chorus of admiration. 
 
 Then the general opened his quick-firing battery 
 of questions as to what Clarence would do if this, 
 that, or the other dire result might happen on the 
 march or in battle. The issue was that when Clar- 
 ence left the general's quarters, he had his prize in 
 hand. Permission to accompany the armies of the 
 Mikado within the limits of Korea was given him, but 
 authority to cross into China was bestowed only by 
 special order from Tokio. The document might be 
 rescinded by order of the general at any time. At 
 once Clarence had a case of waterproof Korean paper 
 made for it, and stowed it in his bosom. 
 
 Between the merchants at Chemulpo, his father's 
 correspondents, and the American missionaries in 
 Seoul, some of them being from " the banks of the 
 old Raritan," it was not difficult for Clarence Burn- 
 ham to get a new outfit. A Korean tailor quickly 
 made him a stout suit of brown duck, and a cloth 
 overcoat for chilly weather. One American mission- 
 ary lent him a splendid field-glass, and a business 
 man advanced him enough money to get the latest 
 pattern of a revolver, with belt and cartridges. From 
 the private supplies of the Americans he got fountain 
 pen, common pens, penholders, and pencils galore. 
 
 Clarence made the acquaintance of some of the 
 Japanese correspondents from Tokio, getting some 
 
158 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 useful hints from them. Among this company of 
 intelligent young Japanese was one who actually 
 expected, if he got a chance, to lower himself from 
 a military balloon and, up in mid air, to take snap 
 shots and photographs of battles, or, at least, of forti- 
 fications. The others were wonderfully well equipped 
 with maps of the country, itineraries, and ground 
 plans of the Korean cities, especially of Ping Yang. 
 
 One of these war correspondents, Masaro by name, 
 was the son of a Japanese clerk, a gentleman or sa- 
 murai once employed by Clarence's father in Kobe. 
 Although the two young men had never met before, 
 they struck up a mutually pleasant acquaintance, and 
 were from that time very helpful to each other. 
 
 The Japanese were delighted to find a foreigner 
 who not only knew their country's language and his- 
 tory, in outline at least, and appreciated them, but 
 who even knew, especially, both the history and the 
 fairy tales of the Japanese in Korea, or, as the coun- 
 try is called in Japanese nursery tales, the " Treasure 
 Land of the West." 
 
 In fact, despite all its hardships, this was to be 
 an educative, yes, even a reading campaign. The 
 Mikado's government had printed a well-written his- 
 tory of the Japanese campaign in Korea, 1592-1597. 
 This literature was in the soldiers' knapsacks before 
 the army started northward late in August. 
 
 Their objective point was Ping Yang, the capital 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 159 
 
 city of the northwestern province of Korea border- 
 ing on China. Against this city two other Japanese 
 columns were moving. Both were to come by sea ; 
 one, the left wing, up the Ta-Tong River, from the 
 west, and the other, the right wing, from Gensan on 
 Broughton's Bay, on the east coast. 
 
 It was a rough road over which to move a modern 
 army, lying over precipitous mountain ranges, through 
 knee-deep quagmires of mud, and in rocky denies and 
 rough places, the whole line from the Han to the 
 Yalu River making not so much a road, in the sense 
 of anything on which care or labor had been spent, 
 as a groove or a scratch on the landscape. One 
 might call it a great gully, scoured out by torrential 
 rains, or ground up by the hoofs of horses and oxen. 
 Nevertheless, such had served Korea for centuries, 
 and was up to the standard which prevails in barba- 
 rous and semi-civilized countries. 
 
 Since, however, the weather was so very fine, the 
 scenery so superb, Masaro such an entertaining com- 
 panion, and the Japanese such good comrades in 
 travelling, that, apart from the discomfort which 
 came on at midday in the hot sun, and the fatigue 
 which was felt most severely late in the afternoon, 
 Clarence Burnham enjoyed every hour. In the per- 
 fection of health, thrilled with the wondrous novelty 
 of seeing such large bodies of enthusiastic young 
 men, and so many varieties of military potencies, 
 
160 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 besides being in a country that he had long wanted 
 to see, he felt that every hour was a joy. 
 
 At one Korean city near which the army encamped, 
 feeling the need of keeping the forces concentrated, 
 it was decided to wait for the artillery and trains to 
 come up. Masaro knowing this, and ever on the 
 alert for adventure, proposed to Clarence Burnham 
 to go over into a mountain near by, where there had 
 formerly been a monastery, at which, in their sixteenth- 
 century campaign, the Japanese General Konishi and 
 his body-guard had had some stirring adventures. 
 
 Clarence agreed ; and in company with a foraging 
 party leading pack-horses, they set out shortly after 
 noon. In a couple of hours they reached the place 
 where, according to the map, the monastery ought to 
 have been. At the entrance of the village, Clarence 
 was horrified at two colossal scarecrows in the form 
 of large posts, carved to represent monsters or hide- 
 ous human faces. They had huge caps with ear-flaps, 
 and eyeballs painted white, hideous broad teeth and 
 ears, and wing-like expanses for arms made night- 
 mare in the daytime. They were the village idols, or 
 guardian spirits. 
 
 Masaro, with his good map and ability to speak a 
 little Korean, made inquiries of the people in the vil- 
 lage, while the foragers began to bargain for pigs, 
 chickens, and grain for the Japanese paid liberally 
 for all they took from the country people. The 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 161 
 
 villager agreed for a bit of silver to take them off into 
 the forest to show them where the monastery had 
 been. He was a stalwart, handsome fellow, with rosy 
 cheeks, and, like the usual Korean, smoked a pipe 
 with a stem a yard long; His well-filled tobacco 
 pouch hung in front at his belt. 
 
 " I can believe what the fellow tells us," said Ma- 
 saro, " for this is not the first time that a forest has 
 grown over the place where a monastery once stood. 
 You remember at Sunto, the capital of the country 
 during the Middle Ages, where we camped, how the 
 ginseng fields now cover the place where the streets 
 of a crowded city had once been, and big trees grow 
 where the houses of nobles once clustered." 
 
 " Yes, the ruins showed what must have been once, 
 for the Koreans certainly knew how to cut granite. 
 I was surprised at the size of some of the carved 
 stones, in the cracks of which the bushes were grow- 
 ing rather thickly." 
 
 "Well," said Masaro, "I rather think you will see 
 something equally wonderful now, or pretty soon. 
 Why, what's that?" he asked of the Korean guide, 
 stopping and pointing to what seemed a row of three 
 or four obelisks, one of which, in spite of the lichens 
 growing on it, appeared to be carved with the repre- 
 sentation of a human face. 
 
 "Oh, that," said the Korean, "is a mir-yek [stone 
 man]. That goes back to the days of the Three 
 
162 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Kingdoms [before 960 A.D.]. My father told me that 
 ages ago one of the first Korean noblemen, converted 
 to the doctrine of Buddha, built here a monastery to 
 educate young men to go out all over our country and 
 preach the blessed Way of Buddha ; but after hun- 
 dreds of years, in one of the wars between the Tang 
 [mediaeval Chinese] and the Korai [Korean] people, 
 there was a big battle here. Then the monastery, 
 which had been turned into a fort, was burned, and 
 has never been rebuilt, but the newer monastery is 
 farther on." 
 
 They soon came into view of the giant figures. 
 These were three in number and over sixty feet high. 
 They had been cut out of the solid rock, and one had 
 been roughly sculptured for about twenty-five feet 
 from the top downward into the form of a human 
 being. The features were very distinct, and the 
 arms, which at the hands held a rosary, were very 
 clearly marked, despite the exposure and weathering 
 of probably more than a thousand years. The other 
 two columns, square and likewise cut out of the rock, 
 seemed not to have been further touched by the 
 chisel. 
 
 " To think," said Clarence, "that in this dense for- 
 est there should ever have been houses, and human 
 beings studying and chanting and praying." 
 
 The Korean, with a more practised eye, took them 
 to where they could see more ruins, in the form of 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 163 
 
 cut stones, some plain, others carved. On the face 
 of the rock were parts which were marked by the 
 action of fire. Clarence made a rough sketch of the 
 lonely column standing among the whispering trees, 
 through which the afternoon breeze was soughing. 
 Then led by the guide, they walked about a mile 
 farther, where, despite the undergrowth, more traces 
 of a road, of fire, of cut and carved stone, were 
 evident. 
 
 Coming around the shoulder of the mountain, there 
 stood out before them, as on a shelf of the sloping 
 rock, two more colossal stone figures. They were so 
 human-like, indeed they seemed so smiling, apparently, 
 as to give Clarence a queer feeling, and make him 
 feel at first as if it were all a dream. Were these 
 the mountain genii of Japanese story, and was he a 
 Rip Van Winkle ? He almost felt for his axe. 
 
 The white granite, though darkened and weather- 
 stained in places, was so light and clean-looking in 
 the eyes and on the lips of the female figure as to 
 give it an expression almost like a smirk. Indeed, 
 Clarence actually thought of flirtation. The male 
 figure stood about forty feet high and its head-dress 
 was an enormous cap of granite cut square. That of 
 the female had on a round-pointed cap and was 
 about thirty feet high. Both were of solid rock from 
 base to top, appearing to Clarence, after the first 
 surprise was over, exactly like the toy figures of 
 
1 64 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 painted wood, in which, above a round solidity in the 
 lower parts, arms, shoulders, and features were dis- 
 tinguishable. In Korean religion one stood for the 
 heaven and the other for earth, or the active and 
 positive male, and the passive and negative female, 
 principle. 
 
 " It's the same as in the Korean flag, where the 
 idea which runs all through Chinese philosophy is 
 expressed by the red and green figures infolded," 
 said Masaro. 
 
 " Yes, like two commas in perpetual revolution, or 
 continually embracing and tumbling over each other ; 
 but say, this archaeology business is pretty warm 
 work," said Clarence; " I'm fearfully thirsty, and 
 hungry, too." 
 
 " Yes," said Masaro, " I think I have advanced 
 about as far into historical researches as I want to 
 go to-day. Let's inquire about rations." 
 
 It being now about four or five o'clock in the after- 
 noon, they retraced their steps. Being quite tired, 
 they did not get back to the village till about six, 
 finding that the forage party, getting supplies sooner 
 than they expected, had returned to camp. 
 
 " Let's get supper here and stay all night," said 
 Masaro. 
 
 " Do you think we'd better ? " said Clarence. " Is 
 there no danger ? " 
 
 " Oh, not a bit among Koreans," said Masaro, "and 
 
FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ARMY. 165 
 
 we have permission from the provost officer to be 
 away until noon of to-morrow ; so why not ? It will 
 give us a chance to see how Korean villagers spend 
 their time in the evening." 
 
 "Very good," said Clarence, not without vague 
 misgivings, for he wondered whether any Chinese 
 fugitives from Asan might be near, or how treacherous 
 pro-Chinese natives might like to see strangers in their 
 village. 
 
 The two travellers bargained with the Korean guide, 
 who seemed to be a very intelligent and honest fellow. 
 He agreed to give them the best his hut could afford 
 in the way of a bed and food. 
 
 " In one way, honored guests, you are fortunate, for 
 to-night we are to see the long nose of the father." 
 
 "What do you mean by that ? " said Masaro. 
 
 " Oh," said the Korean, " didn't you know that ours 
 is a Christian village ? When I was a boy, the French 
 teacher used to visit us in disguise, putting on Korean 
 clothes and the mourner's big hat that wholly shut 
 his face from view. Only my father and a few in our 
 village knew when he was coming. Since the treaties 
 have been made, he comes and goes freely, and he is 
 to be in the village to-night." 
 
 "That's good," said Clarence; "we'll call on him. 
 I can speak a few words of French." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE IN A KOREAN VILLAGE. 
 
 THE two young men were invited by the Korean 
 into the best room which the poor three-sided 
 and three-roomed house could afford. It was 
 a thatched building of the ordinary type, built up by 
 first making a structure of stone and earth about four 
 or five feet high, and on this raising a framework of 
 timber with the spaces joined with wattle of cane, 
 plastered with mud. 
 
 At one end of the principal part of the humble 
 home was the kitchen, or cooking place. Here the 
 same fire which boiled the millet and vegetables, for 
 rice was not often seen here, arid tea was unknown, 
 passed in winter through the flues which ran through 
 the stonework and earth, under the floor made of 
 terra-cotta or stone slabs, and out ' to the farther 
 end, through a rough shack or chimney. In summer 
 this artificial heat was turned off. The floor was 
 covered with oiled paper, and though all the sur- 
 roundings bespoke what in our country would mean 
 abject poverty, to the Korean they meant comfort. 
 
 1 66 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 167 
 
 The two young men enjoyed the novelty. The host, 
 while his wife and daughters prepared the meal, set 
 the table, and laid on the simple dishes and chop- 
 sticks. 
 
 So with good appetites to furnish the sauce, the 
 guests disposed of their simple supper of millet cakes, 
 delicious broiled fish from the streams near by, stewed 
 beef from the village butcher's, and boiled rice, a lux- 
 ury, indeed, in a Korean village. For drink they had 
 water, both plain and that in which the rice had been 
 boiled, flavored with what seemed a decoction of 
 orange peel. 
 
 Supper being over, the young men strolled out into 
 the village, to see what there was worth looking at 
 in this place among the mountains. There life was 
 rather primitive, and the people followed a round of 
 activities in most respects exactly the same as that 
 of their ancestors a thousand years ago. Dogs were 
 plenty, for dog steaks and canine cutlets formed reg- 
 ular dishes at certain meals. 
 
 When Clarence Burnham learned this fact, a hor- 
 rible suspicion came over him that perhaps for the 
 first time in his life he had tasted dog instead of ox 
 at his supper time. His Korean host, quickly under- 
 standing from Masaro what he was trying to inquire, 
 seriously assured him that the meat served at supper 
 had stood upon hoofs and not upon paws, so the 
 American lad was comforted. 
 
168 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 They took a peep in the stables, noticing that each 
 of the short, stumpy horses was tied up at night to 
 the ceiling by a big belly-band and ropes that went 
 round and under their bodies, and held them to a 
 wooden bar across the top of the stalls. The Korean 
 pony is a vicious beast, kicking, biting, and squealing 
 on all occasions, favorable or unfavorable. Worse 
 than all, he is very much inclined, when moving in 
 single file, to browse on the flank of the animal in 
 front of him, such liberty being usually highly 
 resented by the animal grazed upon, and very apt 
 to result in spoiling the grazer's teeth or chest. At 
 such a time, and sometimes even without any provo- 
 cation, the beast, incensed or for pure mischief, 
 throws out his hind hoofs in a way that brings dam- 
 age to anything within range. So at night the ponies 
 are tied up, hanged, as it were, to the ceiling, yet 
 even then they contrive to keep up a concert of 
 squeals that are ruinous to sleep. 
 
 Clarence Burnham was surprised to find that the 
 bull, which in other lands is generally associated 
 with terror and a propensity to use its horns to toss 
 and gore, is in Korea the household pet, beloved of 
 all the children. He found in several places the 
 little folks frolicking with the family burden-bearer, 
 tumbling and rolling over him, the monstrous brute 
 apparently taking no offence, but rather enjoying the 
 fun. In another place the little bull-calf was held 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 169 
 
 upon a Korean mother's lap, alongside of her baby 
 that was taking its evening refreshment from the 
 maternal bosom, while the little folks were caressing 
 their shaggy pet. 
 
 When the two young men were near the end of 
 the village, they saw coming down the hilly street, 
 but at a considerable distance, what seemed to be a 
 colossal hedgehog or porcupine. Soon they made 
 out the moving object to be a great ball of brush- 
 wood furnished with legs. Indeed, it suggested to 
 Clarence the title of a once well-known book, " The 
 Devil on Two Sticks," but on coming near, the 
 riddle was read. It was a bull, led by a ring in its 
 mouth, and laden many feet high and at the sides 
 with material for firewood. 
 
 In the village there was scarcely anything that 
 could be called a shop or store, though one man 
 made hats of thick oiled paper which was varnished 
 black, and furnished with such a tremendous brim 
 that Clarence wondered how the wearers could ever 
 dare to walk out on a windy day, lest they should be 
 blown away. He found before he left Korea that 
 there was a language of hats. According to the 
 size, shape, style, color, or way of being tied, one 
 might recognize a Korean as a minister of state, a 
 merchant, a soldier, a doctor, a bridegroom, or a 
 mourner, with perhaps a dozen other interpretations. 
 In the other shops they saw only the commonest 
 
170 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 articles of everyday use in food, clothing, and straw 
 footgear for man and beast. 
 
 It was about eight o'clock, when the French priest, 
 who had come from another village lying to the east- 
 ward, arrived. He was welcomed with great respect 
 into the house of one of the leading men of the vil- 
 lage. On hearing that two foreigners were in the 
 place, the Frenchman with his host made a call upon 
 the American and the Japanese. With grave courtesy 
 he saluted these newer visitors, who had come into 
 a place familiar to himself. He apologized for not 
 being able to speak either Japanese or English, but 
 Clarence put him at his ease by expressing in French 
 his pleasure at meeting, in this unexpected manner, 
 one who was familiar with the country. 
 
 Monsieur Hippolyte was a native of Boen, in the 
 province of Loire, France, and had been in Korea 
 about fifteen years. He was a nephew of one of 
 those French priests, who, in 1866, during the Rus- 
 sian " invasion scare," had been tracked to their hid- 
 ing-places by the sleuth-hounds of the government 
 and taken to Seoul. There, outside the gates of 
 Seoul, they were barbarously beheaded, but not until 
 their executioners, playing the game of mimic war 
 over their victims, pretending to fence with each 
 other, but delivering their sword cuts on the victims, 
 had wearied of their sport. 
 
 The French "father" was able to tell Clarence 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 171 
 
 many things about Korea, and more particularly con- 
 cerning what both the young men were just then 
 rather nervously anxious to know; that is, whether 
 any fugitive Chinese or hostile pro-Chinese Koreans 
 were anywhere in that region. 
 
 The French priest felt sure that there were none, 
 for he knew the country between the village and the 
 Yellow Sea quite well, and there were no signs of 
 Chinese soldiers anywhere. As to the other direc- 
 tion, all seemed to take it for granted that none would 
 be anywhere very near the track of the Japanese army 
 to the eastward. 
 
 Asking permission to be allowed to attend the 
 evening mass, the two young men received a warm 
 invitation from the Catholic "father" to come at nine 
 o'clock, by which time all private confession would 
 be over, and the public worship would begin. Clar- 
 ence went with his Japanese friend, and was ush- 
 ered, or rather squeezed, into one of the three rooms 
 which make up the average dwelling of the better 
 class of villagers ; for almost every square foot of 
 standing room was taken by a crowd of men, women, 
 and children, or, more exactly, by older boys and girls, 
 who kneeled reverently on the stone floor. Some of 
 the voices of those forward made clear responses, 
 and it was evident that the "father" had trained a 
 choir. The furnishings of the altar and chancel were 
 of the simplest description, and mostly of native work- 
 
172 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 manship, though a brilliant image of the virgin was 
 evidently from France. 
 
 The touching service over, the young men were 
 piloted to their temporary home and lay down 
 to rest. The warmth of the evening made the 
 Korean bedclothing proffered them almost unneces- 
 sary, and the delicious mountain air was suffused 
 with a piny aroma that invited to soft slumber. Bid- 
 ding their host good night, after a little chat, they 
 were soon fast asleep. 
 
 During several hours Clarence Burnham slept 
 soundly, and then came a dream. He thought he 
 was far in the deep forest, and high up on a moun- 
 tain stood two great images of stone. These suddenly 
 changed into creatures that had faces apparently 
 made up of elements borrowed from the stone mir- 
 yek and the grotesque village idols. Suddenly their 
 stony lips moved, and one cried to the other in a 
 voice like a yell: 
 
 "How shall we punish these impudent intruders?" 
 
 The other answered, "Call the god of the mountain 
 and ask him what shall be done." 
 
 The larger of the monstrous creatures, wearing a 
 square granite hat, turned round, looking up through 
 the trees, to where a shaggy, frowning precipice jutted 
 out, as if it were going to fall and crush Clarence 
 and his companion to atoms. The stony monster 
 next uttered a sound between a whistle and a yell. 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 173 
 
 Forthwith there came a crashing and tumultuous 
 sound, as if a hundred tigers were leaping down from 
 the mountain top and crashing through the forest. 
 In only one dream-moment it seemed as though the 
 tiger host began howling and yelling, more like men 
 than tigers, Clarence thought. Then three or four 
 of the foremost tigers seemed to leap forward in the 
 air toward him, while the monster figures cried out, 
 " Kill, kill, kill ! " Just as it seemed a dozen horrible 
 claws were to be buried in his flesh, Clarence woke 
 up. 
 
 It was dark as pitch in the room, but outside and 
 quite near, he could hear angry men yelling as if 
 they were seeking some one's life. He had heard a 
 Chinese yell once before, and now recognized it 
 again. He listened, and certainly there were angry 
 yelling men, and they were nothing else than Chi- 
 nese. A cold chill ran over him, and for a moment 
 he was paralyzed with fright. Then he roused 
 Masaro. 
 
 The Japanese sprang up, saying, "These are not 
 Koreans, they are Chinese, and they are after us, 
 surely." 
 
 It was too true. After the Chinese army had 
 been beaten and scattered at Asan, their general 
 with four thousand men drew off to make his escape 
 to the north and join his countrymen massed at Ping 
 Yang. Knowing that the Japanese were in such full 
 
174 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 force at Seoul, and that they would march straight 
 north, as well as control the Ta-Tong River from the 
 sea to the city, the Chinese struck northeastwardly. 
 By the aid of their own scouts and the Koreans that 
 favored them, they learned of the Japanese move- 
 ments. In fact, here and now was a party of them 
 that had kept close to the Japanese army's line of 
 march, across which they had come that day, hiding 
 successfully from the foraging party, which they saw 
 returning. From a pro-Chinese Korean, a genuine 
 Japanese hater, they had heard of the two visitors 
 in the village. Furthermore, they were hungry and 
 wanted food. 
 
 So spurred on by hunger and revenge, they had 
 reached the house where our heroes were, and, with- 
 out waiting to secure the food for which they were 
 so eager, resolved to kill the Japanese. They were 
 just on the point of making a rush to break down 
 the door, yelling horribly all the while. There were 
 about fifteen Chinese soldiers, all told. They were 
 dressed in the usual blouse coats, with a big round 
 mark on breast and back, made up of the ideograph 
 meaning "brave." They wore low-crowned caps, 
 which brought their flat and ordinarily stolid, but 
 now passion-fired, faces into bold relief. 
 
 While four of the biggest fellows prepared to stave 
 in the main door with the butts of their muskets, the 
 others stood with their guns commanding each minor 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 175 
 
 door, entrance, and window, kitchen and even smoke 
 vent, so as to shoot down the Japanese, if he attempted 
 to escape. One, who seemed a sergeant, stood off, 
 directing the party, having given orders that the 
 American should not be hurt, if possible, for it was 
 not desirable to get into trouble with a neutral. The 
 sergeant was an old veteran, well informed as to the 
 danger of hurting white foreigners. 
 
 " What shall we do ? " said Clarence. 
 
 "Well," said Masaro, "you're safe; you lie here. 
 They are after me, for I hear them calling for the 
 ' Wo-jin,' the Japanese. You stay where you are, 
 and I'll take my risks by dashing out through to the 
 next room, where the man's wife and children sleep. 
 Maybe I can get clear." 
 
 " No, you don't, old fellow. I'll take risks with 
 you ; and we must be quick about it, too." 
 
 Clarence and Masaro had buckled on their revolv- 
 ers and drawn on their coats, when the butts of the 
 muskets boomed on the street door. 
 
 " I have an idea," said Masaro. "They're pounding 
 on the upper part. Let us both kneel down on the 
 floor close to the door, brace ourselves, and be ready, 
 when the door falls in at the top, to catch hold of the 
 bottom, slide it forward, and then crawl out if possible 
 with the door on top of us. It may be we can knock 
 down some Chinamen as we push it out." 
 
 Quicker than can be told, the two young men 
 
176 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 crouched on the floor near the door, face toward the 
 street, bracing their feet on an uneven stone in the 
 floor which had its edge tilted up. In a moment or 
 two the four musket butts, repeatedly and simulta- 
 neously striking the upper half of the door, knocked 
 it in. 
 
 Summoning all of their strength, and bracing their 
 feet firmly, Clarence and Masaro, with all their might, 
 pushed the bottom part of the door outward, giving it 
 also a shove forward. Its hinges wrenched off, the 
 heavy door fell inward, and as it did so, the two 
 young men rushed it forward, jamming its edges on 
 the legs of the Chinese just above their ankles and 
 tumbling the whole four inside the house, rolling 
 them in one heap, while the two young men nimbly 
 extricated themselves, and were standing up safe in 
 the open street, each with a revolver in hand. Much 
 to their surprise they found no one immediately near 
 in the dusky light save, a few feet away, the Chinese 
 sergeant that commanded the party, for the others 
 with cocked Mausers were watching the other outlets 
 of the house. 
 
 The sergeant was so surprised at seeing his four 
 braves tumble head foremost into the house, with 
 their feet in the air, that in open-mouthed wonder he 
 seemed dazed. He did not even realize the situation, 
 as the two lads crawled out and stood upright. When, 
 however, he recognized that they were not his own 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 177 
 
 soldiers, but the very ones he was after, he was about 
 to level his rifle, when a shot from Masaro's revolver, 
 received in his breast, made him sink heavily to the 
 ground. The report brought out the other soldiers to 
 the front. 
 
 " This way," said Masaro. " This is the road we 
 came yesterday, for I marked it carefully before I went 
 to bed. Now run as fast as our legs can carry us." 
 
 Without hats, the young men started on the run, 
 getting down past the village entrance. Three shots 
 tore the air and whistled past them, but did no fur- 
 ther harm than to knock the wooden flap off the 
 carved cap of the hideous idol that had entered into 
 his dreams. To this monstrosity, Clarence, as he 
 went by it on the run, actually kissed his hand, in 
 token of gratitude for a dream that had caused his 
 waking. Then the two sped down the path and 
 never ceased their rapid pace until they reached the 
 main road. Their watches were not needed to see 
 that it was about five o'clock in the morning when 
 they struck the trail of the army. It was well marked 
 with the ruts of the artillery wheels and the hoofs of 
 the cavalry and draught horses. 
 
 They had hardly gone a mile on the main road 
 before they heard the beating of hoofs, and pretty 
 soon the jingling of the gear of mounted men. 
 
 " It's a troop of our cavalry, you may be sure," 
 said Masaro. 
 
178 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Yes, but it is barely possible they may be more 
 wild Chinese. Let's be wary." 
 
 When the horsemen were within a few hundred 
 feet, Masaro saw that they were his own countrymen. 
 Standing out in the middle of the road, he gave the 
 Japanese cheer, " Banzai ! Banzai ! " (Japan forever !). 
 
 At this the officer in command cried " Halt ! " and 
 sent one of his men forward, who, with cocked re- 
 volver, challenged Masaro. In one minute he was 
 assured that all was right, and in another Masaro 
 was telling his story to the lieutenant commanding. 
 The Japanese cavalry were part of the eyes and ears 
 of the main army, and besides keeping the road from 
 Seoul open, making sure convoy to any possible strag- 
 gler, soldier, laborer, or wagon, the troopers scoured 
 the country through. There had been several in- 
 stances of skirmishes with Chinese parties to the 
 eastward, for hungry fugitives must perforce go on 
 foraging expeditions. One of these was now in a 
 trap. 
 
 Masaro having told his story, the Japanese officer 
 decided that here was an opportunity to bag some 
 prisoners. He accordingly disposed of his men at 
 some distance, both north and south of the road lead- 
 ing from the village. Furthermore, a detachment 
 of six horsemen were to go up some hundred yards 
 toward the village and then, turning off from the 
 road, were to find a place of hiding in the woods a 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 179 
 
 few score yards away on one side, so that the Chinese, 
 returning eastward as they soon must, would not 
 notice any horse tracks until the Japanese were able 
 to form and, when necessary, to charge on them from 
 the rear. 
 
 "They are for us as rats in a cage," said the 
 delighted officer. 
 
 These clever arrangements were hardly consum- 
 mated before the Chinese appeared in sight. They 
 were one less in number than before ; but although 
 disappointed of their prey, their stomachs were full, 
 and they were well loaded with bags of grain, 
 chickens, and pigs. 
 
 These latter were carried in the usual Chinese 
 fashion. Each animal's hoofs being tied together, 
 a pole was thrust in between, so that it could be 
 borne on the shoulders of two men. Four pigs 
 were thus being transported. In order to avoid 
 danger of exposure through the crowing or cackling 
 of the fowls, or the grunting or the squealing of the 
 pigs, the necks of the one had been wrung and those 
 of the other cut. Four of the Chinamen had strings 
 of chickens around their necks and over their bodies, 
 and the leader was loaded with ducks. 
 
 Meanwhile five of the Japanese troopers, well con- 
 cealed and holding their blankets over their horses' 
 muzzles, guarded against any sound from their beasts. 
 When the fourth trooper, hiding in the bamboo scrub 
 
i8o IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 by the roadside, saw the pigs, chickens, ducks, and 
 Chinamen all pass by, he went back to report to his 
 comrades. Mounting their horses quietly, the four 
 gained the road and waited till the signal agreed upon 
 from below, three pistol shots in quick succession, 
 had been fired. 
 
 Soon in the clear morning air the ringing sound 
 came. Then, knowing that their comrades had de- 
 ployed and partially surrounded the Chinamen, they 
 charged down the hill with cheers of " Banzai ! 
 Banzai ! " Though the Chinamen had slung off 
 their necklaces of ducks and chickens, dumped the 
 carcasses of the pigs on the ground, and unslung 
 their rifles, they saw that they were surrounded, and 
 quietly laid down their arms. 
 
 So it came to pass that the sub-lieutenant of cav- 
 alry, with four men detailed to keep guard over the 
 prisoners, still laden with spoil, entered camp that 
 morning about eight o'clock with fourteen prisoners, 
 the rescued war correspondents, four pigs, and fowls 
 that had once quacked, squawked, or crowed by the 
 dozen. A' "Banzai," triply repeated, was raised in 
 their honor and welcome. Then after hilarity that 
 ran through the whole camp, the Chinese were given 
 refreshment of hot tea and rice, and disposed of in 
 the guard-house. 
 
 Before noon the hilarity had changed to gloom. 
 Word was brought in by a handful of survivors that 
 
A NIGHT'S ADVENTURE. 181 
 
 a lieutenant with a dozen cavalrymen had, a few miles 
 north of the camp, been surrounded and cut to pieces 
 by superior numbers of the Chinese, only three or 
 four escaping, and these were still missing. An 
 order was at once issued, directing that seven wooden 
 tablets duly inscribed should be carried to the place 
 of the slaughter and erected to the memory of the 
 dead. Next day Clarence and Masaro were present 
 when the army reached the spot, the survivors pointed 
 out the little hillock near the road and the pine wood 
 near the edge of which the officer had been slain. 
 
 The army was halted. Then took place one of 
 those scenes which served to reveal the secrets of 
 the burning patriotism and terrible efficiency of the 
 Japanese soldiers. Holes were dug, and the seven 
 inscribed tablets set up at the end of the grave 
 mounds. Each regiment as it passed was halted 
 for a moment, while the soldiers presented arms in 
 homage to the dead. This was the Sho-kon cere- 
 mony, so often performed during the war, making 
 frequent memorial days, celebrated in greetings to 
 the spirits that had passed away. It explains why 
 a Japanese is so ready to throw away his life when 
 his country demands it, for he knows that his name 
 will ever be remembered by his countrymen. 
 
 The music befitted the occasion, for the trumpeters 
 played the inspiring strains of the Hero Song and 
 that celebrating the Imperial Will. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 
 
 WITH many varied experiences and adven- 
 tures, our heroes, with the army that had 
 climbed mountains and crossed rivers, at 
 last reached the blue-flashing waters of the Ta-Tong 
 River that drains northern Korea. 
 
 The city of Ping Yang looked very imposing, with 
 its walls and great double roofed gates, its temples, 
 shrines, and wooded heights. The same engineers 
 and pontoon corps that a month before, near the 
 capital, had in twenty minutes thrown a bridge across 
 the Han River, now constructed a highway of boats 
 between the shore and the island of Cholto, west of 
 the city, so that the main army was soon across. 
 
 The plan was to storm Ping Yang and forts, on 
 the 1 5th of September, simultaneously from four 
 sides. The Combined Brigade under General Oshima 
 was to make the frontal attack, and to do it so vigor- 
 ously as to divert the attention of the Chinese from 
 other points. At the same time, the Japanese column 
 from the north, that from the east, and that from 
 
 182 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 183 
 
 the south were to strike with equal promptness and 
 energy. On the I2th and I3th there were a good 
 many skirmishes and much artillery fire ; but although 
 the Chinese wasted much ammunition on the I4th, 
 the Japanese made little or no reply. The twenty- 
 seven Chinese forts, each with parallel trenches and 
 a deep moat, were ten feet high and very steep, being 
 well manned and supplied with cannon. Unless 
 breached, ladders might be necessary to storm them. 
 
 Not to make our own accounts tedious by too 
 many details, let us see how the two correspondents, 
 and especially Clarence Burnham, described this, 
 one of the greatest and most decisive battles in 
 modern times. 
 
 In his syndicate letter, after writing of the march 
 between Seoul and Ping Yang, describing the Jap- 
 anese in camp, and paying tribute to their splendid 
 discipline, Clarence continued : 
 
 " Let me picture to you the situation in and around 
 this ancient city of eighty thousand people, in which, 
 according to tradition, Ki-ja, the founder of Ko- 
 rean civilization, first made his seat of government, 
 1 1 22 B.C. Ping Yang, in my view, is shaped like an 
 ordinary oval white potato, with two gates on the 
 north, two on the south side (which lies two miles 
 and a half along the river), and one each at the east 
 and the west. 
 
 " In the native eye, the city is shaped like a boat 
 
184 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 and therefore there are no wells within the walls. 
 Do you ask why ? According to superstition, if you 
 dug wells, making a hole in the ground, the boat 
 would sink ! So, would you believe it, most of the 
 water is brought into the city in old American petro- 
 leum tins ! The city is now empty of its people, 
 and only soldiers are in it. 
 
 " The point to which our eyes, as war correspond- 
 ents, were from the first directed, was the Peony Mount, 
 from the top of which one could see down and into 
 the whole city of Ping Yang, along its greatest length, 
 raking it, as it were, with an opera glass. The situa- 
 tion also commanded the river and surrounding coun- 
 tries. One could see into the forts, and most of the 
 military operations were within view. Could the 
 Mikado's army once gain this key to the whole situa- 
 tion, they would win easy victory, for their artillery 
 could then command the forts and the city below. 
 All this I was told by my comrade Masaro, long be- 
 fore the battle. Hence it was that, from the first 
 firing, I was eager to see the Japanese capture this 
 natural stronghold, so that I might have the best 
 view. 
 
 "On the morning of the I5th this was the arrange- 
 ment of the Japanese army : the Combined Brigade, 
 under General Oshima on the south side of the river, 
 occupied the west and southwest approaches. There 
 were no fewer than five earthworks guarding the 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 185 
 
 Chinese bridge of boats across the river at the ordi- 
 nary ferry, while four other large forts guarded the 
 western side. 
 
 " The main body under General Nodzu, having al- 
 ready crossed on pontoons, was on the north side of 
 the city. Before they could get at the gates, or enter, 
 they must pass the fire on the right of a big fort on 
 the top of a hill, and the four forts near the city, 
 which guarded from the right-hand side the bridge 
 of boats, over which the Chinese could get ammuni- 
 tion and reinforcements, to resist the attack of the 
 Combined Brigade. 
 
 "Eastward, where were the strongest of all the 
 forts, six or seven in number, was the division that 
 had marched from Gensan on the eastern seacoast. 
 A little southward, in a direct line east of the city, 
 was another division under General Tatsumi. I was 
 so fortunate as to be with the latter body. 
 
 " It was not a * walk over ' for the Japanese, by any 
 means. The Combined Brigade under General Os- 
 hima had a terrible time of it on the I5th. The 
 attack began before daylight, at half-past four. 
 
 " The Chinese artillery opened, but with much poorer 
 aim than that of their foe. The Chinese riflemen did 
 better. The fugitives from Asan, jealous to redeem 
 their reputation, had been put in the front. Armed 
 with their Mauser repeating rifles, they made it tre- 
 mendously hot for the soldiers of the Mikado, who 
 
1 86 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 now on open ground and in daylight were exposed to 
 the whole range of Chinese fire. Nevertheless, the 
 Japanese made a terrific charge, capturing the out- 
 works of the two first of the four forts. They planted 
 their flag on the earthen walls and expected to win 
 the whole line and area within. 
 
 " In this they were doomed to disappointment, for 
 that day at least. 
 
 "The Chinese, being well supplied with ammuni- 
 tion, were able from the centre of the fort to pour in 
 a withering rifle fire. The Japanese artillery, though 
 the gunners tried hard, could not destroy the bridge 
 by which the Chinese received fresh men and ammu- 
 nition, while the Japanese cartridge-boxes were empty. 
 With the cheer of ' Banzai ! Banzai ! ' the brave little 
 fellows charged up the earthworks, but they were too 
 steep and high for them. They retreated with heavy 
 loss, exhausted and hungry, for they had had no food 
 since three o'clock, and it was now as late as two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. So the outlook on the 
 south side was decidedly dark. 
 
 " At our position on the eastern side, we could not 
 have been more fortunate, for the two divisions, 
 though marching from points so far afield, had con- 
 verged together and were within helping distance of 
 each other, while acting as two hammers striking at 
 once. While Oshima's brigade was so fully occupy- 
 ing the Chinese on the southwest, our advance not 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING VANG. 1$; 
 
 being expected so soon, we were able on the I4th 
 to occupy a hill superbly situated and only sixteen 
 hundred yards from the outermost forts on the left. 
 Then those ' mountain guns/ on which I used to see 
 the soldiers in Tokio spending so many hours and 
 hard work, were dragged up to the crest of the hill 
 and made ready for the terrible work of the next 
 day. 
 
 " The attack began furiously at daylight. Although 
 the Chinese Mauser balls came like a storm, yet 
 our shrapnel shells were dropped so accurately, right 
 inside the forts, that one was captured by a charge 
 at half-past seven and the third at eight o'clock. The 
 second was on Peony Mount. 
 
 " By this time the fifth fort on the east had 
 been taken. With the cannon of the Japanese belch- 
 ing out their shot, shell, and shrapnel balls on both 
 sides of the river and three sides of the city, the 
 Chinese were utterly bewildered. The whole of the 
 Japanese forces were now converged on the two 
 remaining forts, the smaller of which was quickly 
 abandoned by its garrison. 
 
 " In order to take the stronghold on Peony Mount, 
 General Tatsumi ordered one regiment to move by 
 a frontal attack, while another advanced in the rear 
 from fort number three, also from fort number five 
 another regiment was started from the opposite 
 direction, thus making three lines of approach and 
 
i88 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 offence. The Japanese artillery, which had been 
 busy at trying to breach the walls of the city, was sig- 
 nalled to concentrate fire on the Peony Mount. This 
 was handsomely done, the shells dropping inside the 
 fort, making it too hot for flesh and blood to stand. 
 The Chinese were started on the run, and at half -past 
 eight the famous citadel was entered amid three ring- 
 ing cheers of ' Banzai ! Banzai ! ' Then the sun flag 
 was hoisted, and unfurled proudly to the breeze." 
 
 From this point let us quote from another of 
 Clarence Burnham's letters : 
 
 " Masaro and I had taken up our positions early on 
 the morning of September i5th, behind the Japanese 
 batteries on the crest of a hill. Climbing one of the 
 pine trees, we were able, in the bright morning sun, 
 to see a large part of what was going on, especially 
 the Chinese riflemen on the walls of the fort, and 
 the shells which dropped and exploded among them. 
 Just as soon as the Chinese began to show their 
 backs and get out and away from Peony Mountain, 
 we ran nearly all the way down the hill so as to 
 quickly get into the captured fort and mount the top 
 of the ramparts, from which we could see what went on 
 at the Gemmu gate, now the focus of fire and valor. 
 
 " It opened into the city, and here we saw one of 
 the most brilliant episodes of the war. The walls 
 of Ping Yang are about twenty feet high and very 
 thick. At intervals are gateways, which are built in 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 189 
 
 the form of squares projecting out from the line of 
 wall, making a place of unusual strength. The 
 Gemmu gate had an archway of stone, like a tunnel, 
 twice the height of a man, at the end of which was 
 the heavy gate itself, made of the stoutest timbers. 
 Crowning the whole gateway edifice was a pagoda- 
 like tower, rising aloft with recurved roofs, and tiled 
 in the usual Korean fashion. From behind the ram- 
 part on the wall and in the tower, by both direct and 
 flank fire, the Chinese kept blazing away with their 
 Mausers. It was at this time that the Japanese loss 
 of life was fearful. Despite their bravery, they 
 began to waver. As the ramparts were proof 
 against rifle balls, it was evident that little could be 
 done until the Japanese artillery was brought up 
 from the rear and arranged on the earthworks of the 
 lately captured fort. 
 
 " All this required time. Meanwhile, it looked like 
 a general repulse at the big gateway, when suddenly 
 the situation was redeemed by an act of heroic, al- 
 most romantic, valor, showing how rich in resources 
 is the Japanese soldier. 
 
 " A lieutenant, raging with shame, called for volun- 
 teers to force the gate, or if necessary to climb the 
 wall and draw the bolt from the inside. He rushed 
 forward under the terrible sleet of balls, followed by 
 a score or two of his men ; but when once under the 
 stone arch, only twelve men were alive with the de- 
 
190 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 voted lieutenant. They found the timbers were too 
 stout to be forced, so the leader ordered his men to 
 back out of the arch and up the very face of the 
 wall. 
 
 " It seemed perfectly absurd that, while hundreds of 
 Chinese marksmen on the front and flanks of the 
 gateway walls were busily shooting down all the 
 men that they could see a few yards ahead of them, 
 they should not notice or forget that, directly under 
 their very noses, were a lot of men climbing like 
 monkeys up the perpendicular wall. They were 
 literally 'shinning' up the corner of the adjoining 
 walls by sticking their hands and feet in the crevices 
 between the stones. Possibly the Chinese thought 
 that all the men who had rushed forward hoping to 
 get into the arch to strike at the gate from the out- 
 side, had been killed, and so forgot them. 
 
 "A soldier named Harada had called out, 'Who'll 
 be the first on the wall ? ' and had led the men in the 
 scramble. Once on top, three or four of the dozen 
 nimble fellows jumped down inside the wall and, 
 rushing to the gate, got in a hand-to-hand fight. 
 With sword and bayonet they killed three and drove 
 away the other Chinese guards. While the others 
 that had climbed fought on the walls, the gate- 
 openers plied their task. This was not very easy, 
 for its two leaves were barricaded on the inside with 
 logs and stones which had to be pulled away. 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 191 
 
 " While the defenders on the walls kept back the 
 enemy by their rifles, using both ends, the muzzle 
 for firing and the butt for a club, Harada, stout and 
 strong, cleared away the rubbish, and then broke 
 open the big iron lock, a foot long, with a heavy 
 stone. In a moment more, with a wrench, a pull, 
 and a push, the great gate, creaking on its hinges, 
 was wide open to the gaze of the astonished Japan- 
 ese on the outside, who now swarmed in under the 
 arch and through the gate, driving the Chinese be- 
 fore them like chaff. Thus Ping Yang was entered. 
 
 " The admirably posted Japanese artillery was now 
 playing upon the yet untaken forts, and kept the 
 Chinese from recapturing the Gemmu gate. It was 
 from this time forth that the Chinese, utterly de- 
 moralized, made sorties at other gates, that meant 
 only destruction for themselves and victory for the 
 Japanese. The fight and the flight were alike vain, 
 for having lost their brave leader, General Tso, they 
 could do nothing. Of this leader, the bravest and 
 best in the Chinese army, let us now tell. 
 
 " General Tso had always been an upright and 
 honest officer, as well as brave man a combination 
 of qualities not usually meeting in one Chinese 
 officer. He had left Mukden with five thousand 
 men. At a council of war the day before, in Ping 
 Yang, September 15th, the Chinese generals advised 
 a retreat, but Tso indignantly demanded that there 
 
192 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 should be a fight. He was the moving spirit in the 
 brave defence made on the eastern side of the city. 
 During the day he was wounded several times, but 
 tearing his clothes into strips, he bound up his 
 wounds and fought on. On that fatal afternoon he 
 led out his troops through the Gate of the Seven 
 Stars and down the steep zigzag descent below it to 
 the plain. It was about three hundred yards from 
 the gate that he met his death. Some of his men 
 took up his body to remove it, but fell under the 
 rain of bullets. In the awful slaughter which ensued 
 the body was lost beyond recognition." 
 
 The writer of this story would add that to-day, on 
 the spot where General Tso is believed to have 
 fallen, there ris.es a neat obelisk with a railing around 
 it. On one face is an inscription which reads " Place 
 of the death of General Tso " and on the other side, 
 " Killed in battle with the Japanese troops at Ping 
 Yang." Thus the Japanese, in high admiration of 
 their bravest foe, have commemorated his valor. 
 Clarence Burnham's letter continued : 
 " The main body of the army was posted on the 
 north of the city, guarding two roads and command- 
 ing three city gates. The attack here began later in 
 the day, not till eight o'clock in the morning, when 
 the whole line of artillery began to roar. Making a 
 sortie from one of the gates, a troop of two of the 
 splendid Tartar cavalry, under the brave Chinese 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 193 
 
 General Tso, hoped to fall with the effect of surprise 
 on a detachment of Japanese infantry which did not 
 suspect their presence. 
 
 "The advancing Japanese infantry did not see 
 the Tartar cavalry, owing to a swell of ground ; but 
 the artillerists catching sight of them, directed their 
 guns upon them, thus calling the attention of the 
 infantry. The result was such an awful cannon and 
 rifle fire in front and flank that only seven or eight 
 escaped. The rest were in a few moments lying dead. 
 I could hardly believe my own eyes in first seeing a 
 gallant squadron of picturesque horsemen, in all the 
 pomp of war, gayly moving along with flashing sabres, 
 and then, in less than five minutes, total disappear- 
 ance, only the ground strewn with horses and 
 corpses of men. From the prisoners they learned 
 who and what these cavalrymen were. 
 
 " I was told of another sortie of a thousand more 
 cavalry escaping from behind the forts, or perhaps 
 ready to make a charge. They had just issued from 
 the city gate, when the murderous fire of the Japanese 
 shrapnel and rifles threw them into confusion, so that 
 a part rode back into the forts from which they had 
 come. Others, blinded and desperate, rode along a 
 path by a dry moat, which was soon choked with dead 
 men and horses. 
 
 "On the southwest the Combined Brigade, after 
 food and refreshment through resting, set fire to the 
 
194 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 houses near the fort, and then the infantry by one 
 determined charge drove out the Chinese garrison. 
 
 "About half-past four in the afternoon, the Chinese 
 firing suddenly ceased, and a white flag was hoisted 
 above the walls. Fearing treachery, General Ta- 
 tsumi at first paid no attention to the signal, holding 
 back his men from entering the city. Everything 
 continued silent, however, and so a detachment passed 
 in through the Gemmu gate, and some officers with a 
 picked body of soldiers went on to the entrance of 
 the inner castle, where the Chinese officers were 
 ready to negotiate the surrender. 
 
 "At that moment the clouds, which for some time 
 past had been gathering blackness, burst in a drench- 
 ing shower. The Chinese officers pleaded that, 
 though they surrendered themselves prisoners, yet 
 since the roll could not be called in the rain, the ca- 
 pitulation should be put off until the next day. The 
 Japanese agreed, though still fearful that during the 
 night the Chinese would try to escape. 
 
 "These suspicions were only too well founded and 
 prepared for by the Japanese. About nine o'clock, 
 all the unwounded men, carrying their arms, began 
 to stream out of the Potong gateway into the low 
 plain girdled with hills and intersected by the great 
 road leading into Manchuria. But, alas, for the un- 
 truthfulness and treachery of China, her deep-seated 
 diseases ! Alas, for civilization and humanity ! 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 195 
 
 " The wary Japanese were ready. A regiment of 
 riflemen had been posted to intercept the flight of 
 the fugitives, and during all the long night of horrors 
 there was less a battle than a massacre. Other Jap- 
 anese regiments came up and * girdled the plain with 
 a ring of fire.' Though occasionally the Chinese 
 fought with the energy of despair, and tried to break 
 through the lines of their foes, they availed nothing 
 against discipline and cool valor. The moonlight 
 only served the gunners to take better aim. It is 
 probable that two thousand men were slaughtered, 
 besides large numbers of bulls and horses, on that 
 awful night. It has left a scar on my memory for- 
 ever. 
 
 "I was so fortunate as to march into the city with 
 two divisions from the eastern side, for the real 
 glory of the capture of this city belongs to that part 
 of the army, though their work was made easy by 
 the stubborn bravery of the men in the Combined 
 Brigade. 
 
 "I cannot tell you what a dreadful scene I witnessed 
 after the evacuation. The houses were empty, bat- 
 tered, and broken by shells, and dead bodies were 
 lying around everywhere. 
 
 " One pleasant episode was in the fact that the main 
 division started at an hour before daylight, on the 
 i6th, to what they supposed would be the final assault. 
 Somewhat to their surprise they found no resistance, 
 
196 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 but, entering by the western gate, realized that the 
 city was already occupied by their comrades from 
 the east, and knew from their cheers that the fighting 
 was over. 
 
 "As for the Combined Brigade, a messenger on 
 horseback brought them the news that the city was 
 taken and the enemy had fled. Immediately after 
 breakfast, they also marched into the city through 
 the southern gate. Every division shouted ' Banzai ! ' 
 until the men were hoarse. Then in a citadel of the 
 castle, the united host raised one tremendous cheer. 
 The welkin rang with echoes, and the mountains gave 
 back the sound, as though the hosts of Konishi's 
 warriors had risen from the dust of three centuries 
 to join in the paean of victory. 
 
 "Now that the battle is over, it seems wonderful 
 to look on the spoil which is being collected. In 
 the first place, the Japanese are surprised to find 
 the forts so finely built. The Chinese must have 
 profited well by their training under German en- 
 gineers. In their hasty flight they left everything 
 behind. The Mikado's soldiers feel that the de- 
 feat of their comrades of three centuries ago is 
 avenged. 
 
 "Among the trophies are thirty-five fine cannon, a 
 thousand rifles of the best sort, enormous stores of 
 ammunition, tents, horses, money, and every kind of 
 detail that you can imagine in clothing and equip- 
 
THE BATTLE OF PING YANG. 197 
 
 ment. There are umbrellas, fans, coats, hats, water- 
 proof hat covers, swords, belts, cartridge boxes, and 
 pretty much everything that a man might throw 
 away when in a hurry and in a panic of fear. Thou- 
 sands of sleeves torn hastily from the shoulder are 
 among the endless variety of sundries, while drums 
 and trumpets in stacks, carts, bulls, and horses are 
 numerous. 
 
 " Probably there have been as many as four thou- 
 sand Chinese killed and maimed, counting those 
 slightly wounded who have escaped. The Japanese 
 surgeons report of their own men 162 killed, 438 
 wounded, and 33 missing, the heaviest losses being 
 in the Combined Brigade. I wonder whether this 
 Chinese army will ever appear again as one organi- 
 zation. I very much doubt it. The temple of the 
 god of war is now a hospital, for the wounded were 
 at once taken care of. It is beautiful to see the 
 promptness, neatness, and order which prevails. 
 Immediately after seeing to their own, the Japanese 
 began to collect all the Chinese, in any way hurt, 
 though not until after many of these had already 
 died of their wounds." 
 
 Scarcely had the letters of the young war corre- 
 spondent been written and posted, the one to Tokio 
 and the other to New York, than electrifying news 
 came in from the sea. The tremendous victory of 
 Japan's fleet over that of China off the mouth of the 
 
198 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Yalu River, fought on the i;th day of September, 
 added a new glow to the joy of triumph on land. 
 
 " Banzai! Banzai ! " was the shout in every camp, 
 with the added cry, " On to Peking ! " by land and 
 sea. So the enthusiastic hosts of Japan set their 
 faces toward the dragon throne. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 
 
 ONLY a few days were granted to the main 
 body of the Japanese army for rest at Ping 
 Yang. Then the order was given to the 
 Mikado's soldiers to set their faces northward, to 
 pursue the enemy into China. 
 
 The route would be in this direction for about fifty 
 miles. Then from Anjiu the road ran westward 
 along the Yellow Sea to Wiju on the Yalu River. 
 When this Oriental Rubicon was crossed, the lads of 
 Japan would be in the Dragon Empire, where they 
 must face, besides the armed force, snow and frost 
 and the rigors of a winter campaign. Fortunately, 
 however, they would find better roads, for the Chi- 
 nese, in order to get their artillery into the peninsula, 
 had mended and greatly improved the Manchurian 
 and Korean highways. 
 
 Now that the Chinese sea power had been prac- 
 tically annihilated, great fleets of transports were on 
 the way from Japan to the Yalu, loaded with winter 
 clothing and comforts for the soldiers. 
 
 199 
 
200 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 At two or three places on the way to China there 
 were favorable situations for defence where the van- 
 quished Chinese army might have made a stand ; but 
 the poor fellows were too much demoralized and 
 were too manifestly lacking in brave leaders to at- 
 tempt any such thing. So one by one the positions 
 were given up. The first resistance the Japanese 
 were to encounter would be on Chinese soil, beyond 
 the Yalu, in the province of Shinking, where is the 
 city of Mukden, and in which are the tombs and 
 treasures of the dynasty that, since 1644, has held 
 the dragon throne. 
 
 The destruction of the Chinese fleet simplified 
 greatly the problem of transportation. Armies and 
 supplies could now be sent from Japan by sea instead 
 of through Korea, yet a considerable garrison must 
 for a while be left at Ping Yang. 
 
 Meanwhile the poor Koreans were homeless and 
 impoverished. Their friends, the Chinese protectors 
 and the Japanese deliverers, had desolated their 
 beautiful city, and left it and the roads to China 
 blackened with corpses. Though there had been no 
 actual fighting within the walls except at the Gemmu 
 gate, yet before the winter was over about four-fifths 
 of the houses were destroyed, and the streets and 
 alleys choked with rubbish. The slopes of the hills 
 were covered with ruins, and where were once homes 
 were now only fragments, blackened and hideous. 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 201 
 
 The soldiers at first occupying the city gave it up to 
 loot, tore out the posts of the houses and the other 
 woodwork for fuel, lighted fires on the house floors, 
 careless whether the houses burned, as they often did. 
 After the first few days there was, in the main, quiet 
 with good order, and all stores obtained in the town 
 or neighborhood were scrupulously paid for. 
 
 Nevertheless, with all their praiseworthy attempts 
 to carry on the war according to the rules of civilized 
 warfare, the Japanese failed unaccountably to do what 
 they owed to the Koreans to do, and what would have 
 been better for their own sanitary safety had they 
 done it. They left the Chinese corpses in the fields 
 and roads and in the eastern part of the city unburied, 
 so that before white skeletons came, the blackening 
 decomposition which poisoned the air had sent hun- 
 dreds of brave men to lingering death by typhus 
 fever. 
 
 To-day, while a superb monolith rises on a hill 
 within the city walls, in memory of the Japanese sol- 
 diers killed in battle, there also stand in the military 
 cemetery at Chemulpo the inscribed square stones 
 over hundreds of brave fellows who died needlessly 
 of disease. 
 
 On the threshold of the twentieth century, even 
 after crops of grain have been repeatedly raised on 
 the fields near the city, there lie on the surface and 
 are turned up by the plough the evidences of battle 
 
202 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 in metal and wood, besides in skull and pelvis, bone 
 and rib, the white tokens of war's results. 
 
 Clarence Burnham and his friend Masaro remained 
 for several weeks in Ping Yang after the battle. 
 They went through its streets and visited whatever 
 place or building of note that opened windows, as it 
 were, into the history of the people over whom Japan 
 and China had come to blows. They went often to 
 the temple of the god of war where the Japanese 
 wounded lay, to help the brave lads while away 
 tedious hours. 
 
 They visited reverently the tomb and altar reared 
 in honor of Kija, ancestor of Confucius, whom the 
 Koreans proudly called the founder of their nation. 
 There the sculptured tortoises, carved stone animals, 
 chiselled drums and flat stone, now chipped and 
 broken, the images and lanterns scarred with bullets, 
 and the damaged woodwork of the temple near by, 
 showed that here had been the centre of a deadly 
 fight, while dark stains upon the wooden floor showed 
 where the Japanese wounded lay. Out on the hills 
 the pine trees were splintered and their branches 
 broken by bullets. The beautiful pavilion at the 
 angles of the city walls was shattered, and shards of 
 iron were sticking in the pillars and richly carved 
 woodwork. 
 
 Interesting as all this was, the horrors of that 
 battle-field, both on the eastern and the northern side 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 203 
 
 of the city, were such that they made material for 
 nightmare in the minds of both young men for the 
 rest of their lives. In battle, when the blood is hot, 
 war's horrors are not felt ; but the aftermath in cool 
 experiences breeds misery to the sensitive soul. 
 Some of the images thus swept into their dreams 
 tortured them for days after, even in their waking 
 hours. To see single corpses lying in pools of blood 
 was not so terrible ; but out where, in the dry moat, 
 the piles of dead men and horses lay several feet 
 high, the sight was sickening. Many a man and 
 many a beast, after being shot, having much strength 
 still left, had tried to extricate themselves from the 
 mass above them, and in their vain agony had stif- 
 fened in hideous forms that, for spectator and witness, 
 haunted the memory forever. The air soon became 
 laden and the water charged with the poison of cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 Thus exposed to such deadly danger, Masaro was 
 seized with a chill, fever developed rapidly, and soon 
 he was suffering violent pains in the head, back, and 
 limbs. In a word, he had been struck and was reel- 
 ing before the onset of typhus fever. In a few hours 
 he was in a condition of stupor. 
 
 The two young men were occupying the Korean 
 house of which they had taken possession, since no 
 claimant appeared, only a few of the city's people as. 
 yet coming back to discover and occupy their former 
 
204 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 homes. Clarence Burnham had made the Japanese 
 proverb his own, "In the world a friend, in travel- 
 ling a companion." He watched over his comrade 
 very tenderly, and resolved then and there to stay and 
 nurse him ; but on reporting his case to the military 
 surgeons, Masaro was taken in hand and removed to 
 the hospital to be treated with and like the soldiers. 
 
 As it was now well into October, and Clarence's 
 permission to move with the army being confined 
 only to Korea, and withal a letter from his father 
 having reached him, approving of his course, but 
 urging the necessity of returning at once, Clarence 
 left with a wagon train and convoy, and retraced 
 his steps to Seoul. He returned the field-glass to his 
 American missionary friend, and told his adventures 
 to a group of gentlemen, most of them graduates of 
 American colleges, one of his most eager listeners 
 being a veteran in our own Civil War, and another 
 a missionary who had formerly worked in Ping Yang 
 and was now eager to resume his labors there. 
 From Chemulpo, now in appearance a great camp 
 and depot of military stores, Clarence took the Jap- 
 anese mail steamer home. 
 
 Strange to say, the war seemed to have very little 
 effect upon general business, and varied activities, 
 military and commercial, went on as usual, which were 
 indeed to double in a few years Japan's volume of 
 trade and industry. They were also to more than 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 205 
 
 double her burdens in maintaining her position 
 among the nations by the possession of that force 
 which so-called Christian nations so highly respect. 
 Having found that civilization meant big guns and 
 ships, and power to inflict misery, the Japanese were 
 determined to be, in these respects, at least, as civil- 
 ized as the benevolent people of the West. 
 
 In Yokohama, though a hero among his many new- 
 found friends, and often interviewed by representa- 
 tives of both the Anglo- Japanese and the native 
 journals, he, with little present desire to see more 
 of war, began faithfully to fulfil the routine of the 
 counting-house. 
 
 The autumn had passed away, and winter, which in 
 Japan is so mild and beautiful, had come. The month 
 of December seemed a veritable rosary of thirty-one 
 sapphire gems. During its lovely days, the glorious 
 blue above knew not a single cloud. In the cele- 
 bration of Christmas, an increasing number of the 
 Japanese had participated. The decorations and 
 emblematic ornaments of New Year's Day, the pine 
 tree, the lobster, the charcoal, the orange, all 
 symbols of longevity and prosperity, and the ship 
 of luck laden with the seven gods of happiness and 
 the tokens of wealth had been enjoyed and removed. 
 
 The wide-awake missionaries were at the camps 
 around Hiroshima, whither also the Emperor had 
 gone and was dwelling, and in each Japanese knap- 
 
206 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 sack was now to be found a copy of one of the 
 gospels. In shape the tiny book of the good news 
 of God to all men did not exceed more than half the 
 size of a playing card, nor in weight was it more than 
 one-third of a pack. In this they could read of one 
 more winningly human than even a samurai, more 
 godlike even than an emperor, and who said, " My 
 kingdom is not of this world." 
 
 It was on a bright day in mid- January that Clar- 
 ence Burnham enjoyed a call, unexpected and de- 
 lightful, from his friend Jozuna. In the long 
 evening hours, as he had been invited to dinner, the 
 latter told the story of his further adventures in the 
 fleet. He had had the good fortune to be in the first 
 naval battle in modern times between iron and steel 
 vessels of war. 
 
 " You were on the Naniwa, of course," said 
 Clarence to his friend. 
 
 " Yes, but not during the battle. The naval 
 officer whose place I had temporarily taken had re- 
 covered health and strength, and wanted his place. I 
 was transferred to the Saikio, a very swift but a very 
 small ship, which had some wonderful adventures." 
 
 "Tell me them in full." 
 
 " Well, you know that the Saikio was an ex-mer- 
 chant steamer turned into a cruiser for the time 
 being. Though swift, she was not worth much as 
 a fighting ship, being only of wood, with no armor 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 207 
 
 protection. Compared with the regular cruisers, and 
 in comparison with the Chinese battleship, she was 
 but as a pygmy to a giant, and the Chinese soon 
 found out that ours was a weak ship. Their big 
 battleship sent us a shell which exploded on board, 
 making a complete wreck of our steering gear, be- 
 sides doing an immense amount of other damage." 
 
 " I suppose, then, your ship turned tail and got out 
 of the fight ? " 
 
 " Not a bit of it. Our admiral, Kabamaya, who was 
 on a tour of inspection, but wanted to be in the fight 
 for the pleasure of it, would not retreat even when 
 things looked so dark. So he did the best he could. 
 Signalling to the flagship what had happened, he 
 was able, by working the screws skilfully, to run our 
 ship between the Naniwa and the Akitsushima. The 
 Chinese, however, found out our trouble and deter- 
 mined to sink us. Two of their big ships, putting on 
 full speed, started in pursuit of us ; but, when we 
 were only ninety yards distant from them, they must 
 have got the idea that our commander was trying to 
 ram them, for suddenly they sheered off. 
 
 " It was about this time that what we supposed to 
 be the Chinese reserve force, consisting of two men- 
 of-war and two torpedo-boats, approached. How 
 pretty they did look, as clean and sharp as arrows, 
 and almost as swift, they came on ! Evidently afraid 
 to tackle the larger ships of our squadron with their 
 
208 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 heavy guns and quick firers, but seeing that we were 
 in trouble, they started for us. Then our own quick- 
 firing guns were manned and began to spout iron, I 
 can tell you." 
 
 " You drove them off, did you ? " 
 
 "We really thought so at first, for the torpedo- 
 boats sheered off toward the coast, but the two men- 
 of-war kept forging ahead until within about five 
 hundred yards of us. We thought now that our 
 battle would be wholly with them, when suddenly a 
 torpedo-boat seemed to pop right up out of the sea 
 directly in front of us, and the first thing we knew, 
 out leaped a fish torpedo that came hissing toward 
 us, throwing up great jets of spray which made the 
 prettiest sight imaginable." 
 
 " Why, you talk as if you had photographed it." 
 
 " Well, believe it as you may, but, provided as we 
 were with photographic apparatus, we did get four 
 splendid big plates out of our eight or ten exposures 
 and snap shots, and here they are." 
 
 Clarence was surprised to see how clearly the 
 terrible incidents of war could be copied by the light 
 as written down by science and clever manipu- 
 lation. There was the picture of the sea, with its 
 foam cast up in clouds as the torpedo ripped and 
 tore its way. 
 
 " And to think that you saw it coming at you." 
 
 "We did. Our captain turned the screws so as 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 209 
 
 to bring the bow of our ship directly toward it and 
 went at it ; and would you believe it ? the swell 
 of the water turned the big thing aside, where it 
 hissed by, passing us on an oblique course, though 
 we were at one time not more than a yard or two 
 from it." 
 
 "What then?" said Clarence. 
 
 "The spiteful little torpedo-boat did not lose one 
 moment, but began again. This time it shot another 
 torpedo from her port bow directly at us when we 
 were lying at right angles to her. 
 
 " Some of us held our breath as we saw this terror 
 tossing up the spray and coming directly toward us. 
 But would you believe it ? The spirits of our admiral, 
 though he probably expected, in less than the tenth 
 of a minute, to be many yards up in the air, rose to 
 the occasion. He cracked some joke and made his 
 officers laugh. Yet, notwithstanding that we all 
 were waiting to be evaporated, as it were, the tor- 
 pedo actually passed down into the water and under 
 our keel. While we were wondering what had be- 
 come of it we saw it ' bob up serenely,' as you used 
 to sing, and there it lay floating on the waves to the 
 eastward. 
 
 " By this time the Chinese men-of-war that had 
 hoped to sink us were compelled to pay all their 
 attentions to our war vessels, which were like so 
 many pumps spurting out fire and iron. Then took 
 
210 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 place that terrible duel between the Chinese battle- 
 ship Ting Yuen and our flagship the Matsushima, 
 in which both were so frightfully punished. As I 
 looked at their flags high aloft in the smoke, I thought 
 of a snarling dragon in the mud and the sun in a 
 serene sky. You know the rest of the story, how 
 our flagship and the saucy little Akagi had to be 
 sent back for repairs ; while the Chinese fleet, which 
 we expected we should have to fight again next 
 day, returned to China, having lost five of the 
 twelve vessels, three sunk, one blown up, and one 
 abandoned." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that the Saikio would have 
 fought next day ? " 
 
 " I do ; an unarmored wooden ship as she was, she 
 was ready to try again the wager of battle. We 
 soon rigged up a steering apparatus, and then you 
 must remember that, though we had a dozen wounded, 
 there was not a man killed on the ship. No human 
 life was lost." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " asked Clarence. " But why say 
 human ? " 
 
 " Ah ! there was one fatal casualty on board," and 
 Jozuna's eyes twinkled. 
 
 " Come, now, I expect you to have some joke on 
 me. I remember when the transport blew up, as I 
 was striking out for life, I passed two Chinese war- 
 riors that had hold of the tail of a sheep which was 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 211 
 
 swimming lustily, I didn't know what was the issue. 
 Did the Saikio lose a sheep ? " 
 
 " No," said Jozuna, " but when the ten-inch shell 
 from the Ting Yuen entered our saloon and cut the 
 steam pipe which directed the steering apparatus, 
 we "had actually to laugh to see scores of rats scam- 
 pering out of their quarters. They rushed around 
 in a lively way to find more sheltered and com- 
 fortable resting-places. Sad to tell, one of the poor 
 rats was struck by a splinter which ended his days." 
 
 " The poor Chinese, rather, who wasted such a big 
 shell, two torpedoes, and who knows how many shots 
 that didn't hit." 
 
 " Why, yes, it reminds me of a mountain in our 
 case one of fire that brought forth only a mouse, 
 or as the little girl said, * a rat's baby.' But with us 
 the rats served us further." 
 
 " How's that ? tell me. I have never heard of 
 nautical rats serving any useful purpose, except 
 when a steamer stops, say, in mid-ocean, a rat may 
 serve metaphorically as a 'black sheep.' When the 
 passengers ask what is the matter, they are told that 
 ' a rat has got into the machinery.' So it was with 
 you, I suppose." 
 
 Jozuna put on an offended look. 
 
 " No ! After the Chinese had pointed their prows 
 for Wei-Hai-Wei, and showed us their sterns, the 
 battle smoke blew away, and then there was a beauti- 
 
212 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 ful sight. The officers on each ship congratulated 
 their captain ; and the men, thinking of their friends 
 at home, looked out toward Japan. Suddenly the 
 sailors of the whole fleet broke out singing our 
 national anthem. The band of the flagship played 
 the melody, and there was one union of sound and 
 song. Although it was growing toward dusk, the 
 air was clear and pure, when suddenly we heard the 
 flapping of wings, and looking up saw a splendid 
 falcon. Gracefully the bird alighted on the right of 
 the main topsail-yardarm of the war steamer Taka- 
 chiho. The omen seemed Heaven-sent. It was, as 
 you say, 'the angel of victory/ perching on our ban- 
 ners. Probably every man in the fleet was reminded 
 of how, when our first emperor was conquering Japan 
 for the sun goddess, a bird descended on his helmet." 
 " Didn't any one try to catch the falcon ? " 
 " That's just what Nomoto, a petty officer, did. He 
 sprang up the rigging, and the bird let him come near 
 and catch it, and with it on his wrist he came down, 
 while the men called out, ' Heaven's messenger.' 
 
 " Our ship carpenter at once made the new guest a 
 big cage, which was hung up in the captain's cabin. 
 The bird seemed to like being the ship's pet, for it 
 became very tame, especially as it was treated to all 
 kinds of dainties ; but what it enjoyed most was a rat. 
 No gentleman ever peeled his apple more neatly or 
 ate with better manners. The way it used to skin 
 
THE FALCON AT THE MASTHEAD. 213 
 
 that rodent and prepare its carcass as a specimen 
 of dressed meat, would have done you good to see. 
 When the Emperor sent a court chamberlain to convey 
 his thanks to the fleet, the bird was presented to his 
 Majesty, and now enjoys life in the imperial aviary in 
 Tokio." 
 
 " A wonderful story. It seems almost like a fairy 
 tale. But now tell me, chum, what are you going to 
 do next ? " 
 
 " Well, I am in luck, I suppose, at least, some 
 would think so, for I am to go on torpedo-boat ser- 
 vice ; and there will soon be lively work at Wei-Hai- 
 Wei. I am so fortunate as to be under the command 
 of an officer with whom I served in the fleet, and who 
 is a good friend and shipmate. You know it is more 
 important to be with congenial officers and fellow- 
 workers in the navy than on land, or in the army. 
 When you are on shore and have a disagreement, or 
 feel offended with anybody, you can go outdoors and 
 walk it off ; but on a ship you are shut up to sit month 
 after month aside, or be opposite, or close by, your 
 rival or antagonist. In a torpedo-boat, which is a 
 sardine box of human beings, you must needs be well 
 pleased with your company. So I am glad I have 
 a good commander, since I am going on a tin boat. 
 But I can assure you, chum, that you will probably 
 never see me again. You know our Japanese cus- 
 tom of making little gifts when we part, So please 
 
214 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 accept this little trifle, and always use it on your 
 table." 
 
 The souvenir was a pretty little box of oxidized 
 silver made, as to its interior divisions, to hold Japan's 
 postage stamps. On the lid, the design was the full 
 moon in bright silver, with dark clouds to the right, 
 out of which emerged a string of wild geese flying 
 across the heavens, each one as he came out of the 
 dark shadow becoming silver in the light of the lumi- 
 nary, a.ndthen disappearing in the darkness around 
 the other side of the box. Like a true piece of Jap- 
 anese workmanship, it was as perfectly finished on 
 the sides and back as on the front. 
 
 " Thank you, thank you ; I admire the design. I 
 can quote the poem of 'the feathered fleet in the 
 empyrean ' in Chamberlain's translation. Listen : 
 
 " ' What bark impelPd by autumn's fresh'ning gale 
 
 Comes speeding t'ward me ? 'Tis the wild geese driv'n 
 Across the fathomless expanse of heav'n, 
 And lifting up their voices for a sail.' " 
 
 "Thanks, friend; but there's more than that in 
 the symbol. There's no silver moon in the ancient 
 poem." 
 
 Clasping hands, the two friends parted. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 
 
 IT was in mid-winter when Jozuna once more left 
 his native country, and this time in a torpedo- 
 boat to face China, death, and fame. " Safe 
 flight, prompt arrival, a dark night, and then full 
 moon for evermore," was the prayer of this loyal 
 servant of the Emperor. 
 
 Deo mndice. 
 
 To-day there is a glorious camphor tree that at 
 sunset casts a long shadow over the pretty little Jap- 
 anese cemetery at Nagasaki. Here are ranged in 
 order hundreds of memorials, square stones a yard 
 high and inscribed on one side with war's grammar 
 of nominative and syntax name and position of the 
 dead patriot on ship or in regiment. The men thus 
 honored gave up their lives in their country's behalf, 
 either in Formosa in 1874, or in the ever memorable 
 war of 1894-1895, when Japan's armies met China's 
 only army at Ping Yang, and then after her fleets of 
 steel cruisers had annihilated China's sea power, faced 
 outnumbering myriads in military mobs, and won a 
 
 215 
 
216 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 territory on the continent in area larger than the 
 empire of Japan. 
 
 Each tiny memorial shaft is set in a space bordered 
 with curbing-stone and rilled in with pebbles. In 
 front of the side bearing the inscription is a bam- 
 boo socket in which, as they who go to the ceme- 
 tery often will notice, are fresh flowers. These are 
 wild meadow blooms, the mountain lily, the japonica, 
 the azalea, or the wistaria in their season, but, always, 
 fresh, bright flowers. Japan's Decoration or Memo- 
 rial Day is centuries old, though revived since 1868. 
 The inscription tells of Jozuna Hisamoto, Heimin, 
 able seaman on torpedo-boat No. 17. Killed at 
 Wei-Hai-Wei. 
 
 " The wild goose feeds in the rice swamp, 
 But he loves most the silver of the zenith." 
 
 Just what happened and why the inscription is 
 such, we may gather from a conversation of two 
 visitors at his grave on the first anniversary day of 
 his death. It was just one year after the dead hero, 
 thus commemorated with chisel work in stone, India 
 ink, and flowers, had been found frozen in a shroud 
 of ice on torpedo-boat No. 17. 
 
 " So Jozuna was your pupil, was he ? " remarked 
 the Japanese member of the party, to the visiting 
 American, who was none other than the teacher 
 whom we met at Yokohama in our opening chapter. 
 
THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 217 
 
 He had not, as most tourists do, come to Nagasaki to 
 see merely the classic site of the Deshima Dutchmen, 
 the old conning tower and loophole of Hermit Japan, 
 and the place which Defoe makes that of Gulliver's 
 visit. His purpose was to pay the tribute of ad- 
 miration and of unrestrainable tears at the grave 
 of a young comrade in learning. 
 
 " Yes," said the American, " and a brighter student 
 I never had ; but after he left school I never saw him 
 again, except when he was being deported to Amer- 
 ica, under suspicion of being a dynamiter. Of his 
 history since, I know only vague outlines. Can you 
 tell me the whole story ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the Japanese, " I helped him into 
 exile to save his life; but it is only lately that I 
 learned his later story in full myself. As quick as 
 steam on land and ocean could carry him, Jozuna, 
 now a heimin, left New York for Japan, and through 
 the influence of a high officer in our government, 
 whom he met in San Francisco, he was appointed to 
 fill temporarily the place of an officer then ill, and 
 take charge of the electric plant and searchlights 
 on the Naniwa. He was in the famous naval cam- 
 paign in Korean waters. When the officer whose 
 place he had filled had recovered and again received 
 his old position, Jozuna's fiery patriotism prompted 
 him to enlist as a first-class seaman. Fortunately, 
 his character and qualities were made known to the 
 
218 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 naval authorities, and his shortcomings as a practical 
 sailor were atoned for by his manifest mastery of 
 machinery and his tested and proved combination of 
 daring, steady nerves, and quick judgment. 
 
 " It so happened, as I learned from a survivor, that 
 the lieutenant in command of No. 17 had ordered 
 Jozuna to take his place if killed or disabled. Sure 
 enough, this officer was struck down by a one-pound 
 ball from the quick firers on the Chinese ship, and 
 instantly killed at the first discharge, or almost as 
 soon as our boats were discovered. There was yet 
 some distance to go before arriving at the heavy 
 boom and steel cables guarding the big battleship, 
 and it would be necessary to get across or through 
 the floating wall of wood and steel before slipping 
 the torpedo." 
 
 " What, do you mean to say that these cockle- 
 shells were ordered to ram, cut through, or blow up 
 a steel cable and chain of logs, and fight, too ? " 
 
 " Yes, and in freezing weather. Admiral Ito nearly 
 wept when he gave the orders to attack. He knew 
 that not only could machine guns on the Chinese 
 ships tear through the egg-shell sides of the torpedo- 
 boats with a shower of iron balls, but that to any and 
 every man escaping the missiles it was sure death in 
 the icy water. No life-preservers could avail or 
 rescue boats pick up any one swimming. Either 
 by fire or water, every man in the successful boat 
 
THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 219 
 
 must die. It was a time when the men on the look- 
 out, and even officers at their post, were frozen to 
 death. Then the commander of No. 17 was disabled, 
 and he at once called Jozuna to command and gave 
 him orders to force the boom and blow a gap in the 
 steel cable." 
 
 " How did you hear the story or get any details ? 
 Brave fellows to freeze rather than flinch." 
 
 "Well, some of the other torpedo-boat men could 
 make out most of what took place by means of the 
 searchlights of the Chinese ship. They saw No. 17 
 slow up, as its bow approached the boom and cable. 
 Then a man jumped out and busied himself amid 
 wire and logs 'as lively as Shoki among the Oni,' 
 as one sailor said. This was Jozuna. He was oc- 
 cupied in depositing gun-cotton in the right place. 
 Pretty soon the big floating steel arrow, as it seemed, 
 backed, as if drawn from the bow by the thumb and 
 finger of our mighty mediaeval archer Tametomo. 
 Then followed a tremendous explosion, which tore 
 asunder both boom and cable, and sent chips of wood 
 and steel up and around in a shower. Then, again 
 like Tametomo's shaft, the torpedo-boat No. 17 shot 
 forward through the opening and inside. As the 
 sailor declared of the affair, it was the prettiest sight 
 he ever saw, to behold in the glare of the Chinese 
 light the little steel craft swing slowly oh ! how 
 slowly it did seem to the watchers on the distant 
 
220 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 battleship ! But, how the Chinese machine gun 
 men, expecting to sink the craft before it could 
 unship the torpedo, gloated in that slowness, for they 
 expected to have a hundred shots in her sides within 
 sixty seconds. 
 
 " The Japanese were for the moment like the bee, 
 hidden and helpless inside the flower of the morning- 
 glory, while the Chinese bird was poising its wings 
 for darting and the devouring of the insect. Then 
 the rapid-firing guns sent their shower of iron. The 
 shot, no bigger than plums, but more numerous than 
 the seeds in a hundred pomegranates, tore the 
 waters and ripped the bows of No. 17. Neverthe- 
 less the torpedo sped forward, hissing, toward its 
 mark. For one minute standing amidships, Jozuna 
 waited, while his heart must have thumped hard 
 against his ribs. There in the hail of iron, from the 
 broadside of machine guns, he and his men, as yet 
 untouched, were discerned up to the moment when 
 there seemed to be two explosions together. No- 
 body could tell that night what had happened to 
 No. 17, but what took place under the Ting Yuen 
 all knew, for it made a sight never to be forgotten 
 till, as the admiral said, ' we change our worlds.' 
 
 " The torpedo struck home. The big steel battle- 
 ship seemed visibly to rise in the middle, as if a long 
 quiet volcano had suddenly come- to eruption and 
 blown off its crater top under the ship's keel. A few 
 
THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 221 
 
 moments more and amid the swirling, boiling, and 
 bubbling sea the floating fortress had sunk. It was 
 aground in the harbor, but deep down below the 
 surface of the sea." 
 
 " What happened to the torpedo-boat ? " 
 
 "Well, scarcely more than a moment before the 
 Ting Yuen blew up, something happened to the 
 little craft. Just what it was no one could tell, for 
 the Chinese searchlights of course ceased as the 
 mighty ship went down. One sailor was sure that 
 he saw steam escaping in clouds, but amid the spray 
 tossed up it was hard to tell steam from foam, though 
 the lookout on No. 23 declared he saw a white cloud 
 rise above No. 17." 
 
 " Did no one escape ? Are there no letters, re- 
 ports, or any writing concerning the affair from any 
 one on No. 17? " 
 
 " Not a scrap. Nor was any response made during 
 any part of the night to the signals from the flag- 
 ship. Nothing could be learned of the fate of No. 
 17, but at daybreak the patrol boats were sent out. 
 Not far away from the broken boom, but within it 
 and the harbor, floated No. 17. A boat was quickly 
 pulled to it from the patrol vessel, our people hoping 
 to find at least some wounded on board. But no. 
 ' Dead men tell no tales ' with their lips ; but in this 
 case the remnants of twenty corpses, some on board, 
 others floating in the harbor, told clearly a story in 
 
222 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 which all, though mute in death, agreed. Every 
 single corpse, except the lieutenant shot through the 
 head, was scalded or mutilated by fragments of the 
 boat itself. Ripped and torn as the vessel was, the 
 mystery of total loss of life was not explained, until 
 it was found that a shot absurdly small, but amply 
 efficient had pierced the steam pipes and done the 
 rest. There frozen to the deck, literally in a shroud 
 of ice, lay Jozuna." 
 
 " Was any letter or paper found on him ? " 
 "Yes and no. All his property, even to his 
 clothes and private tools in his kit, was handed over 
 to me, his uncle, as nearest known kin. In an oiled- 
 paper envelope was a paper addressed to me, which 
 said in prose: 'Look on my breast, interpret the 
 symbolism, and believe me without stain of criminal 
 intent to his Majesty's servants. Look in the night 
 sky in time of full moon when the wild geese sail in 
 mid-heaven, and see my spirit there, pure and inno- 
 cent. As in mid-heaven the geese fly far above this 
 gross earth to become silvery white in the moon's 
 presence, so soars my hope to win the Emperor's 
 favor, my country's honor, and the belief of my kins- 
 men that I am innocent of even the thought of the 
 assassin's crime.' " 
 
 " Well, well, well, ' Naru hodo ! ' as you Japanese 
 say. Now I understand what Jozuna meant by giv- 
 ing me his own picture of the geese flying across the 
 
THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 223 
 
 moon, and his hope that I would think him a goose. 
 I nearly laughed in his face then, in spite of his sad 
 looks. Now I feel differently." 
 
 Then happened that play of emotion which dif- 
 ferentiates the Japanese from the Occidental man. 
 The Anglo-Saxon may control himself in stolid calm, 
 or his eyes may moisten and dim as the American 
 pedagogue's did here at Nagasaki under the camphor 
 tree. The Japanese, his peer in self-discipline, will 
 almost certainly smile even when his heart is 
 gnawed with grief. This was just what the Em- 
 peror's minister did. It was no guffaw, no coarse 
 grin. It was the smile of the gentleman the 
 cultured, self-controlled son of Japan a smile that 
 covered tortures of grief within. 
 
 The pause of a few minutes over, after two pairs 
 of eyes had swept the landscape, and the air, laden 
 alike with the perfumes of summer flowers and 
 quivering with the boom of temple bells, filled again 
 the lungs, clear speech proceeded. 
 
 " I have learned your countrymen's custom of pen- 
 ning poems on taking their earthly farewells. Did 
 Jozuna, exile and innocent as he declared himself, 
 leave no poetic legacy, no other proof of his own 
 belief in his innocence ? " 
 
 "Yes, proof enough. For a gentleman in Japan 
 to submit to be tattooed is 'as rare as the udoge" 
 flower.' The sailors who removed Jozuna's clothing, 
 
224 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 before packing his body in quicklime for removal 
 here to Nagasaki, were surprised to find his breast 
 covered with tattooing in finest artistic style and color 
 the ancient design of the geese flying in front of 
 the full moon. When the officers on the Naniwa, 
 where his personality was known, recognized the 
 body and the picture on it, they were startled. They 
 saw the point of significance at once. They raised 
 the ' Banzai ' and some turned away to think 
 hard." 
 
 " The ' Banzai ' ! what's that ? " 
 
 " Oh, don't you know that our men in this war 
 have invented a new cheer ? ' Banzai ' means ten 
 thousand generations. It is equivalent to * Vive 
 1'empereur ! ' or ' Long live the king ! ' It is a sort of 
 patriot's sacramental, ' May the imperial line live ten 
 thousand generations,' or, for short, ' Japan forever.' 
 Formerly used by a few on special occasions, it is 
 now a national cheer. I have no doubt Jozuna 
 shouted it amid the crash and in the very teeth of 
 the Chinese guns." 
 
 " What more ? Any poetry from our friend, artist, 
 patriot, hero ? " 
 
 " Yes, this was written just below the prose, in the 
 usual uta, or thirty-one-syllable stanza of five lines. 
 I'll render it in plain prose: 
 
 " ' Better be a wild goose mounting to the heavens, 
 clothed with light for one flashing moment, though I 
 
THE POEM FOUND IN A TORPEDO-BOAT. 225 
 
 fall under the hunter's shaft at daybreak, than live 
 long but a/owl in the barnyard.' " 
 
 Cleansed from all stain is the name of Jozuna. 
 Japan is the land in which forgiveness of political sins 
 follows swiftly, when the suppliant's innocence is 
 proved. Yes, when either the unjustly accused man 
 or the real offender can and will say, " In ignorance 
 I did it " ; yes, when (before either knowledge of 
 unwitting transgressions or proof of innocence may 
 come during the lifetime of the accused) death in 
 loyalty to the Emperor, who is the soul of their native 
 land, is courted, and life is given to redeem erring 
 act, is this true. The recent history of Japan teems 
 with instances of the Emperor's gracious forgiveness, 
 yes, of posthumous honors, condoning those who 
 mistakenly fought against his loyal servants. 
 
 The doctrine of the divinity of the Mikado, in the 
 dogmatic, polemic form of Shinto, the primitive cult 
 of the Japanese, the Occidental cannot accept. But 
 since to forgive is divine, we, too, can pay the tribute 
 of admiring regard to Japan's Emperor, I2ist of the 
 oldest line of rulers in the world, for manifestly shar- 
 ing so much an attribute of God. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 
 
 THE summer of 1895 had come, and with it a 
 discovery. Clarence Burnham realized that 
 he was not by nature a business man. Suc- 
 ceeding months and years served but to confirm the 
 conviction. Even the prospect of making a fortune 
 and coming home to live within theatre-train distance 
 of New York or Chicago, did not appeal to him as it 
 did to so many of the men whom he met in the hongs, 
 at the club, in the course of trade, or within the 
 round of pleasures by which the exiles in a foreign 
 land divert themselves during their spare hours. 
 
 Various were the faces of the people whom he met 
 at the race-course, promenade gardens, shooting 
 range and targets, hare-and-hound runs, and in hunt- 
 ing, but one yearning possessed the hearts of them 
 all. Many had long been in the country, but all 
 wanted to go home after they had made the fortune 
 they hoped to store up. One was waiting for the 
 rise of silver, another for the fall of gold, a third for 
 a lucky turn in tea, a fourth for a depression in the 
 
 226 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 227 
 
 native price of silk ; but all lived in the hope of joys to 
 come not in Japan, but beyond sea. 
 
 During the very busy season Clarence would strive 
 to " put in a new brace," according to his father's 
 exhortation. Then he toiled with a spurt, as it were, 
 over ledgers and daybooks, at the sample table, and 
 in the " godown," or storehouse, from the Japanese 
 " blue " morning till red evening. But when trade 
 was slack, all ambition to master the business, in gross 
 or in detail, seemed to fly from him. With a gun on 
 his shoulder, over the hills or among the rice fields in 
 the valley, or with hook and line by moat or stream, 
 Clarence Burnham made many a golden hour slide 
 between his fingers. He had never forgotten, only 
 stifled his desire for literary culture and achievement. 
 In the evenings and on rainy days he gave himself up 
 to the joys of reading, making himself acquainted with 
 the fairyland of English poetry, the varied field of 
 modern fiction, and the masters of American litera- 
 ture. He kept up his familiarity with French. 
 Indeed, he was far more industrious with printed 
 books than with those having blank or ruled pages. 
 
 His father noticing this, sought to cure what he 
 looked upon as a disease, and thinking to make use 
 of a well-known remedy, hoped that his son might 
 find among the many lovely young ladies, daughters 
 of English and American residents in Yokohama and 
 Tokio, a companion for life's mating. He did not 
 
228 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 know that Clarence's heart was in Peking. In 
 China's capital lay the " rock unseen, " by the world 
 at large, of which the Japanese poet sings. There 
 dwelt the one fair woman around whom the young 
 man's hopes and longings centred. 
 
 " My love is like a rock 
 
 Where birds of white wing fly, 
 Which billows overleap, 
 And sun can never dry. 
 
 "My fondest fancies spring 
 Around her every hour, 
 Bound breaking at his feet, 
 And o'er her brightness tower. 
 
 "The gazer on the land 
 
 Looks long across the wave ; 
 He sees a ridge of snow 
 Where waters roll and rave. 
 
 " The rock it lieth low 
 
 Beneath the tumbling sea ; 
 My darling's steadfast soul 
 Is known to none but me." 
 
 In truth, Clarence Burnham had begun seriously 
 to consider whether there was not some other career 
 open for him, along other paths than those of com- 
 mercial industry and ambitions, for his distaste for 
 the life of a trader seemed to have grown day by day, 
 threatening soon to reach the acute stage. The war 
 was over, and the triumphant armies, except the gar- 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 229 
 
 rison at Wei-Hai-Wei, left to secure the fulfilment of 
 all the conditions of the treaty, had returned. 
 
 In Formosa, the crack division of the national host 
 of defenders, the imperial guards, and a few other 
 picked regiments, were pacifying that unhappy island, 
 chasing copper-colored rebels amid the sky-blue bam- 
 boo jungles, and finishing up the work of subduing 
 insurgents of various Oriental sorts after the short- 
 lived bubble of the " Formosan Republic " had burst. 
 In autumn, even the guards were again in quarters 
 in Tokio. When the Japanese Johnny came march- 
 ing home, the welcomes were aesthetic rather than 
 bibulous. The country now settled down to peace, 
 but also to expansion and to heavier taxes. The 
 people must bear their new weight of glory, and 
 also of responsibility incurred in being a world 
 power. 
 
 It was while thus waiting in uncertain moods that 
 Clarence Burnham one morning, while perched on a 
 three-legged stool, poring over his desk in the hong, 
 received a " chit." Opening, he found it to contain 
 a message from his friend Masaro. He was in Yoko- 
 hama, and asked for an appointment to meet and talk 
 with his friend, Clarence Burnham. 
 
 That evening, when they met together, Clarence 
 opened the ball by saying, after the usual common- 
 places among friends were over : 
 
 " Now tell me, old fellow, everything that has hap- 
 
230 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 pened since I left you at Ping Yang, when you were 
 too sick to know me." 
 
 Masaro began to narrate in detail his experiences 
 in Korea. Too much weakened by the fever to con- 
 tinue his work as war correspondent, he had accepted, 
 on his return to Seoul, an important appointment. 
 It was to assist Count Inouye", the Mikado's envoy, 
 to carry out in the peninsular kingdom some of those 
 reforms which it was hoped would make a new nation 
 of Korea, and lead her in the same path of progress 
 upon which Japan had so brilliantly entered. 
 
 After a few weeks of special work, Masaro had 
 settled down as principal of the Korean Government 
 School for the training, in the Japanese language and 
 literature, of interpreters and young men for govern- 
 ment posts. When diplomacy, following the cessation 
 of active military operations, resulted in the treaty 
 negotiated by Li Hung Chang and Ito, Masaro was 
 appointed to assist the imperial envoy when he went 
 to Chifu to exchange ratifications with the Chinese 
 peace commissioners. 
 
 " This was the comic stage of the proceedings as 
 far as the governments not immediately concerned 
 showed their feelings," said Masaro. " On the 6th 
 of May, our little steamer, the Yokohama Maru, 
 reached Chifu, where we were soon joined by an- 
 other small vessel, the Higo Maru" 
 
 " Why do you join the word ' Maru ' to your names 
 of ships?" 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 231 
 
 "Well, you know we used to name in this way 
 the parts of a castle and also swords. Now, as the 
 sword was the soul of the samurai, it may be that 
 the soul of New Japan is a ship, and a steamer, too," 
 and Masaro laughed heartily. 
 
 "Then I suppose that 'kan,' after the name of a 
 war vessel, means power, like the * kan ' that we spell 
 ' Khan,' of whom Kublai Khan with us is the most 
 famous ? " 
 
 " Yes, have it so. Certainly the Chinese envoys 
 behaved like Tartar Khans. They were very slow 
 to fulfil their part of the contract, yet at last, late 
 in the evening, toward eleven o'clock, the ratifications 
 were exchanged, and the treaty of peace became a 
 fact. I am sure that we owe much to your Ameri- 
 can ex-secretary of state who was with Li Hung 
 Chang. He constantly smoothed matters and oiled 
 the rather ponderous hinges of Chinese business." 
 
 " Do you think, then, that the American adviser 
 helped to shorten the war and prevent bloodshed ? " 
 
 " Quite sure of it, for what does a Chinese states- 
 man care for the lives of a few tens of thousands of 
 men more or less ? Our armies could certainly have 
 gotten into Peking, and no doubt there would have 
 been much carnage ; but the loss of life would 
 have been no element in the case, indeed, hardly a 
 consideration. No doubt Li feels pretty bad at losing 
 the forts and fleets, on which he spent so much time 
 
232 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 and thought ; but as for life, the value of it as such, 
 the thought has hardly yet entered the Chinese offi- 
 cial mind." 
 
 " I think you exaggerate. But tell me, how do 
 you feel toward the different countries, Great Britain, 
 for example ? " 
 
 " Not very pleasantly. The British merchants in 
 China made money indiscriminately out of both com- 
 batants, and England has so acted all through this 
 war that her prestige in the East is badly, and I fear 
 hopelessly, damaged." 
 
 " What of the United States ? " 
 
 " Well, we expected nothing but sheer neutrality, 
 and we got it; but there is one thing I think that 
 has spotted even your flag." 
 
 " What ? Do you mean the case of your two coun- 
 trymen, whom our government ordered the United 
 States consul in Shanghai to deliver to the Chinese? " 
 
 " I do," said Masaro. 
 
 " You are right as to the black spot. If ever, as 
 an American, I was ashamed of my country and 
 government, it was when these two students were 
 delivered over to the Chinese for a trial that meant 
 torture and death. There was neither justice nor- 
 law in the affair, for the Washington authorities 
 must have known that in China the judges always 
 make use of torture in their trials." 
 
 "Well, it's over now; but our feeling is worse 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 233 
 
 against the three nations that combined like brigands 
 to rob us of the just prizes of war." 
 
 " Yes," said Clarence. " I remarked, when the 
 war broke out, quoting from a friend on the steamer, 
 that whatever the issue, the Russian bear would see 
 his way cle-ar to a meal." 
 
 " Yes," said Masaro, " and his meal is a big one, 
 for sooner or later he will have all Manchuria under 
 his paws." 
 
 " How do you feel toward Germany and France ? " 
 asked Clarence. 
 
 " Robbers in the same game," said Masaro ; " one 
 already has part of China, and the other, no doubt, 
 will have a slice soon, for both are hungry for a meal, 
 even if it is not as big as the bear's. The way these 
 three Christian brothers behaved when our two little 
 peace ships sailed into Chifu harbor, with the peace 
 negotiations finished, was more like a scene on the 
 stage, or what you call opera bouffe, than any one 
 could imagine. In size, our twin ships were as ' babes 
 in the wood ' compared to giants. While the English 
 and Americans treated us with politeness, and the offi- 
 cers of the United States gunboat Machias and the 
 British war vessel Edgar made polite calls, the Rus- 
 sians, French, and Germans got up monkey shines 
 or a bear dance. Indeed, I hardly know what to say 
 to their tomfoolery." 
 
 " Tell me what they did," said Clarence. 
 
234 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Well, in the harbor there was a big Russian fleet, 
 ten men-of-war, two torpedo destroyers, and one 
 torpedo-boat, and there were also one French and 
 two German warships. The other vessels were two 
 British, one American, and one Italian. The Rus- 
 sian men-of-war had doffed their white paint of 
 peace times and put on the lead color which means 
 service for war ; and, what do you think ? They were 
 all cleared for action, as if ready for battle. They 
 kept firing blank cartridges, covering the whole sea 
 with a pall of smoke, and evidently were going 
 through a kind of sham battle. The German and 
 French war vessels, taking their cue from the Rus- 
 sians, like jackals from a lion, played the same game. 
 You can imagine the noise. 
 
 " All this was intended to have an impressive effect 
 upon us, who had come purposely and unostenta- 
 tiously in two little steamers into the harbor of Chifu. 
 Evidently the three allied Powers had expected the 
 Japanese fleet, and therefore prepared for action 
 and made a tremendous bluster. When the British 
 and American officers saw these bellicose prepara- 
 tions, they laughed in their sleeves, and you may be 
 sure that we did." 
 
 " You Japanese have made China pay heavily for 
 her ' ride on a tiger.' Besides getting Formosa, which, 
 by all the rules of geodesy and geography, as well as 
 ethnology and politics, ought to belong to Japan, you 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 23$ 
 
 will have a good round sum in gold and silver. 
 What do you people expect to do with this indem- 
 nity money ? " 
 
 " Only one thing," said Masaro ; "buy the best war 
 vessels that Great Britain or the United States can 
 build for us. These Christian nations are setting us 
 such a good example, you know." 
 
 "Correct, chum," said Clarence Burnham ; "Japan 
 has a right to protect herself from sham Christianity, 
 which is worse than paganism. Between the super- 
 stition that makes the imaginary ' yellow peril ' a pre- 
 text for robbery of one nation and the seizure of 
 another's land, and the land hunger of the big em- 
 pire of the bear that menaces, perhaps, the very 
 existence of your country, I should advise you to 
 arm." 
 
 "Yes, that's what one of your best missionaries 
 advised us, years ago, to do. Yet I hate war, and 
 my experiences at Ping Yang have so affected me 
 that I have not been content to rest till I made my 
 pilgrimage to the sword-shrine of Nikko and there 
 threw down, as a sacrifice to Heaven, the revolver 
 which I used to kill a man, even though it were in 
 self-defence." 
 
 " Indeed," cried Clarence, " I have heard of that 
 shrine and have long wanted to see it." 
 
 In truth, Masaro's mind had been so wrought up 
 by the scenes of war, the " battle, murder, and sud- 
 
236 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 den death " that he had witnessed in Korea, that 
 remembrance of it had become misery. His con- 
 science, as well as his dreams, was troubled by the 
 thought of the awful slaughter of human beings. He 
 felt, in a measure, the dreadfulness of war resting on 
 him, as one who had "consented unto" what was done. 
 
 Nor did the thought that he had killed a man, 
 even in self-defence, under the rules that govern 
 warfare and regulate the justifiable taking of human 
 life, ease greatly his burden. Keeping the revolver 
 with which he had saved his own life, while yet tak- 
 ing that of another man, he never used it again, even 
 in sport or for practice. Considering it devoted to 
 a sacred purpose, he laid it away until the oppor- 
 tunity to sacrifice it to Heaven should come. 
 
 Masaro was still a thorough Japanese, even though 
 he had learned of Christianity, not only by his own 
 inquiry, reading, and study, but by attending for some 
 months one of the missionary schools in Tokio. There, 
 besides learning English, he had taken a course in Chris- 
 tian ethics, being most profoundly impressed with the 
 teaching of Christianity in regard to the forgiveness 
 of offences, the eschewing of revenge, and the neces- 
 sity of personal chastity and of unfaltering truth. 
 He was not a Christian, in the sense of accepting 
 either the popular form of its doctrines or the general 
 scheme of its history, traditions, and claims. Fur- 
 thermore, it was still a mystery to him why Christian 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 237 
 
 nations were, or seemed to be, so bloodthirsty in their 
 practice. 
 
 Yet despite the contradiction between the theory 
 and the practice of foreigners, he honored, yes, 
 almost in will as well as heart, loved the Founder. 
 Somehow, that idea of the sacredness of human life 
 and the prohibitions against taking it needlessly had 
 actually modified his thought and made him, in so 
 far, a follower of the Prince of Peace, notwithstand- 
 ing that the training received in his childhood and 
 the teachings absorbed by him were still powerful. 
 He could not yet abandon the idea that " the gods " 
 watched especially over his beloved country. He 
 had still a vague notion of " Heaven" as an imper- 
 sonal mass of forces, or bundle of laws. He had 
 not yet reached the idea of there being but one Law- 
 giver, able to save or to destroy, or of one Father, 
 who was love. To him the gods were simply a greater 
 sort of men, who, like himself, were servants of law, 
 limited, and bound to obey. 
 
 His feelings on the side of inheritance were beau- 
 tifully expressed in the ancient ode, which in 733, 
 A.D., some admirer wrote of the Japanese prince, 
 envoy to China. 
 
 " In the great days of old, 
 When o'er the land the gods held sovVign sway, 
 
 Our fathers lov'd to say 
 That the bright gods with tender care enfold 
 
 The fortunes of Japan, 
 
238 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Blessing the land with many an holy spell ; 
 
 And what they loved to tell, 
 We of this later age ourselves do prove ; 
 
 For every living man 
 May feast his eyes on tokens of their love." 
 
 Like a true Japanese, intensely matter-of-fact, even 
 when most intellectual or aesthetic, Masaro felt that 
 he could be freed of the remorse which tortured him, 
 by some act of self-sacrifice. He hoped that between 
 the two systems of thought, to both of which he was 
 trying to render allegiance, he would find peace by 
 action. In his country's history he had read of the 
 sinner Endo, who had stood naked under the water- 
 fall in winter, in order to purge his conscience and 
 ease the torture which had come because of crime. 
 Even though injustice to another had been done 
 through mistake, the true penitent felt it necessary 
 to suffer, yes, gladly welcomed torture. 
 
 To-day, after centuries, the example of Endo lent 
 argument to Masaro's hopes of winning peace through 
 penitence and, if necessary, pain. Had he not read 
 also of Naozane, the bearded warrior, who, having 
 driven a sword through his foe and discovered the 
 features of the boy, Adzumori, some mother's dar- 
 ling, was seized with remorse and became a monk ? 
 
 So, at the first opportunity, on reaching his native 
 soil, Masaro set put to pay a visit to the famous 
 shrine of Nikko, Was it, do you ask, to look upon 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 239 
 
 wonders of color, the marvellous fretted ceilings and 
 carven work, the image of the cat, masterpiece of the 
 left-handed carver, Jingoro ? No ! Was it to stand 
 on the famous mountain Nantaisan for scenery, or to 
 scan the glorious waterfall of Chiuzenji ? No ! 
 
 When at the end of his journey Masaro arrived at 
 Nikko, he went far up on the great mountain side, to 
 the highest point in that cluster of hills. Finding 
 the pathway marked by the red-painted torii, or 
 sacred gateways, he passed through these clear up 
 to the summit, where stood a very modest shrine. 
 Near by, or just beyond, was a bare rock, standing 
 on which he could look down over a steep precipice, 
 seventy feet in depth. Bowing reverently before the 
 shrine, he clapped his hands in the method of prayer, 
 as in the presence of Deity. He called on Heaven 
 to forgive the sins which he had unwittingly com- 
 mitted, and grant him greater purity and earnestness 
 in life. He prayed also that the memory of what he 
 had seen on the bloody battle-field, and of the black- 
 ened and festering corpses, might pass away. 
 
 " O gods of Japan, one and all, or One Living 
 and True God, if so thou art, receive this in proof of 
 my sincerity, and accept it in sacrifice." 
 
 Saying this final word he drew his revolver, 
 reversed it, and letting it fly from his hold on the 
 barrel end, he hurled it far from him. It struck the 
 fragment of a sword sticking in the ground as if 
 
240 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 growing there, and then went clanking in among the 
 rusty tokens of many a bygone deed of vengeance or 
 blood. 
 
 Yes, here indeed was a scene to touch the imagina- 
 tion, and one that showed that while Japan is the 
 home of the sword, and often of the murderer's 
 sword also, it is the home of conscience. The agony 
 of the human spirit is known here, nor does the 
 Japanese heart differ in its workings in the island 
 empire from those in the world at large. 
 
 Here lay, and had lain for centuries, the blades, 
 once crimson-stained, of the murderer and assassin, 
 and of the avenger of blood as well as of the killer 
 of man for sport, or for treachery, or in mistaken 
 honor. While Japan proudly boasts that hers is the 
 "country ruled by the slender sword," in contempt 
 of the heavy, cleaver-like blades of the Chinese and 
 barbarians, yet that sword in the hands of individuals 
 has been too often drawn in hasty wrath, in hot hate, 
 and in cold treachery. 
 
 This shrine, with its hundreds of old sword blades, 
 some of them hardly more now than masses of rust, 
 testified to the power of conscience. It showed that 
 men heard the voice of God, call Him by what 
 name we will, and that this voice spoke with no 
 uncertain sound. On the bare rock in winter, half 
 buried under the snow, in summer kissed by the 
 breezes that blow over all lonely places, exposed to 
 
THE SWORD-SHRINE AT NIKKO. 241 
 
 rain and sunshine, were hundreds of sword blades. 
 They were cast down on the earth that had drank 
 the blood once foully shed by men who in some 
 cases brought these proofs of a lashing conscience 
 hundreds of miles. Here the pilgrim, tormented by 
 remorse and seeking surcease of agony, had finished 
 his pilgrimage, and calling on the gods for forgive- 
 ness had flung away the hated blade in expiation 
 of his crime. 
 
 Had they tongues, what terrible tales some of these 
 bits of steel edged iron could tell ! How significant 
 were these blades of the fact that the barbarism of 
 the past, the devilish pride that cherished the sword 
 as the main source of manly spirit was over ! How 
 prophetic of the new era was it that, amidst the relics 
 which for a thousand years had symbolized at once 
 Japan's highest pride and oldest methods of war, 
 there should lie to-day the shining steel barrels, the 
 silver-mounted handle, and the American stamped 
 letters telling of new lands, new forces, and new 
 ways of taking life, while yet the old conscience 
 should burn and sting ! 
 
 It was some weeks after this episode of the 
 pocket pistol, cast ex voto among the samurai's 
 swords on the lonely mountain, that Masaro met and 
 called upon Clarence Burnham. 
 
 As the conversation went on, both men found 
 themselves in a mood to gratify their desire for a 
 
242 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 little literary dalliance, so that when Clarence pro- 
 posed a way to spend the evening, Masaro gladly 
 accepted. 
 
 " There is at present in the capital a famous story- 
 teller from Tosa. In addition to the old stock of 
 classic stories he has some fresh ones, famous in 
 southern Japan." 
 
 " Let's go and hear him, by all means," said 
 Masaro. 
 
 So, mounting the train for Tokio, the two young 
 men rode to the capital city, and going at once to 
 one of the well-known halls on the Ginza, they heard 
 the following narrative. 
 
. CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 
 
 ABOUT two hundred people, most of them 
 males, a few of the men in foreign clothes, 
 and all the females in Japanese costume, 
 were gathered to hear the new story-teller in the 
 capital. Clarence could not help noticing the dif- 
 ference in the impression made on him by a bird's- 
 eye view, as he stood up. Instead of the gun-hammer 
 top-knots and shaven scalps always seen in his boy- 
 hood's days, when he listened as the hanashiki of 
 Hiogo told their stories, now all the men and boys 
 wore their hair cropped in the Western style. 
 
 The story-teller made his bow, cleared his throat, 
 rapped with his fan on his tiny box desk, and pre- 
 pared to tell of the Dragon-guarded Jewel of a Thou- 
 sand Rays. His eye caught that of the foreigner 
 among the scores of upturned faces, and with the 
 inner eye fixed upon the possible silver coin to be 
 found among the coppers, when the lacquer box went 
 round for collection, he proceeded. This time, for 
 the foreigner's sake, he made use of more explanation 
 
 243 
 
244 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 than was his wont when before purely native auditors. 
 His elocution was as fine as his language was stately 
 and sonorous. All his strong points were emphasized 
 with lively taps of the fan on his desk. 
 
 "All over Japan," said he, "the images of the 
 gentle Buddha attract myriads of devotees. Sculp- 
 tured in stone and set outdoors in rain and tempest, 
 in calm and sunshine, or enshrined beneath golden- 
 fretted roofs of mighty temples, they are always in 
 front of a praying throng. Shaka Muni, the Indian 
 prince who attained to Nirvana, the state in which all 
 passion is absent, is the person thus represented in 
 bronze and stone. The dream of perfect peace is 
 upon the calm features, the hands are locked, and 
 the thumbs touch in the abstraction of thought. 
 Covering the otherwise naked head are the thousand 
 curls. These represent the mass of cooling snails 
 which were sent to protect the exposed head of the 
 meditating prince. Resting upon his limbs, with 
 crossed feet, their soles upward to the sky, the figure 
 is that of him who sits, not to move, but only to be 
 lost in thought. 
 
 " While both the praying devotee, who, boasting his 
 birth in our holy country would know the history of 
 his cult, and the honorable alien, who admires our 
 Oriental and native art, alike note these points of 
 which I have spoken, that which most strikes their 
 attention is the jewel set in the forehead of Great 
 
i OF TH T 
 
 .UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 245 
 
 Buddha. From this, to the enraptured worshipper 
 in hours of ecstasy, flash the radiant beams which 
 betoken answer to prayer. It is the symbol of illumi- 
 nation, of perfect freedom attained, of Buddha's be- 
 ing made the recipient and distributer of blessings. 
 On the great bronze image at Kamakura, I may add, 
 the huge silver boss on the head measures over a 
 yard in diameter, and contains thirty pounds of the 
 white precious metal. 
 
 " Yet of all the gems or studs, gold or fringing 
 jewels, which art and devotion have set in the images 
 of Buddha in Everlasting Great Japan, none can for 
 a moment, throughout all the ages, be compared with 
 the resplendent jewel in the forehead of the Buddha 
 in the Temple of Illustrious Joy in our mediaeval city 
 of Nara. 
 
 " This was a crystal of purest water, with a radiancy 
 like fire, containing within itself an image of Shaka 
 Muni, the features of whom, turned in whatever way, 
 could always be seen. No matter to what point of 
 the compass, or to what direction of zenith or abyss 
 the holder should turn the precious ball, the benign 
 image of the Buddha smiled on the spectator. No 
 wonder it was called the ' thousand-taced gem.' 
 
 " How it came to Everlasting Great Japan is told 
 in the story, now over a thousand years old, related 
 for centuries in Tosa, under the paper-shaded evening 
 lamp or around the mid-floor hearth, and handed 
 
246 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 down to delighted generations. No copy, my honor- 
 able auditors, in print, is known ; but the manuscripts 
 have been the joy of scholars and copyists for cen- 
 turies. The artists of the Tosa school, with their 
 brilliant and miniature-like finish, have revelled in 
 depicting its marvellous scenes. Variant as are the 
 details of the story, the true version, the classic nar- 
 rative, is that which I give herewith. 
 
 " Long, long ago, when the precious doctrine of 
 Shaka was new in the realm of our Lord, the Mikado, 
 whose rule is unbroken from ages eternal " 
 
 " Banzai ! Banzai ! " shouted the whole assembly in 
 chorus, while two small boys waved the sun flag. 
 
 The story-teller smiled to the people, and bowed 
 toward the imperial palace. Then he resumed : 
 
 " When both scriptures and images of the Eternal 
 Buddha were rare, there lived in Nara a great noble 
 of high rank and of immemorial lineage. Dressed in 
 flowing robes, and with tablet of pure white wood on 
 which to note down every command and desire of 
 the Emperor, he was regarded with veneration by all 
 the court and people, and received distinguished 
 marks of honor from the son of the gods, who made 
 him his prime minister. His name was Kamatari. 
 Being a very pious man, he made a pilgrimage to the 
 far east of Japan, on the great plain on which Tokio 
 now stands, but then a very wild region. In a dream 
 he was commanded by the Kami, or god, to bury or 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 247 
 
 lay in store, in the hillside, a precious sickle which he 
 carried with him. He did so, and his descendants 
 ruled the district of Kamakura, or sickle storehouse, 
 for many generations. 
 
 " Kamatari had a daughter whose beauty and 
 accomplishments were the pride of Nara. The great 
 Chinese Emperor, Tai Tsing, of the ever famed Tang 
 dynasty (618-905 A.D.), hearing of the fair lady, 
 sought her hand in marriage. And so the maiden 
 crossed the stormy seas, and amid great splendor and 
 pomp was married to the sovereign lord of the 
 Middle Kingdom and became Empress of the realm. 
 Yet, far away from her beautiful home-land, the prin- 
 cess at times yearned for a sight of the solemn groves 
 and pretty flower-gardens of Nara, and longed again 
 to be under her father's roof. To heal the cravings 
 of homesickness, she resolved to found a temple in 
 her native land and dedicate it to Buddha. The 
 diversion of collecting rare and beautiful objects to 
 adorn the temple would thus occupy her mind and 
 drive away that heart pain, which every son and 
 daughter of our beautiful Japan feels when absent 
 from our holy country. 
 
 " So for years she gathered rare treasures together. 
 Whenever she heard of the work of a famous artist, 
 or carver in jade or crystal, or precious gems and 
 metals, near or far, she would call him to the palace 
 to see his work, often making choice of what was the 
 
248 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 costliest and hardest to obtain. Fortunately, she 
 heard of the wonderful jewel in India which con- 
 tained the thousand-fold view of the Eternal Buddha, 
 and secured it ; and this completing her treasure, she 
 determined at once to fit out a ship and send it to her 
 father in Japan. 
 
 " For this purpose she selected the most faithful 
 and trusted of her retainers, whose name was Manko. 
 He, on his part, vowed in presence of the princess, 
 and in the names of all the gods of Everlasting Great 
 Japan, to defend the jewel from all enemies above or 
 below the surface of the sea, and to deliver it safely. 
 
 " Yet, even the bravest of men cannot foresee the 
 future. No sooner was it known that this jewel, re- 
 nowned throughout all India and China, was to be 
 made an offering in the temple of the Holy Sage and 
 to be set in the forehead of his image, than the mon- 
 arch of the world under the sea was roused to jeal- 
 ousy and wrath. Kai Riu O, the dragon sea-king, 
 reigned over the empire of Riugu, which was beneath 
 the waves. His host consisted of thousands of drag- 
 ons, each one able to sink a ship and devour its crew. 
 Some of these terrible creatures were a hundred feet 
 long and breathed fire out of their mouths. With 
 claws like steel, and tails with the power of a wind- 
 lass wound by a thousand men, they were besides 
 equipped with every means of defence known to bird, 
 beast, or fish. The dragon-king, irritated and envious, 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 249 
 
 even made alliance with the king of the demons in 
 the lowest hell, called Asura, and resolved to capture 
 the jewel. Instead of gracing the image and temple 
 of Buddha for the blessing of mankind, Kai Riu O 
 determined that the thousand-rayed jewel should 
 adorn his shrine in Riugu. Thus would he add to 
 the treasures which every year came to him by ship- 
 wreck and loss, for Kai Riu O was and is no friend 
 of man." 
 
 " Ay, ay, true, true," spoke out not a few in the 
 audience at this reference to the very much alive and 
 active being under the waves. 
 
 " Namu Amida Butsu " (save us, Eternal Buddha), 
 murmured a score of voices, and one old woman 
 actually took out her beads to pray by counts. 
 
 Piously bowing, the story-teller, glad to be thus 
 interrupted, continued : 
 
 " So amid the plaudits and good wishes of the 
 Empress's Japanese servants left behind, and sped 
 by her prayers, Manko hoisted sail and made toward 
 the rising sun. Escaping first the dangers of the 
 sea, he reached a famous place between the two 
 countries to which shipwrecks, many and sad, had 
 given an evil reputation. This time, however, the 
 alertness and skilful seamanship of Manko were 
 bringing his vessel safely through all natural dangers, 
 when, suddenly, the ship was attacked by a host of 
 demons. 
 
250 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Without quailing for an instant, Manko and his 
 men, armed to the full, joined battle with the demons, 
 and with their trusty blades put the infernal host to 
 flight. Then, victorious, the ship moved on, and 
 soon the green shores of our Four-countries Island 
 loomed up before them. Already they were begin- 
 ning to smell the fragrant odor of the woodfires 
 wafted seaward from the cottages. In imagination 
 they even feasted, amid home joys, on the tender 
 young rice, when a strange object upon the water 
 met their view." 
 
 At this point the narrator made a dead pause and 
 down came his iron-riveted fan with a tremendous 
 whack upon the desk. " Now, honorable sirs," said 
 he, " all who would hear what next happened will 
 kindly cast their gifts into the lacquered box which 
 my attendants will present." 
 
 " It is a case of * to be continued in our next,' " 
 said Clarence Burnham to his companion. "Well, 
 here goes ten sen (a dime) to cheer the old fellow 
 up." 
 
 Casting a glance at the offering, the story-teller's 
 face beamed at sight of the silver. Bowing low in 
 thanks, he resumed : 
 
 " It was only a log." Here all faces fell in dis- 
 appointment. " But it had such a curious look that 
 the sailors, despite their eagerness to get home, 
 stopped the vessel and brought the timber on board. 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 251 
 
 With one blow of the axe, the tree trunk was split 
 open, when, lo ! a lady of amazing loveliness, attired 
 in the splendor of court robes, stepped out." 
 
 At this all faces lightened. 
 
 " Manko, the captain, saluted the maiden with the 
 gallantry of a true soldier, and at once looked to her 
 comfort. Strange to say, however, the winds which 
 had thus far been favorable now blew into their faces, 
 and the ship lay tossing about in front of their 
 native land ten days. The sight was tantalizing to 
 the seamen. But as for the captain, he was so 
 wrapped up in the strange guest that had come to 
 him from the sea, that in his passion of love he for- 
 got all about his home and his charge. Instead of 
 being a vigilant officer, he was now a hopeless lover. 
 Indeed, delay seemed only to increase his passion. 
 
 " The fair lady, with all the charms of the skilled 
 coquette, put him off, even professing that her reli- 
 gious views would not permit her to accept his offers 
 of marriage. All this time, however, Manko was 
 becoming more hopelessly a slave to his infatuation. 
 Without knowing it, he found that he would give 
 anything in his own possession, or intrusted to him, 
 in order to win her hand and caresses. The artful 
 stranger, luring him on to betray his trust, made re- 
 quest to look at the precious gem. Mad with love, 
 he permitted her to enter that part of the vessel 
 where blazed the sacred jewel in its holy shrine." 
 
252 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Down went the faces of the serious in the audi- 
 ence, including an old priest, and eager even to 
 the opening wide of many mouths was the desire 
 to hear more. The story was getting hot! 
 
 " So artfully had the siren, for such she was, 
 wrought her fell purpose that even after permitting 
 her to gaze upon the flashing jewel, Manko took no 
 further precautions. Unsuspicious of danger, he 
 gave himself up to the companionship of the fasci- 
 nating lady, and would think of nothing else. 
 
 " Alas, alas ! on the morning of the fourth day, on 
 going to look at the shrine, the jewel was gone ! The 
 woman, too, had disappeared. A thorough search 
 of the ship failed to reveal her presence. The truth 
 was now out. The dragon-king of the world under 
 the sea had sent one of his fairest slaves to accom- 
 plish his horrible purpose. Where the force of the 
 demons had failed, the wiles of a woman had won." 
 
 " Namu, Amida Butsu," groaned or murmured the 
 hearers. 
 
 " For Manko, there was nothing to do but to go 
 with a face of shame to Nara and, crouching at the 
 feet of his august master, tell the whole story. As 
 for Kamatari, though speechless with grief and un- 
 able to find comfort in talking with any one else, he 
 still cherished hopes of winning back the jewel. 
 Resigning office and honors, he left the imperial 
 capital and went down to the place strangely named 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 253 
 
 Happy Point, near the beautiful Inland Sea, and not 
 far from the place where the jewel and the siren had 
 disappeared. 
 
 " Coming as a stranger into this fisherman's village, 
 he lived quietly in retirement, telling no man who he 
 was. Every day he would beguile the time by going 
 down to the rocks on the seashore. There witness- 
 ing the wonderful skill of the female divers, he was 
 seized with a new idea. These ruddy-cheeked and 
 black-eyed maidens, marvellously lithe in limb, seemed 
 at will to sink like lead or float like feathers on the 
 surface, as they leaped and disported both above and 
 beneath the waves. Diving down, they brought up 
 great treasures of mother-of-pearl shells and feasted 
 upon their contents. For their dress, while diving, 
 they had nothing but a girdle of woven straw around 
 their waists, while their long black locks, as they rose 
 from the sparkling waves, flashed in the sun-rays. 
 
 "The thought struck him Can I not find one of 
 those fisher maids, who, for my sake, will be brave 
 enough to dive to Riugu and bring up for me the 
 precious jewel? 
 
 "Praying to the gods to direct him in his choice, 
 he became acquainted with a young girl of great 
 beauty, who excelled all the other female divers in 
 courage and skill. He made love to her, and they 
 were married. For three years the pair lived hap- 
 pily together, and then Kamatari, believing it was 
 
254 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 time to propose the daring venture, disclosed to her 
 the secret of his rank. 
 
 " Meanwhile a son had been born to them, for 
 whom the mother expected nothing else than a fisher- 
 man's life. When, however, she found her husband 
 was a great noble, with the blood of the gods in his 
 veins, she was filled with shame. Why should she 
 live with so great a man ? For when he should re- 
 turn to his palace in Nara, and to the company of 
 the lords and ladies of the court, would he not cast 
 her off ? In spite of all her husband's entreaties, she 
 resolved to end her life. 
 
 " Kamatari, unable to turn her from her purpose, 
 now made revelation of the object of his marriage, 
 telling her that if she still persisted in ending her 
 life, it were better first to attempt the recovery of the 
 gem, and not to sacrifice her life uselessly. 
 
 " ' Procure," said he, ' the Thousand-rayed Jewel, 
 and life will be well sacrificed. Buddha will surely 
 take to his bosom one who has perilled her all in 
 behalf of his glory and honor. Furthermore, if 
 successful, our son shall be made a noble, and inherit 
 name and rank ! ' 
 
 " This appeal and promise touched the fisher girl's 
 heart. Without speaking a word, she rushed up to 
 the cliffs and leaped into the sea, the sparkling waves 
 closing over her. Hour after hour passed over the 
 anxious watcher on the rocks. Sunset came, and 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 255 
 
 yet his wife was invisible. The next day there was 
 no sign, and so the sun rose seven times, and was 
 again nearing the western sky, when suddenly there 
 rose up from the water his wife. Haggard, weary, 
 exhausted, and in despair, she had come back alone. 
 With empty hands and weeping eyes she told the sad 
 story. She had found out where the jewel was pre- 
 served, far down in the realm of the dragon-king of 
 the world under the sea. Horrible dragons guarded 
 the shrine, and none could approach because of their 
 fire-breathing eyes and steel-like claws. 
 
 " Nevertheless, Kamatari gratefully thanked his 
 spouse, and, cheering her, led her home and to 
 rest until her strength was restored. 
 
 " The noble lord, not yet disheartened, gave him- 
 self up to thought. He considered every cunning 
 plan to beguile the monsters from their vigilance and 
 to decoy them from the shrine. He knew that music 
 had a marvellous effect upon dragons. Whenever 
 the musicians of the imperial band played, the drag- 
 ons, visible or invisible, were sure to gather from all 
 sides to gambol and play in unison with the notes. 
 So, redoubling his exertions, Kamatari secured from 
 Nara a company of the imperial musicians, who with 
 flute and drum and flageolet and dulcimer made 
 sweetest harmony. He had a phoenix-pro wed barge 
 built, on the deck of which were properly set up and 
 hung, from the wings of the phoenix prow to the 
 
256 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 inside dip of the long tiller, the brocade curtains, 
 marked with the Emperor's crest exactly as in the 
 Mikado's palace. Arrayed in their sun helmets and 
 in their official robes, the musicians gathered on the 
 bow, near the crest of the phcenix, and prepared to 
 render their sweetest strains. 
 
 " The diver-wife on her part, being now restored 
 to perfect strength, accompanied her husband in a 
 fisherman's boat of the ordinary build. She had on 
 only her straw girdle apron, but to the belt she fas- 
 tened securely the end of a long rope, which her hus- 
 band and his assistants were to hold, while she dived 
 down into Riugu. For illumination under the 
 waves, she set a light-giving crystal in the hair of 
 her forehead ; in her right hand she grasped a long, 
 double-edged knife. Then all being ready, and the 
 choir of musicians upon the phcenix barge bursting 
 out with their sweetest strains, she plunged beneath 
 the sparkling waves. 
 
 ******** 
 ""Another offering, gentlemen, else I cannot go on. 
 It is a great strain on voice and emotions to tell this 
 story of the Thousand-rayed Jewel. I alone in 
 Tokio have the correct manuscript." With a bow 
 and a rap of the fan, the story-teller again launched 
 forth the money-scoop, which, after a few minutes, 
 returned to port with a cargo of copper, richer than 
 before. He at once resumed. 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 257 
 
 "At the first sound of the music, which penetrated 
 below the surface of the sea to the lair of the drag- 
 ons, these monsters, both the sentinels before the 
 shrine and the reserves, swam upward and gathered 
 on all sides of the floating barge whence the music 
 proceeded. There they listened and played. So 
 utterly fascinated by the sweet sounds were they that 
 they forgot all that went on below in Riugu. 
 
 " The diving mother swam downward beneath the 
 waves, on and on, for thousands of leagues. The 
 jewel in her forehead shone by its own light, illumi- 
 nating her path, until at last, in eagerness and still in 
 strength, she reached Riugu. She entered where the 
 temples and pagodas stood, adorned with the shippo, 
 or seven precious jewels, pink, coral, amber, mother- 
 of-pearl, emerald, agate, pearls and crystal, besides 
 gold and silver. It was entirely deserted. There in 
 the centre flashed out the thousand-rayed jewel stone. 
 She seized the precious gem, swam out, and hastened 
 to return. 
 
 "Alas! soon she felt her woman's strength was 
 failing. To make sure of success, she pulled vio- 
 lently the rope attached to her waist, as a signal that 
 she needed help. Yet though Kamatari and his ser- 
 vants hauled in the rope with all their might, it 
 seemed to the almost despairing woman that she 
 could not succeed. Though she could hear the 
 music still playing, there was a horrible dragon, many 
 
258 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 rods in length, which, returning from afar to the 
 shrine and finding it empty, sped after her to seize 
 her. Death in the monster's jaws seemed to be 
 imminent. Already she could feel his fiery breath 
 upon her bosom. 
 
 " Suddenly it occurred to her that the gods of the 
 sea have a great horror of corpses. Even a dragon 
 will not touch a dead body. Riugu, while always 
 welcoming the wrecked ships and the costly mer- 
 chandise destroyed by the storms raised by the 
 dragon-king of the world under the sea, does not care 
 for dead bodies. Many a time had she seen the 
 sailors of shipwrecked vessels and the bodies of pas- 
 sengers, instead of being received by the dragon 
 horde, spewed out. Floating on the waves, or lining 
 the shore, these corpses showed with what disgust 
 the dragon-king and his dragon host regarded bodies 
 in which life was extinct. 
 
 "The thought then nerved her to the dreadful 
 deed. If she killed herself, she knew that the 
 dragon would not pursue her any farther. By sacri- 
 ficing her life she could save the jewel and please her 
 husband, and, it might be, attain to Nirvana with 
 Buddha. 
 
 " So, gratifying herself for a moment with an exult- 
 ing laugh and defiant leer at the fire-breathing dragon, 
 she grasped the hilt of her knife, and, blade upward, 
 thrust it into her side. Then, in the deep incision, 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 259 
 
 she hid the precious jewel within her own body. The 
 flesh closed over the wound, but the red blood upon 
 the water gave signal to the dragon that it was a 
 corpse he was pursuing. Instantly turning, he left 
 her, and before a poisoned fang had entered her 
 body, Kamatari and his servants drew up his wife. 
 To their horror, it was but a corpse that appeared. 
 
 " Groaning, and in sincere grief, the nobleman laid 
 the body of his beloved wife upon the deck. Forget- 
 ting the object of her descent, he mourned over her 
 as lover and friend. Suddenly he noticed under her 
 bosom a deep gash, and, on wiping away the blood, 
 he saw, shining amid the flesh, the precious jewel. 
 Reverently taking it forth, he gave his beloved wife 
 burial. Dismissing the musicians with abundant 
 thanks and reward, he hied to his home in Nara. 
 There his son, in due time, was made noble and heir. 
 
 " So, at the price of a woman's life, this thousand- 
 rayed jewel was ransomed from the power of the 
 infernal demons, from Kai Riu O, and from all the 
 dragon hosts of Riugu, and was ready for its resting- 
 place. On an auspicious day, with all solemn and 
 holy ceremonies, including the reading of the sacred 
 sutras by a thousand priests, richly robed, the pre- 
 cious gem was fixed in the brow of the image of 
 Shaka Muni, in the Temple of Illustrious Joy. There 
 for centuries it remained, the peerless treasure of the 
 Three Countries. In India, China, and Japan, there 
 
260 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was no brow-jewel like it, while for ages it beamed 
 in radiant light upon the myriads who daily sought 
 help and surcease from sorrow, before the image 
 of the Eternally Enlightened and the Boundlessly 
 Compassionate." 
 
 Down went the fan with a clap. Low bowed the 
 head of the narrator, as the crowd broke out in sighs 
 of relief, or pious offerings of praise and prayer to 
 the holy lord Buddha. " Namu Amida Butsu," 
 " Namu miyo ho ren ge" kio " (Glory be to the holy 
 book of the law which brings salvation), murmured 
 one and another of the more pious, according as 
 they belonged to this or that sect. More practical 
 folks made at once for refreshments the dumpling, 
 broiled eels, and f ruitstands and regaled them- 
 selves ; for long listening makes one hungry. 
 
 " Do you know, friend Burnham," said Masaro, 
 "that this story, which I have heard for the first 
 time, has a moral to me?" 
 
 " No, I cannot guess what it is. Tell me." 
 
 " I think of my country, Japan, as a fair fisher- 
 girl, diving into the deep sea of new experiences, 
 making her way in danger of the dragons or what 
 is worse than these. Then, after seizing her rightful 
 prize, she is beset and pursued by a superior force. 
 She is perfectly willing to die to her own ambition, 
 and to lose her life, in order that her child may find 
 it in larger measure. 
 
THE DRAGON-GUARDED JEWEL. 261 
 
 " To give up the prize won in the war at the behest 
 of the three greatest military powers of the world, 
 and because of the most formidable alliance re- 
 corded in history, is a very flattering proof of the 
 power of Japan and the skill shown by our land's 
 defenders. .For the time being, we have driven the 
 knife into our hopes and killed the body of our am- 
 bitions. But, when there emerges again Japan's 
 thousand-rayed jewel, our country's glories will shine, 
 not in war, but in peace ; or, if in war they must glit- 
 ter, may the greater glory be in peace. In any event, 
 our soldiers will never be afraid to penetrate to the 
 dragon's lair. Yet, if Japan conquers China the 
 second time, may it be by winning her into the paths 
 of progress and the world's civilization." 
 
 " Amen ! " said Clarence. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 
 
 WE shall tell, farther on in our story, how the 
 ferment of ideas, generated in Japan after 
 the astoundingly successful war with China, 
 affected the Japanese, including Masaro. Let us 
 now look in Peking, to see how the obtuse-nerved 
 Chinese and the Manchus, proud, insolent, and 
 densely ignorant, took their beating most of them 
 by growing new callosity. 
 
 By this time Marian Hopewell had become thor- 
 oughly accustomed to the daily grooves of duty in 
 her new work and home. Yet the keen sense of 
 novelty, in all that she saw, was scarcely blunted. 
 
 Nevertheless, she found it beyond her powers to 
 fathom the depths or to explore the recesses of the 
 Chinese mind. The " yellow brain " was not hers, 
 nor that of the men she knew well. Her psychology 
 learned in college, enriched by reading and study 
 in the best place to observe certain phases of it, in 
 the nursery, failed to yield an X-ray. To her, the 
 " sacred river " of cogitations flowing out of the 
 
 262 
 
IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 263 
 
 ganglions formed in Chinese brains during thirty 
 
 centuries 
 
 "ran 
 
 Through caverns measureless to man, 
 Down to a sunless sea." 
 
 But in the region of the human heart, her explora- 
 tions were more successful and her discoveries more 
 joyous. 
 
 She liked the girls for their docility, quick obedi- 
 ence, and a keen sense of personal modesty that 
 seemed innate. She quickly picked up much of the 
 spoken language. For practical purposes, she was 
 able to do this far more rapidly by taking the words 
 as they fell naturally from the lips of the pupils than 
 from her language-teacher, whose material and meth- 
 ods of speech were more formal. She soon learned 
 also a dozen or score of the jolly jingles, or " Mother 
 Goose " nursery songs, with which the little folks de- 
 lighted themselves. She gained more slowly some 
 knowledge of writing. Even the strange Chinese 
 characters on the scrolls and wall pictures began to 
 glow and bloom with meaning. She began to under- 
 stand how it could be that the book language meant 
 almost nothing to the ear and almost everything to 
 the eye, and why it was that only ten per cent of 
 the Chinese men could read a book, and only about 
 one in ten thousand of the women. 
 
 Outdoors the shops and shop-signs, the buyers and 
 
264 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 sellers, the animals and vehicles, and odd ways of 
 doing things amused her. In dry weather, the don- 
 keys in the carts and the long trains of shaggy, 
 funny-faced camels made dust that soon became 
 disgusting. She soon learned to tell the men from 
 different parts of the empire. The Mongols from 
 the plains, though very good-natured, looked quite 
 uncouth and uncivilized in comparison with the 
 Pekingese. She could quickly discriminate also be- 
 tween the Tartars, or Manchius, and the Chinese. 
 
 Six millions of the people who in 1621 marched 
 into China from Manchuria, now govern the three or 
 four hundred million Chinese. Powerful as cavalry- 
 men, they quickly overran the empire, forcing the 
 Chinese, who until then wore topknots, to wear their 
 hair in a queue. Then the rough riders out of the 
 plains established themselves in Peking. Gradually 
 they yielded to luxury, intermarried with the natives, 
 lost their language, and became to all intents and 
 purposes as Chinese as the people they conquered. 
 
 " To the end of time, the Chinese will conquer 
 every conqueror that conquers them," was one of Dr. 
 Clinton's favorite remarks. 
 
 Marian learned to distinguish them not only be- 
 cause nearly all the military officers and most of the 
 soldiers were Tartars, but because of their striking 
 difference in face and figure. The Chinaman tends 
 to roundness, has a creamy color of skin, and a quiet 
 
IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 265 
 
 eye. The Tartar is swarthy of complexion, has high 
 cheek-bones, is more restless, and his eye seems more 
 alive and in motion. 
 
 What seemed very strange was that while there 
 was war going on, and such heavy fighting on land 
 and sea reported, with the loss of whole fleets, armies, 
 forts, and cities, Peking was very quiet. From the 
 home newspapers and from Japan, all the foreigners 
 learned vastly more than could be found in the Eng- 
 lish sheets published in the ports. Only a little that 
 was trustworthy could be learned from the people in 
 Peking. Marian inquired the reason of this from her 
 friend, Dr. Clinton. 
 
 " Poor China has no nerves, and the body of the 
 giant cannot feel quickly. The people in the interior 
 cannot get at the truth, even if they should really want 
 to know it, which I doubt. China is like an alligator. 
 I imagine one could cut off the tip of the reptile's 
 tail, before its brain gave notice by a thrill of pain." 
 
 " The telegraph will supply China's need in time, 
 I hope." 
 
 " Yes, wires will be as nerves and railways as 
 muscles. Until then, truth will have no legs to 
 travel on. As for the war, it is in reality only the 
 struggle of a few coast provinces with the Japanese. 
 Even yet, I am sure, millions of Chinamen do not 
 know there is war going on." 
 
 "What?" 
 
266 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 "Or, if they do, they will misunderstand it in their 
 own oblique way. It would be nearly impossible 
 either to transmit or to receive a perfectly plain 
 account of the battle or campaign. The illiterate 
 Chinese in the interior there are only about ten 
 per cent who can read want color, embroidery, 
 exaggeration. The war now is practically over; but 
 do you know how the average people in the empire 
 read its results ? " 
 
 " They know in general, I suppose, about the defeat 
 of Li Hung Chang's drilled army and the loss of 
 their fleet, do they not ? " 
 
 " Not at all," said Dr. Clinton, as his eye twinkled. 
 " This is about the way that one of the learned men 
 or literati in the villages will tell the story, and also, 
 most probably, the way it will take form to posterity. 
 Let me read you from some imaginary popular book 
 of the future. I'll shut my eyes so that I can see it 
 more clearly that is the way of the literati," and 
 the doctor laughed. " Hear ye from the ' Yang-tse 
 Pow-wow ' of 1910 A.D. 
 
 " In the reign of our illustrious sovereign Kwang-Su, 
 the Japanese, or dwarf barbarians of the eastern 
 sea, made piratical expeditions, first, into our little 
 frontier state of Korea, and then into our northeast- 
 ern borders of Manchuria. Made bold by their first 
 successes, they even pressed impudently toward the 
 capital. 
 
IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 267 
 
 " But their insolence soon met with deserved re- 
 buke. The viceroy, Li Hung, called out his ever 
 victorious army, and, sending his bravest generals, 
 drove back the Japanese, drowning thousands in the 
 sea. The others were only too glad to get back 
 to their poor country. Even from Manchuria our 
 heroes, with the friendly help of the northern, bearded 
 barbarians, called Ruskies, expelled the dwarfs, and so 
 the whole land had peace once more." 
 
 " How extraordinary ! What a joke ! " 
 
 " Yes, but to the average villager it will be as solid 
 truth." 
 
 " How can such things be possible, and especially 
 in a country which used to be thought a land of 
 sages ? " 
 
 "This is possible," said Dr. Clinton, "and so also 
 are the awful superstitions possible, because the most 
 ordinary commonplaces of science, which in our coun- 
 try are familiar to our little boys and girls, are un- 
 known and unsuspected even by learned men in 
 China. These literati are wonderfully erudite in 
 texts, letters, and books, powerful in style and rhet- 
 oric, but hardly yet in the kindergarten of science. 
 If the learned are so crassly blind, what can you 
 expect of the masses?" 
 
 "Why in the world are they possessed with the 
 idea that we want their children in order to dig out 
 their eyes to make chemicals for photographs ? " 
 
268 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 "Plainly, they think part of their body or soul 
 goes into the picture made. Then, further, because 
 the eye is like a mirror and reflects. On the eyeball 
 of your friend, as you look in his eye, you see your 
 own reflection or photograph. No wonder this part 
 of the eye is called the pupil. 
 
 " The Chinese imagine that we possess the secret 
 of making a plate sensitive for the camera, by extract- 
 ing the virtue out of young folks' eyes, because these 
 are so much more lustrous than those of older per- 
 sons. They are too ignorant of chemistry to know 
 about nitrate of silver." 
 
 "Is there nothing in the variety of color in our 
 eyes so different from their uniform black to support 
 them in their theory ? " 
 
 " Decidedly so. They make of this difference a 
 reason good in their view. In the interior of the 
 country they believe that all foreigners are blue- 
 eyed, and that only black eyes will make the proper 
 drug for the photographers." 
 
 " Do the eyes of the dead serve any other 
 purpose ? " 
 
 " Yes, our * Dick Deadeye ' is as funny, in their 
 Chinese notions, as in ' Pinafore.' He can turn lead 
 into silver." 
 
 " Is there anything for which our blue eyes have 
 to suffer in China's esteem?" said Marian, looking 
 instinctively at her own in the mirror. 
 
IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 269 
 
 "Oh, yes," said the Doctor. "Pardon me and 
 don't feel offended, but since the pig's eyes are blue, 
 the usual sign of an alien in Chinese caricatures 
 often too obscene to describe is a pig. Horrible 
 to think of, these pagans suppose that our Saviour, 
 though we know he was a Hebrew and a Syrian, 
 had blue eyes. Hence their most common carica- 
 ture of our religion is a pig nailed to a cross." 
 
 " How horrible ! " and the young girl shuddered. 
 
 " But to change this painful subject, consider how 
 our triumphs of applied science must seem to the 
 illiterate. They see steamers moving in the water 
 against the tide without wind or sail, and swifter 
 than eagles. They hear of railway trains rushing 
 along at the rate of sixty miles an hour, or a mile a 
 minute, and their wonder increases when they see 
 no power or motor. It is not strange that the same 
 Chinaman who on the Pacific steamship burnt incense 
 and prayed to the walking-beam of the engine, saw, 
 when in Chicago, the cable cars dashing along at a 
 frightful speed, and was even more amazed. He 
 cried out, ' No horsee, no smokee, no lokee, and go 
 like lightning all the same.'. 
 
 " Think of people in a village, hardly one in a thou- 
 sand of whom has ever been five miles from his 
 rice field, hearing of these white men able to see 
 millions of miles in the sky, or listening to tales 
 about looking into a microscope and seeing a flea 
 
270 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 as big as an elephant. Imagine their wonder when 
 in the surgical ward they see legs and arms ampu- 
 tated, and not only tumors removed from the outside 
 of the body, but even the interior opened, cut, cleaned, 
 or parts removed, and then behold the patients out, 
 well, and strong again, in a few days' or weeks' 
 time. Since their own geomancers pretend to gaze 
 at the precious metals which are down deep in the 
 earth, how much more they are likely to believe that 
 our people can see the gold, silver, coal, and iron in 
 the earth." 
 
 " And indeed they can," said Marian, " by the eyes 
 of that faith which science gives. Then think of the 
 X-ray. I once broke off a needle, and it fastened 
 itself among the muscles of the base of my thumb. 
 The X-ray revealed it with perfect clearness, though 
 it gave the doctors much trouble to get it out." 
 
 " Yes, the miracle of yesterday becomes the com- 
 monplace fact of to-day. Instructed in the principles 
 of science, we not only understand the phenomenon, 
 but we expect every day even greater wonders. 
 Education for ages, and certainly since the Refor- 
 mation, has been preparing us to stow away in our 
 understanding what were once miracles, as easily as 
 David put pebbles in his shepherd scrip. But to the 
 Chinese, credulous to the last degree, ready to be- 
 lieve anything and everything, we must seem like 
 terrible magicians. Hence among their ignorant 
 
IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR. 271 
 
 masses the man who by magic or witchcraft is able 
 to compete, as it were, with the Westerner, soon finds 
 a following." 
 
 "I can see," said Marian, "why a Chinaman 
 seems to us to be made up of a mass of incongruities. 
 The most opposite traits of character seem to exist 
 alongside of each other in him. Probably that ac- 
 counts for the fact that while with us two and two 
 make four, with them it seems to make three or five." 
 
 " Yes, they call us the ' crab-writing barbarians,' 
 because we do our writing and things generally the 
 other way, or upside down or backward. A mode 
 of arguing or reasoning that would lead us to go 
 north, would start them in a southern direction. 
 You know while our compass points north, theirs is 
 the 'south-pointing chariot.'' 1 
 
 " When do you suppose the Chinaman and West- 
 ern man will see eye to eye ? " 
 
 "Certainly not while the Chinese holds to his 
 theory of the universe. Science and education must 
 give him a new mental outfit. Christianity must 
 supply the spiritual impulse, lift up his moral life, 
 and purify his spiritual vision. When the mind of 
 our Chinese brother is so filled with God that there 
 is room for nothing else, then the demons that over- 
 populate his air and earth and sea will vanish. When 
 both look out on the universe and hear a voice saying, 
 ' I am the Lord, and there is none beside me,' then 
 
272 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the white and yellow man will understand each other, 
 and live in peace, striking hands together to make 
 China and the whole earth a better place to dwell in." 
 
 " Do you hold Confucius responsible for the super- 
 stition that fills China and degrades the people ? " 
 
 " Yes, in part at least. It would not be fair to 
 charge to the great sage the abominable sorcery, 
 idolatry, and the craven fear of demons which de- 
 grades the Chinaman, nor to charge this teacher 
 with the witchcraft that everywhere prevails ; but he 
 certainly cut the tap-root of all progress when he left 
 God out of his scheme, and especially in his famous 
 exhortation." 
 
 " What is that ? " asked Marian. 
 
 " It is this, ' Honor the gods and keep them far 
 from you,' which the Chinese have interpreted to 
 mean, ' Be polite to what is supernatural, but have 
 nothing to do with it.' Thus taught the great agnos- 
 tic, Confucius. And so aspiration was cut off from 
 the poor Chinaman. Instead of giving a system of 
 life fraught with aspiration, hard indeed to live up to, 
 but charged with the seeds of everything good and 
 blessed, such as Jesus taught, Confucius shaped the 
 ancient traditions so as practically to leave out their 
 soul. He framed a system which is practical, easily 
 carried out, serves admirably its purpose, but which 
 has left the poor Chinaman exactly where he was a 
 millennium and a half ago, and where he is to-day." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 
 
 THOSE end-of-the-century years which Marian 
 Hopewell lived in Peking were crowded with 
 startling incidents, both in her own life and in 
 the great empire in which she lived. As in a storm 
 the pulse of the ocean " beats with low rhythm " not 
 only on the beach, but also in the inland air, and as 
 the salt spray can be almost tasted and its ozone 
 discerned some distance inward from the shore line, 
 so the movements of the outside world were felt, at 
 least, a little way inside mighty China. 
 
 The Japanese war had exposed to the world, as 
 nothing else could have done, the military weakness 
 of China, and this meant the sliding forward of the 
 Russian glacier, the entrance of Germany as a land 
 seizer and owner, the occupation of one of the " gates 
 of Peking" by a British garrison, and the attempt of 
 Italy to gain the control of a marine province. Yet 
 all this was on the outside. 
 
 Inside the country the literati, the great opposers 
 of progress, remained, in their attitude to whatever 
 
 273 
 
274 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was outside of China, the same owls and bats that 
 they had always been. Terrified one moment by 
 impotent fear, they were the next moment boiling 
 with rage because they could not stop the ocean 
 wave of Westernization. To them the entrance of 
 science, Christianity, machinery, or anything foreign, 
 meant loss of power, place, and income. That 
 "knowledge is power" was a wise saw which they 
 translated to mean prey and booty. "Though an 
 eagle be starving, it will not eat grain." They had 
 fattened too long on the carcase willingly to yield 
 their quarry the common people. 
 
 " How do the literati, with their peculiar ideas of 
 education, look on us ? " asked Marian Hopewell one 
 day of Dr. Clinton. 
 
 "Well, you know they call us 'devils,' and we are 
 very strange objects in their eyes. Do you remem- 
 ber the gargoyles and the grotesque creatures that 
 are sculptured on Gothic cathedrals, representing 
 the demons, exorcised by the prayers of the holy ? 
 Such are we in their eyes." 
 
 " Does this view of us and our ways account for 
 the riots which were so numerous seven or eight 
 years ago ? " 
 
 " Fully so, I think. Let but some high mandarin 
 issue a lying book against us inflaming the public 
 mind, and let the roughs start a riot, and the fire of 
 destruction is begun. You will find that the local 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 275 
 
 magistrates keep away till the affair is over. Then 
 they send soldiers, who, as likely as not, join in the 
 melee and plunder." 
 
 " Are these secret societies, ' Triads,' ' Sect of 
 Heaven and Earth,' ' White Lotus Flower,' ' Elder 
 Brother,' ' Long Sword,' and what not, that I hear 
 of, organized especially against foreigners ? " 
 
 " Oh, not necessarily. Some of these fraternities 
 are very little different from those we have at home. 
 There are people all over the world, you know, who 
 are fond of mystic ceremonies ; and there are others 
 who like to manufacture and keep secrets and guard 
 them with mysterious performances more or less 
 solemn or ridiculous ; but in China, apart from these 
 innocent orders, there are some that are hostile to the 
 Peking dynasty, which is Manchu. A few years 
 ago we had the tail-cutting mania." 
 
 " The what ? " asked Marian. 
 
 " Scissors and knives might have been their em- 
 blems and Delilah their patron, for Jthe strength of 
 the Manchu is in his hair, and the Chinaman's queue 
 is the symbol of loyalty to the powers in Peking. 
 To cut off the queue is an insult to the Emperor. 
 So the anti-dynasty men went around with sharp 
 scissors and snipped off the queues of gentlemen, 
 rich merchants, and occasionally even high manda- 
 rins. Thousands of the common people lost their 
 queues and were disgraced." 
 
276 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 At this Marian laughed hilariously, for the picture 
 in her mind was as mirth-provoking as any cartoon 
 in Judge, Puck, or Life. In China, a man without 
 his queue would be much like a gentleman on Broad- 
 way without collar or necktie, or with only one leg 
 on his trousers. To think of a pompous mandarin 
 falling asleep and waking up queueless, put Marian 
 in mind of a chicken running around with its head 
 off. 
 
 A few days after this conversation the Mission 
 Home was in a joyful state of excitement, tempered 
 with trepidation. It had been announced that the 
 great reformer and scholar, Dr. Kang, summoned 
 from Canton by the Emperor, was, in company with 
 the United States envoy, to inspect the various 
 schools, hospitals, and other benevolent institutions 
 conducted by Americans in Peking, and that he 
 would visit the Mission Home. 
 
 This was the time of bright promise to all who 
 hoped for a new and better China, because the 
 young Emperor was leading a movement which 
 meant a reconstruction of Chinese education, if not 
 of the whole social order. Indeed, so many were 
 the new changes and enterprises, that one wise 
 man called the imperial scheme a " pagoda of many 
 stages." 
 
 Although so many of the literati or "educated" 
 Chinamen, that is, ponderously learned men, who 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 277 
 
 could not add up a column of figures, or pass an 
 examination in science that would satisfy a primary 
 school-teacher in America, were still playing the role 
 of the owl and the bat, yet there were a few earnest 
 Chinese scattered over the country who had opened 
 their own eyes, and were trying to get others opened. 
 They realized what had happened to China at the 
 hands of Japan, and what the foreigners' science and 
 religion, as well as their predatory instincts, were. 
 
 At Shanghai a noble band of merchants and mis- 
 sionaries, working in harmony, had scattered all over 
 the empire honestly written histories of the war, 
 besides pamphlets and books which taught the com- 
 monplaces of science, giving facts and news of the 
 world beyond China. These publications had been 
 eagerly read, and something like a party which might 
 be called " Young China " was beginning to form. 
 
 In the capital, reform clubs were organized. 
 Some of the brightest men in the academy of 
 scholars, called Hanlin or Forest of Pencils, openly 
 advocated following the methods of Japan. Best of 
 all, the young Emperor, hearing of these books, had 
 begun to read them, to inquire of men of the new 
 order of mind, and to plan for freedom. Had he 
 been a stronger character, he might have been the 
 Luther of China. He called the reformers to him, 
 took their advice, and ordered more books for his 
 own reading. 
 
278 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Soon the Chinese world was startled by edicts that 
 meant change and reform. Old conservatives held 
 their breath and wondered if the Son of Heaven was 
 mad, while the friends of progress rejoiced, some, 
 indeed, with trembling. 
 
 Alas, the man's " ride on the dragon " that soars 
 and blesses was succeeded by a woman's " ride on 
 the tiger." If the Emperor and the reformers wanted 
 things new, the Empress Dowager and her adherents 
 resolved to have things old. 
 
 We all know the story of how the lights of hope, 
 which the reformers kindled, were quickly quenched 
 in their own blood. Six were beheaded. The others 
 fled for their lives. A great storm of reaction broke, 
 which blasted the budding hopes of enlightened 
 patriots and left ruin in its path. Like a fair gar- 
 den, in which spring flowers had begun to appear, 
 there remained after the wrath of the Empress only 
 the blackness and death of untimely frost. 
 
 The entire scheme of reform vanished, only one 
 flower in the garden being spared. This was the 
 plan of a new imperial university, urged by Li 
 Hung Chang, and for which the silver had already 
 been set aside. It was now started under the aus- 
 pices of an honored American, who had given a life- 
 time of service to China. 
 
 So came and went the months that melted into 
 years, until the penultimate year of the century had 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 279 
 
 come. In that province of Confucius, Shantung, dis- 
 orders and commotions were frequent. One looking 
 at a map of China may think of a round-bodied tea- 
 pot, of which this is the spout. Out of it now issued 
 proofs of the tempest within, this time not of petty 
 proportions, but one that was to rouse the world. 
 Shantung produced Confucius, agnosticism, and the 
 Boxers of 1900. 
 
 Marian Hopewell heard rumors and detailed ac- 
 counts of these outbreaks and outrages, the burn- 
 ing of churches, the insults and injuries to foreigners. 
 She often talked about them to her friend, Mrs. 
 Drayton, wondering whether anything like these dis- 
 turbances could or would ever occur in Peking. She 
 asked one day a scholarly gentleman, who had been 
 in China fifty years, and he promptly answered : 
 
 " Never, I could not imagine such a thing." 
 
 A few days afterward the ladies at the Mission 
 Home were talking over the approaching shadows of 
 great events. 
 
 " Who are these men that make these disturb- 
 ances?" asked Marian. 
 
 " They are called by the foreigners ' Boxers.' " 
 
 " Are they athletes ? I never heard of Chinese 
 men boxing." 
 
 " No, nor I. Athletic exercises, outside of the sol- 
 diery, are practically unknown. These fellows are 
 associated together under the name ' I Ho Chuen.' " 
 
280 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 "Why, that sounds like a sneeze, doesn't it?" said 
 Marian. 
 
 " It does, and their motions are about as violent 
 and unexpected as if caused by catarrh snuff. The 
 first character in the trio means ' volunteer,' the 
 second, ' combined ' or ' associated,' and the third, the 
 'fist.' Can you think of a fraternity meaning Vol- 
 unteer Associated Fists, or, to give the name the 
 significance which it has in their minds, the Holy 
 and Harmonious Smiters? But why do you laugh at 
 the name ? " 
 
 " I did not," said Marian. " I was thinking of my 
 notions, when I first heard the name Boxer, and of 
 my association of ideas the same I imagine that our 
 friends at home will have. I remember once being 
 on a college campus, when a company of young 
 athletes, with tense muscles and scanty garments, were 
 out cultivating their physical life by running on a paper 
 hunt. You know that it is not exactly ' spicy breezes ' 
 that blow out of gymnasiums, or softly over the hills 
 where human beings are exercising their muscles. 
 As I was walking along with the professor of Eng- 
 lish literature a gentleman who narrowly escaped 
 being a genius he mildly tweaked his own nose, as 
 the young men passed by, leaving evidences in the 
 air of their presence, briefly remarking, 'Well, I am 
 glad I'm not strong? So, in our American news- 
 papers, I can imagine our friends at home thinking 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 281 
 
 of Chinese pugilists doubling up their fists for an 
 encounter in the ring, or indulging in the manly art 
 of self-defence. But what do you suppose is the 
 real object of these Boxers ? " 
 
 " I am convinced that hatred of the foreigner and 
 all his ways and works is at the bottom of their 
 actions," said Mrs. Drayton. " They are exactly like 
 the oldyW, or foreigner-haters, who tried to terrorize 
 Americans in the early days of our residence in 
 Japan. These island braves used to cut down aliens 
 from behind, burn the foreign legations, and keep up 
 a series of assassinations and incendiarisms, with the 
 idea of driving the 'barbarians' out of the country. 
 They thought theirs the holy land, and the alien as 
 defiling it. Over and over again they tried to get 
 the Mikado to lead them in sweeping the hairy-faced 
 foreigners into the sea." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that the progressive Japan- 
 ese, and their liberal and enlightened Emperor, ever 
 had such ideas ? " 
 
 " That is exactly what I mean. For years it was 
 the hope and aim of a majority of the Japanese po- 
 litical leaders, and of men educated in the old style, 
 to shut out all the world and go back to their isola- 
 tion. This is exactly what the Chinese want to-day. 
 It is their dream and hope. The same silly conceit, 
 the same ignorance that passed for learning, the same 
 idiocy of pride in thinking that Japan was the one 
 
282 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 country favored of Heaven, and that the Western 
 men were as beasts and vermin, once possessed the 
 Japanese." 
 
 " How different they are now ! " 
 
 " Yes, they call themselves ' frogs in the well ' and 
 laugh at their old manners and customs, conceit and 
 folly. They see the Chinese as they themselves were, 
 and this was one spring of their zeal and valor in 
 the late war. In fact, none outside of China can 
 know and understand the Chinese as the Japanese 
 can." 
 
 " Were there any riots in Japan during the early 
 years of intercourse with foreigners ? " 
 
 " No, and there is the difference. There were 
 individual outrages, and there were combinations to 
 effect political purposes, including the expulsion of 
 foreigners, but these were entirely by the samurai or 
 gentlemen. There were no mobs, never any popular 
 outbreaks, for most of the common people, I think, 
 had no objection to foreigners. Furthermore, a Jap- 
 anese can think by himself, individually; but the 
 Chinese can think and act only in a mass. The aver- 
 age Chinaman will be a quiet and inoffensive person 
 one moment, a raging demon and a destroying terror 
 the next, and then again, after a few minutes, he 
 laughs and is the same quiet man as before." 
 
 Early in the spring of 1899 Marian Hopewell and 
 her friend, Mrs. Drayton, went down to the city of 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 283 
 
 Pao-ting, only a few miles east of the capital, to 
 spend a few days with friends in that city. While 
 there they made the acquaintance of Mr. Wheeler, 
 an English missionary. This gentleman wore Chi- 
 nese clothes, in order to attract less the attention of 
 the crowd while travelling, and because also he 
 thought that such a costume would disarm prejudice, 
 open the way to the reception of his ideas and teach- 
 ings, withal finding such clothing very serviceable 
 and comfortable. 
 
 To go and see one of the villages, not many miles 
 distant, the party took the ordinary vehicle of the 
 country, a two-wheeled springless cart covered with 
 canvas stretched on a frame. They suffered rather 
 than enjoyed the ride, but the soft spring air and 
 tender green of the springtime charmed them. 
 
 Without expectation,- they came into a hornets' 
 nest of the Boxers. 
 
 " Here is a ' Boxer placard.' Let us read it." 
 Driving their cart close to the fence near a Taoist 
 temple, Mr. Wheeler cried out : " They have actually 
 called in the muses to assist them. Here is a poem, 
 written in lines, as you see, of three and of seven char- 
 acters. The rhyme is quite perfect, and such a song 
 could be easily learned by the people. 
 
 " God assists the Boxers, 
 The Patriotic, Harmonious Corps ; 
 It is because the Foreign Devils disturb the Middle Kingdom, 
 
284 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Urging the people to join their religion, 
 
 To turn their backs on Heaven ; 
 
 Venerate not the Gods and forget the Ancestors. 
 
 Men violate the human obligations ; 
 
 Women commit adultery. 
 
 Foreign Devils are not produced by mankind. 
 
 If you doubt this, look at them carefully : 
 
 The eyes of the Foreign Devils are bluish. 
 
 No rain falls. 
 
 The earth is getting dry. 
 
 This is because the Churches stop the Heaven. 
 
 The Gods are angry. 
 
 The Genii are vexed ; 
 
 Both are come down from the mountains to deliver the doctrine. 
 
 This is not hearsay. 
 
 The practice will not be in vain. 
 
 To recite incantations and pronounce magic words. 
 
 Burn up the yellow written prayers ; 
 
 Light incense sticks ; 
 
 To invite the Gods and Genii of all the grottoes (Halls) . 
 
 The Gods will come out of the grottoes, 
 
 And Genii will come down from the mountains, 
 
 And support the human bodies to practise the boxing. 
 
 When all the military accomplishments of the tactics are 
 
 fully learned, 
 
 It will not be difficult to exterminate the Foreign Devils then. 
 Push aside the railway tracks, 
 Pull out the telegraph poles, 
 Immediately after this destroy the steamers. 
 The great France 
 Will grow cold and downhearted ; 
 The English and Russians will certainly disperse. 
 Let the various Foreign Devils all be killed 
 May the whole elegant Empire of the Great Ching dynasty be 
 
 ever prosperous." 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 285 
 
 The boys of the town had been assembled in com- 
 panies and were being drilled by a man who kept a 
 writing school. He was one of that very numerous 
 class in China the literati without office. He had 
 been more than once rejected at the civil service 
 examinations, and so, following the usual alternative 
 of his fellows who were similarly situated, he had 
 settled down to make a livelihood as a private school- 
 master. 
 
 He was known to be a bitter hater of everything 
 foreign, whether animate or inanimate. The drill, if 
 such we may call it, consisted in making the boys go 
 through peculiar motions that we might call calis- 
 thenics ; but the purpose seemed to be to get the boys 
 able to stand a certain amount of tenseness, even 
 rigidity, of muscle, and to be able to continue a cer- 
 tain gesture or motion for many minutes at a time. 
 
 "There," said Mr. Wheeler, "see that man. I 
 know him well. He is making Boxers out of these 
 boys. He is training them, not only in muscle and 
 limb, but by and by he will get them so that he can 
 hypnotize them, that is, make them fall into a trance 
 at his will." 
 
 " What is the object of that ? " asked Marian. 
 
 "Well, first to show his power over them and then 
 also because those who are thus, treated become 
 clothed with a bullet-proof atmosphere, so that they 
 can then stand up against foreign musketry and 
 
286 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 receive shot, shell, or bullet without injury. Then 
 there is a sort of spiritual or rather spiritistic side to 
 the delusion." 
 
 "Ah, what is that?" 
 
 " Nothing more nor less than witchcraft, except 
 that the Chinese variety is a little different from that 
 fashionable in our own Middle Ages, when we 
 European Christians used to burn, drown, or behead 
 thousands and tens of thousands of poor people 
 accused of being witches. It is good to look in the 
 looking-glass of history once in a while," and the 
 Englishman smiled a smile that seemed to go up to 
 the edge of his rimless cap. 
 
 " What is the Chinese variety of witchcraft ? " 
 
 " Instead of attenuating themselves and drawing 
 their bodies through keyholes, or crawling in through 
 the crevices of doors and windows, the Chinese spirits 
 come down from the sky. The Boxer theory is 
 almost equal to that of the old Mormon notion, in 
 which there are millions of souls already yearning, 
 through polygamy, to be incarnated. The Chinese 
 believe that up in the sky there are many tens of 
 thousands of warriors waiting to be incarnated in 
 patriotic Chinese. It is only by a course of exer- 
 cises such as the Boxers practise that the celestial 
 spirit warrior can get into the terrestrial Boxer, 
 that is, during a trance. This is the object of all 
 this drilling and hypnotism." 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 287 
 
 "Have you ever witnessed any of their incanta- 
 tions ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have actually seen one of these ' mediums,' 
 as we should call him, order out of the ranks a man, 
 evidently a good ' subject/ as we should say. Then, 
 after gestures made toward the sky, the leader waved 
 his sword over the man's head and down along his 
 legs and body. Then he would go over his face, 
 just as I have seen mesmerists do. After that, the 
 man's limbs stiffened, his eyes were fixed in a stare, 
 and he tumbled on the ground, and would lie there 
 until the leader, by more passes and strokes and 
 waving of the hands, would wake him up. From 
 that time the subject was supposed to be bullet- 
 proof." 
 
 "How very much like the witchcraft and exorcism 
 in vogue among certain Buddhist sects in Japan," 
 said Mrs. Drayton, who had both heard and seen 
 similar phenomena in the Mikado's empire. " Only, 
 often, instead of a celestial warrior which has en- 
 tered the person, usually a woman, however, it 
 is supposed to be a fox, but the priest generally 
 succeeds in getting the creature out again." 
 
 " How much the same the primitive paganism that 
 lurks in us is all over the world," said Mr. Wheeler, 
 musingly, "whether it be a fox, or a spiritual war- 
 rior, or the mediaeval devil, or a supposed old woman 
 with pins or on a broomstick, the witchcraft of every 
 
288 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 age and country is, in my estimation, about the same 
 the outgrowth of rank superstition." 
 
 " Do you find the notion of witchcraft in one form 
 or another very prevalent in your special field of 
 labor ? " asked Mrs. Dray ton. 
 
 " I do," he answered ; " I believe it is the greatest 
 of all obstacles to the spread of the Gospel every- 
 where. In all the earth, perhaps, there is nothing 
 so opposes the spread of the truth which Christ 
 taught. I am sure we are only safe when " 
 
 Here the fluent talk of the earnest Englishman 
 was interrupted by something that went crashing 
 through the timber frame holding the canvas, send- 
 ing the splinters all over the occupants of the cart. 
 One of them, several inches long, tore the cheek of 
 the Chinese driver and stuck itself, as if it were a 
 javelin, into the flank of the horse. 
 
 The animal, infuriated with pain, leaped forward, 
 knocking the Chinese driver out upon the street. 
 The Englishman strove to stop the animal and even 
 leaped out on the shaft to catch the horse by the 
 mane or ear, but losing his balance, he also tumbled 
 off. With a lightened load, the horse made faster 
 time and dashed ahead, never stopping until the cart 
 was stopped in a crowd of Chinese quite close to the 
 gate of the Roman Catholic Mission. 
 
 During these exciting moments the two ladies were 
 so terrified by their danger that they had not heard 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 289 
 
 the sound of firearms which had been going on stead- 
 ily around the Catholic Mission quarters, until it 
 became a lively fusillade, making a battlefield. 
 
 On that day the red-belted Boxers had come to 
 town in little squads, here and there, and by differ- 
 ent roads, so as not to excite attention. Assembling, 
 according to a previous programme, in front of the 
 big Buddhist temple, they then started out, evidently 
 in collusion with the local mandarin, to seize and kill 
 all the native Christians, who in that village were all 
 Roman Catholics. 
 
 They expected the same easy work which they had 
 found in other places. They hoped, in every case 
 where victims were not shot in resistance, to make 
 a Christian kneel, and while one Boxer held up his 
 queue, to have another, a swordsman, take off his 
 head with their clumsy-chopping weapon, which in 
 shape reminds one of a cleaver or a plough-share. 
 In case of the women, it was first robbery of their 
 clothing and then a spear thrust. 
 
 But this time the biters were bit. They found 
 something that could show teeth. Warned by wary 
 watchers, the Christians had fled with their wives and 
 children into the " compound " of the French priests, 
 though not all had arrived in time. Before the gates 
 could be shut, there were still many of the Christians 
 running up the street toward the gateway on the 
 farther or western side, when the Boxers marched 
 
290 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 down from the temple, having gathered their forces 
 in full. 
 
 Knowing what was likely to come on any day, the 
 French priests had, weeks before, gathered a store 
 of old chassepot rifles, and, with plenty of cartridges 
 on hand, had drilled all their male converts above fif- 
 teen years old to handle their guns expertly. More- 
 over, there were about ten repeating rifles in the 
 hands of the Frenchmen and the best-trained con- 
 verts, and when the Boxers charged on a run, 
 yelling, " Kill the Christians ! " at the top of their 
 voices, the French fathers mounted the corner of 
 the wall on the eastern side and laid five or six of the 
 Boxers low, before these could get near enough to 
 use their long spears. 
 
 The open gateway was on the farther or western 
 side, and while the women and children were still run- 
 ning in or toward it, about twenty Chinese Chris- 
 tians with their chassepots, led by two of the 
 fathers with repeaters, took their places in a line, 
 with their backs to the streets up which the fugi- 
 tives were coming. Soon the deluded fanatics who 
 believed that because they had on the red-trimmed 
 coats of the " Harmonious Fisters," who had taken 
 their "degree," they were invulnerable to the for- 
 eigners' balls, charged boldly on the line of fire with 
 their long spears, terribly broad-bladed, sharp on 
 one side and hooked on the other. Within three 
 
') I 
 
 "THE BOXERS CHARGED ON A RUN. 
 
gpELIBfS!^, 
 
 & OF THE > 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 . 
 
 : ' 
 
<js.. 
 
 A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 291 
 
 minutes the place looked like what it was, a battle- 
 field. At least thirty Boxers were lying on the 
 ground, some of them writhing with their wounds, 
 others face downward and dead, since they had 
 fallen when running. 
 
 The repeating rifles at the angle of the compound 
 had wrought the most mischief. Yet not even the 
 terrible charge of the Boxers, who kept in the front 
 of the fight, some of them climbing over the dead 
 bodies of their comrades, could break that line of 
 Christians fighting for their wives and children. 
 Nevertheless, one of the converts had his rifle knocked 
 aside and received a sweeping blow from the sword 
 in the right hand of a Boxer, that cut deeply into 
 his neck. This was the only one of the Christians 
 that received a mortal wound. 
 
 The panther-like fanatic hoped to break through 
 the line and cut from behind, but was instantly shot 
 dead. Two other converts were frightfully wounded 
 by thrusts of the clumsy but terrible halberds of the 
 Boxers. Unable to make any impression on that 
 gallant little line, and getting so terrible and unex- 
 pected a taste of lead, the Boxers broke and disap- 
 peared. 
 
 It was one of the first shots of the repeating rifles 
 that had crashed through the framework of the cart 
 in which the visitors were driving. It was within a 
 few seconds after the Boxers had retreated, that their 
 
292 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 maddened horse came within sight of the line of 
 Christian defenders and among the people running 
 toward the shelter of the mission. Seeing the white 
 ladies in the cart, one of the converts, rifle in hand, 
 stood before the frightened animal, holding his weapon 
 crosswise, not shouting, but uttering a sound of en- 
 couragement which calmed the beast, so that he was 
 easily stopped and led into the compound. The 
 shattered timber of the frame, the splinter still stick- 
 ing in the side of the animal, which was profusely 
 bleeding, and the well-spattered shaft told the whole 
 story. 
 
 A moment more and Mr. Wheeler, who from the 
 firing had divined what was the matter and had fol- 
 lowed up, keeping sight of the fast-moving cart, 
 arrived to open his eyes very wide at what was before 
 him. 
 
 Indeed, even the French fathers and the militant 
 Christians paused for a moment, less attentive to the 
 possibilities of another Boxer attack, or the needs of 
 the moment, than to watch the behavior of three 
 Buddhist priests who had issued from the temple, 
 which, by the way, bears to-day the mark of those 
 chassepot bullets that went wild. With the Boxers' 
 badges upon them, the bonzes went around among 
 the corpses, apparently to bring them to life. Each 
 dead man was turned over, and the priest put his hand 
 over the hole whence had oozed the red life stream. 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 293 
 
 With motions up and down, he pretended to extract 
 the balls, or, when the body had been wholly per- 
 forated, which the priest could see by turning the 
 corpse over, strokings were made over the body in 
 the form, to foreigners, of a cross, but in reality to 
 accord with the four points of the compass. 
 
 "That's just what I have heard of these priests," 
 said Mr. Wheeler, who, after seeing that his lady 
 friends were safe, had come up and saluted the French 
 father, even while he was holding the repeating rifle. 
 The Englishman explained how and why one of their 
 first shots, that must have gone over the low house 
 roofs, had accelerated the horse's pace and brought 
 them all unexpectedly there. 
 
 " Those Buddhist priests will circulate the story 
 that these Boxers lying dead here will be alive in 
 three days, because of the incantations they are mak- 
 ing." 
 
 "Yes," said the father, "but no one will ever look 
 upon these men again. But now let us give atten- 
 tion to the wounded. Pray, sir, will you and your 
 party stay wth us and refresh yourselves ? Of course, 
 we do not know what the rest of the day will bring 
 forth, or whether the Boxers will return ; but we shall 
 inform the magistrates, and they will doubtless fur- 
 nish you an escort of soldiers to return to-morrow if 
 you must. Meanwhile, what we have is at your 
 service." 
 
294 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Long disciplined to self-control by frequent sights 
 of disease and misery in Peking, Mrs. Drayton and 
 Marian Hopewell took part in helping to make the 
 wounded, both Christian and pagan, comfortable. 
 
 There were thirteen of the Boxers bleeding, but 
 living, and in one of the storehouses of the com- 
 pound a rough hospital was extemporized. The 
 physician and surgeon of the Mission was kept busy 
 for several hours in dressing the wounds and mend- 
 ing the bones of the misguided fanatics. The two 
 ladies assisted to make them comfortable, and then 
 prepared to spend the night in the Mission quarters. 
 
 The local Chinese magistrate did indeed appear 
 with some soldiers on the scene, about an hour 
 after the last shot had been fired, and after a par- 
 ley with the principal of the French fathers, the 
 bodies of the dead were removed to be disposed of 
 under the direction of the Buddhist priests. The 
 manner of carrying away the corpses was to call up 
 a gang of laborers, each pair of whom had a stout 
 bamboo pole. Laying three ropes on the ground, 
 they placed a dead Boxer face downward, and the 
 pole lengthwise on his back. Then the ropes were 
 tied and the pole shouldered by the two men. The 
 bodies were carried off to the cemetery in which the 
 paupers and, in time of famine or pestilence, all 
 the dead were buried in mass. 
 
 The next morning the driver of their cart put in 
 
A BATTLE WITH THE BOXERS. 295 
 
 an appearance, with no greater damage than a bruised 
 shoulder, recovered his property, took in his fare, 
 and the party again returned to Pao-Ting. Thence 
 they made their way back to. their home in Peking, 
 giving their shocked nerves rest and recovery. 
 
 This affair in a village near Pao-Ting was as "a 
 leaf in a storm " that was to burst in Peking. Never- 
 theless, both the women still rested in the belief of 
 the veteran American educator, who had been in 
 China during well-nigh a cycle of Chinese years, and 
 who declared on the very day of their return 
 
 " I fear nothing. Peking is the safest place in the 
 world." 
 
 Nevertheless, the foreign ministers, before it was 
 too late, took the alarm. They ordered up from the 
 men-of-war at Shanghai guards of marines, number- 
 ing about five hundred men. These arrived by rail. 
 They saved the situation. 
 
 On the 1 5th of June pandemonium broke loose in 
 Peking. The Boxers entered the city in force. The 
 missionaries and native Christians not already slaugh- 
 tered gathered in the Legation quarter. In a space 
 of about ninety acres, between the imperial and the 
 Chinese city, they made defence by building barri- 
 cades, and strengthening walls and houses with thou- 
 sands of sand-bags, sewed together by women, filled 
 and placed by the men. An American missionary, 
 who in Ithaca and at Cornell University had lamented 
 
296 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 his waste of time in previous study of engineering, 
 was made superintendent of fortification. With his 
 bicycle, this " limited omniscience," as he was dubbed, 
 watched every point, night and day, not taking off 
 his clothes for fifty-six days. 
 
 For ten days the siege was by tens of thousands of 
 Boxers, but as yet it was ostensibly only the work of 
 a mob. After the attack on the Taku forts by the 
 allied Powers, except be it said most honorably 
 the United States, the Peking government, taking 
 the act as a declaration of war, let loose the Manchu 
 soldiery ; from June 25, the siege was by the regular 
 army of the Chinese Empire. 
 
 Already sufficiently warned by what they had seen 
 of the Boxers, Mrs. Drayton and Marian, with all 
 their household, made early entrance within the Lega- 
 tion enclosure. Their pupils assigned with the native 
 Christians, the two ladies took up their quarters with 
 the other American missionaries in the chapel of the 
 British Legation, and at once began cutting material 
 canvas, burlap, satin, brocade, embroidery, and 
 old garments, cheap or costly and sewing sand- 
 bags, while the men made bomb proofs and barricades. 
 Fortunately good stores of food and ammunition were 
 on hand. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 
 
 IT is not for our pen to describe the fifty-six days' 
 siege, of which so many eye-witnesses, who under- 
 went its terrible experiences, have fully written, 
 except so far as relates to the heroine of our story and 
 her friends pressing to the rescue. 
 
 The slow days and hours passed away, and within 
 that regular enclosure of Peking were still nearly 
 three thousand hoping and waiting souls. In three 
 thousand human hearts the strings were so tense that 
 every breath of news, every omen of cheer or discour- 
 agement, was like the sound that rises from a wind 
 harp when swept by the breeze. Some were given 
 over to gloom, and like the doleful whistling buoys 
 that float or sink on the waves, they gave out mourn- 
 ful groans or less noisy sighs as they rose and fell on 
 the unquiet waters of their own emotions. 
 
 From one point of view it was a strange situation, 
 for the ear dominated all senses. No eyes were 
 strained during the daytime, at least, to watch the 
 coming of a relief force, or catch the first glimpse 
 
 297 
 
298 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 of the stern radiance of bayonets, for walls and 
 houses shut in the vision. Yet, on one night, it was 
 thought that flash-light signals of relief were made, 
 and on another the rockets of the Japanese were 
 seen in imagination. 
 
 Nor could any of the other senses, save one, be 
 exercised. That sense was hearing. It seemed as 
 though with hundreds, and especially among the 
 women, this avenue to the soul was made an unusually 
 straight path, and its powers became almost preter- 
 naturally sensitive. Women who had never in their 
 lives heard a hostile shot soon learned to distinguish 
 the screaming, the tearing, the singing, or the whiz- 
 zing sound of the different kinds of missiles that des- 
 olated the air. 
 
 Marian Hopewell's powers were quickly cultivated 
 in this direction. With the help of a music teacher, 
 who was more expert at notation than in fine dis- 
 tinctions recorded by the auditory nerve, she con- 
 structed a chart or page of " music " in which both 
 the single shots, the volleys, and the fusillades were 
 represented to the eye. She had taken a hint from 
 a book representing in our musical score the various 
 twitters, bird-calls, songs, carols, and choruses heard 
 in central New York. 
 
 " If I only had a phonograph, I should record some 
 of these hours, when the concert of iron and lead is 
 particularly lively." 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 299 
 
 " As for me," said the music teacher, " I certainly 
 should like to have caught that symphony which took 
 place the other night during a thunder-storm. I have 
 been in Boston Music Hall and at the great chorus 
 singing in New York, but this excelled all for sublime 
 noise, if not .music on a grand scale." 
 
 " Did you enjoy it ? " asked Marian. 
 
 " Indeed, I did. When the thunder was bursting, 
 rolling, and rattling, the lightning most vivid, and the 
 rain coming down, first in drops, then in sheets, and 
 finally in floods, and the reverberations came back 
 from the hills, you know how dreadfully, at that very 
 time, the Chinese cannon and rifles broke out in full 
 play. It certainly was a symphony." 
 
 " Yes, that's the Chinese idea to swell the volume 
 of noise, for evidently they hoped to win victory in 
 this way; but did you hear nothing else?" asked 
 Marian. 
 
 " Why, no, I think not." 
 
 "Why, there were trumpets and gongs and tom- 
 toms and other noises which I could distinguish very 
 clearly, in the intervals between the different sorts of 
 thunder in heaven and earth. One would have 
 thought that there was an eclipse of the sun, and that 
 the Chinese were at their old business of pounding 
 drums and raising a general calathump, in order to 
 drive away the dragon that was swallowing the sun, 
 and make him disgorge his prey." 
 
300 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Marian soon became quite proud of her book of 
 " Music in the Air," as she called it. She had got 
 into the habit of whiling away the hours of certain 
 days by jotting down in her journal the sound records. 
 Yet on some days the firing was so light, or the lulls 
 were so long, that " silence like a poultice came to 
 heal the blows of sound." The "brilliant flashes of 
 silence," strange to say, seemed almost painful to bear. 
 Indeed, they caused a feeling of alarm such as one 
 has when at night in mid-ocean the machinery stops 
 and the passenger wakes up fearful and foreboding. 
 
 It is a curious fact that during some of these long 
 stretches of silence the falcons which for centuries 
 have acted in the streets of Peking as scavengers and 
 that had been driven away by fire, smoke, and noise 
 of war, came back to pursue their wonted tasks. 
 Along with the song of the canary, that thrived de- 
 spite the lack of rape and hemp, Marian was able to 
 enter new varieties of notes upon her page, wherever 
 the falcons disagreed over their banquets. 
 
 Some of these falcons that had feasted on the 
 abundant garbage of the Chinese city had become 
 quite tame. The American marine in Fort Myers, 
 which was a strong place of sand-bags and brick ram- 
 parts, reared on the city wall, had become so accus- 
 tomed to the falcon's call that he easily recognized 
 it. Once, as soldiers will, for I have known men 
 who, during the battle of Fredericksburg, stopped to 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 301 
 
 shoot rabbits, after a long period of inaction, when 
 there were no Chinese in sight, one of the marines 
 had actually tested his marksmanship by firing at and 
 bringing down one of these falcons, calling down 
 also a reprimand from his officer for wasting a single 
 cartridge. But what good soldier with a conscience, 
 what thinking man behind the bayonet, but wishes 
 to make amends for delinquency ? 
 
 So this same marine, being on the wall a few nights 
 later, after a day and early evening that had been 
 unusually quiet, heard below him, somewhere among 
 the rubbish at the base of the ponderous wall, a 
 sound that was like a falcon's suppressed or distant 
 scream, but which the soldier could hardly believe 
 was the real bird. At any rate he became suspicious 
 and resolved to explore. Peering down, still unable 
 to see anything, he heard again what he was per- 
 suaded was an imitation of the call of a falcon. 
 Holding his rifle so that he could sight and fire it in 
 a moment if necessary, he listened again, straining 
 his ear toward the point whence the sound proceeded. 
 In a moment more, instead of a bird's voice, he heard 
 in subdued and almost audible tones the words : 
 
 " Good Melican man, no shoot. Hab got chit. 
 Thlow piecee rope. Topside belong." 
 
 The marine took the hint at once. Calling a com- 
 rade, he told him to report to the officer on duty and 
 to bring a rope. A few minutes later, taking the pre- 
 
302 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 caution to post two men with cocked rifles and a 
 reserve on the wall in case of treachery, by order of 
 the officer a rope was lowered by two stalwart men, 
 who in the darkness could barely make out some- 
 thing down below, thirty feet or so, that gave a mild 
 pull as the rope was caught, while they heard a voice 
 saying, " All light, wait awhile." 
 
 In about a minute more they felt the signal and 
 heard : 
 
 " Pullee up topside. All light." 
 
 The two strong men hoisted up their burden, pull- 
 ing the rope hand over hand, while something of at 
 least a hundred pounds' weight was heard scraping 
 against the stone wall, though below hands and feet 
 were vigorously used to protect somebody's face and 
 skin. Then the bundle was landed on top of the 
 wall, but there was no use for sword or bayonet, nor 
 indication of treachery. Without lighting a lamp or 
 lantern, however, the man, for it was a man, was led 
 down the ramp or buttress to the tent pitched by the 
 wall. There by the safe light of a lamp screened 
 from any possible Boxer sharp-shooter, they saw a 
 smiling and happy young fellow of about twenty, 
 who, in such English as he could command, told in 
 outline his story. 
 
 Hoping to get more news from the world beyond, 
 the marine officer sent for one of the many missiona- 
 ries who could understand the Chinese language, and 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 303 
 
 they heard the man tell in full his experiences. In 
 fact, Dr. Clinton quickly recognized this visitor, who, 
 though now in beggar's rags, seemed an angel of 
 light. Though not one of his flock or member of 
 the church, he was often present as a hearer and 
 always friendly. He was a woodworker by trade, 
 and had supplied various household articles to the 
 Mission Home. 
 
 Ah Hoy was his name. He told the story of the 
 advance of the allied army from Shanghai, and the 
 assault and capture of Tientsin, narrating among 
 other incidents what he had heard of the valor of 
 the Japanese soldier at the gate, the bravery and 
 slaughter of the American soldiers in the rice field, 
 and the death of Colonel Liscum. They questioned 
 him on many points, but some of these questions 
 he was utterly unable to answer. Yet he gave in 
 general a clear and consistent account of what he 
 had seen. 
 
 " How were you able to get through our line of 
 pickets after being among the American soldiers?" 
 asked the cross-questioner. 
 
 " Oh," said the Chinaman, and we shall here put 
 his own words into good American speech, "it was 
 I myself that offered to carry a message into Peking, 
 and this officer, Mr. Burnham, who seemed very happy 
 at my proposal, agreed to pay me well, whether I suc- 
 ceeded or failed, and a double reward of ten taels in 
 
304 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 silver if I got back to him, and five if I succeeded 
 in delivering his letter." 
 
 " A letter ! Have you a letter ? " asked Dr. Clinton. 
 
 " Oh, yes, and here it is," taking out an old wooden 
 bowl from inside the breast of his dirty blouse and 
 rapping on the bottom of it as if he were playing a 
 tambourine, "it's inside that." 
 
 Dr. Clinton took the bowl and struck it, but it 
 did not sound as if it were hollow. Although extra 
 lanterns were brought "to throw more light on the 
 subject," as Dr. Clinton said, neither he nor any one 
 else could discern any marks of a crack or opening. 
 
 " Break it carefully," said the Chinaman, " or let 
 me do it." 
 
 They handed the bowl back to him, and he, hold- 
 ing it firmly on the edge of a big stone, rent the bowl 
 as young Samson might have torn asunder the lion's 
 jaws, and in a trice the black varnished vessel showed 
 the white wood inside. Sticking out from the bottom 
 of one half was a piece, or rather a packet, of tough 
 white paper which bent but did not tear, and was 
 easily lifted out from its enclosing timber. It was 
 not bigger, and not much thicker, than a "clean 
 Mexican " dollar. On the outside of the cover, care- 
 fully, firmly pasted together with a grain or two of 
 boiled rice, was the superscription in a bold, manly 
 hand, " Miss Marian Hopewell, of the American 
 Mission Home, Peking." 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 305 
 
 The letter was immediately despatched to the 
 young lady by one of the marines, and as he is on 
 his way to play the joyful game of letter carrier, let 
 us hear further concerning this messenger. 
 
 It was the man's thorough knowledge of the cus- 
 toms of his own country, joined to wit and good 
 sense, that had made his journey and entry success- 
 ful. Knowing the multitude of beggars and the 
 enormous number of people in Peking who are blind, 
 not only through neglect of eye disease in infancy, 
 by accidents, and by dust storms, but also by the 
 self-inflicted injury and loss of sight caused by put- 
 ting quicklime inside the eyelids, in order to play 
 upon the compassion of the public, especially of 
 the women visiting the temples, the young China- 
 man, Ah Hoy, resolved to attempt the hazardous 
 mission. 
 
 He had donned the filthy and ragged garments 
 of a beggar, had pretended to be blind, and had 
 even with easily known drugs scarified the outside 
 of his eyelids and portions of the skin around the 
 eye sockets so as to make them blister and even 
 suppurate. 
 
 While undergoing this temporary disfigurement, he 
 had bought at one of the junk shops a wooden bowl, 
 such as beggars generally use. Being himself an 
 expert woodworker, he had with a fine thin tool 
 bored, scraped, and gouged out enough space from 
 
306 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the solid bottom to make room for a letter, which he 
 told the sender to make of particular dimensions 
 and circular shape. 
 
 Receiving the precious missive, he had, by dint of 
 patience and skill, worked it inside of the hollow 
 receptacle so as to fit snugly. Then, with that nicety 
 of fitting which distinguishes the woodworkers of 
 China, he had cut a plug of well-dried wood which 
 exactly fitted the orifice. He had so squeezed the 
 lower inner edge of the plug that, after scraping out 
 slightly the solid wood inside, so as to make a bevel, 
 the fitted piece when forced in and then dampened, 
 expanded, making a flange which, fitting in the bevel, 
 could not again be forced out. Then, scraping the 
 entire outside of the bowl clean, he gave the whole a 
 fresh coat of varnish, so that the color in every part 
 seemed perfectly uniform. What with the expansion 
 of the plug and the sinking in the seam of the var- 
 nish, several coats being applied, it was impossible 
 for the keenest eye to detect where the opening had 
 been. Nor would any suspect one. It was easy 
 enough then to rub the fresh varnish into dulness by 
 means of dirt and grease, while the experiences of 
 several days' journeying might be trusted to give the 
 utensil a sufficiently antique and battered look, as of 
 a veteran in a beggar's service. 
 
 So as a sightless mendicant, as but one among a 
 myriad ever roaming up and down the country, seek- 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 307 
 
 ing food or the garbage and refuse which the poor 
 and starving make substitutes for food, Ah Hoy 
 started out. 
 
 At three places he was challenged and searched. 
 At both Yangtsun and at Tung Chow, he was 
 stripped and his clothes carefully gone through by 
 skilled searchers. Even the soles of his shoes were 
 ripped open to see if he had anything contraband. 
 Before he could get into the Chinese city at Peking, 
 his new shoes, which had been given him after the 
 others were cut to pieces, excited suspicion. Though 
 he was not stripped this time, these were again torn 
 open, and his queue was unplaited to see if anything 
 was hidden there ; but in every case neither his eyes 
 nor his bowl were especially looked at. 
 
 Blindness, beggary, and bowls were too common 
 to excite scrutiny or interest, and glass or false eyes 
 were not frequent enough to become, as is told in a 
 tale of South Africa, the receptacles either of dia- 
 monds or epistles. So he was able not only to get 
 to Peking, but once inside the Chinese city, which he 
 knew as his native place, he had no difficulty under 
 cover of the night in reaching that part of the city 
 wall beyond the space occupied by camps, batteries, 
 and sentinels, and in crouching in the shadow among 
 the rubbish under Fort Myers. 
 
 The coming of the blind beggar was like a great 
 burst of sunshine through a rift of clouds to the 
 
308 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 whole community of besieged, but to Marian Hope- 
 well it was as the dayspring of a long, bright day of 
 blue sky, ushered in by golden horizons and balmy 
 air and the singing of June birds. Carefully cutting 
 open the outer envelope of the round, flat package, 
 which was as a silver dollar in size, but as sapphires 
 in value, she read on the thin, French " correspond- 
 ence paper " the following, written with a fine steel 
 pen of the crow quill sort : 
 
 "CAMP LISCUM, OUTSIDE OF TIENTSIN, 
 "July 15, 1900. 
 
 " DEAREST MARIAN : Here I am, and within 
 eighty miles of you so near and yet so far. I am 
 coming to bring you my life, if God will, and to offer 
 it wholly to you, or else to leave my body here on 
 the soil of China in the hope and prayer that God 
 will give this nation a new birth of civilization, of 
 science, and of salvation. 
 
 "You know how six years ago we parted: you to 
 follow an inward voice, and I to live not without 
 hope, for you asked that five years might pass by 
 before I should come to you again. More than that 
 time has elapsed. I could not come on the day, or 
 hour, and you know why. When my hopes of being 
 a life-long student and an author were dashed 
 through my mother's death and my father's decision 
 to make me a business man, I tried, after my brief 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 309 
 
 adventures as war correspondent, to settle down to 
 the office, to the market, and to the trade, but I 
 failed with fault, it may be, and perhaps I deserve 
 condemnation. Even now, should God bring us out 
 of this hell of war into 'the days of heaven upon 
 earth,' into our own homeland, I could not promise 
 you wealth or luxury, but only that simple compe- 
 tence which every man can earn in our America, 
 the land of golden opportunities. 
 
 "You know how my father failed in business, and 
 how, on going back home, I tried this and that career, 
 only to find myself a failure. Without help or cheer 
 from my father, my mother dead, and the one woman 
 of all the world far away, carrying the cross of con- 
 science and of consecration, so that when I needed 
 most her encouragement I had to do without it, 
 what could I do but become a soldier ? I did so and 
 enlisted in the army as a private in the Ninth Infan- 
 try regiment of the regular army. 
 
 " Once I should have looked upon such a step with 
 horror, but now I am happy to say that our United 
 States army is, in its rank and file, far more worthy 
 of the attention of native-born Americans, yes, even 
 of young men proud of their descent from the pio- 
 neers on the good ship New Netherland, or from the 
 Mayflower s company, or the Puritans, or Pennsyl- 
 vanians, and no man has now a right to call an 
 American soldier in the ranks 'either common or 
 
310 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 unclean.' There are no * common* soldiers any more, 
 except as the men choose by liquor or bad conduct 
 to make themselves vulgar or beastly. So in delib- 
 erate choice I can truly say that, without making a 
 virtue of a necessity, I became an enlisted man even 
 before the oceanic event of May i, 1898, gave us 
 our Eastern possessions in the Philippines. Now I 
 can every day thank God that I was sent to the 
 Philippines, for that has brought me to China. As 
 an American and an individual, I am proud of our 
 little army, as well as of the government and people 
 whom I serve. 
 
 "About a year ago I passed the examination 
 allowed to a private, and was almost immediately 
 appointed to a vacancy, receiving my commission 
 of lieutenant. So here I am, leading my own com- 
 rades to the rescue not only of my fellow-countrymen 
 and to the prisoners of Christendom, which pagan- 
 ism and Manchu savagery have shut up, but I am 
 also coming to the rescue of the one whom I love 
 best in all the world. Oh, Marian, pray hard, not 
 that the Judge of all the earth, who never makes any 
 mistakes, will do for us exactly what we want, but 
 that He give us rather what we need, and that we 
 may gladly do His will. Whether one or both of us 
 are to yield our lives, with the others, for the making 
 of the Christian China that is to come, or both are to 
 live, we cannot foresee ; but whatever befall us, may 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 311 
 
 we be one in hand, and heart, and life. After our 
 duty in China is done, may we here and now on this 
 solid earth be joined as husband and wife and walk 
 together through the coming years. 
 
 " Tell all the Americans and others now besieged 
 to keep up hope, for we shall soon be there. I can- 
 not believe the rumors of Boxer-Manchu success. 
 We shall yet rescue you. There are eight nations 
 of us, but we all have one heart and purpose. I 
 cannot tell you how proud I am of my Japanese sol- 
 diers. I say ' my Japanese soldiers,' for Masaro, 
 my dear friend, is one of them, and they are to me 
 as brothers. To see my countrymen and the Mi- 
 kado's men marching as comrades, and more, that the 
 Japanese lead the van of rescue, delights me daily. 
 I almost feel like singing ' Onward, Christian 
 soldiers,' as indeed hundreds of the Japanese sol- 
 diers and sailors and officers from corporal to rear 
 admiral are. Forever and to ' ages eternal ' may 
 the sun banner and the flag of the stars and the 
 stripes be joined for the good of the world, and 
 the United States and the Empire of the Rising 
 Sun have their links of friendship forged afresh in 
 these war fires, without possibility of ever snapping 
 asunder ! 
 
 "We have an awful country to march through, 
 flat, dusty, and uninspiring, with filthy water in the 
 Peiho River, and very little fit to drink that is not 
 
312 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 also hard to get. Yet if we can only keep up with 
 the Japanese, we hope to get into Peking in ten 
 days. God keep you and me. 
 
 " Ever and forever yours, 
 
 "CLARENCE BURNHAM." 
 
 " My brave ! God bring you in safety to me. 
 Heavenly Father, speed him. Make me worthy of his 
 valor. Save us all." 
 
 This was Marian's prayer a quick and silent one, 
 for even in her eagerness she would not keep her 
 friends near her too long waiting. She soon com- 
 municated to them the substance of the message. 
 
 It was a strange, calm sleep that Marian slept 
 that night. In the garden of dreams, arrayed in 
 summer's snowy garb, she wandered amid daisied 
 paths. 
 
 The sunny fields, the fruit-laden trees, the grand 
 mountains, the familiar paths, were those of home in 
 the Hudson valley. With her walked a handsome 
 officer in blue, on whose head was a white linen 
 helmet with resplendent frontlet bearing the figure 9. 
 Though it was summer, one tree was still in bloom, 
 and the petals that dropped from it over her head and 
 into her hand were orange blossoms. Then it seemed 
 she was in a procession moving into the church, where, 
 at the end of the aisle below the pulpit, her father 
 welcomed her and him, with a beaming smile. 
 
THE SIEGE IN PEKING. 313 
 
 There, with Clarence Burnham, she stood and heard 
 the words : 
 
 " The Father of all mercies, who of His grace 
 hath called you to this holy state of marriage, bind 
 you in true love and faithfulness, and grant you His 
 blessing." 
 
 After this she turned around to leave the church. 
 She leaned on the arm of her husband, and, behold, 
 all her Chinese girls were there smiling congratula- 
 tions out of their eyes. 
 
 But it was only a dream. She woke up to a fort- 
 night more of monotony and strain, while without the 
 relief column crawled on. As the slow, hot days 
 passed she thought 
 
 How shall I welcome him ? At least a cup of hot 
 tea and some delicacy from the chafing dish might 
 refresh a tired soldier. And, indeed, despite all the 
 blood and slaughter on the walls, where the brave 
 defenders were steadily fighting, and, alas, hourly fall- 
 ing, there was comfort within the main area and the 
 various Legation quarters. 
 
 The ladies wore their bright fresh dresses, as if 
 at home, and the men were in clean white. There 
 were yet good supplies of food and drink. The 
 real danger was in the depletion of the guards, for 
 the siege had filled the hospitals and made grave- 
 yards. The possibility of the Manchus concen- 
 trating and with a rush and ladders storming the 
 
3 14 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 enclosure was great. However brave, how could the 
 defenders keep off a horde numbering tens of thou- 
 sands of men ? 
 
 It is now time to tell how Clarence Burnham and 
 Masaro came to be in the army of rescue. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 "EXPANSION" JAPANESE AND AMERICAN. 
 
 THIS is the young man's century in New Japan, 
 for " new measures require new men." 
 
 In old Japan, the older men ruled, but the 
 revolution^ of 1868 was a student's movement. In 
 its constructive features, at least, it was largely the 
 work of young men trained for the most part by 
 American missionaries, or educated in Europe. Not 
 a few of the clansmen most active in bringing about 
 the restoration of the Mikado to full power had in- 
 herited the ideas of enlightened fathers or kinsmen, 
 who had absorbed some of the science and culture of 
 Europe through the Dutch at Nagasaki. Probably a 
 majority were able to read Dutch. 
 
 Suddenly called from the work of destruction and 
 overthrow to that of building up a new government, 
 and making a nation that should be able to compete 
 with the proud peoples of the West, these youngsters 
 would have been glad to utilize the wisdom of experi- 
 ence. Had the older men come forward to help them 
 
316 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 with that kind of knowledge required by the times 
 and the new situation, they would have gladly lis- 
 tened. Yet this combination of years with insight 
 was lacking, and so the young men had of necessity 
 to fill the high stations of responsibility out of their 
 own number. They, perforce, shaped the new civili- 
 zation of Japan, depending first upon the missionaries 
 and then upon such men of talent and expertness as 
 they could invite from beyond sea to assist them 
 wisely. 
 
 Nevertheless, while employing foreign advisers 
 numerously, they kept all the power in their own 
 hands, sedulously refusing to imitate blindly, or to 
 become copyists or passive recipients. They di- 
 rected, controlled, and thought out their own prob- 
 lems, " adopting nothing, adapting everything." 
 
 Yet from time to time there were reactions. Con- 
 servatism tried to bring in the old forces and figures. 
 When armed rebellion in the field was crushed, the 
 owls and the bats, the Chauvinists, the Soshi (stal- 
 warts), the pro-Chinese and champions of Confucius, 
 and the old order tried to capture the schoolroom, 
 and Masaro, as a young man at the end of the cen- 
 tury, saw some things in civil life as others had seen 
 in war, when straw mats were made armor against 
 rifle balls. 
 
 In the late seventies, the fanaticism of reaction 
 had sent into the field thousands of misguided men 
 
"EXPANSION" JAPANESE AND AMERICAN. 317 
 
 with beetle-headed helmets and armor of hide, lac- 
 quered paper and iron, laced together with silk and 
 cords, to face rifled artillery firing shrapnel. With 
 spear, sword, and bow and arrow, these who trusted 
 in things ancient went out to fight drilled soldiers 
 armed with American rifles. 
 
 Not more curious, however, was the attempt of 
 paganism to regain from idol worship and priestcraft 
 the positions won by a purer religion in harmony 
 with science by importing from India relics of the 
 Buddha, and by " starring " processions of the local 
 gods and idols. Nor any the less grotesque were the 
 attempts of teachers of Chinese ethics to win back 
 the mind of Japan to mediaeval systems of morals, 
 and to cramp once more and hinder from further 
 growth the expanding and the expanded intellects of 
 the nation. Masaro saw the curious spectacle of old 
 gentlemen in ancient garments and big horn-rimmed 
 eye-glasses, sitting in schoolrooms furnished in mod- 
 ern style, trying to train the young mind in Chinese 
 methods and systems. 
 
 It was all of no use. Somehow the air of the nine- 
 teenth century was withering to the Chinese exotic. 
 Exit antiquity, enter a new opposer of progress, this 
 time masquerading under the name of patriotism. 
 
 Yes, it was " nationalism " this time. The wave 
 swept over the land, playing havoc with much of 
 good that had been wrought by the foreign teachers 
 
3i 8 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 and the wise natives. For a while the doughty cham- 
 pions of " Japan for the Japanese " hoped to have a 
 Japanese religion, Japanese ethics, Japanese art, and 
 in general a Japanese theory of the universe. For 
 at least two years after the war with China the aver- 
 age Japanese suffered with the disease known as 
 " big head." It was an epidemic that included 
 nearly the whole nation. How the heathen did rage! 
 How the little animals did frisk! Some of them 
 really thought that their little Japan was going to 
 dictate law, manners, morals, religion, diplomacy, and 
 pretty much everything to mankind and the universe 
 at large. 
 
 Gradually it dawned upon these insular gentlemen 
 that all this was simply Chauvinism, and that Japan's 
 life must flow into that of the world at large, if her 
 people were to hold and keep the treasures of civili- 
 zation already won. The wisest among them saw 
 clearly that the adoption or the adaptation of Western 
 principles and practice availed nothing against the 
 strong nations of the West, unless with these came 
 new moral forces and new spiritual power. 
 
 Masaro, though hating war, and equally a hater of 
 paganism and priestcraft, detested that sham Christi- 
 anity and pure hypocrisy which seemed to him so 
 often the mainspring of Western diplomacy and 
 policy in Asia. Studying the career of Great Britain 
 and of English-speaking nations, he saw a race which 
 
"EXPANSION" JAPANESE AND AMERICAN. 319 
 
 in the unfolding of its own genius attained to liberty 
 and governed itself by constitutional forms, its strug- 
 gles being mainly with its own kings and rulers. He 
 could not admire the Latin races, because they were 
 too much like the weaker sort of his own countrymen. 
 They seemed to crave logical and ready-made sys- 
 tems. 
 
 In Germany, he saw a historical yet artificial crea- 
 tion of government, where the rights of the individual 
 were less considered than the good of the state and 
 the bonds of duty, the basis of all being the army, by 
 which national greatness had been obtained. Strong 
 nationalist as he was, he was led to believe that this 
 idea, rightly applied and limited, would be the best 
 force in making Japan a world power. Through the 
 overmastering influence of the American mission- 
 aries, who were the real tutors of New Japan, Masa- 
 ro's country had become the virtual companion and 
 ally of the Anglo-Saxon peoples. He thought it 
 best that this development should be modified, at 
 least, by the modern Germanic principle. 
 
 With him, conviction meant action. Entering the 
 military school and toiling through his round of 
 studies during three years, it was his joy in due time 
 to receive appointment as lieutenant in that army 
 which is virtually a great school. The assignment 
 of his position was to the second battalion of the 
 Eleventh Regiment of Infantry. 
 
320 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 During all this time Masaro and Clarence Burnham 
 had kept up a regular correspondence. The letters of 
 the latter show that after the blowing up of the United 
 States battleship Maine in Havana harbor the young 
 patriot became a soldier. A former college chum in 
 Rutgers, now captain in the United States marines, 
 had called his attention to the fact that privates stood 
 a fair chance of promotion to commissions, and that 
 already over twenty sons of officers, unable to get 
 into West Point, were in the ranks hopefully await- 
 ing opportunity. 
 
 This decided Clarence Burnham, who enlisted at 
 once in the Ninth Infantry, saw service in Cuba at 
 San Juan Hill, and later went to the Philippines, 
 where, soon after passing examination, a vacancy 
 offered and he was made lieutenant. Early in 1900 
 he wrote to his friend Masaro as follows : 
 
 " I see that while we have the assassins and snipers 
 in the Philippines, China has her Boxers. How curi- 
 ous it is that while no one here seems to think any- 
 thing of this fanatical movement, I cannot help 
 believing it the beginning of big troubles that may 
 call for foreign intervention. Wouldn't it be odd if 
 we should meet in China? It would be a happy 
 day for me if I could see the stars and stripes and 
 the banner of the rising sun joined in brotherhood 
 together, and the Emperor's and Uncle Sam's soldiers 
 marching as comrades together. Then Japan would 
 
"EXPANSION" JAPANESE AND AMERICAN. 321 
 
 show the world her true spirit, and even, if necessary, 
 proclaim the reality of her civilization from the 
 dragon throne in Peking. ' Banzai ! Banzai ! ' ' 
 
 Turning back to "the wonderful year of 1898," we 
 see that it was filled with surprises for others than 
 our heroes. 
 
 It was for the American people as if a majestic ves- 
 sel, long and carefully sheltered in a great ship house 
 by the river or the ocean shore, had suddenly had 
 the ropes cut that bound her to the land. Long 
 habituated to her first enclosing and environment, it 
 must have seemed a wonderful experience a golden 
 shower of honor, as of the mighty Jupiter upon lovely 
 Danae, had she been conscious, to have suddenly 
 stand upon her deck a company, not of the workmen 
 that had wrought upon her ribs and sides, but of 
 those most concerned about her future. Then, with 
 stays and shores knocked away, and the clamps and 
 binding ropes removed, " with a thrill of life along 
 her keel," to find herself in new element, and with a 
 new and larger career before her. 
 
 It was like a change of worlds. Yet to leave the 
 old and enter the new with grace and power, and to 
 feel that she was fitted for her new environment, yes, 
 girded with power and a mistress, and no longer 
 a servant, must have seemed like life that is life 
 indeed. 
 
 Are we foolish in our imagination ? Yet what 
 
322 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 son of a sailor, and heir of the Devonshire kings 
 of the sea, can think of a ship other than as a fair 
 woman ? 
 
 So felt the American people when Spain, by the 
 savagery of mediaeval methods in war and govern- 
 ment, almost as atrocious as those of Boxer or Man- 
 chu, compelled them to leave their old environment 
 and to launch out into new seas of the unexpected. 
 Destiny seemed to bid the United States stretch out 
 a strong right arm in the West Indies and with the 
 left to take hold of the Philippines. 
 
 Willy-nilly, our country became a world power, 
 while yet our people listened to hear the clear ringing 
 warning of the greatest of Americans against "en- 
 tangling alliances." 
 
 To hold the Philippines it was necessary to send an 
 army of occupation. When Manchu rulers of China, 
 with intelligence about equal to that of Apaches or 
 Comanches, defied the world, in June, 1900, two years 
 had passed by since our brothers in blue had lived 
 amid bamboo groves, in villages with cathedrals and 
 churches of Spanish architecture, amid friars and 
 Filipinos, among water buffaloes and innumerable 
 insect pests and vermin. Clarence Burnham, both as 
 private and as officer in the Ninth United States 
 Infantry, learned new phases of life in the Orient, in 
 an archipelago where corrupt European civilization 
 and sham Christianity had helped to make a tangle 
 
"EXPANSION" JAPANESE AND AMERICAN. 323 
 
 which will tax the resources of American statesmen, 
 for generations to come, to unravel. 
 
 When the Boxer uprising in China put the legations 
 of Christendom in peril, it became necessary for our 
 government to send succor as fast as brave hearts 
 with their servants, steam and electricity, could bring 
 it to the beleaguered representatives in Peking an 
 oasis of moral force in the great desert of paganism's 
 savagery. So while the telegraph whispered under 
 sea from Washington to Manila ordering General 
 Otis to send the gallant Ninth immediately to the 
 work in China, the famous Sixth Cavalry, with 
 infantry recruits, marines, and sailors, was sent direct 
 to China in the transport Grant. 
 
 The expeditionary force of twenty-five thousand 
 men was put under the command of Major General 
 Adna Romanza Chaffee. Once an American boy, 
 educated in the public schools of Ohio, Chaffee entered 
 the United States army July 22, 1861, as private, 
 serving in the Civil, Indian, and Spanish wars. Brave, 
 kindly, chivalrous, what American soldier did not 
 burn to serve with such an officer in China ? 
 
 So while the Grant was speeding across the 
 Pacific, her management and outfit proving that the 
 Americans could beat even the long-experienced Brit- 
 ish in the management of "troop ships," the boys of 
 the gallant Ninth were moving northward up the 
 ocean now and to be the centre of the world's future 
 
324 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 story. Our United States sailors and marines had 
 shown valor and won fame in Chinese waters ; but now 
 for the first time soldiers of our regular army were to 
 set foot in China and march against the dragon throne. 
 At Tientsin they met the great international force, 
 with which eight civilized nations were to confront 
 the eight banners and host of the Manchus. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CHINA. 
 
 THE Ninth United States Infantry arrived July 
 1 2th, after the Taku forts had been attacked 
 by the allies, and the Chinese had therefore 
 taken the offensive at Tientsin, where fourteen 
 thousand allied troops were soon to be assembled. 
 At first the foreign troops were without artillery, 
 while the Chinese had abundance of cannon of all 
 sorts. So the bayonet had to come into play. Our 
 marines, aided by English and Japanese, stormed the 
 arsenal and destroyed the batteries. 
 
 The fortified part of the city was not to be taken 
 so easily. Twelve feet high and wide, and bristling 
 with cannon, was the wall. It was arranged that 
 while the Russians stormed the east gates, Americans, 
 British, and Japanese should attack on the south side. 
 To the Japanese was assigned the task of blowing 
 up the south gate. Then all three detachments 
 were to rush in. 
 
 No troops ever fought more bravely than our 
 Ninth at Tientsin. One battalion saved the day for 
 
 325 
 
326 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 the allies by dashing across a bridge in a critical 
 moment and securing a strong position. The other 
 battalion, assigned to a position amid swamps and 
 watercourses, ran against a group of fortified houses, 
 and in the terrible storm of lead and fire lost nearly 
 one-fourth of their number and among them their 
 brave Colonel Liscum. Without reinforcements, and 
 obliged to wait behind graves and in mud and water 
 till merciful darkness fell on the field, they withdrew 
 for shelter behind the mud wall encircling the whole 
 city. 
 
 Had the Chinese been men of initiative and energy, 
 the whole allied force, clearly defeated as they were, 
 would have been annihilated. All day long on the 
 left had hovered a large body of Chinese cavalry, 
 and although watched by only one company of our 
 marines and a troop of Japanese horsemen, they 
 made no approach. 
 
 Our wounded were not left uncared for, although 
 in the moonlight the Chinese kept up their fire. 
 The Japanese had themselves lost heavily, but they 
 attended not only to their own maimed men, but also 
 to ours. Under night's pall of mercy, as our men 
 went over the field, gathering up the wounded, they 
 found one man who, by the light of the dark lantern, 
 they saw was still living. He was horribly mauled 
 by Mauser balls, that had struck him not only from 
 the front, but even as he was falling more leaden 
 
THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CHINA. 327 
 
 missiles had torn lengthwise through flesh and bone. 
 The man seemed unable to speak, and uttered no 
 word until the surgeon, having completed his inquest, 
 gave as his verdict : 
 
 " It's no use doing anything for him. Let him lie 
 quietly. He'll soon be dead." 
 
 At this the man's half-shut eyes flew wide open, 
 and with what breath he had, he called out : 
 
 " Doctor, give me a chance." 
 
 " But, my poor fellow, you're hit in four places, 
 your bones are shattered, and you're awfully torn 
 outside and inside. You can't live." 
 
 " Doctor, have my knapsack brought here." 
 
 The words came out slowly, with labored breath. 
 
 The knapsack was found and brought after some 
 minutes, and opened for the wounded man. He put 
 his hand on an old pocket-book, which seemed to 
 have been made and done service in his grand- 
 father's day. Then very slowly fishing out a dirty 
 five-dollar greenback, he unfolded it, smoothed it out 
 across the pocket-book laid flat, and with hardly 
 breath enough to utter a word, said with defiant 
 cheerfulness : 
 
 " Doctor, I'll bet you five dollars I'll live." 
 
 With a hearty laugh and in warm admiration for 
 his pluck, the doctor took the case, knowing full well 
 that will and courage are sometimes more than sur- 
 gery or medicine. The expert with the scalpel and 
 
328 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 forceps and needle did what he could with the patient 
 on the field. He sawed him off, sewed him up, 
 trimmed and bandaged him, and though his was a 
 story of a year in hospitals, the man recovered. 
 Presented with a new leg and arm by the United 
 States government, he still " fights his battles o'er " 
 and illustrates the truth that " the life is more than 
 the meat and the body more than the raiment." 
 
 We have tried to brighten this dark page in the 
 story of the first engagement of American infantry 
 in China with an anecdote, showing that a plain man 
 in the American ranks may have the spirit of Law- 
 rence, the hero, who cried in death, " Don't give up 
 the ship; " yet the night of July 13 closed in gloom. 
 The allied Americans and British were defeated. 
 Wearily they lay down to rest under the shelter of 
 the outer mud wall of the city. Here they were safe 
 from the fire of the Chinese, who occupied the forti- 
 fied city, defended as it was with brick and masonry 
 on which the British artillery had made slight impres- 
 sion, though the Chinese loss of life from the liddite 
 shells and the Russian machine guns was frightful. 
 
 Clarence Burnham and Masaro had not yet met, 
 though both were anxious to see each other. That 
 evening, as the Americans were carrying away their 
 wounded, before retiring behind the wall for the 
 night, they halted where the main road led to the 
 south gate. Clarence heard a voice. 
 
THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CHINA. 329 
 
 " Hi ! Burnham San how are you ? " It was 
 Masaro's. Then followed congratulations in Japan- 
 ese, on his being alive. 
 
 "Yes, my friend, I'm alive yet; but a few hours 
 ago I didn't expect to be. How have you fared ? " 
 
 " Fearfully cut up. We've lost about fifteen per 
 cent of our force engaged." 
 
 "You're all alone. Where's your men?" asked 
 Clarence. 
 
 " They are up near the moat, lying under shelter 
 of graves and embankments." 
 
 " Going to stay there all night ? " asked Clarence. 
 
 "Yes, comrade. We are going to keep wide 
 awake. It is our business to blow up the south 
 gate. You Americans and British expect it of us, 
 and we are going to do it. Our engineers have sent 
 back for materials to bridge the moat, and we'll get 
 across before morning. But I obtained only two 
 hours' leave of absence and much over an hour of it 
 is gone already. Besides, I am in command of the 
 company. The captain was killed this morning. So 
 farewell, we may meet again to-morrow." 
 
 "Possibly," said Clarence. "Good-by. 'Banzai! 
 Banzai ! ' " 
 
 " Thanks, comrade. ' Banzai ' to the Great Repub- 
 lic," and Masaro saluted the furled and cased flag 
 of stars and stripes, as it stood in the centre of the 
 line of stacked rifles. 
 
330 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Masaro hastened to return to the very front of the 
 firing line and to a very wide-awake body of soldiers. 
 Clarence with his weary fellows threw himself on 
 the ground to sleep. 
 
 Let us now look at the little brown men and see 
 what sort of soldiers they make. 
 
 History will record the fact that during the battle 
 summer of 1900 the Japanese in China saved the 
 situation. While other nations could send only 
 single regiments or various small, mixed bodies 
 of marines and infantry, Japan promptly de- 
 spatched a whole division of sixteen thousand men, 
 including every branch of the service, infantry, 
 cavalry, artillery, engineers, and with all the 
 modern scientific equipment of telegraph and signal. 
 The Japanese were ever ahead on the march. 
 They first scaled the walls of the Taku forts. 
 In the assignment of positions, during the attack 
 on Tientsin, they were joined with the British and 
 Americans. 
 
 Finding themselves on a narrow road passing 
 through the swamps, the Japanese were obliged to 
 move in columns, a formation which exposed them 
 to heavy loss, and also to cross a bridgeless stream 
 on their route. Naturally, they expected that the 
 bridge over the moat in front of the south gate, 
 which they were ordered to capture, would also be 
 destroyed, and that they would be obliged to build a 
 
THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CHINA. 331 
 
 new one under the fire of the enemy. With British 
 and Americans, they suffered a severe repulse on 
 the first day ; but as an American officer has written, 
 " After the allies had re-formed behind the mud wall 
 after dark, the Japanese were the only troops with 
 any energy left." 
 
 Holding the ground already gained till nightfall, 
 they sent back, as we have seen, for materials to 
 build the expected bridge, and this under the con- 
 stant firing of the Chinese, for the moonlight aided 
 the garrison. When before daylight, about 2 A.M., the 
 engineers moved to the edge of the moat, to build a 
 bridge, they found that the permanent bridge stood 
 intact ; so the chances to blow up the gate with high 
 explosives were good. 
 
 Masaro, returning from his interview with his 
 American friend, took his place as commander of the 
 company lying nearest to the engineers, whose work 
 it was to destroy the gate. In the dim light he 
 watched their repeated attempts to blow up the gate. 
 Without artillery it seemed impossible to succeed. 
 Man after man was shot down as he tried to cross 
 that zone of fire. Finally one party, in the nick of 
 time, just after a Chinese volley and under its very 
 smoke, dashed across the bridge, despite the storm 
 of belated fire, and reached the slight shelter of the 
 projecting masonry of the archway. Placing two 
 hundred pounds of gun cotton against the heavy 
 
332 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 timbers, they quickly ran out their electric coil and 
 exploded it, the timbers flying inward. 
 
 Seeing the red fire of the explosion and hearing the 
 awful blast, Masaro took it as a signal for assault and 
 called on his men to follow him. At once, not one 
 company, but the whole battalion moved to charge 
 through the gate into the city. In this they were at 
 first sadly disappointed. It was "out of the frying 
 pan into the fire," or, as the Japanese say, " The bee 
 stung a crying face." 
 
 The gateways in Tientsin were built like those in 
 the old castles of Japan, that is, on the " box plan," 
 with two gates, one being behind the other, with the 
 masonry extending along the space between both. 
 The soldiers found themselves in a huddle. In the 
 space between the walls and the two gates were 
 packed scores of Japanese, while the Chinese above 
 were pouring in their bullets or showering down stones 
 and tiles. There was no retreat, for the soldiers in the 
 rear kept pushing forward. The situation seemed as 
 hopeless as it was horrible. 
 
 At this moment a sergeant and two soldiers saved 
 the situation. Making their way into the guard 
 tower beside the gate, they rushed up, charging upon 
 the Chinese near by, who, probably thinking that a 
 hundred more enemies were coming, broke and fled. 
 One of the three men was shot, but the two others 
 cut the bar of the gate, threw it open, and then the 
 
THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN. CHINA. 333 
 
 Japanese thronged in. They divided into three 
 parties, one going up the main street and the other 
 two passing up along the walls. 
 
 The awful bombardment, especially by the Russian 
 and British artillery, and the sweeping of the tops of 
 the walls by machine guns on the I3th had begun, 
 and the night attack of the Japanese and the explo- 
 sion at the south gate finished, the demoralization of 
 the Chinese. They fled by the northern road, leav- 
 ing ten thousand dead men on the walls and in the 
 streets. 
 
 As usual, the Japanese were ahead. Heaven's 
 Ford had been crossed. Now for the dragon throne ! 
 The Japanese bugles played " On to Peking." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 
 
 DURING the twenty-two days that the allied 
 army remained at Tientsin, Clarence Burn- 
 ham and his friend Masaro saw a great deal 
 of each other. 
 
 The world at a distance wondered why the great 
 host gathered by eight nations did not make greater 
 speed and hasten to the relief of the beleaguered 
 legations, so much easier is it from afar to find 
 fault than on the spot to make haste wisely. " Wings 
 for the azure. Boots for the road." 
 
 In the first place, the whole situation was altered. 
 Before the attack by the foreigners upon the Taku 
 forts, the country was disturbed by a mob only. 
 When Admiral Seymour advanced with his ill-pre- 
 pared but noble band of two thousand rescuers, it 
 was at first difficult to find any natives with arms 
 in their hands. The only opposition was from the 
 Boxers, who were also " snipers." 
 
 After the foreign powers, with the exception of the 
 United States represented by the American admiral, 
 
 334 
 
TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 335 
 
 had made war on the government of China, by overt 
 attack, the situation changed instantly. The country 
 from that moment swarmed with armed Chinese, for 
 now the Peking government had let loose its whole 
 army upon the invaders. Admiral Seymour was com- 
 pelled to turn back. Hoping to be able to reach 
 Tientsin with his wounded, he halted at a place 
 called Siku, a few miles above Tientsin, and there 
 captured the arsenal. With its arms and stores, he 
 was enabled to hold out until the second relief force 
 reached him on the 2ist of June, when all returned 
 to Tientsin, our American loss being four killed and 
 twenty-seven wounded. 
 
 Now that the walled city of Heaven's Ford had 
 been taken and occupied by the Americans, English, 
 French, and Japanese, the larger Chinese city out- 
 side having been already burned by the allies, the 
 sight presented was one of the most awful seen in 
 modern times. In the streets, on the walls, on the 
 battlefield, the dead were lying in heaps. Not to 
 count those that were wounded, at least ten thousand 
 Chinese had been killed. The allies lost nearly two 
 thousand in casualties of all sorts. The blackened 
 and deserted streets were choked with rubbish from 
 houses demolished by exploding shells. From a 
 grand city of a million people, Tientsin had become 
 a heap of ruins. 
 
 Yet we do not hear of the Christian people of 
 
336 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 America giving the American admiral a reception 
 such as they would give a fighter who fought without 
 regard to scruples. Yet, what officer of the United 
 States navy thus representing his country abroad 
 better embodied the noblest traditions of American 
 principle and policy and the teachings of Washington 
 than our Admiral ? 
 
 As though the slaughter and destruction of Tien- 
 tsin were not enough, the city was given up on the 
 1 4th of July to loot. The men of Christendom, re- 
 verting to savagery, shamelessly robbed houses and 
 people, until "the Spanish fury " in Antwerp, of which 
 we have so often read, paled in its horrors. 
 
 Happily, however, this lasted but a day. Then the 
 city was patrolled, and the people were invited to 
 return to their homes and assured of protection. 
 
 "It's worse than Ping Yang," said Masaro to 
 Clarence Burnham, as they were walking together, 
 some days after the dead had all been buried and 
 the provost guard had brought order to the place. 
 " Now, tell me frankly, which are the worse heathen, 
 we Japanese or you foreigners ? " 
 
 "I am afraid we are all 'tarred with the same 
 brush ' this time, for such thievery I have never 
 seen, nor could I easily have imagined it but what's 
 this ? " 
 
 They saw two Chinese coming forward, one with 
 a rudely painted representation of the stars and 
 
TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 337 
 
 stripes, and the other with one of the red sun and 
 outraying bands of the same color, representing the 
 flag of Japan. 
 
 Both Chinamen fell on their knees down in the 
 mud, put their heads to the ground, each waving 
 his flag with his right hand. 
 
 This was but one of a thousand instances. Mak- 
 ing flags of whatever nation had won the most con- 
 fidence, the Tientsinese folk were returning. Each 
 must find his house, or what had been his house, and 
 begin life over again. 
 
 By this time the two young officers had walked 
 some distance out from the walled city, and even 
 beyond the outer low mud wall, when the conver- 
 sation turned on what was uppermost in their minds. 
 It was just eleven days after the capture of Tientsin. 
 
 " When were the ' legationers ' in Peking heard 
 from last ? " asked Masaro. 
 
 " Nothing has come through, I understand, since 
 the day before the Fourth of July, when the Boxers 
 were still bombarding the legations. You know that 
 I have sent a messenger since coming here, indeed, 
 right after the taking of Tientsin." 
 
 Masaro grasped the hand of his friend warmly and 
 said : " Yes, I know. May it get there and we follow 
 it. I hope she is safe. I wish we could start to- 
 morrow." 
 
 "And I, too," said Clarence; "but think of moving 
 
 OF THE 
 
338 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 thirty thousand men in this flat country of mud and 
 swamp, without decent drinking water, and taking 
 every ration with us. It may be that perhaps, after 
 all, we may arrive to find the ministers taken away 
 as hostages into the far interior, and all the other 
 foreigners and native Christians massacred. But 
 look! here comes a Chinaman that is moving too 
 fast for a returning refugee. Why, he fairly 
 whizzes. He can't be pursued, for he is within 
 our picket lines." 
 
 It was indeed true. A messenger had got through, 
 bringing word from the ministers that they were 
 still living and all in good health, but that food and 
 ammunition were getting low. They might be able 
 to hold out a few days longer. Happily a truce of 
 ten days had been agreed upon. 
 
 Inspirited by this good news, preparations were 
 hurried, and on August 4 the relief expedition 
 started, marching on both sides of the Peiho River. 
 Through the vast fields of millet and the thousands 
 of grave mounds, footmen, cavalry, pack animals, 
 and vehicles moved, grinding the soil and sending up 
 clouds of impalpable dust. There were fourteen 
 thousand Japanese, six thousand Russians, two thou- 
 sand British, twenty-two hundred Americans, and 
 about three thousand French, Germans, and Italians, 
 to pulverize the earth and lift it into the air. A 
 more monotonous country, without one landmark to 
 
TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 339 
 
 vary the flatness, could hardly be conceived. The 
 movement of this allied army during these terribly 
 hot days, along that slimy sewer called the Peiho 
 River, was more like that of a crawling serpent than 
 of a marching host. 
 
 There was heavy fighting at Pietsang and again at 
 Yang-tsun. The allies won, but our men lost heavily. 
 It was no picnic promenade this walk to Peking. 
 
 No Valley Forge camp or Gettysburg campaign 
 ever tried more severely the spirits or tested the 
 endurance of the American soldier. Amid swarms 
 of mosquitoes and the horrible malaria, the men 
 pushed on through an area of desolation. Instead of 
 the usual population of many millions, it was rare to 
 see any one but those attached to the army, except 
 of course the hags and crones, the old men too 
 decrepit to move, the cripples, and the abandoned 
 children. 
 
 On they marched through the terrible heat, through 
 the yellow clouds of dust and the black clouds of flies 
 and mosquitoes, through the millet stalks, ten and 
 twelve feet high, even while their feet sank inches 
 deep into a fine yellow powder, which the tramp- 
 ing of tens of thousands of men and the rolling of 
 thousands of wheels had ground fine. It was im- 
 possible for the army to move faster than eight miles 
 a day. 
 
 Yet in this terrible trial of human nature, for in 
 
340 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 war that article is at its best and worst, the Japanese 
 had their opportunity of showing what kind of people 
 they are. 
 
 " I congratulate you, Masaro, that Japan's oppor- 
 tunity has at last come," said Clarence Burnham to 
 Masaro, when they met within two days' march, as 
 they believed, of Peking. " In 1894-1895, the world 
 could only hear of what was done, and see the results, 
 and the foreign correspondents were on the ground 
 only when your countrymen were at their worst and 
 fell from discipline at Wei-Hai-Wei. But now here 
 are many nations as witnesses. Why, just see how 
 your fellows beat ours in marching." 
 
 " You are not surprised at it, are you ? You that 
 have tramped with your Japanese companions hun- 
 dreds of miles in Japan, over mountains and through 
 valleys." 
 
 " No, but our American officers do not know what 
 to make of it, when they see your little short-legged 
 fellows go ahead of ours, while we that have so prided 
 ourselves on our muscle can't keep up." 
 
 " Oh ! but," said Masaro, " look at our men. They 
 carry only their rifles, ammunition, and drinking water, 
 but just look at those American soldiers there stag- 
 gering along with forty pounds and more of knapsack 
 and blanket." 
 
 " Yes, that's the way. Our men's loads and our 
 wagons are about the same as in the days of the 
 
TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 341 
 
 Continentals, a century and more ago, while every- 
 thing with you is light and easy." 
 
 "Yes, but our real pride is in our field-hospitals 
 and medical staff, as well as our commissariat and 
 army transport. We employ more laborers. All 
 our supplies are done up in easy packages, well cov- 
 ered and with handles, so that on man, beast, or 
 wheel they can be easily carried." 
 
 " Yes, that's where your Japanese are reaping the 
 harvest of hundreds of years of skill and taste in 
 making pretty boxes, bamboo and grass work, and 
 every kind of receptacle. So, when it comes to war, 
 you are all ready either to fight or to march." 
 
 " Thanks for your compliments, and forgive me if 
 I boast, but then, you know, we Japanese have been 
 for years determined to let you Westerners know that 
 we have a civilization of our own, that we are not as 
 Chinese rather are we what we are, in spite of what 
 we have borrowed from China. I tell you frankly 
 that we are going to be in Peking ahead of all others, 
 if we can. The first official bloodshed was when 
 the chancellor of our legation was assassinated, and 
 we feel bound to be ahead of our allies and helpers." 
 
 " I suppose your general has his dinner appointed 
 for a particular day, hour, and minute in the throne 
 room of the palace at Peking ? " 
 
 "Well, I won't speak as to minutes, but I have 
 heard him say that he will be in Peking on the 1 5th 
 
342 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 of August, and he is likely to keep his word. May I 
 boast a little more ? " 
 
 " Certainly, I like to hear it." 
 
 " Well, I honestly believe that if we Japanese were 
 allowed to take this contract alone, we should be in 
 Peking several days ahead even of you Americans, 
 or of any and all of the Europeans." 
 
 There was no real boasting in this talk of Masaro. 
 The Japanese knew every inch of the ground. Their 
 officers had the only complete and correct military 
 maps of the line of march and the theatre of war. 
 The Japanese soldiers were the only ones that had 
 always plenty of good drinking water, for their field 
 filters went with them, and at the end of the day 
 they were the freshest lot of men in the whole host. 
 Their field-telegraph was the only one that was first 
 mounted and kept open all the time, and in the hard 
 fighting at Pietsang and at Yang-tsun, as at Tientsin, 
 the Japanese field-hospital corps attended to their 
 wounded more promptly and perfectly than any other, 
 and even then they had time and resources to help 
 the British and Americans. In the matter of ammu- 
 nition supply on the firing line, none excelled them. 
 It is true that the Japanese ration was much smaller 
 than that of the Americans, but then the Japanese 
 thrived as well on the march, always had good water 
 to drink, and lay down at night under a good tent or 
 in the village houses. Too often the tired American 
 
TO THE RESCUE OF THE LEGATIONS. 343 
 
 soldier, at the end of the day, had to weary himself 
 to find water. Failing of supply from wells or cis- 
 terns, he drank disease and death out of the Peiho 
 River. 
 
 Thus the " ten days," within which Clarence Burn- 
 ham hoped .to be within sight of the walls of Peking, 
 dragged out their horrors into thrice that number. 
 
 Let us now glance within the citadel of civilization 
 amid the iron storm of barbarism. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 
 
 AUGUST had come in Peking, but all signs of 
 relief were failing. Yet the besieged were 
 encouraged by reports of dissensions between 
 the Manchu army and the Boxers. 
 
 On the 7th the Japanese celebrated their beautiful 
 festival of Uruban, or All Souls' Day, holding the 
 usual ceremonies of commemoration. Eight new 
 graves marked the resting-place of their compatriots, 
 and on them the green grass was already growing. 
 Having no fresh blossoms or pretty vases, as at home, 
 artificial flowers stuck in empty beer bottles were 
 placed before the mounds, as tributes of affection. 
 
 A day or two afterward, the Chinese Christians, 
 listening to the commotion among the besiegers near 
 one of the princely residences outside, declared that 
 the cries of the new recruits which had arrived 
 betrayed their Shansi origin. In this province, fifty 
 missionaries had been slain. Other messengers from 
 the rescuing army arrived. One from the famous 
 Japanese rough-rider, General Fukushima, gave new 
 
 344 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 345 
 
 courage to the besieged by stating that the allies, two 
 days before, had reached a point nearly halfway 
 between Tientsin and Peking. 
 
 On August 8, during the thunder-storm at night, 
 the Chinese fusillade broke out again in all directions. 
 Rifles and -machine-guns rained lead. Yet, despite 
 the double noise of heaven and earth, the merry Jap- 
 anese talked of getting up a Peking Defence Medal. 
 Of all the besieged, they seemed to feel the most 
 certain that their general would be on hand on the 
 day appointed. Nor were they finally mistaken. On 
 the next day, however, the nth, the spirits of the 
 unrescued fell again, and the hope of hearing the dis- 
 tant roar of artillery was doomed to disappointment. 
 
 It was now feared that the Chinese would make a 
 final and determined attack on the legations, because 
 they were warned of the approach of the relief expe- 
 dition. This expectation was correct. From 5 P.M. 
 until daybreak of the I2th, there was no cessation in 
 the storm of bullet and cannon shots. So, like the 
 waves of ocean, rose and fell the spirits of those shut 
 in and girdled with fire. 
 
 The next day, about eleven o'clock, there were 
 unmistakable sounds of artillery in the southeast. 
 The firing was different from that which had been 
 heard for weeks, and Marian's trained ear knew that 
 the rescuers must be near. The Manchus knew it 
 also, for at ten o'clock at night the storm of missiles 
 
346 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 increased, while another thunder-storm added to the 
 roar. To show their defiance, our people blew their 
 bugles and raised their war cries. When the firing 
 ceased, they doubled their sentries until daylight, for 
 they feared a rush with ladders. Indeed, it was quite 
 possible that massacre might end the siege before 
 relief came. 
 
 It was heavenly music that Marian heard next day 
 at two o'clock in the morning. The rattle of the 
 field-guns and gatlings was as though heaven had 
 been opened and the strains of its music had come 
 down to earth. 
 
 There were many hours of fighting, but chiefly by 
 artillery. At eight o'clock, from another direction, 
 sounded the chorus of American cannon. Soon the 
 rumor spread that at daybreak two hundred foreign 
 troops had got within the wall by way of the eastern 
 gate. Those who watched on the wall strained their 
 gaze. Marian hoped they would catch sight of the 
 stars and stripes and our men of the Ninth ; but no, 
 they saw a column of dark-faced men dressed in 
 kakhi. It was the Sikh lancers. They had crept 
 under the water gate and emerged in the dried-up bed 
 of the creek, and to them belongs the honor of first 
 opening communication between the legations and 
 the allies. 
 
 So at last the rescue was definitely accomplished, 
 and on this wise. The Russians with a mighty force 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 34? 
 
 cleaned the walls with machine-guns. The Japanese 
 with fifty-four cannon demolished the gates. About 
 eight or nine o'clock in the morning, two companies 
 of our Fourteenth Regiment climbed up the old and 
 worn wall, now full of holes made by ends of brick 
 falling out. On the top they unfurled " Old Glory " 
 at the same time that the Russian colors were hoisted 
 on the Tung Pien gate. About noon, through this 
 gate, the Ninth and Fourteenth marched into the 
 Chinese city. Captain Reilly's battery cleared the 
 walls of snipers. The men rested from the intense 
 heat and vertical sunshine, under the shade of the 
 deserted houses. 
 
 But where was General Chaffee ? Why were not 
 the Americans improving their chance of being first 
 into the Tartar City? Nobody could tell. There, 
 for two mortal, maddening hours, Clarence Burnham 
 waited. Finally the word came to move. The Sikhs 
 crawled through the muddy sluice canal, receiving 
 the first cosmopolitan welcome. At last our men, 
 entering by the same humble opening, were within 
 the dragon's lair the Tartar City and soon 
 within the grounds of the British Legation. 
 
 What a contrast ! The rescuers were dusty, tired, 
 unwashed, unshorn. With a rolled blanket over his 
 shoulder, a belt of cartridges at his waist, grim, deter- 
 mined, intelligent, with a never-say-die look, every 
 inch a man such was the American soldier. 
 
348 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 It did seem strange to see most of the rescued as 
 they really were. From the outside the picture in 
 our men's minds was of sunken eyes and shrunken 
 flesh, of famine-stricken and scant-clothed people 
 long besieged. Instead of this they beheld plump, 
 rosy women, dressed in smart waists and gowns, and 
 men in white clothes. Yet why not ? They had had 
 enough to eat, including plenty of pony steak, and as 
 for clothes, they had nothing else but what was neat 
 and clean. Like true Americans, they couldn't tell 
 a lie, by shamming dirt and hunger, when there was 
 no need. 
 
 "Why don't they eat cake?" was the traditional 
 Bourbon queen's reply to the complaint that the 
 French peasants "had no bread." 
 
 So here there appeared at first some incongruity, 
 but not long. Within a half-hour it seemed as if the 
 days of the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon of Phila- 
 delphia and '6 1 had come again. Cups of hot tea 
 and " tinned " biscuits or thin slices of buttered or 
 jam-covered bread seemed very delicious to our men 
 amid the interchange of congratulations. 
 
 For Clarence Burnham and Marian Hopewell, 
 there was a richer feast spread. Dr. Clinton and 
 Mrs. Dray ton had arranged that. 
 
 To meet, for even one moment, apart from the pub- 
 lic gaze, the one woman on earth whom he loved, 
 had been Clarence Burnham's hope for years. Hers 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 349 
 
 was to see the man who to faithful devotion united 
 loyalty in keeping the seals of silence for the ap- 
 pointed time. This had long sustained her in lone- 
 liness and drudgery. Now that he had added to his 
 unswerving love unquailing valor, and stood before 
 her as rescuer from horrible death, what could she 
 do, rather what be to him ? 
 
 " A half-hour is certainly yours," said Dr. Clinton, 
 as he shut the door of the chapel on them. " Both 
 military and civil authority join to say so, and the 
 music teacher will guard the outside of the door to 
 warn off intruders," said he, with a knowing twinkle. 
 
 The door closed. In an instant the young officer 
 was on his knees before Marian. 
 
 " No, you must rise. I am the one to kneel to my 
 rescuer." 
 
 He rose, but even had she so much as tried to bow 
 head or form, she was not allowed. One long, pas- 
 sionate embrace held her, and kisses in showers fell 
 upon lip and brow and cheeks. 
 
 How quickly that half, yes, that full hour sped. 
 Every one was too busy outdoors to heed the lovers 
 within. At last the bugle sounded, and the men of 
 the Ninth must fall in to seek quarters for the night. 
 Yet, before joining his company, Clarence heard from 
 Marian's lips these words : 
 
 " Yes, it shall be whenever and wherever you wish 
 it." 
 
350 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 " Here and now, in Peking ? " asked he, in beaming 
 joy. 
 
 " Yes, my brave. Name place and time." 
 
 " I do. In the central hall of the imperial pal- 
 ace in the Purple City, standing before the dragon 
 throne, let us be made one." 
 
 " I am ready. I want one friend to stand with me, 
 the music teacher. Being the lady in the case, I 
 claim, of course, the privilege of nominating the par- 
 son." 
 
 " Who is he ? " asked the happy Clarence. 
 
 " Dr. Clinton." 
 
 " I agree, of course ; but let me name my ' best 
 man.' ' 
 
 " Certainly, and who is he ? " 
 
 " Masaro, friend and comrade." 
 
 Clarence Burnham would have been only too happy 
 to appoint the wedding for the next day, had it been 
 possible, but it was not. Indeed, there were a good 
 many thousands of disappointed soldiers who, during 
 two whole weeks, wondered why the third and fourth 
 of that nest of cities, Chinese, Tartar, Imperial, and 
 Purple, which make up Peking, was not immediately 
 opened. All through the march, when toiling under 
 their hardships, fighting enemies and infuriated by 
 tales of unspeakable tortures of their countrymen, they 
 had thought of this as the crowning victory of civili- 
 zation over Chinese bigotry. 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 351 
 
 First loot and then fire was their idea of the eter- 
 nal fitness of things. In red flame and black smoke, 
 they hoped to see the imperial palace furnish the 
 finest display of Chinese fireworks ever seen. Where 
 had been the birth of treachery, they hoped to see its 
 tomb. Already at Peking the American artillery 
 had begun to make short work of the first three gates 
 of the Purple City, when they were ordered to cease 
 firing and march away. Having lost so many of 
 their comrades, including Colonel Liscum and Cap- 
 tain Reilly, this order was hard indeed to obey. 
 
 At such a time delay only nursed superstition and 
 encouraged the Manchus. It was bruited abroad 
 that the " foreign devils " could not enter the sacred 
 precincts of the Forbidden City. The allied generals 
 found that they must give the Manchu dynasty and 
 all China an object lesson of the power of the West. 
 So an international procession was organized. Each 
 of the Powers, eight in number, was to be allowed a 
 small detachment, in proportion to the numbers of 
 troops sent, to march through the chief or Chen-ou 
 gate, over the marble courtyards, and around and 
 past the chief buildings, audience halls, and palace 
 grounds. 
 
 On the day appointed, at eight o'clock in the 
 morning, the Russian, Japanese, British, American, 
 French, German, Italian, and Austrian detachments 
 paraded before General Linievitch, the Czar's mili- 
 
352 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 tary representative being the reviewing officer. It 
 was hard for those soldiers who were not allowed 
 to enter on that day to stay behind, and happy 
 indeed were those who had the grand privilege. 
 
 After the marching into and through the massive 
 gates and spacious grounds had been accomplished, 
 and the head of the column had reached the North- 
 ern court of the palace, the impressive ceremonies 
 began. The Russian general and his staff, and the 
 ministers of the various legations with ladies, stood 
 under the northern gate, the Russian band being 
 in the courtyard, while the Cossacks and Russian 
 infantry were ranged as a reception committee 
 round the wall of the court. Then the notes of the 
 sublime Russian national anthem rolled out, and in 
 marched the first contingent, the Russian marines 
 and infantry. 
 
 Next followed the Japanese, under their black caps 
 with yellow stripes and in white uniform. They 
 were splendidly equipped, marching slowly and with 
 proud dignity. None in all that international host 
 could so appreciate the significance of the occasion 
 the entrance into the lair of the dragon as these 
 soldiers of the Mikado. When Baron Yamaguchi and 
 General Fukushima reached the Russian general, 
 they took their places next to him. The Russian 
 band could not play the Japanese national air, or, 
 what the islanders would gladly have heard, " On to 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 353 
 
 Peking," but the Russian soldiers cheered themselves 
 hoarse until the last of the little brown men passed by. 
 
 Next appeared the British, including the Welsh 
 fusileers who had fought so splendidly at Tientsin, 
 the best-dressed men of the host, with the dark-faced 
 auxiliaries from India, the Russian band playing 
 "God Save the Queen." Beside the Bengal lancers, 
 whose coal-black eyes snapped with joy, and whose 
 bag-pipers played like Highlanders, was the Chinese 
 regiment from Wei-Hai-Wei, probably not more glad 
 to fight with ball and bayonet against their Manchu 
 rulers than were the progressive Chinese reformers 
 who, with the pen and in print, had so long de- 
 nounced the "tigers in Peking." 
 
 Next from the Russian lungs sounded the stirring 
 strains of " The Star-Spangled Banner," and first 
 in the great gate itself, and then emerging from 
 shadow into sunshine, appeared its starry folds. In 
 marched our brave fellows selected from the Ninth 
 and Fourteenth regiments. How exultantly did Clar- 
 ence Burnham's heart beat as the Russians raised 
 their cheers, and he looked for the first time upon the 
 gay and grotesque structures, the brilliant yellow 
 and green roofs, pagodas, Ming, Mongol, and Man- 
 chu, and upon the stone and marble basements and 
 the red lacquered wooden structures rising above 
 them. His eyes dwelt with special interest upon 
 the building which contained the throne room. There 
 
354 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 was the lair of the dragon, which for five centuries 
 had barred the way to the influences of civilization. 
 
 After the easy-going Americans, with their natu- 
 ral and sensible gait, each man an individual thinking 
 force, strode the Germans. Fine-looking, tall, heavy, 
 they advanced with their extraordinary and very noisy 
 " parade march." After a long swinging step, each 
 foot came down on the ground like a hammer. They 
 seemed to make one machine rather than a company 
 of thinking beings. Despite their fine equipment 
 and excellent drill, their foot motions caused a quiet 
 laugh, which soon gave way to cheers. 
 
 With so many nations, it was hard not to make 
 some mistake. The French, few in number, followed 
 the Germans, and had already passed the Russian 
 band before " The Marseillaise " was in full swing. 
 But while this is the national air of republican 
 France, the music is under ban in Italy. The 
 musicians' lungs being at their fullest, when the 
 Italians came in, the Russian general signalled for 
 the bandmaster to stop. This worthy not seeing, the 
 general sent his aide, and suddenly silence fell. The 
 bandsmen quickly adjusted their sheet music, how- 
 ever, so that the neat Italian sailors heard their own 
 national air. The Austrian marines who followed 
 next closed the procession. 
 
 Thus were the Tartars humbled in their own walls, 
 and Manchu China punished for her reversion to 
 
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS. 355 
 
 savagery. Instead of the eight banners of the old 
 Peking garrison, the flags of eight nations, banded to 
 protect their people, floated on the breeze. 
 
 The great metropolis had already been given up 
 to the various conquerors. The Japanese occupied 
 the northern half, and the Russians, the central, 
 erecting their batteries even in the imperial gardens. 
 The looting of the city went on for weeks. The Jap- 
 anese, knowing the exact points to seize upon, won 
 the lion's share. Though the soldiers of nine na- 
 tions took part in this license of war, the worst out- 
 rages were charged to the Chinese soldiery from 
 Wei-Hai-Wei. It would be too much to expect all 
 men fighting under Britain's flag to show British 
 self-restraint. 
 
 Nor was all the courage shown by armed men, 
 rescuers or rescued. Valor behind the gun is en- 
 trancing, but boldness without weapons may be even 
 more lovely. Almost before the smoke had cleared 
 away, the unarmed missionary was out of the city 
 and in the villages providing for the poor and needy 
 of his flock. Despite unintelligent, ignorant, and 
 cowardly criticism, and hasty misunderstanding of 
 this course of action at home, our countrymen, who 
 carried neither sword nor gun, equally with our cav- 
 alry, infantry, artillery, marines, and sailors, upheld 
 the honor of the flag and adorned the American 
 name in China. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A MARRIAGE BEFORE THE DRAGON THRONE. 
 
 THE world knows well the story of the rescue 
 of the legations of Christendom in Peking in 
 1900; but what in the eyes of our readers 
 may be all these facts known to history compared 
 with the main incident of our story ? On a certain 
 day it was permitted to the newspaper correspond- 
 ents to enter with their note-books and cameras the 
 Throne Hall of the proudest dynasty on earth. The 
 sunny hours, from ten till two, were appointed for the 
 privilege of visiting the lair of the dragon. 
 
 " This is our opportunity," said Clarence Burnham, 
 as he came to tell Marian two evenings previously, 
 and informed her that, in the capacity of war corre- 
 spondents, they might both be admitted by getting a 
 pass from the commanding general, which was duly 
 obtained. Dr. Clinton and the music teacher, both 
 occasional writers for the press at home, joined in the 
 application. Of course Masaro, the veteran, followed 
 suit. 
 
 It was a glorious morning in September, and the 
 356 
 
MARRIAGE BEFORE THE DRAGON THRONE. 357 
 
 air was crisp and clear. The sunshine flooded the 
 yellow tiles, made the green roofs glitter, and bright- 
 ened up even the dull red of the miscellaneous build- 
 ings in the purple city. The garish daylight exposed 
 the realities of China even amidst its greatest splen- 
 dor, for along with edifices that were shining, almost 
 staring new, were others long out of repair. Some 
 looked ready to tumble down before many years. 
 The light breeze stirred to motion the tall weeds 
 which had grown up in many of the least-used parts 
 of the marble roads, arches, and heavy stone railings. 
 In some places the crop was very luxuriant. " It is 
 just as the prophet declared," said Dr. Clinton. " In 
 the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be 
 grass, with reeds and rushes." 
 
 Into the gardens, with the trees five centuries old, 
 their branches held up by supporting timbers, up and 
 over the grottoed slopes, and on the top of Coal Hill, 
 they surveyed the strange scene. It was from the 
 north side of the Purple City, upon which they now 
 looked, that the Empress Dowager and the court had 
 fled. Of the woman the natives spoke as " the rider 
 upon a tiger." It is said that the primitive Mexi- 
 cans, on first beholding mounted Spaniards, thought 
 that horse and rider were one animal. Foreigners 
 in Peking were puzzled concerning the Empress and 
 her mount, to tell which was the lady and which the 
 tiger. 
 
358 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 Purposely our party kept out of the Throne Hall, 
 to which many of the privileged visitors went first, 
 until most of them had satiated their curiosity, filled 
 their note-books, and snapped their cameras. Then 
 they ascended the steps and entered the great hall to 
 which, during five centuries, the tribute bearers, 
 envoys of the tributary nations, from the rising to 
 the setting sun, from sub-polar snows to tropical 
 oceans, had come. Here they had done homage and 
 made the Kow-tow, or nine prostrations, before the 
 dragon countenance in humble submission to China's 
 emperor. It was this humiliating ceremony which 
 the ministers of Christendom and of enlightened 
 Japan had refused to perform. 
 
 There was the throne itself, a great three-leaved 
 affair. Over the ample seat in the centre, with a 
 high reredos, two great wings spread off from the 
 central division. All was white marble and jade, 
 liberally sculptured according to the canons of Chi- 
 nese art. Along the top lay and leered dragons, 
 each one " swinging the scaly horror of his folded 
 tail " toward the central seat, his head projecting out- 
 ward in the air. Below the throne were the three 
 steps, on the broad second one of which the sup- 
 pliant performed the nine prostrations or knocks of 
 the head. 
 
 All revery was interrupted by Dr. Clinton, who 
 cried out : " Now is our chance. Are you ready ? " 
 
MARRIAGE BEFORE THE DRAGON THRONE. 359 
 
 " We are," said Clarence, and the whole party 
 mounted the space above the three steps upon which 
 the throne itself stood. 
 
 Thus, in the dragon's lair, standing book in hand, 
 his back to the throne of the Flowery Empire, with 
 Marian Hopewell and Clarence Burnham facing the 
 white jade dragons, Dr. Clinton began the marriage 
 service. Marian had given her hat to the music 
 teacher, while she herself held a bouquet, which one 
 of the Chinese attendants in the garden had gathered 
 for Clarence for a piece of silver. The young officer 
 had doffed his white helmet and handed it to his com- 
 rade and friend Masaro, who also had removed his 
 cap. Then the service which Marian had so often 
 heard her father, the Domine, read, sounded out in 
 the vast chamber : 
 
 " Since then it is fit that you be furthered in this 
 your work, the Lord God confirm your purpose, which 
 He hath given you ; and your beginning be in the 
 name of the Lord who made heaven and earth." 
 
 Then their hands were joined together, and in 
 accordance with the old ritual of the Reformed 
 Church, the rescuer and the rescued took the vows 
 of love, the one to "maintain," the other to "serve 
 and assist," and both to keep faith and truth in all 
 things to each other. 
 
 Then they knelt down on the marble floor, where 
 for centuries had stood great envoys from many 
 
360 IN THE MIKADO'S SERVICE. 
 
 lands, even from the Chinese "ends of the earth," 
 and the blessing was given : 
 
 " The Lord our God replenish you with His grace, 
 and grant that you may live long together in all god- 
 liness and holiness." 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 In due time the government of the United States, 
 true to old, sacred tradition, recalled from China all 
 its military forces except the troops acting as a 
 legation guard, and the Ninth returned to the Philip- 
 pines. Masaro returned to Hiroshima ; and now, 
 wearing the badge of a captain's rank, awaits fresh 
 calls to duty. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Clarence Burnham, however, feeling his country's 
 call less pressing, resigned his commission. After 
 visiting Japan with his bride, he settled in one of the 
 pretty cities in the glorious lake region of central 
 New York, whence so many of the heroes of the 
 Ninth had come. He now edits a daily newspaper, 
 which is notable for its intelligent treatment of affairs 
 in the Far East. In their pretty sitting room, Marian 
 Burnham often shows her friends a fine large photo- 
 graph of the dragon throne of China. It is mounted 
 and hung on the walls, and near it is another. 
 
 It is a work of Japanese art, so tasteful that one 
 would not at first think it a monument. The original 
 was reared by the relatives of Jozuna in their ances- 
 
MARRIAGE BEFORE THE DRAGON THRONE. 361 
 
 tral burial ground. Sculptured in fairest letters is 
 the now honored name of Jozuna, with the record of 
 his valor at Wei-Hai-Wei. Set in the stone, in the 
 finest of the metal-moulder's art, is a bas-relief of 
 moon and clouds and flying geese. In the eyes of 
 his friends, Jozuna's tattooed breast, picture, poem, 
 and prose inscription are proofs of an innocent, high- 
 souled patriot, who, having fallen under cloud of sus- 
 picion, has emerged into the glory of the Emperor's 
 forgiveness. Looking into the mirror of the night 
 sky, they discern also the forgiveness and the vindica- 
 tion of Him who said : " Neither do I condemn thee," 
 and, " Other sheep have I which are not of this fold ; 
 them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice." 
 
 So, underneath the art symbol, for Jozuna's kins- 
 men are now believers in one God, is chiselled in 
 double script of classic Chinese and Japanese hira- 
 gana : 
 
 " We all with unveiled face, reflecting as a mirror 
 the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same 
 image from glory to glory as from the Lord, the 
 Spirit." 
 
THE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY SERIES 
 
 THE ROMANCE 
 OF DISCOVERY: 
 
 A THOUSAND YEARS OF EXPLORATION, ETC. 
 
 By Wm. Elliot Griffis, D.D. 
 Three volumes $1.50 each ; or the set in a box, $4.50 
 
 It is one of the most useful and entertaining books. Dr. 
 Griffis has shown how the dryest facts of history are really 
 full of romance, if we look beneath the surface and note the 
 relation one to another, and he presents these facts in a most 
 attractive form. It is an admirable introduction to the study 
 of history and cannot fail to interest every reader old and 
 young. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 
 
 
 
 This book is to be commended, not only for its making an 
 important epoch of history inviting to the general reader, but 
 for its skillful putting of the facts in their true historical per- 
 spective, in spite of the flavor of romance which is given to 
 the story. The Advance. 
 
 In "The Romance of Discovery" Dr. W. E. Griffis 
 describes the explorations which have for their object chiefly 
 the occupation of new territory. Of course it deals chiefly with 
 the expeditions hither from different European countries. It 
 is written in the author's familiar spirited and enjoyable 
 manner, groups the result of much investigation in an avail- 
 able form, and is thoroughly readable throughout, which 
 cannot be said of all such books. The Congregationalist. 
 
THE ROMANCE OF AMER- 
 ICAN COLONIZATION: 
 
 HOW THE FOUNDATION STONES 
 OF OUR HISTORY WERE LAID 
 
 This is a volume that will be of unending interest to any 
 bright boy or girl old enough to read history, and it is likely 
 to lay the foundation for a life-long love for historical study. 
 While it is all history, it is not all of history. Bookseller, 
 Newsdealer and Stationer. 
 
 
 
 Though interesting to old readers it is primarily a book for 
 young people, and boys and girls will turn its pages with 
 quickening interest. When they have finished it they have 
 not only been entertained, but they have received instruction 
 in a subject which is of vital interest to every one of them 
 the formation and making of their country. Nothing better 
 in general reading can be given our young people than this 
 book. Library Bulletin. 
 
 THE ROMANCE 
 OF CONQUEST: 
 
 THE STORY OF AMERICAN EXPANSION 
 THROUGH ARMS AND DIPLOMACY 
 
 The book is splendidly written, and is a distinct addition to 
 the history of our country. Christian Observer. 
 
 
 
 Dr. Griffis is interesting on any subject he chooses to il- 
 luminate, and it is needless to say that this book on so impor- 
 tant and timely a topic as American expansion is of unusual 
 interest. Cumulative Book Index. 
 
THE PATHFINDERS 
 of the REVOLUTION 
 
 A STORY OF THE GREAT MARCH 
 INTO THE WILDERNESS AND LAKE 
 REGION OF NEW YORK IN 1779. 
 
 By William E. Griffis. 
 
 Romance of American History 
 Mikado's Service," Etc. 
 
 316 pages. Illustrated. Cloth ,$1.50. 
 
 Author of "The Romance of American History Series," "In the 
 Mikado's Service," Etc. 
 
 This volume is a valuable piece of historic fiction, dealing 
 as it does with a war episode very little known. It is enriched 
 by a great deal of Iroquois folklore and legend. Outlook. 
 
 Pure history with a love story is not all this book contains. 
 There is inspiration in it, and a breadth of view which deserves 
 its being read by every resident of New York. The Ithaca 
 Journal. 
 
 
 
 This is history told in the form of a story, rather than a 
 fictitious story sustained by a few historical facts. The 
 author relates the history in such a lifelike manner that it is 
 in full keeping with the vein of fiction which adds interest to 
 the book. It makes history fascinating without detracting 
 from the truth. The Advance. 
 
 " The Pathfinders of the Revolution " takes up a unique and 
 exceptional period in history. The author has followed all 
 the historical data procurable, and he has made not only a 
 most interesting story, but has portrayed a beautiful picture 
 of a most beautiful country. It is a story rich in Iroquois 
 Indian lore and a charming episode set in a framework of 
 one of the most striking periods of our Revolutionary his- 
 tory. San Francisco Call. 
 
 BOSTON W. A. WILDE COMPANY CHICAGO 
 
WITH PERRY 
 ON LAKE ERIE 
 
 A TALE OF 1812 
 
 By James Otis 
 307 pp. Cloth, $1.50 
 
 Characters and incidents largely historical. A lively ren- 
 dering of a memorable event. The Outlook. 
 
 Graphically does Mr. Otis tell the story of the naval battle 
 won by Commodore Perry. The well-known tale, rehearsed 
 in a new manner, though with strict adherence to history, is 
 given in the first person by a boy, who, with the Commo- 
 dore's young brother, was concerned in all the important 
 events of that battle, as well as in previously warding off the 
 capture of Presque Isle. It is one of the best of Revolution- 
 ary tales, in manner, facts, and interest, published within the 
 last year or two, and the covers are attractive. The Literary 
 World. 
 
 An account of the brave but often fruitless struggles and 
 attempts of young Commodore Perry to get into fighting 
 trim the famous Lake Erie fleet, handicapped as he was by 
 lack of men and material. The author has in no wise de- 
 parted from the strict truth, as given by the best historians, 
 and it is this fact which renders his entertaining story partic- 
 ularly valuable as a book for the young. Dial. 
 
With Preble at Tripoli 
 
 A STORY OF "OLD IRONSIDES" 
 AND THE TRIPOLITAN WAR 
 
 BY JAMES OTIS 
 
 349 pages. Cloth. I2mo. $1.50 
 
 Second Volume in " The Great Admiral Series" 
 
 It is a typical, dashing, instructive, and thrilling story. It 
 is intended for boys, but there is hardly a person, young or 
 old, who would not be intensely interested in it. Such a 
 book as this should be welcomed by every parent. Boston 
 Journal. 
 
 This volume gives us a most vivid description of the ex- 
 ploits of the old "Constitution" and the brave men under 
 Commander Treble's command. It is of the best juvenile 
 literature. The Indianapolis Journal. 
 
 It is a thrilling account of the loss of the "Philadelphia," 
 and of the most famous "cutting out" party in our naval 
 history. It adds a second volume to one of our most inter- 
 esting series of books for young people. The Dial. 
 
 The ever-stimulating account of "Old Ironsides" and her 
 famous campaign against the Tripolitan pirates forms the 
 basis of one of Mr. Otis's best stories ; correct in its historical 
 facts, interesting from beginning to end, it will be welcomed 
 not only by the younger reader, but by the older one as well. 
 The Presbyterian. 
 
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