BiRKil 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF | 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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YONE SANTO. 
 
TONE SANTO 
 
 A CHILD OF JAPAN 
 
 n Y 
 
 EDWARD H. HOUSE 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE JAPAr-rESK EXPEDITION TO FORMOSA;"' " JAPANESE EPISODES 1 
 "THE KAGOSIMA AFFAIR;" ETC 
 
 BELFORD, CLARKE AND CO 
 
 CHICAGO, NENV YORK, AND SAN FRANCISCO 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
COPYRIGHT 1888 
 
 BY BELFORD CLARKE & Co. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 

 TO 
 
 SAMUEL WILKESON: 
 
 IN FAITHFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THIRTY YEARS 
 
 OF LOYAL AND STEADFAST FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 THIS STORY IS DEDICATED BY HIS 
 
 OLD-TIME COMRADE AND 
 
 FELLOW-WORKER. 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
 173 2^ 
 .25 
 
 500 
 
O X T E K T S. 
 
 I. A MODERN CRUSADER . 
 
 II. CRUSADERS IN COUNCIL 
 
 III. A CHILD OF JAPAN . 
 
 IV. INFANTILE PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS 
 
 V. DISCIPLINE AND DUTY 
 
 VI. LIGHT AND SHADOW . 
 
 VII. AN UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 VIII. THE GOSPEL OF CHARITY 
 
 IX. THE LAST OF CHILDHOOD . 
 
 X. THE BRIDEGROOM. 
 
 XL TRANQUIL DAYS 
 
 XII. THE GATHERING OF A STORM 
 
 XIII. THE COIL OF THE SERPENT. . , 
 
 XIV. SHORT AND SHARP . , . 
 XV. FAIR PROMISE .... 
 
 XVI. TREACHERY 
 
 XVII. THE STRUGGLE OF A NOBLE SOUL 
 
 XVIII. THE LAST HOPE .... 
 
 XIX. DIVERGENT PATHS ... 
 
 XX. A FRIEND IN NEED 
 
 XXL AMONG THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS 
 
 XXII. ONLY A WOMAN .... 
 
 XXIII. YONE AT PLAY 
 
 XXIV. A PITIFUL DISCLOSURE . 
 XXV. THE HELPING HAND . 
 
 XXVI. YONE'S TRIUMPH .... 
 
 XXVII. THE CRAFT OF INNOCENCE . 
 
 XXVIII. PRINCESS HUNTING 
 
 XXIX. How THE PEST CAME TO JAPAN. 
 
 XXX. CHARMS AND SPELLS 
 
 XXXI. CALAMITY 
 
 XXXII. DARK SHADOWS .... 
 
 XXXIII. LAST LESSONS . 
 
 XXXIV. FAREWELL. .... 
 XXXV. REST AND SILENCE 
 
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TONE SANTO: 
 
 A CHILD OF JAPAN. 
 I. 
 
 A MODERN CRUSADER. 
 
 " THIS is strange news we have about Yone Santo/' said 
 the elder Miss Philipson, breaking one of the pauses which 
 were frequent, and seemed inevitable, at her Thursday sec- 
 ular receptions in the foreign quarter of Tokio, the capital 
 of Japan. 
 
 "Strange indeed," said the younger Miss Philipson; 
 " but we hope it will all be properly explained. Do we not, 
 sister ? " 
 
 "Certainly, we hope many things," responded the first 
 speaker. " But, as I have said again and again, we are in 
 Japan; nobody can deny that !" 
 
 It was unquestionably true. Nobody could gainsay the 
 excellent lady's reiterated declarations that she and those 
 around her were in Japan. This was a comprehensive 
 formula by which she accounted for all the sorrows, evils, 
 or irregularities of life, as life was regarded by her. If 
 the weather interfered with her favorite pursuits, or with 
 the even tenor of her health, she was grimly content to 
 remind herself that she was in Japan. If servants were 
 deficient in intelligence or honesty, still she drew relief 
 from the reflection that she was in Japan. Did trades- 
 men disappoint her, or the humble populace misunderstand 
 the eloquence of her teaching in the native tongue, or im- 
 pediments obstruct the course of her rigid missionary labors, 
 
2 YONE SANTO: 
 
 again and always no explanation was needed beyond the 
 fact that she was in Japan. Like the elastic pavilion of the 
 Arabian magician, it was sufficient for all conceivable 
 emergencies. When once propounded, argument was una- 
 vailing, and debate became superfluous. 
 
 People had sometimes remarked that the merit of her 
 cherished axiom was not so manifest when the elder Miss 
 Philipson's fancies were of a less doleful description. When 
 the sun shone with the sovereign splendor peculiar to the 
 island empire, she was not so eager to proclaim herself a 
 dweller therein. When the docile and patient spirit of her 
 domestic retainers was amiably conspicuous; when, at holi- 
 day seasons, the politeness and geniality of the pleasure- 
 seeking multitude were common themes of congratulation; 
 when the progress of her little school was stimulated by 
 the faithful studiousness and the unwearied application of 
 the warm-hearted young creatures who profited by her rig- 
 orously administered instruction; then she and her fellow- 
 laborers might have been in Patagonia, or at the North 
 Pole, for aught that was heard to the contrary from her 
 guarded lips. In short, none of the occasional bright inci- 
 dents of her lot was deemed attributable to the social or 
 physical conditions of the country she chanced to inhabit. 
 The shadows alone were due to the destiny that had estab- 
 lished her " in Japan." 
 
 Another idiosyncrasy, not altogether confined to this lady, 
 lent distinction to her character. No power of persuasion, 
 no force of reasoning, could shake her profound conviction 
 that in her quality of missionary she possessed attributes 
 which would appear preternatural outside of her sphere, 
 but which, she insisted, should be recognized by all as 
 the inherent endowments of herself and her sisterhood. 
 Knowledge, especially upon scriptural subjects, came to her 
 by intuition. The study and observation of the majority 
 who surrounded her went for nothing, because they were 
 not missionaries. To intimate that the most recondite 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 3 
 
 erudition could be trusted in opposition to her hap-hazard 
 notions upon any religious topic would excite her to wrath 
 and scorn. If interrogated as to the authority for some of 
 her startling propositions, she would answer when in the 
 humor to answer at all that they were " borne in upon 
 her; " which impressive utterance was expected to silence 
 all contention, and to inspire unwavering faith. Nor was 
 her assumption of infallibility confined to moral or intel- 
 lectual considerations. She would not, perhaps, go to the 
 length of saying that her pies and coffee were superior to 
 those of her worldly-minded but eminently practical neigh- 
 bor, the civil engineer's wife; but she honestly thought it 
 was far better for her acquaintances to drink, in her com- 
 pany, the muddy fluid, and swallow the heavy paste, of her 
 compounding, than to eat and consort with the skillful but 
 " unawakened " housekeeper next door, who often forgot 
 to ask a blessing on her fare. Miss Philipson never neg- 
 lected to ask the blessing. Circumstances not infrequently 
 afforded her the opportunity of invoking grace upon the 
 same viands several times in succession, but it was not 
 observed that her refections, even thrice sanctified, attained 
 a first-class popularity. Nevertheless, under the influence 
 of an instinct which she probably never analyzed, she was 
 convinced that dyspepsia within her walls was preferable to 
 good digestion elsewhere; and fully believed that if her 
 visitors were afflicted with internal discomfort as the conse- 
 quence of participation in her unsavory banquets, it would, 
 in some mysterious way, " be made up to them hereafter." 
 
 Pursuing her theories to a natural conclusion, she had 
 grown to look upon herself as legitimately exempt from 
 many of the requirements which govern mankind in gen- 
 eral, and as privileged to disregard observances upon the 
 prompt and equitable recognition of which society is largely 
 dependent. Remembering, possibly, the " courtesies," so 
 called, which for special reasons are extended to the clergy 
 in Western communities, she was disposed to affirm her 
 
4 YONE SANTO: 
 
 indisputable right to adjust her expenditures at a consider- 
 ably lower rate than the average. That she should prop- 
 erly be required to pay, for example, the current charge for 
 house rent, she could never be brought to understand; and 
 why the native or foreign tradesmen declined to acknowl- 
 edge her claim to a righteous discount, remained a prob- 
 lem insoluble by any process with which she was familiar. 
 " They would find it set down to their account elsewhere," 
 she was accustomed to declare, with solemn emphasis. 
 
 In her dealings with the simple Japanese, who, while 
 they could not follow her train of reasoning, were incapable 
 of formulating their remonstrances, she adopted the straight- 
 forward plan of meeting their demands according to her 
 peculiar conception of what was due to herself as a spiritual 
 messenger, as well as to them as pagan creditors; with the 
 result that, on the last day of every month, something closely 
 resembling a riot broke out in her back yard, while her front 
 door was in a state of almost chronic siege by the proprietors 
 of the jin-riki-shas which she honored with her patronage, 
 these discontented gentry unanimously averring that the 
 lady had hired them with a thorough understanding of 
 their terms, and with apparent acquiescence in them. State- 
 ments like these Miss Philipson did not think it necessary 
 to deny; remarking, merely, that she invariably proffered 
 payment sufficient for "a person in her position," and that 
 if the " coolies " were not satisfied with what was tendered, 
 they would get nothing. As a rule, they bowed to neces- 
 sity; but they by no means made a virtue of it, for they 
 "took it out," so to speak, in jeers and revilings of no 
 pleasant character, though expressed in a dialect with 
 which, fortunately, Miss Philipson's missionary studies had 
 not made her familiar. 
 
 It was observed, I may incidentally mention, that these 
 urgent applicants seldom presented themselves upon Sun- 
 days. They had in past times unwittingly done so, only to 
 find themselves severely rebuked for their impiety, and to 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 5 
 
 be turned away without further parley or hope of satisfac- 
 tion. The lower class, in her neighborhood, appeared to 
 be exceptionally well informed respecting the recurrence 
 of the sacred day; allusions to which fact afforded Miss 
 Philipson the liveliest gratification of which she was known 
 to be capable. 
 
 II. 
 
 CRUSADERS IN COUNCIL. 
 
 THE Philipson Thursdays were always distinguished by 
 the introduction of deliberately chosen topics of discus- 
 sion, which the visitors were expected to accept as " im- 
 proving," with the same blind credulity that was demanded 
 on behalf of the refreshments previously alluded to. On 
 the afternoon with which this narrative opens, certain 
 observations, more or less wholesome, had been exchanged 
 with respect to the immediate consequences of an untram- 
 meled education upon the young women of Japan. Having 
 been called upon for a contribution to the debate, I had, 
 somewhat languidly I fear, submitted a theory which 
 seemed to me sufficiently justified by observation and 
 experience, to the effect that while universal culture was 
 undoubtedly a consummation earnestly to be desired, the 
 transition from ignorance to enlightenment could not be 
 accomplished without great hardship and suffering in many, 
 not to say the majority, of instances; and by way of partial 
 illustration, I related circumstances in the life of a young 
 girl of unusual intelligence, who, after rapidly passing 
 through such courses of instruction as were supplied by the 
 best government schools in the capital, and becoming at 
 least theoretically familiar with the gentler conditions of 
 society in other lands, had been thrown back into the nar- 
 row grooves of an existence which was no longer suited to 
 her, and in which happiness must be forever denied her. 
 
6 YONE SANTO: 
 
 Having concluded my brief demonstration, with a dis- 
 tinct consciousness of failing to arouse the slightest interest 
 on the part of any of my hearers, excepting, perhaps, one 
 of the younger and more recently arrived of Miss Philip- 
 son's staff, I was preparing to get myself quietly away when 
 I was arrested by the allusion, before quoted, to Yone 
 Santo. I was, indeed, especially struck by it, inasmuch as 
 she, and no other, was the living original of the figure I 
 had attempted to introduce in support of my theory. For 
 a moment I fancied that the hostess had done me the honor 
 to follow the train of my reminiscence, and now desired to 
 proclaim her discovery; but this was an error. 
 
 "And what of Yone Santo? " I ventured to inquire. 
 
 "Ah, what, indeed?" was the response, lugubriously 
 intoned. 
 
 "Nothing disagreeable, I trust, and nothing wrong, I 
 know," I retorted, with some feeling. 
 
 "That last is saying a great deal," rejoined Miss Philip- 
 son, "considering that we are in Japan." 
 
 "Nevertheless, I say it, and undertake to abide by it." 
 
 " Perhaps, Doctor Charwell, the young person would do 
 as well without such earnest" 
 
 "Such very earnest" interjected the junior Miss Phil- 
 ipson. 
 
 "Yes, sister; such very earnest support from a from 
 one of the opposite "- 
 
 " From a man ! " interposed a middle-aged fellow-worker 
 in the missionary field; hard-voiced and stern-featured, and 
 known as a zealous and indefatigable follower of one of the 
 least agreeable branches of her calling. 
 
 " Miss Jackman puts it strongly," said Miss Philipson, 
 with an unmirthful smile; "but I suppose plain speech is 
 the best." 
 
 " To be sure it is," I replied; "and who, if not I, should 
 speak plainly when Yone Santo's name is brought up ? I 
 have known her from childhood, known her well; and a 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN'. 7 
 
 lovelier girl, a nobler, purer, truer nature, I have never en- 
 countered. Every woman that has met her ought to toe 
 glad to say as much; but if no woman is ready to tell the 
 truth about her, I shall not be silent, you may be sure." 
 
 "Whenever I hear a Japanese woman held up in that 
 way by a foreign man," said Miss Jackman, with stiff delib- 
 eration, " I feel that there is work for me to do. Who is 
 this Yone Santo ? " 
 
 The labor which Miss Jackman delighted in, and in 
 which she was fond of declaring her efficacy, was what 
 she called " reclaiming." For that purpose she had come 
 to the East, and to that object she devoted herself with un- 
 tiring assiduity. She was never unhappy except when 
 occasions for the exercise of her self-imposed functions 
 were wanting; and there were times when, in her excess of 
 enthusiasm, she seemed almost to desire that the feminine 
 population of all Japan might go astray, that she might 
 leap to the rescue and " reclaim " them. 
 
 * " Why," cried the young new-comer to whom I have in- 
 cidentally referred, " isn't that the little lady who went 
 shopping with me, when I first arrived, and interpreted so 
 beautifully ? I thought she was one of the dearest 
 creatures I ever met. I fell quite in love with her." 
 
 " Miss Gibson," said the " reclaimer," with the air of one 
 to whom a happy opportunity of tendering rebuke has 
 fallen unawares, and is therefore doubly welcome, " it is 
 my duty to tell you that your language is most improper; 
 and if you had been here longer and knew the country 
 better I should call it indecent. It is bad enough for men 
 to talk so about these girls; but for ladies, and particularly 
 for missionaries, I call it scandalous ! " 
 
 Miss Gibson was too lately from America to have lost 
 the freshness of her independence, and it was with an un- 
 looked-for spirit that she answered her assailant. 
 
 " Excuse me, Miss Jackman," she exclaimed, " I believe 
 I.am not under your authority in any way. Miss Philipson 
 
8 YONE SANTO: 
 
 is the head of my mission. She made me acquainted with 
 the young Japanese, and, as I said .before, I thought her 
 as sweet and charming as she could be, and so did all our 
 party." 
 
 " Yes, Marian," Miss Philipson admitted, rather awk- 
 wardly, " I did send her out with you and your friends, but 
 that was some time ago, and we had not then heard" 
 
 " Heard what, Miss Philipson ? " I demanded. " Let 
 us have it all, if you please. " 
 
 " Well, if you must know, Doctor Charwell, we had not 
 heard of her goings-on with that young Bostonian who is 
 spending so much money here, and mixing with all sorts of 
 people." 
 
 "What, Arthur Milton?" said I, in great surprise. 
 "Why, he knows her only through me." 
 
 " Likely enough," remarked Miss Jackman,.scenting an- 
 other exquisite opportunity, and pouncing upon it with 
 hawkish eagerness; " no doubt, Miss Philipson, Doctor 
 Charwell understands all about it. Strange things seem to 
 have been happening in my absence at the South." 
 
 But Miss Philipson had reasons, which I do not care to 
 explain further than that they were connected with my pro- 
 fessional position in our little community, for not over- 
 straining my forbearance. She felt herself, as the head of 
 a school, in some degree indebted to me, and was not un- 
 willing to lend me a helping hand, nor to bear testimony in 
 my favor, within reasonable and cautious limits. 
 
 " I am quite convinced of Doctor Charwell's sincerity, 
 Miss Jackman," she said. " I should not think of asso- 
 ciating him with any of Yone Santo's present misdeeds." 
 
 " It is an unpleasant thing to talk about," persisted Miss 
 Jackman, defiantly; " but since you force it from me, I 
 must say I have very little to learn about Doctor Char- 
 well. I keep my eyes and ears open, and I know for a 
 fact that he has been seen to stop young girls on the street, 
 perfect strangers to him, and and take their heads in his 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 9 
 
 hands. Yes, and put 'his face close to theirs, they do say. 
 And I had a most promising pupil, last year, who was just 
 beginning to walk in the true path. She fell in with Doc- 
 tor Charwell, and since then I have seen nothing of her. 
 You cannot deny it, sir; it was Ume Harada." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor ! " ejaculated Miss Philipson, in woful ac- 
 cents; while a few others of the company seemed genuinely 
 shocked, and the majority awaited the impending revela- 
 tion with countenances expressive of joyous gloom. 
 
 "Exactly," I rejoined; "she was nearly blind." 
 
 " I don't know about that, and I don't care," Miss Jack- 
 man retorted. 
 
 " Pardon me," said I; "it may be that you do not care; 
 but you certainly know, since you were warned that she 
 was destroying the little sight she had left by reading badly 
 printed books, in small type, at your ill-lighted evening 
 class-room." 
 
 "It was the Bible, sir ! " cried Miss Jackman, with a 
 ring of triumph in her voice. 
 
 "More shame to those who use it in such a shape," I re- 
 plied, growing absurdly angry as the controversy pro- 
 ceeded. " But nevermind. The child can now see, almost 
 as well as ever. Another month of your nightly 'darkness 
 visible,' and the light of her life would have gone out." 
 
 "We are not ashamed of our poverty," Miss Jackman 
 declared, rearing her crest again. " We give what light we 
 can. And I shall now take steps to reclaim Ume Harada. 
 She may not yet be wholly lost." 
 
 " Let us hope not," said I, pulling myself together, and 
 making a better show of good-humor than I really felt; 
 but you will leave that poor girl unmolested, Miss Jack- 
 man. She is one of my reclaimed, you see." 
 
 " I shall see her this very day," answered Miss Jackman. 
 
 " No, I really must protest. You are aware, Miss Philip- 
 son, and ladies and gentlemen all, that there are methods 
 of checking injudicious enthusiasm, in extreme cases. 
 
io YONE SANTO: 
 
 Miss Jackman already knows something about consular au- 
 thority, I have been told, and I am confident that she 
 would not care to confront it again. At any rate, it must 
 be understood that the young girl is not to be persecuted 
 into blindness. With respect to Yone Santo, my interest 
 is much deeper " 
 
 " Undoubtedly," interrupted the irrepressible Jackman, 
 " and therefore the more need that she should be reclaimed, 
 while there is time. That is, unless Doctor Charwell pro- 
 poses to have legal or consular authority extended also to 
 her." 
 
 " Madam," I replied, with restored equability of manner, 
 but with anything but serenity of temper, " as I know her 
 thoroughly, I have no fear of evil results from any ac- 
 quaintance she may make. If I did not know her so well, 
 I might suffer the sort of apprehension which, as my friend 
 Kracken will tell you, always possesses American physi- 
 cians in Italy when they see the native practitioners at- 
 tempting to cure the miliare." 
 
 Kracken was one of the class of " medical missionaries," 
 honest and well disposed, and the least disputatious of 
 mortal men. He declined to satisfy Miss Jackman's curi- 
 osity as to the miliare, whereupon the lady, with undimin- 
 ished courage, demanded that I should give the explana- 
 tion myself. 
 
 "Don't ask," said Kracken, looking a little scared. 
 
 " Oh, but I will ask," insisted the undaunted reclaimer. 
 "Having gone so far, Doctor Charwell is not to stop just 
 when it suits his convenience." 
 
 "Very well, Miss Jackman; I will not disappoint you. 
 It is believed by most medical men outside of Italy that the 
 average physician of that country is capable of treating the 
 miliare, and nothing else. Consequently, whenever sum- 
 moned, no matter for what disease, he announces a case of 
 his favorite fever, and straightway begins to talk so much 
 about it, and to represent it in so many interesting lights, 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. n 
 
 that the patient soon shows signs of being contaminated. 
 Then the admirable doctor goes to work with his conven- 
 tional remedies and sometimes the sufferer doesn't die." 
 
 Miss Jackman looked puzzled; Miss Philipson, vaguely 
 alarmed. Kracken was horrified, and so was I, a little, 
 when I found how far my anger had led me. To avoid 
 further temptation, I hastily took leave of the hostess before 
 my meaning had become generally apparent, and promptly 
 retreated from the scene. 
 
 As I passed into the street, I observed, just before me, the 
 young lady who had tried, with a few kind words, to stem 
 the current of prejudice and ill-feeling. She had left the 
 house by a side door, while I was last speaking. 
 
 "If you are not in too great haste, Miss Gibson," I 
 called to her, " pray wait, and let me thank you for what 
 you said about my little friend. It gratified me, and touched 
 me." 
 
 " I said what I thought, Doctor Charwell," she answered; 
 <' but I ought to be less forward with my opinions. Those 
 ladies are so much older, and oh, dear, how could you be 
 so bitter to that Miss Jackman ? " 
 
 " What she said was very bitter to me. But no matter; 
 I am surprised at my own roughness. I shall keep myself 
 out of the way hereafter. Her objects of attack are mostly 
 indifferent to me, and I did not imagine she could ever 
 touch one of my tender spots. Nor did I believe that 
 Yone Santo could be brought within the reach of human 
 malice." 
 
 " It would be hard, "said the warm-hearted neophyte, "to 
 believe anything- anything unkind of that sweet little girl. 
 I'm sure I should not know where to look for goodness, in 
 this country, if such a face and such a voice "can go with 
 wickedness." 
 
 " You cannot come to much harm, my good young lady," 
 I responded, "by trusting to your instinct in these matters. 
 At any rate, it is a better guide than rusty and corroded 
 
12 YONE SANTO: 
 
 prejudice. I will not prompt you to defy authority, but I 
 give you a practical old man's earnest assurance that a life 
 like Yone Santo's may teach lessons of courage, high prin- 
 ciple, faithfulness to duty, and patience in adversity to any 
 who will study it. Do not forget what I say. Try to know 
 that gentle creature. You will find that if there is much to 
 impart, there is also much to be learned, in association with 
 these people." 
 
 On leaving this new acquaintance, I registered an inter- 
 nal vow that I would never again, no matter what the prov- 
 ocation, commit a folly like that from which I had just 
 emerged, by no means with consciousness of the highest 
 credit to myself. Nor, in society, would I break silence 
 upon any of the subjects which my respectable missionary 
 friends were accustomed to discuss with a logic peculiar to 
 their order and satisfactory to most of their adherents, but 
 as unwholesome and indigestible to the laity as the products, 
 similarly home-made, of Miss Philipson's kitchen. I may 
 say on my own behalf, that it was only on rare occasions 
 that I thus transgressed. It was my habit to take advan- 
 tage of such opportunities for entertainment as presented 
 themselves in our somewhat restricted community, and, 
 among these, the Philipson reunions were far too enjoyable 
 to be neglected. The superficial, one-sided, and utterly 
 selfish views of life, education, religion, and humanity 
 which were there propounded by well-intending but curi- 
 ously unintelligent and illiterate professors of a narrow and 
 microscopic Christianity were often irresistibly diverting in 
 their unconscious humor. The sincerity of these same 
 professors, their self-reliant faith, and their adamantine con- 
 ceit kept them unaware that concealment of their spiritual 
 nudity and squalor was desirable. Totally ignorant that 
 indecency was not necessarily confined to physical ex- 
 posure, and that intellectual nakedness might also have its 
 repulsive features, they presented such spectacles as, I 
 fear, only an abandoned cynicism could view without com- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 13 
 
 passion. I was not, I trust, an abandoned cynic, and many 
 a shock of honest shame thrilled through me as I witnessed 
 these revelations of mental feebleness and incapacity on 
 the part of men and women supposed to be entrusted with 
 the noblest of human duties, and to be striving for a re- 
 vival of the spirit which animated the other extremity of 
 Asia nineteen hundred years ago. Their word's and acts, 
 however, were beyond my interference, and I saw no 
 reason why I might not take my share of the amusement 
 they afforded. But I had no wish for such experiences as 
 I had that day gone through, and I forthwith resolved to 
 encounter no more temptations of the kind. The arena of 
 religious controversy, as it was understood by my mission- 
 ary friends, should be disturbed by no further intrusions on 
 my part. 
 
 III. 
 
 A CHILD OF JAPAN. 
 
 BETWEEN Yone Santo and myself a trustful and tender 
 friendship had long existed, dating, indeed, from the first 
 year of my sojourn in her native land. We were brought 
 together by accident, through which alone, at that early 
 period, was it possible for acquaintances to be formed by 
 ladies of Japan, however youthful, on the one side, and 
 masculine visitors from the distant West, however aged, on 
 the other. I was passing a summer month at one of the 
 popular bathing resorts near the main road of the empire, 
 looking with eager eye for fresh novelties to enjoy, when, at 
 the close of a sultry day, a little traveling procession en- 
 tered the courtyard of the inn which was my temporary 
 dwelling. Such miniature caravans were common at that 
 epoch, for, after some years of uncertainty, it was finally 
 understood by all that the sovereign had permanently estab- 
 lished his court in the great Eastern capital, therefore 
 
I 4 YONE SANTO: 
 
 newly named Tokio, instead of Yedo, as of old, and the 
 last of the feudal nobles, with their numerous retainers, 
 were gathering to that centre in loyal acknowledgment of 
 the restoration of imperial power, while, from all parts of 
 the nation, families were flocking to the metropolitan head- 
 quarters of their provincial chiefs. 
 
 The group that came in view on the afternoon of which 
 I speak was singular only in the circumstance that it was 
 led by a young girl, apparently about ten years old, 
 the first I had seen in so prominent a position of au- 
 thority. She walked lightly and briskly in advance of her 
 norimono*, the ends of her long robe being tucked in 
 her girdle, for the disencumberment of her feet. Beside 
 her marched a kitten, preternatural in dignity and gravity, 
 and wearing the air of subdued melancholy peculiar to the 
 feline race in Japan, which is interpreted by philosophic 
 foreigners as a mute protest against the irrevocable fiat 
 that deprives them of tails. A few yards behind strode a 
 couple of male attendants, duly armed with the conven- 
 tional two swords; and following these came a line of three 
 or four other norimono, variously occupied, a servingman 
 of humble grade bringing up the rear. The somewhat un- 
 usual appearance of a child at the head of the party was 
 afterward explained by the information that mademoiselle 
 represented, in Japanese usage, the master of the family. 
 She was the sole daughter of a gentleman of Nagoya city, 
 Yamada Naonobu by name, who had taken the journey 
 in advance of a portion of his household. By right of birth, 
 this daughter had precedence over aunts and certain other 
 elderly relations, to whom, in domestic privacy, she was 
 doubtless more submissive than an infant of European line- 
 age would be, but over whom, on public occasions, she was 
 expected to assert the nominal superiority which was her 
 legitimate inheritance. 
 
 * Norimono; a cage-like box in which travelers were formerly borne, 
 by stout porters, from place to place. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 15 
 
 I learned, in course of time, that she had never before 
 beheld a foreigner. I also learned that if her father had 
 been present to relieve her from her burden of ceremony 
 she would have rushed into seclusion, from the disquieting 
 spectacle, as rapidly as her little legs could have carried 
 her. But the sense of a stern duty sustained her, and she 
 entered the spacious porch, in which I was sittting, with an 
 unfaltering step; betraying no consciousness of the prox- 
 imity of one of the awful invaders of her country, except 
 by interposing between us the barrier of an expanded sun- 
 umbrella. She disappeared, with her retinue, and I heard 
 no more of the party until the next morning, when my in- 
 terpreter casually mentioned that they proposed resting a 
 few days, to give one of the ancient aunts, who was ailing, 
 the benefit of the famous baths. Thus it happened that 
 another illustration of the power of traditional training over 
 natural instinct was presently afforded me; although I was 
 then too ignorant to understand the conflict of opposing in- 
 fluences which passed before my eyes. 
 
 I was carelessly lounging in the tavern garden, when the 
 little maid entered, unaware of human contiguity, and 
 accompanied only by the staid and reserved kitten before 
 mentioned, and a doll of uncertain age but well-preserved 
 exterior. At sight of me she would have retired, after a 
 hasty salutation, had I not, in such imperfect speech as I 
 could then command, begged permission to inspect her 
 proteges. By way of compensation, I offered her a collec- 
 tion of photographs, and, summoning my interpreter, en- 
 gaged her in a conversation which, though formal and 
 ceremonious, appeared to cause her no serious embarrass- 
 ment. To every question of mine she responded gra- 
 ciously and freely, until one of her elderly relatives hap- 
 pened to come upon the scene; when my youthful colloquist 
 was suddenly stricken dumb, refusing further share in the 
 conversation, and mutely referring all subsequent interroga- 
 tories to her senior, who from that point took up the dialogue 
 
1 6 YONE SANTO: 
 
 with perfect courtesy and without apparent reluctance. 
 My immediate impression was that I had lighted upon 
 an adept in pure feminine coquetry, the arts of which may 
 be supposed intuitive in the tenderest ages and the most 
 unfamiliar climes. Repeated examples of the little lady's 
 willingness to confer with me, in a certain grave and pre- 
 cise fashion, when no other member of her family was at 
 hand, and of her prompt relapse into silence on the ap- 
 proach of any of her elders, tended to confirm this conclu- 
 sion. I am sorry to remember how long it was before I 
 discovered the utter injustice of my suspicion. The mis- 
 chief that has been done by the readiness of foreigners to 
 leap to the same conviction is wholly beyond conjecture. 
 The simple truth is that, among the well-bred classes in 
 Japan, every child is taught that he or she must be pre- 
 pared to take up the task of entertaining, to "do the 
 honors," in New England phrase, in the absence of those 
 who are more maturely qualified to perform that duty. 
 Timidity, sensitiveness, even repulsion, must not stand in 
 the way of this delicate obligation. Many a stranger has 
 observed, during his first, or second, or third visit to a Jap- 
 anese family, that the daughters of the house have shyly 
 kept themselves aloof, murmuring indistinctly when 
 addressed, and taking no part in the social proceedings 
 beyond pouring a cup of tea, or offering candies and cakes. 
 Calling again, and finding only these daughters at home, 
 whereas he had previously been received by the whole 
 household, he has been surprised by a complete abandon- 
 ment of the reserve before displayed, and gratified, we 
 may presume, by attentions which he had never expected 
 from the incarnations of bashfulness he had encountered 
 on other occasions. Little has he dreamed of the struggle 
 of those poor girls to fulfill with composure and gracious- 
 ness the behests of their system of hospitality. Still less, I 
 regret to say, has it ordinarily been his habit to seek a rea- 
 sonable and decorous explanation of the phenomenon. A 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 17 
 
 custom founded upon the truest refinement has been made 
 the basis of theories which are never less than absurd, and 
 are too often shameful, although, as I regard it, the shame 
 belongs exclusively to those whose imagination makes haste 
 to misjudge what it imperfectly comprehends. 
 
 And so it happened that I fancied myself getting upon 
 pleasant terms with a pretty damsel of ten years, whereas 
 in truth I was subjecting her, whenever I encountered her 
 alone, to nothing less than a species of moral torture. I 
 was interested in her chiefly because she was the only very 
 young girl whom I had found disposed to tolerate me at 
 all. As a rule, children of her sex and age had shunned 
 my amiable advances with indifference or aversion. I 
 attributed the contrast of her demeanor to a superior intel- 
 ligence, but it was really due to the superiority of her birth 
 and culture. Until then I had not chanced to fall in with 
 any of the Japanese gentry, and had no idea that the rules 
 of her training forbade her to manifest the feelings which 
 probably possessed her. But there is no doubt that her nat- 
 ural acuteness aided her in overcoming an instinct which 
 was merely conventional. Circumstances presently placed 
 us in fairly confidential relations with one another. Her 
 aunt's illness grew serious, and my professional assistance 
 was found effective to an unexpected extent. The malady 
 was of a kind which yielded rapidly to a specified treatment, 
 and the wonder of the unsophisticated Japanese was ex- 
 treme. I observed that my little friend, in particular, 
 watched all the proceedings with close intentness. Was it 
 to learn, if possible, some part of the method to be pursued, 
 in case of future need ? Partly that, no doubt. Indeed, 
 she afterward confided to me that her neko (kitten) suffered 
 from rheumatism, the consequence of an infantile calamity, 
 and she hoped to gather a few suggestions for her playfel- 
 low's relief and comfort. But, in a broader sense, she was a 
 passionate seeker for knowledge in every form, and the 
 evidence of what she considered my miraculous skill in 
 
1 8 YONE SANTO.- 
 
 restoring her relative was sufficient to invest me, in her 
 esteem, with marvelous attributes of wisdom and genius. 
 A "sensei" (learned man) is always an object of respect 
 in Japan, and this child was not only roused to admiration, 
 but, in a vague way, hoped to obtain, by communion with 
 me, some little addition to her own juvenile store of erudi- 
 tion. Finding me inclined to humor her, she attached her- 
 self to me with almost a blind devotion; poring over the 
 small collection of books I had with me; building wild pro- 
 jects of a course of study then and there to be instituted; 
 starting valorously upon explorations in the mazes of the 
 alphabet; groping among labyrinthine numerals; and beg- 
 ging me, with timid wistfulness, always to be kind to her, 
 and to help her in the hard struggle she would have to 
 make to get an education in her new home at Tokio. 
 
 IV. 
 
 INFANTILE PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS. 
 
 SHALL I tell the story of Yone's kitten ? Of the early 
 adversity which brought upon it the premature aches and 
 pains from which the young mistress would have studied to 
 shield it ? Of the persecution from which she had rescued 
 it, thus rendering the little animal as in the natural order 
 of things an object of unspeakable endearment to its pre- 
 server ? Why not ? It will serve, perhaps better than pages 
 of stiff description, to exhibit in a clear light certain features 
 of the child's character which were then developing, and 
 which grew with her growth as she advanced toward maturity. 
 
 She was sitting in a snug corner of the garden, one 
 afternoon, chatting confidentially to her cherished com- 
 panions, when I ventured, through my interpreter, to join 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 19 
 
 in the conversation, her original distrust of me having by 
 this time almost melted away.* 
 
 " Which do you love better, Yone, the cat or the doll ? " 
 
 " Ah, which do I ?" she answered contemplatively, in the 
 sweet, silvery voice which belongs to the children of Japan. 
 
 " Yes, which would you rather lose ? " 
 
 " Truly, it would be a great sorrow to lose either." 
 
 " Now tell me, which will you give me for my own ? " 
 
 No immediate response, except a look of perplexity 
 and dismay, which gradually passed away as she gazed in- 
 tently at me. 
 
 " Ah, the Doctor is jesting." 
 
 "Certainly I am jesting; nobody shall take away your 
 treasures. But I wish to know why you are so fond of 
 them." 
 
 " They are my children." 
 
 " To be sure; and you prefer the doll because she is 
 older." 
 
 " Yes, she is older but " and here she sank into deep 
 reflection, as if the problem presented difficulties hitherto 
 undreamed of to her sense of maternal justice and impar- 
 tiality. 
 
 " And then she never misbehaves," I added, desiring to 
 stimulate the course of her ideas, which were sometimes 
 delightfully quaint and fresh. 
 
 "But she does; she often behaves ill. Not very ill; just 
 the same as neko-san."f 
 
 " What, exactly the same ? " 
 
 * Persons conversant with the Japanese language need no reminder 
 that its translation admits of a wide latitude. But in this, as in other 
 similar cases, I have endeavored to reproduce, with all possible exacti- 
 tude, in apposite English, the thoughts which were expressed in the 
 Eastern tongue. 
 
 f It may amuse readers who are unfamiliar with Japan, as it always 
 amuses travelers in the East, to learn that the Japanese suffix of courtesy 
 which corresponds to our " Mr." or "Mrs." is applied to animals as 
 habitually as to human beings. The dumb inmates of a household are 
 invariably addressed as " Mr. Dog," " Mr. Cat," "Mr. Parrot, "etc., until 
 their proper individual designations are known, when they are called 
 " Mr. Rover," " Mr. Tom," " Mr. Polly," or whatever the correct name 
 may be, 
 
20 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " Exactly the same. Please understand, Doctor-san, how 
 unhappy the neko will be if he hears he is naughtier than 
 the doll. My doll must not be better than my kitten." 
 
 "You are very skillful to keep a strict balance, Yone; 
 many foreign ladies would be glad to do as much with 
 their children." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor-san, it is not real," she answered, nervously. 
 " My doll you know, my doll is nobody." 
 
 She made this acknowledgment in a cautious undertone, 
 pointing stealthily at the little stuffed image, as if tenderty 
 reluctant to wound its feelings. Then, as I waited for a more 
 intelligible explanation, she began to cast furtive glances 
 at the interpreter, intimating, so far as I could guess her 
 meaning, that she was not unwilling to impart to me, pri- 
 vately, if it could be done, the secret of her disciplinary 
 art, but doubted the propriety of taking into her confidence 
 a third party, who possibly would laugh at her. 
 
 "Never mind, Yone," I said; "you need not tell me 
 everything." 
 
 " I think I will tell you," she replied, with some hesita- 
 tion. "My neko, you know, is real; he is alive. My doll 
 my doll " 
 
 The lines came into her childish brow, as she sought for 
 words to express what was plain enough within her mind, 
 but which it puzzled her to put into language. 
 
 " My doll," she continued, " is neither good nor bad, if I 
 must tell you the truth. She is only my doll. But if I 
 pretend she is good, then she is good; and if I pretend she 
 is naughty, she is so. But it is different with my kitten. 
 He is sometimes truly bad and disobedient. That is be- 
 cause he is so young. But he is very sorry, and, not to let 
 him feel too much ashamed when I scold him, I scold my 
 doll at the same time. She is just as bad as I choose to 
 have her and so I make them always both alike. It 
 isn't real, you must understand. It is I beg you to excuse 
 me; I cannot say it at all," 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 21 
 
 " You have said it very well, Yone. I see how it is now. 
 I understand, too, why you cannot decide which you care 
 for the more." 
 
 " Indeed," replied the child, pleased at being thus en- 
 couraged, and enjoying the opportunity of working out her 
 little fable in seeming seriousness, " indeed, it is difficult. 
 Shall I tell you all ? I know lam often very unjust to the 
 doll, because, really, really, she never can do anything 
 wrong, and she is scolded for nothing, and I pity her. But 
 then she does not mind the scolding, being only a doll; 
 while my kitten, who is real and alive, does mind the scold- 
 ing, and so I am obliged to pity him. What do you think, 
 Doctor-san ? I will pretend they are both yours. There, 
 they are yours. Now, which is your favorite ? " 
 
 " Yes, I see; they are mine, and I am Yone Yamada. 
 That is simple enough. Well, then, the question is, Which 
 is my favorite ? Let me think; how long have I had them; 
 when did 1 first get them ? That is important, and I have 
 forgotten all about it." 
 
 The child's eyes sparkled, as if the sympathy and coop- 
 eration of a grown person in her innocent fancies were rare 
 and strange to her experience. 
 
 "Oh, I can tell you," she said. "Your father gave you 
 the doll, you know." 
 
 " Did he ? Yes, he gave me the doll. But when was it ? 
 I cannot remember." 
 
 "Many years ago; why, you were too young to remem- 
 ber." 
 
 " Of course; and the kitten ? " 
 
 Her countenance suddenly fell. Our little comedy had 
 evidently brought us to a point which she had not foreseen, 
 and had perhaps awakened unpleasant recollections. 
 
 " It does not matter, Yone," I said, hastily; " I can decide 
 without that. Or, let us remember that it is all play." 
 
 Again she regarded me with one of the keen looks by 
 which I was still occasionally reminded of her inward 
 
22 YONE SANTO: 
 
 doubts as to the perfect trustworthiness of the unfamiliar 
 foreigner. Then casting her eyes upon the ground, and 
 seeming to gather herself together for an unwonted effort, 
 she said, falteringly, 
 
 "No, it is not all play. I did not think; but I will tell 
 you about the kitten." 
 
 "Indeed, you shall not," I answered. "Come, we will 
 talk of something else." 
 
 "But I must, Doctor-san; it is right. I do ask you to 
 hear me." 
 
 The decision in her countenance was remarkable, for so 
 young a child. She was plainly resolved to relate some- 
 thing which, however painful, she considered it her duty to 
 impart without reserve. 
 
 "It was in the third month," she began, "and, as my 
 father was about to leave Nagoya, we were all going, one 
 day, to kneel at the graves of our family, in the Soken 
 burial-ground. We had nearly reached the gate, when I 
 saw, on the other side of a moat, many boys, jumping, and 
 shouting, and throwing things into the water. Then I 
 looked closely, and saw a small kitten this kitten my 
 kitten climbing slowly up the steep stone side. The boys 
 caught it, and threw it far away into the water again. Oh, 
 Doctor-san, I did not think what I was doing. It was very 
 wrong, but I ran across a bridge, screaming and screaming 
 again. Some of the boys ran away, some threw stones 
 worse than before; they would not heed me, and so I I 
 the moat is not deep at all, and " 
 
 "I see, my child; you went in and saved the poor 
 kitten." 
 
 " It was wrong," she said, in a voice scarcely above a 
 whisper. 
 
 * Wrong ! " exclaimed I. " How can you say so ? " 
 
 " I spoiled my dress, and could not go with the others to 
 kneel before our graves." 
 
 "But wrong? Think again, Yone." 
 
A CH2LD OF JAPAN*. 23 
 
 " I cried out in the street, and disobeyed my grand- 
 mother." 
 
 " But you saved the kitten's life. Consider. Would you 
 not do the same again ?" 
 
 She looked around her timorously, and, seeing that none 
 of her own people were near, answered, 
 
 " I am afraid I would; but I am not a good girl." 
 
 I peered into her big dark eyes, to find if I could detect 
 any sign of affectation or pretense, but there was none. 
 Her self-depreciation was undoubtedly sincere. 
 
 " Tell me, Yone, do you think it wrong to do a kind 
 thing?" 
 
 " No, oh no; but I ran away from my father." 
 
 " Were you not glad to get this pretty pet, all to your- 
 self?" 
 
 "Truly, yes; but my best dress was torn and spoiled." 
 
 " What is that, compared with your beautiful kitten ? " 
 
 "Nothing, to me; oh, nothing. But my grandmother 
 said I did not respect our dead." 
 
 " Tell me what happened next, Yone." 
 
 " It was not much. Grandmother told me to throw the 
 cat away, but I believe I cried very loud, and my father said 
 I might take it home, and he would decide afterward. I 
 went quickly back, and when they returned the neko was 
 clean and almost dry. Grandmother was still much dis- 
 pleased, but my father was smiling and gentle. He had been 
 talking with the good priest at Soken-ji, who asked where 
 I was, and why I was not with them. When he heard the 
 reason, he told my father that our dead fathers and mothers 
 would not be angry with me for saving the kitten from 
 being killed, instead of going to bow before their tombs. 
 And the kind priest sent me a present." 
 
 "What was it, Yone?" 
 
 " I do not know; grandmother said I must not have it. 
 I never saw it." 
 
 " Indeed ! An interesting old lady, I should judge." 
 
24 YOKE SANTO: 
 
 " Yes, she is very wise, wiser than anybody. And she 
 was willing, after all, that I should keep the kitten." 
 
 "Ah, that is better." 
 
 " At first she was not willing, but my father thought we 
 might decide by the wishes of the greater number. We 
 were five, all together, and he began by saying he believed 
 we need not send the kitten away. That was one for me, 
 and I was grateful to my good father. It seemed that per- 
 haps he thought my aunts, or one of them, would follow 
 him. But grandmother was very positive, and the aunts 
 were both obliged to agree with her. Then my father said, 
 Yone, we are only two against three. I am afraid the 
 neko must go.' I said that if he went, so little and so 
 weak, he would surely die. I know my father was sorry, 
 for he answered, ' If we had only been two against two, or 
 three against three, it would be different.' Then I kneeled 
 to my father, and begged him to listen. I said, < Oh, 
 father, it is so hard to think of, that we must send the suf- 
 fering, trembling creature out to die. Forgive your 
 daughter if she dares to ask you who, of all that live and 
 breathe now in this room, is the most concerned in your 
 judgment; who must feel it the most deeply; who will suffer, 
 or rejoice, the most/ 'Why, truly,' he said, ' that is easy 
 to answer: it is the cat, and no other.' Then I bowed 
 down again, and said, ' In that case, if it please you, we are 
 three against three, for surely the cat has no wish to go, 
 and it is just that his opinion should be taken with the 
 rest.' My father laughed, and looked as if he would con- 
 sent, but grandmother said quickly, ' No, no, the cat has no 
 voice! ' At that moment, suddenly, the poor animal, who 
 was in my arms, began to cry out and make a great noise, 
 and my father laughed more and more, and said that 
 everything was settled; I might have my wish. Then he 
 left us immediately, and grandmother did not object any 
 more." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 25 
 
 "Why, it was quite a miracle," said I, affecting great 
 astonishment. 
 
 " What is a miracle ? " asked Yone. 
 
 I explained as well as I could, at the same time highly 
 eulogizing the kitten's instinct. 
 
 " No," said Yone, with cautious deliberation, "no; I do 
 not think it was a miracle." 
 
 "At any rate, it was a remarkable coincidence." 
 
 "What is that?" again demanded the child. 
 
 With somewhat greater difficulty, the interpreter being 
 here at a loss, and even the dictionaries affording us no 
 guidance ("coincidence" being a word for which there was 
 then no Japanese equivalent), I made this also plain, 
 causing her once more to ponder earnestly. 
 
 " I do not think," she presently observed, with an air of 
 graver solemnity than she had yet displayed, although the 
 story had been told throughout with the dolorousness of a 
 penitential confession, " I do not think that it was a 
 remarkable co co co " 
 
 " Never mind the foreign polysyllable, my young philol- 
 ogist. It was fortunate, at least, that your kitten took just 
 that opportunity to make himself heard." 
 
 "Yes," she admitted, "it was fortunate it was fortunate 
 and I think I will not speak any more now, if you 
 please." 
 
 Her voice was steady, but I could see tears gathering in 
 her eyes. So, to shield her from observation, I sent my 
 translator away, and, after addressing a few instructive re- 
 marks to the doll, withdrew myself to a distant corner, 
 screening my little friend from my own scrutiny by means 
 of a newspaper. 
 
 About a quarter of an hour after, she crept to my side, 
 with her kitten under one arm, and of all unexpected 
 things my copy of Hepburn's Dictionary under the other. 
 Laying the volume, wide open, upon my knee, she pointed 
 to a Japanese character which she had laboriously hunted 
 
26 YONE SANTO: 
 
 up, evidently with the desire to escape the interpreter's 
 intervention, and lifted her woebegone face in pathetic 
 appeal to my comprehension, softly repeating with her lips 
 the word which she indicated with her finger. The trans- 
 lation was "To take between the ends of the fingers; to 
 take a pinch." Having read this, I turned for further elu- 
 cidation, which she supplied by transferring her hand from 
 the book to her living burden, and nipping its flesh so vig- 
 orously as to call forth an eloquent wail of astonishment 
 and remonstrance. 
 
 Nothing could be clearer. The timely feline outcry at 
 the critical instant of the creature's fate was not a miracle, 
 nor yet a strange coincidence. It was the natural effect of 
 a lucky inspiration on the child's part, that was all. Per- 
 ceiving that she had made herself understood, she nodded 
 her head several times, with a seriousness which checked 
 my impulse to laugh at the disclosure; tried to fall on her 
 knees, until I managed to convince her that such abasement 
 was superfluous; and finally divining that she had not en- 
 tirely forfeited my good-will by her revelation, took herself 
 and her playmates away, still smiling mournfully, but cer- 
 tainly less dejected than she had been at any time since 
 my untoward question as to the origin of her relations with 
 the neko-san-. 
 
 Who could resist these pretty and touching evidences 
 of simplicity and candor ? It was a pleasant study to trace 
 the current of the child's ingenuous thoughts, and endeavor 
 to accompany her through the various perplexities in which 
 her mind had wandered. I failed entirely, as I afterward 
 learned, in fathoming the actual depth of her emotions, but 
 my inferences were at least in the right direction. In 
 truth, her sensitive soul was painfully agitated by the 
 struggles of timidity, apprehension, and harsh necessity 
 created by her recollection of the kitten's rescue and its at- 
 tendant incidents. That she must tell me all that had hap- 
 pened, having once opened the subject, she did not allow 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 27 
 
 herself to question; notwithstanding that the recital would 
 fill her with an agony of mortification, possibly subject her 
 to fresh penalties, and almost inevitably deprive her of my 
 aid in her future studies. For she never doubted the strict 
 justice of her grandmother's verdict, and fully anticipated 
 that I would view her conduct with similar censure. She 
 was not a good girl; she had committed grievous faults, 
 which she was compelled to lay open to the inspection of 
 one who, though kindly disposed toward her, was almost a 
 stranger. The very goodness and generosity he had 
 shown made it the more imperative that she should conceal 
 nothing. To deceive him would be a darker shame than to 
 suffer the consequences of her misdeeds. Hardest of all, 
 she must tell her tale through the cold and unsympathetic 
 medium of an interpreter. Nevertheless, it was her duty. 
 It would be difficult to look me in the face, after the dis- 
 closure; but if she left me in ignorance, she could not look 
 me in the face at all. Yet how to convey the terrible avowal 
 of her culminating fraud, the strategic pinch which her 
 grandmother still refused to condone ? No interpreter could 
 be trusted with that guilty secret. Hence her reliance upon 
 the dictionary, with the subsequent touch of pantomime. 
 I was glad, in later years, to remember that I had not 
 laughed at her, as was my impulse at the time. In her 
 overwrought state, anything like mirth, however good- 
 natured, would have cut her to the quick, and probably 
 gone far to break up the confidence she had begun to ex- 
 tend to me. 
 
 It was long before Yone could bring herself to regard her 
 act of natural tenderness and humanity in the proper light; 
 and, during the whole of her girlhood, her faith in the right- 
 eousness of the aged relative's judgment remained un- 
 shaken. What child of her years, in Japan, would dream 
 of doubting the infallibility of a parent or a grandparent ? 
 Any attempt to disturb her convictions on this point would 
 have startled her beyond measure, and would have severely 
 
28 YONE SANTO - 
 
 strained, if not severed, the pleasant ties that held us to- 
 gether during that summer sojourn in the country. I left 
 her in the enjoyment of an illusion which she never ceased 
 to cherish until it was forcibly dispelled by the torturing ex- 
 periences of her. later life. It was a great concession, for 
 her, to accept the indirect consolation I offered. Beyond 
 that limit she did not desire to be comforted. 
 
 The subject was referred to only once again, in those 
 days. She began the morning which followed her awful 
 revelation by sedulously avoiding me. As I made no ad- 
 vances, she presently came shyly hovering, looking at me 
 over her shoulder, or from places of imaginary conceal- 
 ment, such as the corners of the house, or clusters of 
 bushes, or adjacent hedges. Next, she drew near, a picture 
 of bashful diffidence, and waited for opportunities of at- 
 tempting slight services, like brushing a fallen leaf from 
 my table, or picking up a paper which the wind had blown 
 away. The performance of these afforded her such satis- 
 faction that, out of pure charity, I was constrained to drop 
 a knife or a pencil, now and then, for the sole purpose of 
 allowing her to replace them. When my interpreter came 
 to join me, she disappeared with celerity; but finding that 
 her flight attracted no notice, she instituted a series of 
 irregular approaches, until, having reached a spot some two 
 or three yards in front of me, she assumed a statue-like 
 immobility, never stirring for half an hour, but keeping her 
 big appealing eyes fixed upon me all the while, and speak- 
 ing volumes without uttering a word. 
 
 ' " Bless the child," said I to myself, after I had endured 
 it as long as possible; " she will throw me into a fit." 
 
 I closed my books, and leaned back, as if the morning's 
 work were ended. Soon she stepped nearer, and intimated, 
 humbly, that if I were at leisure she would like to ask a few 
 questions about America. Everything was different from 
 Japan, was it not ? All the birds could sing, and the flow- 
 ers all smelled sweet, and the cats had tails. Yes, she 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 29 
 
 knew that; and the children, they were always good, of 
 course. What, not better than in Japan ? Then, if they 
 sometimes did wrong, would their friends forgive them ? 
 All this tended one way, and I found means to convince 
 her that she had not sunk irretrievably in my esteem; that 
 I was in no degree less fond of her than before; and, in 
 spite of her fears and anxieties on this last point, that I 
 would keep my promise, in case we should meet in Tokio, 
 and help her, if it were possible for me to do so, in the great 
 object of her aspirations, the attainment of learning. 
 
 Only a little child, and perhaps, so far as I was con- 
 cerned, only a pretty playfellow for a few idle days; but a 
 child in whose future it was impossible not to feel a deep 
 and genuine interest. I asked myself if the strange com- 
 bination of shrinking humility and high ambition; naive 
 simplicity and bright intelligence; timidity so extreme that 
 neither her sex nor her youth could fairly account for it, yet 
 above which she rose dauntlessly when sustained by her 
 resolute sense of duty, and courage sufficient at the mo- 
 ment of need to conquer her girlish fear, and blind her to 
 consequences which could be forgotten only in the heat of 
 a noble impulse, I asked myself if this conjunction of di- 
 verse qualities were the possible effect of an Eastern train- 
 ing, the result of the Japanese system of social and domes- 
 tic culture, to be found whenever sought for; or if accident 
 had brought me in contact with a child of exceptional en- 
 dowments, upon whom artificial methods of education had 
 thus far made little impression, and whose generous nature 
 had been trammeled, rather than helped forward, by con- 
 ventional practices. In any case, I earnestly desired to 
 watch her course toward womanhood, and should have 
 been glad to constitute myself her guide, if no better were 
 at hand, during her years of study. I hoped that, at the 
 least, I might enjoy the privilege of offering such aid and 
 encouragement as should clear away what I then considered 
 with the ignorance of a novice in the land the most 
 formidable obstacles from the path she longed to pursue. 
 
30 YONE SANTO: 
 
 V. 
 
 DISCIPLINE AND DUTY. 
 
 BUT Tokio is a large city, a huge congeries of ill-con- 
 nected, unnamed thoroughfares, in which the most deter- 
 mined search for casual friends might be defeated; and 
 while I always looked forward to a renewal of acquaintance 
 with the little lady, I was too busily occupied with impor- 
 tant duties to allow myself time for possibly futile explora- 
 tion. Neither she nor any of her party had known pre- 
 cisely where they would reside, and, though I had given 
 them my own address, it appeared that they were in no 
 eagerness" to avail themselves of it. Had not her father 
 belonged to the true and ancient gentry, the chances are 
 that we should never have met again; but to one of that 
 punctilious order, the necessity of sooner or later acknowl- 
 edging a service rendered was as peremptory as a fixed 
 law of nature. 
 
 Some weeks after my return to the capital, therefore, I 
 was called upon by a gentleman of polished and engaging 
 manners, whose errand was to thank me for saving his sis- 
 ter from otherwise inevitable death, so he was pleased to 
 put it, and to feebly indicate the depth of his gratitude 
 by depositing in the hands of my servant a small basket 
 of eggs. I gave him such welcome as I could, offering him 
 sundry refreshments, which he not only enjoyed in his own 
 person, but several specimens of which he begged permis- 
 sion to carry away with him, for the gratification of his 
 household. There was nothing unusual in this proceeding. 
 It was quite in accord with Japanese etiquette. Nor was 
 there much to be wondered at in his frank avowal that the 
 cakes and sandwiches would be a rare and gladdening treat 
 
A CHILD OF JAP A iV. 31 
 
 to the ladies at home, old and young; for poverty entails 
 no shame, in the estimation of these people, and though it 
 would go very hard with a gentleman in difficulties before 
 he could ask assistance, or even accept it, unless in the 
 direst stress, he would know of no reason for concealing 
 his situation, or refusing to discuss it with the careless 
 gayety characteristic of an improvident race. With many 
 pleasant expectations, I speedily returned the call, and was 
 greeted with the seemingly cordial effusion which almost 
 invariably accompanies Japanese hospitality, even when ex- 
 tended to a foreigner by those uncompromising believers 
 in early principles who still nourish the distrust and sus- 
 picion which prevailed in their youth. Little Yone would 
 have remained in the background, obedient to the usage 
 hitherto explained, had I not drawn her forth, and es- 
 pecially questioned her with reference to the school pros- 
 pects. Alas, they were dim enough, and her heart was 
 heavy with the conviction that the hopes she had so hap- 
 pily cherished could never be realized. Education was 
 costly, under the most moderate teachers, unless one could 
 enter a government college; and to gain admission to one 
 of these, great interest was needed. The worthy father 
 explained that in the civil war, a few years earlier, the clan 
 to which he belonged, that of Owari, had been on the losing 
 side; and his daimio, though not directly involved in the 
 struggle, was destitute of influence at the capital, and could 
 give no help to an humble retainer, even in so small a 
 matter as this. 
 
 " Yone will not repine," said the head of the Yamada 
 household; " she knows we would indulge her if we could, 
 but the little power we once had is gone, and food is more 
 necessary than learning, after all, is it not, my child ? " 
 
 " My father knows best," answered the girl, with a sigh 
 in which the faintest breath of skepticism might have been 
 thought to mingle, if such a thing as distrust of the pater- 
 nal wisdom could have held a place in that loyal little 
 
32 YONE SANTO: 
 
 mind. As it was, the instinct of submission to authority 
 forbade her to enter upon a calculation of the relative dis- 
 advantages of ignorance and starvation. 
 
 It was my privilege, however, to avert the disappoint- 
 ment to which she had begun to resign herself. The 
 position which I had been called to Japan to hold gave me 
 a temporary control over minor educational affairs, and 
 without much difficulty I obtained permission for the child 
 to enter the best of the national schools for her sex, an 
 establishment recently opened for the study of the English 
 language, a knowledge of which might lead, in various 
 ways, to future advancement. Wishing to enjoy a bit of 
 dramatic effect, I disclosed nothing of my action until the 
 matter was arranged, when I visited my protegee, and quietly 
 handed her the certificate of admission. I had quick cause, 
 however, to regret having planned a surprise the conse- 
 quences of which I had not properly calculated. It was 
 plain that I had been misled by the girl's self-imposed 
 calmness, and had failed to discern the powerful springs of 
 emotion that were hidden beneath her superficial com- 
 posure. She read the document, at first, without under- 
 standing its meaning, or probably regarding it only as a 
 barren form or blank, possessing no validity or purpose. 
 But as she continued to gaze, its bearing upon her own 
 fortune became visible, and, like a flash, she saw the reali- 
 zation of her dearest desire. 
 
 With a wild glance she turned to me for confirmation, 
 and, reading it in my face, she suddenly grew pale, and 
 trembled so violently that I ran in alarm to support her. 
 She labored to maintain the outward equanimity which is 
 cultivated by well-bred Japanese, but her girlish strength 
 was overtaxed, and she began to gasp and sob convulsively, 
 though without tears, as if overcome by an unexpected 
 physical inability to fight against her frailty. For a mo- 
 ment I was as much frightened as her relations, ignorant of 
 the cause of this agitation, were amazed; but she presently 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 33 
 
 clasped her slender arms about her delicate body, as if 
 determined thus to impose tranquillity upon herself. She 
 did, indeed, succeed in controlling her excitement in a 
 marvelously short time, and, as soon as she could move 
 without betraying further weakness, she lifted the precious 
 paper to her forehead, and then, sinking upon her knees, 
 bowed herself to the ground before me, in token of a 
 thankfulness which she did not venture to convey in 
 speech. 
 
 Unfortunately, Yone's sentiments were not shared by 
 the majority of those around her. The father, who had a 
 better perception of the benefits of foreign culture than, at 
 that period, most of his class, and who, in his way, was an 
 affectionate parent, was genuinely gratified at the oppor- 
 tunity thus opened, although beset by many misgivings as 
 to the added expense that would fall upon the family. If 
 Yone's mother had been alive, the child would assuredly 
 have had one unfaltering advocate on her side, but of this 
 source of comfort and support she had been deprived in 
 her earliest infancy. Her aunts looked at the question 
 chiefly from the standpoint of domestic economy, not only 
 foreseeing the need of extra disbursements, but misliking, 
 also, the prospect of a daily absence which would lessen 
 the value of her home industry, and perhaps necessitate 
 additional outlay in the form of wages for a servant. The 
 grandmother, heartily coinciding in this latter view, was 
 furthermore stimulated to opposition by a blind hostility to 
 alien ideas of every description. Habits of thought, 
 methods of education, the entire scheme of Western life, 
 were all odious to her. And the influence of a grandmother 
 is so potent in the discipline of a Japanese home that, but 
 for the suddenness of my announcement and the immedi- 
 ate ratification of the plan by Yamada the sire, she might 
 have found means to prevent its consummation entirely. In 
 one sense, therefore, and possibly the most important one, 
 my little coup de theatre had been a happy inspiration. 
 
34 YONE SANTO: 
 
 Yamada, carried away by his daughter's pathetic demonstra- 
 tion, had distinctly given his sanction, and it was not then 
 possible as it would not have been in any case becoming, 
 while I was present for the women of the family to sig- 
 nify disapproval of a proffer which was obviously inspired 
 by friendliness and sincerity of heart. 
 
 It was fortunate for Yone's aspirations, as well as for my 
 peace of mind, that I was left in ignorance of their dissat- 
 isfaction. Years passed, indeed, before I learned the full 
 extent of their objections, and of their power to make their 
 displeasure felt. But I saw enough of what was in their 
 minds to make me urge that, as the plan was of my contriv- 
 ing, with deep, far-reaching objects of my own, I could 
 claim the right of assuming such costs as might be in- 
 curred, for school dress, books, and other equipment. I 
 should not have ventured to supply any deficiency caused 
 by Yone's withdrawal from her domestic labors, even if I 
 had comprehended that part of the difficulty, which I cer- 
 tainly did not. She, however, foresaw the impending 
 trouble, and hastened (all unknown to me, be it under- 
 stood) to avert internal dissension by pledging herself to 
 perform her complete share of indoor service, in time which 
 she would take from her ordinary rest by day and her sleep 
 by night. This meant that she would make up the five or 
 six hours required for attendance at school and for study 
 by depriving herself of an equal period of sleep in the 
 morning and relaxation at night. On these hard condi- 
 tions, the aunts abstained from violent antagonism. The 
 grandmother was never reconciled, and from that moment 
 mercilessly devoted herself to burdening the unhappy 
 child's life with weariness, grief, and pain. 
 
 The homes of the Japanese are not always the abodes of 
 bliss that genial foreigners have desired to paint them. 
 Absolute despotism is the law that rules in all of them, 
 though the despotism may be in many cases tempered by 
 natural amiability or a sense of honest duty. The mascu- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 35 
 
 line head of the family is the autocrat; but a large share of 
 his power is delegated to any aged woman or women that 
 may belong to the household. A grandmother, as in the 
 present instance, may work her own will, so far as the ad- 
 justment of interior affairs is concerned, without likelihood 
 of interference on any pretense. If Yone, in the years of 
 her schooling, had ever ventured to remonstrate, or to 
 appeal to her father against any hardship, she would have 
 been looked upon as a vicious and lawless rebel, heedless 
 of the authority to which she was subject by every precept 
 of filial piety; and she would probably have been recom- 
 mended, kindly but firmly, to remember that mute obedi- 
 ence is the unvarying principle upon which a child's exist- 
 ence should be modeled. But she would never have 
 dreamed of taking such a step. She was as gentle and 
 submissive as she was eager in her wish to gain knowledge. 
 In her little humble heart, she felt that more had been 
 granted her than she could ever repay, with all her exer- 
 tion; and if her soul was wounded by the treatment she 
 underwent, she did not murmur, but strove by renewed 
 effort to conciliate the inflexible will which controlled her 
 destiny. 
 
 She did not know, unless the knowledge came to her in 
 later days, that she was struggling for an impossibility. It 
 was her grandmother's set purpose to interrupt, by break- 
 ing down her strength and spirit, the course of study to 
 which Yamada, in a moment of weakness, had given his 
 consent. To the accomplishment of this end, the old 
 woman bent all her energy and invention. Hoping to 
 conquer easily, she became incensed at the child's power of 
 passive resistance, and gradually proceeded from petty an- 
 noyances to harsh oppression, and finally to bitter and in- 
 jurious persecution. It may be said, to explain if not to 
 palliate her cruelty, that she was one of a generation reared 
 in hatred to the foreigner; densely ignorant, as it was 
 formerly the habit of Japanese to keep their women; a 
 
36 YONE SANTO: 
 
 fanatic in the faith of her country's moral and intellectual 
 supremacy, as well as in the religion of her people; and 
 proud, withal, of the very chains which bound her mind in 
 narrow imprisonment. Moreover, there was no tie of true 
 affection between her and the girl. Her son had married, 
 not altogether to her fancy, a lady of social station superior 
 to his own, although he likewise might justly claim an 
 aristocratic pedigree, and the wife and mother-in-law had 
 never been in harmony. The consciousness of inferiority 
 to a junior has been, until recent times, the cause of in- 
 numerable hatreds and contests among the Japanese; and 
 to the older and less favored woman the comeliness and in- 
 telligence of Yone's mother rendered her an object of 
 odium. She was a fragile lady, too sensitive, in her deli- 
 cacy and refinement, for the surroundings to which she was 
 condemned, and after giving her husband and master two 
 daughters, the younger of whom alone survived, she fell 
 into the neglect which is the usual lot of Japanese wives 
 who supply no male heir to the family name. So she faded 
 out of existence, and Yone remained the only inmate of 
 her father's home who represented any but the paternal line. 
 He was fond of her, more fond than disappointed Japanese 
 fathers mostly are; but there was no warmth of affection 
 for her among the women who reared her. Perhaps it was 
 this lack of loving-kindness that turned her thoughts else- 
 where, and awakened the yearning for a career to which 
 she could attach herself with undivided devotion. 
 
 I have not set myself to relate the sorrows of Yone's 
 childhood, and I pass them over with brief recital. Her 
 tasks had been so various and so severe before entering the 
 school that, had I known of them, and of the necessity for 
 continuing them, I should have hesitated to satisfy her 
 wishes. The grandmother, privileged by age and position, 
 was exempt from toil of any kind. The two aunts occu- 
 pied themselves with a reasonable share of the housework, 
 and the lowest offices were performed by two menials, a 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 37 
 
 man and a maid. In Nagoya, their former residence, they 
 had been better provided; but prices were higher in Tokio, 
 while the income which sustained the house of Yamada 
 under the old regime had totally disappeared with the dis- 
 establishment of the feudal system. Whilst searching for 
 a livelihood, like thousands of his fellows, he could not 
 maintain the luxuries of former times, and it was considered 
 a proper concession to the household needs when, not long 
 after Yone's admission to the school, the last remaining 
 female servant was dismissed. Perhaps her father thought, 
 if he thought at all of the matter, that the labors of the out- 
 going individual would be divided among all who remained; 
 but, by the grandmother's decree, everything was thrust 
 upon the child of eleven years, who was already heavily 
 overweighted with drudgery. 
 
 At that period, she rose long before dawn, set the house 
 in order for the day, cleaned the utensils (studying when- 
 ever her task allowed her to keep a book within view), 
 lighted the fires, prepared the morning meal for all, ar- 
 ranged her grandmother's garments and assisted her to 
 dress, served breakfast to her elders before taking her own, 
 washed and set aside the dishes after the meal was ended, 
 made ready for the dinner which was to be eaten in her ab- 
 sence, and then, donning the semi-masculine attire which 
 girl students were expected to wear, started upon a run of 
 four miles to the college. Walk she could not, with any 
 chance of arriving in time; and as it was, she was so often 
 late as to provoke reproaches, from which she never at- 
 tempted to defend herself, lest she should seem to be, in 
 her turn, reproaching others. Her high standing in the 
 school, of which she speedily became one of the most 
 promising pupils, alone saved her from harsher rebuke. 
 In the interval between the morning and afternoon sessions 
 she stole away into seclusion, unwilling that her com- 
 panions should see the insufficient quantity and dubious 
 quality of the food she was permitted to bring for her 
 
3 8 YONE SANTO: 
 
 luncheon, and also anxious to gain a few extra moments 
 for study. The day's attendance over, she darted home- 
 ward again, there to cleanse the plates and implements 
 which had intentionally been left, from the dinner, 
 soiled and in disorder; to take in hand the family sewing; 
 to make ready the evening meal; to set the house to rights 
 for the night; and, finally, not till then, to give her 
 worn and jaded mind to the lessons which she loved. 
 Only so long as the family remained up was she allowed a 
 light. For the half of each month, she afterward would 
 say, this was not an irremediable deprivation; for the skies 
 are clear in Japan, and the moon, less cold and distant than 
 those whose name she bore, gave her the light which her 
 kindred denied her. 
 
 While the child was thus oppressed with cares and 
 travail beyond her strength, the grandmother executed her 
 crowning stroke of policy by discharging the man-servant, 
 imposing upon Yone all his work, and commanding her 
 daughters to abstain from even the few tasks they had up to 
 that time performed. This chanced to be in midwinter, 
 and to all previous burdens were now superadded such 
 rough and arduous labors as wood-splitting, drawing water 
 from a distant aqueduct, the relentless old woman going 
 so far as to pretend that the flavor of the neighboring well 
 was unpleasant to her taste, sweeping the yard and keep- 
 ing the garden in order, with others more degrading and 
 intolerable. But no syllable of remonstrance escaped the 
 victim of household tyranny. She clung to her studies, 
 and silently fought against fatigue, exposure, cold, and im- 
 perfect nourishment, with a spirit as truly heroic as that 
 which had won for the founder of her family his title to 
 swords and crest, three hundred years before. 
 
 All this continued for not less than two years, at any 
 moment of which a single word to me would have freed her 
 from the worst of her misery; for the child's sweet patience 
 and ardent gratitude had endeared her to me, and, had I 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 39 
 
 suspected the truth, I would have spared no effort to 
 change the current of her afflicted life. But I never knew. 
 Her strict fidelity to the standard of duty by which she had 
 been taught, and to deviate from which she believed would 
 alienate her foreign friend and protector, as well as her own 
 people, this unswerving constancy darkened her innocent 
 life, and filled my after years with many a sorrowful 
 memory. 
 
 VI. 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADOW. 
 
 ON one of my semi-official visits to the school, during a 
 certain winter, I observed with gratification that Yone had 
 outstripped all her classmates, and stood, without a rival, 
 the leader of the sixty young girls under instruction. She 
 was then close Upon fourteen, while several of her compan- 
 ions were three or four years older. Speaking of her rapid 
 advance, the teacher a foreign lady, of excellent parts, 
 but as shallow as most of her sex when dealing with the 
 women of the East remarked that the pleasure with which 
 she watched this exceptional progress was qualified by her 
 pupil's obstinate indifference to personal neatness, a fault 
 from which the child made no effort to free herself, and for 
 which she offered no excuse or explanation. 
 
 " Look at her hands," said the teacher, " red, disfigured 
 with grime. It is shocking, and I have told her so, repeat- 
 edly. But she has no reason to give for her carelessness, 
 and merely says she 'will try,' 'will try,' which she never 
 seems to do." 
 
 "But look at what her face tells, Mrs. Steele," I sug- 
 gested, as the child gazed at us, her intelligent features 
 shadowed with an expression of anxiety, as if she knew she 
 was undergoing an unfavorable inspection. 
 
 "Oh, to be sure," was the reply; "but we cannot make 
 
40 YONE SANTO: 
 
 her face an example for the others, while her hands are a 
 discredit to the school. I wish you would speak to her, 
 Doctor Charwell; you have great influence with her." 
 
 " Come to me, Yone," I called. 
 
 She moved forward, her countenance betraying timidity 
 and apprehension. 
 
 " Now tell me why it is that your hands are in this pitiful 
 condition. Mrs. Steele is seriously displeased." 
 
 " I will try to keep them better," said Yone, in a scarcely 
 audible tone. 
 
 " Try ! " repeated the teacher. " Yes, you always say 
 so, but they are forever the same." 
 
 " Is anything the matter with them?" I asked. "Do 
 they pain you ? " 
 
 " A little," she answered, still in a whisper. 
 
 " Come to my house, on your way home; I will give you 
 some healing ointment. They certainly look very bad." 
 
 And so they did. I need not enlighten the reader as to 
 the cause, though I had then no suspicion of it myself. 
 Long years ago, it was, and yet those little hands, red, 
 scarred, seamed with minute cracks, and torn with angry 
 wounds in which the dirt had gathered, they seem to rise 
 before me now, with power to smite my heart. 
 
 " It is water and soap they most need," said Mrs. Steele, 
 " not ointment." 
 
 Yone was dumb. 
 
 " Can anything be more provoking ? " continued the 
 teacher. " She stands like a statue, and never gives back a 
 word. It is the sullen way of the race, Doctor." 
 
 I knew it was not sullenness in Yone's case, and I had 
 long before discovered that the tranquil, unresisting, and 
 silent submission which aliens ascribed to a morose obdu- 
 racy was often, if not always, rightly attributable to a widely 
 different cause. To suffer uncomplainingly is a lesson 
 which no Japanese girl grows to womanhood without learn- 
 ing, from sharp experience. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 41 
 
 My protegee's English did not yet include the word 
 "sullen," but she readily interpreted her teacher's accent 
 and look. 
 
 "My clothes are clean," she faltered, with eyes cast 
 down, and with fainter articulation than before. 
 
 "What sort of a plea is that? " said the offended school- 
 mistress. "If you can keep your dress tidy, you might 
 surely do the same with your fingers." 
 
 " Excuse me, Mrs. Steele," I interposed, catching a 
 glimpse of the child's idea, though not altogether sure of 
 my ground. " Excuse me; I think she means that the care 
 she takes of her gown ought to show us that there is a good 
 reason, somewhere, for the bad condition of her hands." 
 
 A quick, responsive glance told me that I had rightly 
 understood her. 
 
 "I don't pretend to fathom her," returned the teacher, 
 coldly, and with a perceptible dissatisfaction that anybody 
 should assume to penetrate her pupil's mind more accur- 
 ately than herself. " But her uncleanliness stands seriously 
 in the way of her promotion. She speaks English quite 
 well enough to be made an assistant tutor, but I cannot set 
 her above the other girls as a reward for her persistent neg- 
 ligence." 
 
 " Listen to that, Yone," said I. "Will you not try again, 
 and harder?" 
 
 For a moment she stood motionless, gazing at us with 
 grave inquiry, and then, with an effort that sent a vivid 
 flush over her pale face, moved her lips as if in speech. 
 But no sound came from them. 
 
 " What is it, Yone? " urged the teacher, briskly. 
 
 Her mouth trembled, and, this time, an incoherent mur- 
 mur escaped her. 
 
 " What is it, Yone ? " I repeated. 
 
 She turned to me, with an expression of pain which I 
 had never before seen on her countenance, and, struggling 
 with each word, said: 
 
 "Are the assistants paid a little ? " 
 
42 YONE SANTO : 
 
 Sagacious Mrs. Steele looked down upon her with min- 
 gled pity and contempt. I waited for what was to follow, 
 seeing that Yone was still battling with her shyness and 
 reserve. 
 
 " I think if they are paid a little just very little I 
 think I could then make my hands better." 
 
 " Dear me, dear me ! " exclaimed the teacher. "At least, 
 I never thought she was mercenary. There, that will do, 
 Yone; you may leave us." 
 
 " And don't forget to come for the ointment," said I. 
 
 That same afternoon, Yone entered my office, breathless, 
 excited, and in deep distress. She had been running, and 
 at first spoke with difficulty; but she gradually grew calmer, 
 and resumed her customary placid self-control. 
 
 I looked at her hands, and asked if she really thought it 
 would be too difficult for her to satisfy the teacher. 
 
 "In the summer, I could," she answered, after a pause; 
 "or if I could be assistant tutor with a little wages." 
 
 I knew, well enough, that there was no unworthy motive 
 behind these words; a more unselfish creature never 
 breathed. But in a tone which I. meant to be bantering, 
 and with the hope of giving her thoughts a merrier turn, I 
 said: 
 
 " Why, Yone, do you, too, want to make yourself rich ? " 
 
 She dropped on her knees as if struck down by a blow, 
 and for the second time in our long acquaintance the mask 
 of composure and restraint fell from her. 
 
 " What shall I do ? What shall I say ? " she cried, throw- 
 ing aside her imperfect English, and using her own lan- 
 guage, with which, by this time, I was fairly acquainted. 
 " Oh, no, no, no ! Why should I wish to be rich ? But 
 think for me, think what I feel, and what I must not say. 
 The school-mistress despises me, I can bear it. But if 
 you despise me, I shall die. Are there not little girls in 
 your country who would be glad to get some money, and 
 who are good girls, and who cannot tell you why they want 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 43 
 
 it ? Do you not understand ? You do understand. You 
 must understand. You have always known what Yone 
 thinks. I should be a wicked child if I said one word 
 to explain it. I do not mean to be wicked; but if you 
 would only understand. Oh, how unhappy, how un- 
 happy " 
 
 Her voice died away, and once more her slight frame 
 shook, as at her father's house, when she first knew of her 
 admission to the school. But she shed no tears. I would 
 have given much if she had, but such natural relief seldom 
 came to this overburdened little soul. Knowing that my 
 eyes were dimmer than her own, I lifted her in my arms, 
 and said, with such steadiness as I could command: 
 
 " I do understand, my child. I understand enough. Do 
 not fear, Yone; I have perfect confidence in your good- 
 ness, and you need never say a word to me that you do not 
 wish to. You have every right to want the money; and if 
 you fail to get the position in the college, you shall let me 
 give you all you need. That, indeed, will please me best." 
 
 She was already soothed and mistress of herself. 
 
 " You are always my kind friend," she said; " nobody 
 has ever been so kind as you. But because you have 
 helped me to what I most wanted in the world, am I to go 
 on and get more from you ? No, that would hurt me. If 
 you can understand me, and not despise me, that is all I 
 will ask." 
 
 " Be calm, my little Yone. I have a great affection for 
 you, and I shall never despise you. And now, let me look 
 at the hands. They are very painful, I dare say." 
 
 "Oh, I do not care for the pain," she replied; " it is the 
 ugly look, and now I think I can change that. And I 
 must not wait. I have been so long. I shall be so late." 
 
 She looked anxiously at the clock. 
 
 " I must get home before five," she added. 
 
 " That is impossible," I answered; *" it is past four, and 
 you have nearly four miles to go." 
 
44 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "I can do it," she insisted; " I often do. I must do it. 
 Excuse me for hurrying. I must! " 
 
 "Then," said I, " I will drive you there. Be still; don't 
 say no. I am going near your house, and you can wait and 
 have the hands dressed." 
 
 She yielded reluctantly, and I took her home; going in 
 with her to explain that I was to blame for the delay, and, 
 in a few words, endeavoring to impart to the family a share 
 of the pride I felt in her progress and in the distinction 
 that awaited her. 
 
 " Strange people," I thought, as I drove away. " One 
 would imagine, if it were possible, that those estimable 
 ladies, instead of being elated at the child's success, were 
 as indifferent as if it concerned a stranger. The stoicism 
 of the old school, no doubt. I must talk to her father." 
 
 In assuring Yone that I understood her, I had spoken in 
 good faith, and in the conviction that I had really caught 
 the clue to her feelings. But I was wrong. I thought her 
 sole desire with respect to the money was to be able to con- 
 tribute, as a child, to the scanty domestic revenues; and 
 that she was stung by the teacher's imputation, which, how- 
 ever, she could not refute except at the risk of exposing 
 the circumstances of her family with a freedom unbecom- 
 ing to its youngest member. I was correct in so far as I 
 judged her to be innocent of any venal thought, but all 
 astray as to the use to which she contemplated devoting 
 her possible income. Years of unkind treatment had at 
 last forced upon her the painful certainty that no effort of 
 hers could win the affection of her feminine relatives, and 
 that she had only her father's careless attachment to rely 
 upon. She felt she was tolerated, not loved, by her grand- 
 mother and aunts, and lived in constant fear lest her sole 
 consolation the privilege of school attendance should be 
 withdrawn. The only happiness she knew was in her studies, 
 and she had long been aware of the determination to com- 
 pel her, if possible, to renounce this solace. At times, 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 45 
 
 the pressure had been almost insupportable, and she saw 
 approaching the period when she must of necessity yield; 
 for she could not lay before her father a complaint against 
 his mother, and to seek relief from her burdens in any 
 other direction would have been to depart from all the tra- 
 ditions of her people. 
 
 Suddenly her hopes were revived by the possibility of 
 earning money on her own account. It could be but a 
 small sum, five or six dollars a month, at the most; but 
 with this she might pay the pittance of a man-servant, and 
 thus relieve herself from the crushing and exhausting 
 drudgeries which now threatened to undermine her 
 strength, and leave her powerless to pursue the only cheer- 
 ing prospect of her life. There would be more than 
 enough for this, and consequently, if her father would per- 
 mit her, she might purchase a pair of mittens, and thus 
 take a practical step toward restoring her offending mem- 
 bers to their normal condition of neatness. Rough labor, 
 not neglect, was the cause of their unwonted appearance. 
 The performance of cruel tasks had bruised and lacerated 
 her delicate skin; and the winter's cold had so discolored 
 and swollen the wounded hands that no one would have 
 known them for Yone Yamada's. 
 
 On reaching home, I made it my first business to write 
 to Mrs. Steele that I had satisfied myself concerning her 
 pupil's desire to earn money, and that, though I was not 
 free to repeat the explanation, I could guarantee that her 
 motive was irreproachable; furthermore, that it would be 
 necessary to give her hands careful treatment for perhaps 
 several weeks, at the end of which I hoped for a complete 
 cure. All this, undoubtedly, was highly disingenuous. In 
 strict truth, I had not a fact to stand upon; but I had 
 abundant faith, and not a particle of fear that my faith 
 would lead me into difficulty, in this case. Not to disguise 
 the matter, I bore false witness in favor of my little friend 
 without a blush or a twinge of conscience. 
 
46 YONE SANTO: 
 
 But the harsh destiny which has thus far decreed that 
 the women of Japan shall not escape from the narrow 
 grooves laid down for them was riot to be so easily baffled. 
 A double calamity fell upon the child. A formidable re- 
 bellion in the western provinces imposed upon the govern- 
 ment the need of sudden retrenchment, and, by imperial 
 edict, the foreign schools for girls were indefinitely sus- 
 pended. Yone's studies were brought to an abrupt end, 
 for she had passed beyond the stage where the native or 
 missionary teachers could benefit her. The civil conflict 
 proved so severe that, in addition to the standing army 
 and the drilled police of the large cities, the old feudal 
 retainers were called upon to reassemble in defense of the 
 state. Among the vassals from Owari who responded to 
 the call was Yamada, now so reduced that he gladly wel- 
 comed even this precarious resource. But the black cloud 
 hung over the unfortunate gentleman, wherever he turned. 
 He fell in some ignoble skirmish, denied the soldierly fame 
 for which many, not more truly valorous than he, willingly 
 exchanged their lives. 
 
 Just before this last blow came, a happier outlook seemed 
 about to open before his daughter. In his absence, an 
 arrangement had been made for Yone's entrance into Miss 
 Philipson's establishment, as teacher and interpreter. In 
 many respects, the engagement harmonized with the young 
 girl's best feelings and sympathies. She found herself in 
 a position where she could do good, obvious, palpable, 
 unmistakable good. The longing to help, to raise the less 
 gifted or less fortunate to a higher level, which is a fine 
 characteristic of the Japanese (though, I am sorry to say, 
 commonly confined among the men to the uplifting of their 
 own sex), was anxiously, almost yearningly, developed in 
 Yone's nature. Her simplicity and inexperience were but 
 slight hindrances to her determination to work, with or 
 without good opportunity, for the intellectual advance- 
 ment of the little charges entrusted to her. They were 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 47 
 
 there to learn, she believed, and there were many things 
 she could teach them. Best of all, for her, she could love 
 them. Not only them, but also those staid, prim, unsmiling 
 ladies whom she was bound to respect as her employers, 
 and who claimed her reverence as representatives of that 
 wonderful Western world, where according to the flatter- 
 ing conviction of her soul learning and wisdom prevailed, 
 where the light of civilization beamed upon all, and the 
 birthright of whose people was justice and goodness. Stiff 
 and austere as these forbidding sisters might appear, they 
 could not be so cold and pitiless as the only kindred she 
 now had left to her. She turned to them as a flower 
 blighted by darkness turns to the faintest ray of sunshine. 
 Nor were they in the beginning wholly unresponsive. 
 Few American women could be utterly insensible to such 
 tender and beseeching, though timid and unconscious, 
 appeals as those which this lonely and neglected child con- 
 stantly put forth. They could not quite understand her, 
 but in their ungenial fashion they approved and, as it were, 
 sanctioned her. Necessarily, they looked down upon her. 
 To look down upon the heathen was, in a great measure, 
 what they had come to the East for. Equally as a matter 
 of course, they persecuted her; assailing her with uncouth 
 religious battering-rams of their own clumsy contriving; 
 cramming her with indigestible creeds; striving to force 
 upon her a faith which they were incompetent to inculcate, 
 or even to explain, and which, though she might willingly 
 have accepted the essential substance of it under wise and 
 gentle guidance, she was too intelligent to subscribe to, 
 without some rational comprehension of what she was do- 
 ing. But they did not frown upon her. In some respects 
 they were rather proud of her, with a queer, complacent 
 notion that she was something of their own design and 
 making-up, like a piece of human patchwork, destined to 
 still further improvement under their dexterous manipu- 
 lation. Poor Yone ! No conception could have entered 
 
48 YONE SANTO: 
 
 the minds of those admirable ladies that the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity never shone so brightly in their household as when 
 she dwelt therein, little pagan that she was. Their properly 
 constituted souls were in no danger of contamination from 
 such rank impiety as that would imply. 
 
 But, from the outset, their method of dealing with her 
 was harmful. Probably unaware of the injury they were 
 inflicting, and doubtless encouraged by her own ardent 
 desire to meet every expectation, they pressed too many 
 duties upon her; and she, rejoicing in nothing so much as 
 in the fulfillment of her daily tasks, allowed herself no 
 respite, until overstrained nature revolted, and her slender 
 stock of strength forsook her. The fatigues of previous 
 years were yet to be atoned for, and it became evident 
 that in a long cessation of active labor and study lay her 
 sole hope of recovery. It almost broke her heart to leave 
 the place where she had found her nearest approach to 
 happiness, and which had more closely resembled a home 
 than any shelter she had known. In sadness and dejection 
 she returned to her grandmother's dwelling. Her earnings 
 in the mission school had reconciled her relatives to the 
 association with foreigners, these being, since the father's 
 death, their sole reliance for support. But now, having 
 nothing to bestow, she fell again into contempt and neglect. 
 
 An opportunity of partial relief was opened to the grand- 
 mother. Her own family, in Nagoya, offered a refuge for 
 her declining years, and expressed also a willingness to 
 receive, if necessary, her two daughters. Believing that 
 Yone was in the way of gaining her own livelihood, they 
 did not extend the invitation to her, but rather intimated 
 that she would be expected to remain in Tokio, and to con- 
 tribute thence to the family resources. That this had be- 
 come impossible the grandmother was well aware; but no 
 idea of taking the helpless child with her crossed her mind. 
 The sole aim now was to get rid of her as speedily and with 
 as little discredit as possible. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 49 
 
 VII. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 ON one of the lovely mornings which make the Japanese 
 spring a season of unrivaled brightness and beauty, Yone 
 came to my office, with an aspect as dainty and charming, 
 in her youthful womanhood, as the fairness of the growing 
 year, but with too little of the elastic vigor which I would 
 gladly have seen. She had news to communicate, of no 
 trivial character. 
 
 " My grandmother wishes me to be secret," she began, 
 " and I am willing, except for you. I could not promise to 
 hide anything from my best friend. I shall very soon be 
 married." 
 
 " Married ! you, Yone ? Bless me, child, how old are 
 you ? " 
 
 She smiled, as Japanese girls always smile when doubts 
 of their maturity are suggested. 
 
 " I am sixteen by our reckoning, nearly fifteen by yours. 
 A grown-up woman, Doctor." 
 
 "A grown-up doll, you little witch ! How dare you talk 
 to me of marriage ? " 
 
 " It is all true; my grandmother has consented." 
 
 "Oh, your grandmother, yes; but what have you to say, 
 my child ? " 
 
 "Why, nothing, Doctor; what should I say? All is 
 arranged. They are going to Nagoya soon, and I shall be 
 married before they start." 
 
 It was a scheme, then, to free themselves of an incum- 
 brance. Well, perhaps it was better so. I had begun to 
 take a clearer view than before of Yone's home surround- 
 ings, and saw a possible emancipation awaiting her. 
 
50 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " This is indeed news," I said, with an assumption of the 
 gayety which the subject appeared to demand. "And who 
 is the young gentleman ? Have I met him ? Come, I hope 
 you can tell me a thousand good things about him." 
 
 " I do not know," she answered; " that is, I do not know 
 much. But he is not young." 
 
 " Not young ? Ah, well, we do not care so much for 
 that, do we ? So the gentleman is not young ?" 
 
 " He is not " she continued, with rising reluctance and 
 embarrassment " he is not a gentleman." 
 
 "Not a gentleman? I do not understand you, my 
 dear." 
 
 She reflected a while, and then, with much hesitation, 
 said, 
 
 " My father is dead, and now my grandmother decides. 
 I did think I hoped my mother had such good rank 
 Doctor, I cannot tell you. I have no right to feel as I do. 
 My grandmother knows best. There is no time to lose, she 
 says, and a husband has been chosen for me. He is not a 
 samurai. He is a merchant, a boat-builder. Santo is his 
 name." 
 
 A merchant, and a mechanic ! I knew how hard a shock 
 it must be to her fine and, no doubt, exaggerated sense of 
 what was due to her lineage, but at the moment I saw no 
 course before me but to soothe her prejudices, if possible, 
 and help her to look cheerfully at the future. 
 
 " You say it is decided, Yone; is it really so ?" 
 
 "It is decided." 
 
 " And Santo, he is a good man, I do not doubt. I will 
 make his acquaintance. I will go to-morrow. What is he 
 like, Yone?" 
 
 " I have not seen him." 
 
 " Well, I shall see him, and you are sure, my child, sure 
 that it is decided ? " 
 
 I was impelled to this last question by the increasing 
 sorrowfulness of her countenance, hoping there might be a 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 51 
 
 means of escape from a dispensation which I now saw was 
 repugnant to her. 
 
 "My grandmother has decided, and I obey her com- 
 mands." 
 
 " Listen, Yone: you told me once about a school-fellow, a 
 young girl who was to be married, and who was disinclined 
 who preferred "- 
 
 " Yes, that was Shizu Miura. She came from our 
 province, soon after us. Her parents were very poor, and 
 they meant her to be married; but her uncle adopted her, 
 and then it was not necessary." 
 
 " So then, the adoption saved her ? " 
 
 "Yes, Doctor; but do not think of such things. I see 
 what is in your kind heart, but I have no uncles, rich or 
 poor. I have nobody. I am alone, all alone." 
 
 "Wait, wait; let me consider. Yone, tell me something. 
 In jest, you understand, only in jest; a mere freak of my 
 imagination. Do you suppose does it strike you " 
 
 "What is the matter, Doctor? Are you in trouble, 
 too?" 
 
 Undoubtedly I displayed some agitation, for a rather 
 startling idea had occurred to me, of the value or the worth- 
 lessness of which I could form no estimate. Yone alone 
 could enlighten me. 
 
 " No, no; I am only laughing. It is such a droll fancy. 
 Do you imagine that any Japanese girl could take kindly 
 to the notion of being adopted by a foreigner ? " 
 
 "By a foreigner ?" 
 
 "Yes; absurd, is it not? I know what you will say, 
 quite impossible." 
 
 " Doctor, forgive me; I cannot jest, not to-day. I am 
 not entirely happy." 
 
 "I see; but without a jest, then, I should be glad to 
 know if such an adoption would be satisfactory to a Jap- 
 anese girl or boy. Yes, an adoption by a foreigner; by an 
 American, for example, an old American. Suppose we 
 
52 YONE SANTO: 
 
 say an old doctor. Come, now, what would you think?" 
 
 " Doctor, dear Doctor, do not laugh at me. I am a fool- 
 ish child. I am not very well. It is so easy to make mistakes. 
 I am ashamed to be so weak, but I cannot help it. Tell me 
 truly what is in your mind." 
 
 She came and laid her hand upon my arm, and her soft, 
 pleading eyes looked piteously into mine. 
 
 " Tell me first, Yone. Answer my question. Don't you 
 see, my little girl, that it is all earnest, very earnest, unless 
 you wish it otherwise ? " 
 
 But I needed no answer in speech. The expression of 
 her face, which for a moment might have imparted beauty 
 to even a plain countenance, was more eloquent than any 
 words she could have uttered. All pain and anxiety had 
 vanished, and a look of serene content had taken their 
 place. I sprang to my feet, exclaiming, 
 
 " All sunshine now, Yone; no more clouds and storms. 
 How simple it is, when we both understand. I see it all; 
 and you " 
 
 She, poor girl, saw nothing. A sudden change over- 
 came her, and blinding tears streamed from her eyes. It 
 was the strangest of coincidences, that this child, a type of 
 Oriental self-restraint, and I, by profession and long habit 
 the embodiment of rugged insensibility, should thus re- 
 peatedly belie our principles and training. This was the 
 third time that the clash of unexpected circumstances had 
 deprived her of the composure it was her duty to preserve, 
 and rendered useless my armor of hardened worldly proof; 
 leaving us both exposed to highly unbecoming human in- 
 fluences, when it was our plain business to expel nature, 
 sympathy, sentiment, all but common sense, from our 
 thoughts. 
 
 I sent her home, as soon as she was fit to go, to lay be- 
 fore her people the contemplated arrangement. Then, as 
 the hours went by, feeling that the duty rested upon me of 
 announcing the impending event to the circle of which I 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 53 
 
 was at least nominally a member, I sauntered forth to our 
 informal agency for the diffusion of social intelligence. It 
 was not a " Thursday," but I was reasonably sure of an au- 
 dience any day in the week; and even if the esteemed 
 sisters Philipson had chanced to be alone, I knew well that 
 my trifle of news was safe to be spread over the foreign fra- 
 ternity of Tokio before night, and well on its way to the 
 contiguous colony at Yokohama. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE GOSPEL OF CHARITY. 
 
 ON entering the Philipson drawing-room, I found it 
 fairly filled, and would at once have proceeded to make 
 known my purpose, had not the attention of the company 
 been concentrated upon the head of the establishment, who 
 appeared to be in the midst of a recital of more than com- 
 mon interest. She greeted me with an austere wave of the 
 hand, and continued her remarks with scarcely a pause. 
 
 " We had already had a foreboding of evil, friends, and 
 our minds were ill at ease. Only a few minutes before, 
 just as sister Kezia began to conduct the interrogation in 
 Genesis, I observed signs of inattention on the part of one 
 of our smaller children, and, desiring to awaken her to the 
 seriousness of her duties, I suddenly asked her who created 
 the world. She answered friends, it grieves me to declare 
 it she answered Tell us, Kezia, what that child said 
 when I inquired who created the world." 
 
 " Adam and Eve ! " replied the younger Miss Philipson, 
 in a sepulchral tone. 
 
 "Adam and Eve," repeated the elder, with stern em- 
 phasis; " A-dam and Eve! And no sooner had those 
 words fallen from her sinful lips than four other, and I regret 
 to say more advanced, girls broke into unseemly laughter." 
 
 "Only three, I think, Sophia," interposed the junior. 
 
54 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "Five girls broke into laughter," pursued the narrator, 
 betraying no consciousness of the correction, except that 
 conveyed by her augmentation of the number of delinquents. 
 " Five sacrilegious giggles resounded through the school- 
 room. But order was soon restored, and silence reigned. 
 The lesson of the day was an exposition of the sin of dis- 
 obedience, with a salutary review of the punishment in- 
 flicted by Omniscience upon our first parents. In the 
 midst of the exercises we were thrown into confusion by 
 the behavior of a scholar of whom we had thought well; in 
 whom we had never before detected a stubborn and rebel- 
 lious heart. When called upon to bear testimony to the 
 all-wisdom of the chastisement, she hesitated, hid her face, 
 and presently sobbed aloud; and when commanded to explain 
 her extraordinary misconduct, she said she could not bear it, 
 that it reminded her of the story of a cruel daimio who ruled 
 in her province centuries ago, and who, on learning that a 
 poor woman had stolen some fruit from his garden, not 
 only condemned her and her husband and parents to a 
 horrible death, but decreed that all their descendants 
 should toil in bondage to the last generation. Judge, 
 friends, what my feelings were as I listened to that mis- 
 guided girl. I cannot hope to make you understand the 
 shock that overcame me at that moment." 
 
 " For my part, my heart was in my mouth," said Mi?s 
 Kezia. 
 
 " I will not," resumed Miss Sophia, " make use of expres- 
 sions which might savor of extravagance, and which are re- 
 pugnant to physiological probability, but I do not hesi- 
 tate to affirm that the feeblest infant could have quelled me 
 with a feather, and that my hair literally stood on end. 
 The more so, as the girl asserted that she supposed the object 
 of the Scriptural chronicle was the same as that with which 
 the Japanese tradition is kept in memory, or, as she inti- 
 mated, to teach us the wickedness of tyranny, and to en- 
 able us to sympathize with unmerited suffering. And such 
 
A CtffLD OS JAPAN, 55 
 
 was the force of her vicious example that before she had 
 concluded all the pupils in that class were weeping and 
 wailing together. I think sister Kezia will bear me out in 
 the statement that the whole class participated." 
 
 " Nearly all, I should perhaps say," was the guarded re- 
 sponse of Kezia. 
 
 " The entire class burst into floods of tears and hysteri- 
 cal outcries," persisted the senior, with a glance which im- 
 plied that she was prepared to multiply indefinitely the 
 aggregate of evil doers, in case any further modification of 
 her report were attempted. Indeed, as if not fully satisfied 
 with the gleam of her sister's eye, in which she perhaps 
 descried a latent tendency to insubordination, she added, 
 apparently to indicate the inexhaustible extent of her re- 
 sources, " I believe, moreover, that some of the others 
 within hearing caught the demoralizing infection, and were 
 likewise carried away. Finding it impossible to control 
 them, we suspended the interrogations, and dismissed the 
 pupils. We are now considering what course we shall pur- 
 sue with the greater and lesser offenders. It is not a 
 matter to be lightly dealt with. But we hope to be guided. 
 My sister and I propose to wrestle strenuously, throughout 
 this night." 
 
 As the company proffered sympathy and condolement, 
 in terms which showed that the tale they had listened to 
 had deeply stirred their sensibilities, I began to doubt 
 whether the occasion was altogether propitious for my er- 
 rand, and to wish it were possible to defer the disclosure to 
 a more fitting opportunity; but on weighing the circum- 
 stances, I judged it expedient to declare myself without de- 
 delay. I watched the countenance of the hostess from a 
 distance, and took advantage of the first perceptible ex- 
 pression of complacency. 
 
 " I have something to tell you, Miss Philipson, about 
 Yone Yamada," I said. " I hope it will please you." 
 
 "Dear child, "she answered; " anything that is for her 
 good will please us." 
 
$6 YONE SAtfTG: 
 
 " For her real good, Sophia," added the younger sister. 
 
 It was contrary to the habit of this amiable couple to ac- 
 cept any statement, even from one another, without some 
 species of qualification or protest, but the elder was accus- 
 tomed to regard the right of emendation as belonging ex- 
 clusively to herself, and was not slow, as has been seen, to 
 resent invasions of her assumed prerogative. Upon the 
 introduction of a new topic, however, the younger lady 
 was tempted to indulge herself once again. 
 
 " Surely, for her real good," conceded the senior. 
 
 Harmless as this remark would have sounded to the un- 
 initiated, it threw a chill over me, from the unusual and 
 ominous coincidence of opinion which it conveyed. But it 
 was useless to pause. 
 
 " You have heard of her father's death," I resumed, "but 
 you do not know that her family that is, her grandmother 
 and aunts propose returning at once to their own prov- 
 ince, and withdrawing their protection from her." 
 
 " How dreadful ! " said Miss Philipson the elder. 
 
 "Dreadful indeed," I responded; "and there seems to 
 be no resource for her, certainly no fitting resource, un- 
 less she can be adopted by some suitable person. Now, 
 unfortunately, she has not a relative in the world that we 
 know of, except those who are resolved to disencumber 
 themselves of her." 
 
 Various murmurs of commiseration ran around the 
 room. 
 
 " Poor thing ! " 
 
 " How hard ! " 
 
 "How cruel !" 
 
 "Therefore" said I, and then abruptly checked myself. 
 The singular readiness of the elder lady, a moment before, 
 to acquiesce in one of her sister's suggestions suddenly ex- 
 panded, before my mind's eye, to portentous proportions; 
 and although I had previously been utterly unconscious of a 
 possible objection to my scheme, I was now seized with a 
 
A CHILD OP JAPAN. 57 
 
 Vague apprehension that it might not be cordially received. 
 
 "Yes?" prompted the younger Miss Philipson, in- 
 quiringly. 
 
 " Therefore I have concluded to adopt her myself." 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 The capabilities of an interjection have never, I am per- 
 suaded, been accurately estimated. Those of an "oh," I 
 can confidently aver, are boundless. To compare its sig- 
 nificance to that of volumes is to confess a total ignorance 
 of its force and scope. This particular "oh," breathed 
 forth simultaneously by a chorus of half a dozen feminine 
 voices, was equivalent to whole libraries. 
 
 "That is my intention," I declared. 
 
 "But, excuse me, Doctor Charwell," said Miss Philipson, 
 No. i, with great precision of utterance; "I think you 
 will correct me if I am wrong I think you spoke of her 
 adoption by some suitable person." 
 
 "So I did, madam," I replied. "Can you suggest any 
 person more suitable than her oldest foreign friend, 
 the only one, so far as I know, who is prepared to take 
 upon him such a responsibility ? " 
 
 " Responsibility indeed," sighed Miss P. No. 2. 
 
 " Oh, I know well enough it is no trivial undertaking," I 
 said. "I am far from coveting it. Domestic invasions are not 
 agreeable prospects to men of my age and confirmed habits, 
 even when the invader is so little likely to be troublesome 
 as in this case. If anybody more accustomed to the bring- 
 ing up of children will assume the charge, I am ready to 
 resign it on the instant." 
 
 No one spoke. 
 
 " You see how it is, Miss Philipson. The child must be 
 provided for. Come, I thought you would be pleased to 
 hear of anything for her good." 
 
 " For her real good," softly purred the second Miss P. 
 
 " Precisely, madam," I rejoined. " I presume it will be 
 for her real good to be fed when she is hungry, and to have 
 
38 YOM5 SAATTO 
 
 a house to live in, and clothes to wear And it appears to 
 me that I am a very suitable person to supply her with these 
 necessities. I can afford it, and, though I foresee incon- 
 veniences, I am willing to make the trial, at any rate." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, can you look atme with your inward eye, 
 and say it is truly suitable ? " asked the junior sister. 
 
 "I am a physician, madam," said I, somewhat testily, 
 " and thus far my researches have not made me acquainted 
 with anything in the nature of an inward eye. Nor do I 
 know of the existence of such organs, except, possibly, 
 in the fishes of the Mammoth Cave. But, looking at you 
 with the only eyes 1 am conscious of possessing, I say it is 
 eminently and superlatively suitable." 
 
 "Dear Doctor, such extravagance of language " 
 
 "Permit me, Kezia," interrupted the elder; "let us 
 make allowances. Do not forget that we are in Japan." 
 
 "The very thing," I urged; "this is the one country in 
 the world where adoption is the commonest incident of life. 
 There is scarcely a family without an adopted member. 
 That makes it all the more suitable." 
 
 " But dear me ! the subject is so delicate. Consider 
 the difference the divergent the opposite the contrary 
 You understand me, of course." 
 
 "Indeed I do not, madam." 
 
 " I would say, then, the lack of identity in sex." 
 
 "Yes, indeed ! " " Ah, truly ! " were the whispered re- 
 sponses of the now excited listeners. 
 
 " Come, Miss Philipson,"! argued, "let us be intelligible, 
 if nothing else. You mean to insinuate that I ought not 
 to adopt this child, because she is a young girl and I am 
 an old man. That is your point, I take it." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, how can you say 'insinuate' ? That is the 
 last thing I should dream of doing. Insinuation is the is 
 a What does Shakespeare say ? What is it, Kezia, 
 about insinuation, and " 
 
 " Never mind Shakespeare or any other poet ! " I ex- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 59 
 
 claimed, driven to downright vexation by these silly airs. 
 "Pray keep to lucid prose where I am concerned. If 
 difference of sex, as you choose to put it, has any weight in 
 your mind, be good enough to reflect upon the difference 
 of age." 
 
 "Why, Doctor, what posible idea can I have about a 
 gentleman's age ? Fancy such a thing ! " and she tossed 
 her antiquated head in a grotesque mummery of coquetry. 
 
 " Fancy has nothing to do with it, madam. In plain 
 fact, I am more than three times as old as Yone. Old 
 enough to be her father. Three times as old ? Why, yes; 
 nearly four times. Old enough, as marriages go in this 
 country, to be her grandfather." 
 
 " Impossible, Doctor ! " 
 
 "Oh, quite impossible!" echoed the unanimous body 
 of auditors. 
 
 " Perfectly possible," said I, "as I will take the liberty to 
 demonstrate. By the custom of the land, I might have been 
 the father of her mother when I was twenty, or yet 
 younger." 
 
 " Doctor, I beg of you " 
 
 "At sixteen, her mother might have given birth to 
 Yone." 
 
 " I insist, Doctor Charwell, I insist " 
 
 " And Yone is herself close upon fifteen. Now I think 
 of it, I might be a great-grandfather at this moment. We 
 are in Japan, you know, Miss Philipson ! " 
 
 The good lady fairly gasped with indignation. 
 
 " I never thought to hear such things said in my own 
 house to my own face,'' she articulated. 
 
 "Why not, madam ? I merely state that I am more than 
 three times, and very nearly four times, as old as Yone 
 Yamada. Does any one doubt the truth of it?" 
 
 My genial little friend Kracken, who had watched the 
 proceedings with quivering but good-natured anxiety, here 
 broke in : 
 
62 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " If you apply to me," said Miss Philipson, with undis- 
 turbed coolness, " I don't see how the question can be 
 raised for a. moment." 
 
 "And I dare say," I continued, "that you represent your 
 party here." 
 
 "Oh, undoubtedly." 
 
 "No room for argument." 
 
 "Not open to discussion." 
 
 These and similar responses came from all parts of the 
 room. 
 
 "You see, Doctor Charwell," proceeded the undaunted 
 hostess, " we have on one side a respectable family, who 
 wish to settle the respectable daughter of their house by 
 means of a respectable marriage; and on the other, we have 
 Oh, going so soon ? G00d-day, then. I can only say, 
 Doctor, that if this project is carried out, we shall be happy 
 to see you as before, especially at our Thursdays; but we 
 must beg to be excused from receiving Miss Charwell." 
 
 " Miss Charwell ! " cried I, aghast. 
 
 " Why, certainly," said this embodiment of exalted pro- 
 priety, with the unerring aim of a first-class Parthian sharp- 
 shooter. " The least you can do, I suppose, is to let her 
 call herself by your name. You would hardly expose the 
 unfortunate creature " 
 
 I waited for no more, but got myself away as I best 
 could, half blind with rage, and invoking all sorts of swift 
 retributive justice against these experienced wolves dis- 
 guised as ancient lambs, as it then pleased me to denomi- 
 nate them. 
 
 Not for a moment did the thought of relinquishing my 
 purpose occur to me. I had set myself to the work of 
 guarding a life which had thus far been overshadowed by 
 undeserved suffering, and so changing its course that a fair 
 share of the world's brightness should hereafter belong to 
 it; and I was not likely to be diverted from my intention 
 by any scarecrows which an absurd conventionalism could 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 63 
 
 set up. Yone should be my daughter; and if the malig- 
 nancy of persecution should threaten her peace in the new 
 position, we would simply turn our backs upon Japan 
 and the whole East, and remove to lands in which the 
 proportion of Anglo-Saxon intolerance was not so disa- 
 greeably dominant. Among circles where theoretical 
 humanity and charity were less aggressively proclaimed, I 
 might easily find a more practical realization of those 
 attributes. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE LAST OF CHILDHOOD. 
 
 BUT there were other hostile influences which I had not 
 taken into calculation. Stronger opposition than all the 
 allied tribes of Philipsons could have brought together was 
 directed against my plan. The grandmother, in her un- 
 reasoning hatred of the child whose mere existence had at 
 last become an offense to her distorted sight, knew no 
 dearer wish than to thwart and baffle Yone's hopes to the 
 very end. This alone was sufficient to turn the old 
 woman's mind against my proposal. Her inherent aversion 
 to foreigners doubtless added to the antagonistic spirit. 
 Under Japanese law, it was impossible to dispose of the 
 child's future without the grandmother's sanction. The 
 father's death left everything in the hands of this vindic- 
 tive guardian. Unfamiliar as I was, and as most foreigners 
 are to this day, with the rules governing the exercise of 
 domestic authority, I was at first unwilling to believe 
 that a young girl could thus be doomed to conjugal wretch- 
 edness by the simple word of a confessedly inimical rela- 
 tive; but it needed only a brief investigation to show that 
 the case was absolutely beyond appeal. 
 
 Yone herself would not authorize or participate in resist- 
 ance to a principle which all her race regard as one of the 
 
64 YONE SANTO : 
 
 foundations of their social system. She did not believe 
 that her father, were he alive, would condemn her to such 
 unhappiness; but now she was under the sway of her near- 
 est of kin, whose rights over her were inviolable. In spite 
 of all her distress, she bowed before the family traditions, 
 and yielded to the obligations which morality and religious 
 conviction imposed upon her. I could only look on, pow- 
 erless to assist or control her. The few suggestions which 
 I offered, in the hope of stimulating her to direct rebellion, 
 wounded her so that I had no heart to persevere in them. 
 There was only one path of duty, she said, and those who 
 now cared for her would soon cease to esteem her if she 
 deserted it. 
 
 When my proposition was first laid before the Yamada 
 household, it was received in silence, according to Japanese 
 usage, time being always required for deliberation upon an 
 important topic, even though nothing is likely to be brought 
 out that can affect the ultimate decision. During the few 
 days that passed before the judgment was pronounced, 
 while Yone believed she would be transferred to my protec- 
 tion, she admitted me to her confidence with a freedom 
 never before, and I think never afterward, accorded. 
 Assuming that she would soon be responsible to me alone, she 
 relieved her overcharged feelings by relating many details 
 of her past experience, which I should not have learned but 
 for the impending change in her cirumstances; and of 
 which, indeed, I heard only enough, from her, to cause me 
 to institute inquiries on my own account. Had I not 
 pursued these with considerable diligence, I should have 
 remained unaware of more than a faint reflection of the 
 wrongs she had suffered. 
 
 She thought there could be no great disloyalty in antici- 
 pating, by a day or two, the time when she might unfold 
 the outlines of her history, and explain to one who, she 
 knew, would listen with sympathy, some of the reasons 
 why her new prospects afforded her such glowing satis- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 65 
 
 faction. But she reproached herself, later, for having too 
 frankly spoken her mind respecting the marriage planned 
 for her by the grandmother, and for acknowledging her 
 eager wish to escape from that humiliation. She had never 
 deviated from the moderation and gentleness which habitu- 
 ally governed her speech; but when it became certain that 
 no rescue was possible, and that the union was inevitable, 
 she regretted that she had divulged a single thought which 
 might be remembered as rebellious or impatient of her lot. 
 As the time approached when she would be called upon 
 to leave all the associations of girlhood behind her, the 
 childlike simplicity of her nature seemed to renew itself in 
 various ways. With many a blush, she gave me to under- 
 stand that it had cost her a struggle to renounce the never 
 forgotten and, till now, never neglected doll which had 
 been the only intimate companion of her solitary infancy. 
 With regard to her cat, the consolation of her more ad- 
 vanced youth, now arrived at a stately and dignified 
 maturity, she decided to invoke my good offices. In 
 proffering this priceless gift, she was evidently disturbed 
 by the fear that mankind at large might not value her pet 
 so highly as she herself did; and was not entirely free from 
 the suspicion that what she deemed a precious prize might 
 prove to another an unwelcome incumbrance. She was, 
 moreover, embarrassed by the necessity of concealing her 
 reason for parting from her four-footed friend; which was, 
 in fact, a vivid apprehension of possible ill-treatment for 
 him in the new home which awaited her. To reveal this 
 cause of anxiety was not compatible with her sense of pro- 
 priety; but as it was not difficult to divine, I at once 
 averred that the only unfulfilled desire of my heart was to 
 possess a cat of my own, and not any haphazard selection 
 from cats in general, but precisely the sort of animal which 
 Yone had rescued from aquatic perdition in Nagoya, and 
 brought to years of discretion with prudent nurture and 
 suitable training. 
 
66 YONE SANTO: 
 
 In a case of such extremity, she was not disposed to 
 probe my sincerity too deeply, and with little delay the 
 transfer was formally effected, not without ceremonies and 
 exercises which afforded me the liveliest amusement 
 What bond of intelligence had been established between 
 the creature and its affectionate mistress, and to what ex- 
 tent the interchange of ideas had become practicable, no 
 man could say; but it pleased Yone to assume, with a frac- 
 tion of seriousness in her jest, that she could hold intelligible 
 conversations with the neko, and that he was by no means 
 insensible to the spell of moral suasion. It is certain that 
 the pair would often sit face to face and hold dialogues in 
 a fashion to impress an attentive bystander with new and 
 enlarged ideas respecting the animal's intellectual qualities. 
 Yone would open the debate, and the cat would respond in 
 accents of which I never believed one of* his race capable. 
 On this occasion, Master Tom was placed upon a chair, and 
 informed, gently but gravely, of the altered future before 
 him. As if regarding the announcement as a foolish fic- 
 tion, unworthy of serious notice, he simply moved his lips 
 slightly, in the direction of a mew, but without emitting a 
 sound, a common expedient of his when not interested in 
 the topic under consideration. Being addressed with more 
 earnestness, he endeavored to take possession of his mis- 
 tress's lap, purring melodiously, and sending out entreaty 
 in measured cadences. Finding himself repulsed, and 
 compelled to listen to a more determined statement of the 
 situation, he appeared to assume the attitude of a cat under 
 the influence of extreme astonishment, reversing his ears, 
 and wailing with increased energy. From this stage he 
 proceeded to more vehement demonstrations; uttering pro- 
 longed and piercing screams, with his mouth stretched open 
 to its widest capacity, as Yone reminded him, in resolute 
 terms, of the principles of docility and obedience in which 
 he had been reared, and by which it was his duty to be 
 guided at this critical epoch. Nothing could be more 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 67 
 
 comical. Even Yone's melancholy yielded for a moment 
 to the mirthful provocation. 
 
 All this will be taken at its proper value, as a fanciful in- 
 terpretation of the feline dialect; but an incident which 
 followed showed that the girl had acquired, in some inscru- 
 table manner, a curious mastery over the animal's usually 
 wayward will. When about to take leave, her familiar pre- 
 pared to accompany her, as a matter of course, but was 
 put in a corner, with stern rebuke. Quite regardless of this 
 unaccustomed severity, the creature insisted on following 
 his mistress, and when I tried forcibly to detain him, 
 shrieked at me with such wild vociferation of abuse that I 
 began to doubt the practicability of the transfer. As a last 
 resource, I fastened a little dog-collar about his neck, and 
 tied him to a chair; but this had the effect of rousing him 
 to such fury as Japanese cats seldom exhibit, possibly be- 
 cause, having no tails to distend, they lack the chief acces- 
 sory to an extreme display of frenzy. Here, however, was 
 a notable exception to the rule. He broke the cord, upset 
 the chair, tore off the collar, and abandoned himself to the 
 wildest exaltation of declamatory emotion, until Yone, who 
 had been watching the experiment through a window, re- 
 turned, and announced that she would employ an unfailing 
 device. 
 
 "You shall see," she said. "I shall work upon his self- 
 esteem. I shall flatter him, and puff him with vanity and 
 pride." 
 
 Then, replacing the collar, and again fastening the cord 
 securely, she commenced an impressive appeal. 
 
 " Listen, Pussinole, " (Pussinole was a name bestowed in 
 the days of her early English, a twisted version of Old 
 Pussy, which designation had been applied in her hearing): 
 "you must respect the good doctor's collar. It is a beau- 
 tiful collar, and no cat ever had so wonderful an ornament 
 before. It is a great honor for you, Pussinole, and every 
 cat in Tokio will be envious. Why, it is like a king's 
 
68 YONE SANTO: 
 
 necklace. You must keep it carefully, and not injure it. 
 How beautiful he looks in it, does he not, Doctor ? Come 
 and tell him he is now the handsomest cat in the world," 
 and so following, for a couple of minutes or more, at the 
 end of which she rose, saying, " He will be quiet now, and 
 give you no more trouble." 
 
 To my amazement, the creature did not stir, and, while 
 appearing not altogether content, pursued his mistress only 
 with his eyes. I could not conceal my surprise. 
 
 " How did you do it ? " I asked, turning over in my mind 
 the possibilities of animal magnetism and similar enchant- 
 ments. " Do you really believe the cat understands you ? " 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, Pussinole and I cannot let you into all our 
 secrets. No, indeed. You had better tell me what you 
 think." 
 
 "I think you are a witch, of course; I always thought 
 so." 
 
 " Truly, Doctor, I do not know what to say. I am not 
 so silly as to suppose my cat knows the meaning of my 
 words. Still, there is something not easy to explain. He 
 is familiar with the tones of my speech, at any rate. I 
 have always talked to him as I would to a friend. For 
 many years I have hardly had any other person to talk to, 
 at home; only my little cat. He must comprehend some- 
 thing, for you see how he answers. And he is very glad to 
 be praised. He will do anything, if you compliment and 
 admire him; I am sure of that. So there is nothing mar- 
 velous about it." 
 
 Marvelous or not, it was true that the animal made no 
 further effort to escape, and allowed the restraining collar 
 to remain unmolested. In course of time, a certain inti- 
 macy grew up between us; but his most ecstatic manifesta- 
 tions of affection were reserved for Yone, upon whom, 
 whenever she visited him, he lavished every endearment of 
 which a cat is capable; purring, chuckling, "chortling," 
 closing and outstretching his claws, rubbing his head 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 6g 
 
 against her as if he would wear away the fur, and entering 
 into animated conversation upon the slightest encourage- 
 ment. But neither with me nor with any other human ac- 
 quaintance would he ever exchange a word, on any subject. 
 The power of engaging him in oral discourse belonged to 
 Yone alone. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE BRIDEGROOM. 
 
 THE marriage took place in the autumn of 1878, and this 
 fair and fragile blossom of Japanese womanhood, not only 
 gifted with the delicate grace which distinguishes the 
 daughters of the higher Japanese gentry, but also endowed 
 with the rare charm of an awakened and enfranchised intel- 
 ligence, to which few among them have even yet attained, 
 this gentle body and sensitive soul were delivered over 
 to the mastery of a coarse-minded, rough-mannered, igno- 
 rant workman; a boat-builder, whom chance had thrown in 
 the way of the heartless relatives, and whose sole motive in 
 agreeing to the transaction was a desire to obtain undis- 
 puted control over one of the class which in his youth and 
 middle age had ruled the land, and kept the populace, to 
 which he belonged, in an ignoble and degraded subjuga- 
 tion. Times had changed since the advent of the for- 
 eigner, and the humble laborer could now not merely hold 
 his own, but might assert, at times, a degree of ascendency 
 over the fallen members of the once-omnipotent aristoc- 
 racy. By industry and moderate skill in his craft, this 
 boat-builder had made himself sure of a sufficient income; 
 and it suited his humor, in his declining years, to set up a 
 well-born wife in his plebeian dwelling. 
 
 His character, like that of many in his station, seemed to 
 a casual observer almost colorless. Not this nor the next 
 generation of laboring men can lift themselves, as a body, 
 
70 YONE SANTO: 
 
 from the posture of dependence and servility which was 
 natural to them while feudalism lasted in Japan. This 
 man, Santo Yorikichi by name, knew that the shackles had 
 been taken from his limbs, and it gratified him to exercise 
 his newly acquired liberty in vague and purposeless direc- 
 tions. But, at his age, he could not get his spirit out of 
 the ancient bondage, and it was plain that he would never 
 learn the full value of his opportunities. He was illiterate 
 to a degree rarely encountered among his countrymen, the 
 rudest of whom receive at least some sort of elementary 
 instruction, and was almost grotesquely uncouth in appear- 
 ance. To the world generally he was good-natured, hon- 
 est, peaceable and dull. His frolicking days were past, 
 and he had long ceased to look upon amusement in any 
 form as a necessity of life. In his own home, where I 
 sought him before the marriage, and where I found him 
 waited upon by a couple of obsequious concubines and two 
 or three active servants, he was autocratic, selfish, wholly 
 indifferent to the feelings of those around him, and ready 
 to rule his minions with cold-blooded tolerance, or with an 
 equally cold-blooded tyranny, as his convenience or the 
 whim of the moment might dictate. 
 
 When I first visited him, and opened negotiations for a 
 pleasure-boat of his construction, he exhibited the anima- 
 tion appropriate to the prospect of a bargain. I spoke of 
 his impending marriage, at which he evinced some surprise, 
 but presently recovered himself, and put on an expression, 
 the rigid stolidity of which I never saw equaled. I asked 
 him, point-blank, if he should object to his wife's continued 
 intercourse with her foreign friends, at which he grunted; 
 not wholly in disapproval, it appeared, but because the idea 
 was one which had not before occurred to him, and he was 
 unprepared with a reply. I then suggested this being an 
 ingenious conception of my own, with which I had not ac- 
 quainted Yone that his future consort had it in her power 
 to render good service, under certain circumstances, as an 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 71 
 
 interpreter; and that I hoped an arrangement might be 
 made by which she could go forth, at intervals, and prac- 
 tice that vocation. My idea was to relieve her, if possible, 
 from the wearying monotony of constant confinement at 
 home, to which most Japanese wives of humbler grade are 
 subjected, not so much to insure their fidelity as from a 
 general carelessness as to their wishes, their comfort, their 
 health, or anything pertaining to their physical or mental 
 welfare. 
 
 When I paused, Santo Yorikichi grunted. I intimated 
 that the labors of a translator were justly entitled to remu- 
 neration, whereat again he emitted the sound which he was 
 evidently accustomed to employ as an effective part of 
 speech, but to which no significance could be assigned 
 by a stranger. I then feebly hinted that if she could 
 not be spared from the premises, it might be so man- 
 aged that those in need of her assistance should call at 
 Mr. Boat-Builder's establishment, at such times as would 
 be to him agreeable. This time the guttural response ap- 
 peared to come from such a well-like depth of abstraction 
 and vacuity that I could attempt no more, and returned to 
 the ostensible object of my errand. Then his eye kindled 
 again with the light of prospective traffic, and conversation 
 became once more articulate and intelligible. 
 
 I feared that my efforts had been wasted, and that I 
 should find myself burdened with the cost of a wherry, with- 
 out the equivalent I especially wished to secure; but I was 
 wrong. Before my departure, the conditions and price of 
 the craft being satisfactorily adjusted, Santo turned to 
 me with a listless air, grunted thrice, and unloaded his 
 mind. As to a wife, yes, he was about to give himself one. 
 He had never happened to meet her, but the fact was as I 
 had stated. Also, she had several foreign friends. That 
 he had heard. He did not object to foreigners. He be- 
 lieved they called him uncomplimentary names, sometimes, 
 but as he could not understand them, that did not matter 
 
72 YON SANTO: 
 
 much. In fact, it would not matter at all, if they did not 
 occasionally ramble, more or less tipsy, into his boat-yard, 
 mistaking it for a neighboring tea-garden of hilarious re- 
 pute, and order his women about. On the other hand, 
 foreigners were good customers of his, and they always 
 paid well. Not that his charges were ever excessive, he 
 hastened to add; only, so to speak yes and a grunt. 
 Well, though he was not adverse to foreigners, on the 
 whole, he had a poor opinion of the learning they had 
 brought into the country. It was bad enough to puzzle 
 the minds of men with it, and uproot the everlasting 
 principles of things; but to bedevil women in the same way, 
 that was simply grunt. If his wife brought any foreign 
 learning into his house, she would have to keep it all inside 
 her own body. The only possible use for it would be when 
 some imperfectly educated person, with lingual faculties 
 restricted to German, or English, or American, or such 
 fantastic tongues, should approach him in the way of busi- 
 ness; then it might be desirable to have a wife who could 
 supply the deficiency. Curiously enough, he had never 
 thought of that before. But then he had not thought much 
 of anything connected with his impending nuptials. As to 
 her running about Tokio, translating for people here and 
 there, it would be entirely impossible for him to entertain such 
 a notion. That was to say, he could not have entertained 
 it if I had not also referred to compensation. This consid- 
 eration naturally removed some of the objections which he, 
 as a sober-minded Japanese workingman, would otherwise 
 be bound to take into calculation. His wife's learning 
 would make a mighty poor show in the boat-yard, but if it 
 were marketable elsewhere, no doubt something might be 
 done. But the money must be paid into his hands, not 
 into hers, to be trifled away in books and other playthings; 
 and as he was a person of independent means, under no 
 necessity of adding to his income by the method proposed, 
 the emolument must be on a larrre and liberal scale. He 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN, 73 
 
 must grunt looking at what was due to his position as a 
 man of substance grunt yes, surely, he could not afford 
 to be content with grunt, grunt, grunt less than ten sen 
 (at that time about seven cents) a day. 
 
 I was so rejoiced at this unlooked for success in securing 
 to Yone a fair opportunity for relaxation, and also for pur- 
 suing her studies, which latter could easily be managed 
 under the promised permission to interpret, that my 
 thrifty boat-builder at once saw he had failed to take the 
 highest advantage of the situation. He began to grumble 
 that he ought to have stipulated for twelve sen a day, or 
 possibly fifteen; and I should doubtless have acceded to 
 anything, in or out of reason, had I not feared worse con- 
 sequences than the loss of an insignificant trifle of money. 
 If his first demand had been twenty times what it was, I 
 should not have refused. Indeed, it was far beyond my 
 hope to arrive at any definite agreement in that original in- 
 terview. But I composed my countenance, and insisted 
 that hands should be clapped, and the contract ratified on 
 the spot. Otherwise, I hinted, I might recede from my 
 pledge with regard to the boat; for, as I remarked with se- 
 vere dignity, though with questionable logic, a man who in 
 an ordinary bargain will not stick to terms of his own 
 making cannot possibly construct a boat that will not cap- 
 size as soon as it is launched. So, it was then and there set 
 down in writing not by the builder himself, who was un- 
 ready with his pencil, but by his foreman that from and 
 after the date of her espousal, Yone, the wife of Santo 
 Yorikichi, should be allowed to serve as an interpreter to 
 Edward Charwell, or to others whom he might designate, 
 during one complete and undivided day of each week, in 
 consideration of the sum of ten sen, to be paid for each day 
 of such service by the said Edward Charwell to the said 
 Santo Yorikichi. To this the requisite seals were affixed, 
 and I retired in better spirits than I had been able to muster 
 for many a day. 
 
74 YONE SANTO: 
 
 It was necessary to convey a warning to Yone, lest she 
 should betray too much satisfaction on hearing from Santo 
 of the profitable use he had discovered for her. This was 
 done in a letter, which carefully smoothed away the scruples 
 she might have labored under; for she had an uncomfort- 
 ably tender conscience with respect to concealments or 
 deceptions of even the most innocent character. I did not 
 see her before the wedding, nor was I permitted to be pres- 
 ent at the ceremony, or, rather, at that which in Japan 
 passes for a marriage ceremony. So positive were her rel- 
 atives in their determination to break up her foreign asso- 
 ciations that when a select party of the Philipson sisterhood 
 went in state to offer their congratulations upon the auspi- 
 cious occasion, and to express their content that the dear 
 girl had safely weathered all the perils which environ 
 Japanese girlhood in general, and the unspeakable peril of 
 a dubious entanglement with that headstrong Doctor Char- 
 well in particular, so decided were the grandmother and 
 aunts in their views that they temporarily stepped outside 
 of the limits prescribed by conventional politeness, and 
 astonished the good missionary ladies by a demonstration 
 of such unmistakable malevolence that the most brazen 
 effrontery was powerless against it. Probably the use of 
 my name was an error, and the reference to my dark designs 
 was misunderstood by those to whom it was addressed; for 
 the elder Miss Philipson could not resist the temptation to 
 reject Yone's assistance, and to conduct the conversation 
 in that remarkable jargon which she evolved from her in- 
 ternal consciousness, and denominated Japanese, partially 
 encouraged thereto, it may be, by the admission of philolo- 
 gists that it could not possibly be mistaken for any other 
 tongue. 
 
 "I spoke to them with the greatest distinctness," she 
 subsequently observed, in describing the scene, " knowing 
 that they were natives of a distant province, where the dia- 
 lect is no doubt corrupted. But one cannot be expected to 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 75 
 
 be equally at ease in all the patois of this heterogeneous 
 country, and so I failed to make them that is to say, they 
 failed to comprehend me. I am disposed to believe they 
 are very proper persons, for I am sure they made every 
 effort to understand, until I mentioned, as in duty bound, 
 the name of Doctor Charwell. Then, in their righteous 
 indignation at his plots and schemes, they were unable to 
 control themselves, and they broke forth with a volubility 
 that quite confused me. We must make allowance for the 
 feelings of a grandmother" 
 
 " And an aunt," insinuated Miss Kezia. 
 
 " And an aunt, sister," assented the senior, not much 
 liking the interruption. " Two aunts," I believe there 
 were," she added, with the familiar Philipson disinclination 
 to accept any statement without tacking an amendment or 
 variation to it. " If they were not leaving so soon for the 
 region where their singular dialect prevails, I should follow 
 up the opening. Sister Kezia had an idea that we might 
 do well to attend the wedding, and give our countenance 
 to the affair; but I am not so sure that we are justified in 
 upholding, by our presence, these unconsecrated heathen 
 unions." 
 
 Sister Kezia winced, as if feeling too heavy a burden 
 thrown unfairly on her shoulders; for, in truth, the design 
 of "countenancing" the ceremony had originated solely 
 with Miss Sophia, and had been abandoned in consequence 
 of the unpromising demeanor of the Yamada household. 
 The younger lady drew herself up, and seemed about to 
 deliver a protest, but was promptly repressed by the domi- 
 nating spirit of the establishment. 
 
 " No, dear Kezia, no," she said, " I do not find it borne 
 in upon me to go. I think, friends, that in these matters 
 we are bound to obey the inward monitor. My sister is at 
 liberty to follow the dictates of her own conscience, and I 
 
76 YONE SANTO: 
 
 should not think of opposing her desires; but for my part, 
 it seems to me that we can hardly be too mindful that we 
 are in Japan. That is a fact which should never be lost 
 sight of." 
 
 XL 
 
 TRANQUIL DAYS. 
 
 ALL things fairly considered, Yone's lot promised to be 
 less unhappy than I, in my anxious solicitude, had appre- 
 hended. It might have been infinitely worse, though, 
 unhappily, there was no assurance that it would not be- 
 come intolerable at any time; for Japanese wives are as 
 utterly dependent upon the will of their husbands as any 
 slaves on earth are subservient to their masters. The ill- 
 regulated conjugal system is a blot which has yet to be 
 effaced from the social record of the country. The happi- 
 ness, comfort, even the life and death, of a wife may hang 
 upon the caprice of the man to whom she has been given 
 in wedlock. 
 
 Santo was a rough sort of animal, with even less educa- 
 tion than the average of his order, destitute of the first 
 rudiment of refinement, troubled with no definite ideas 
 respecting morality, despotic in his temper, gifted with 
 small capacity for affection, incredulous of the existence of 
 feminine delicacy or susceptibility, and possessed of an in- 
 ordinate vanity, though upon what grounds his self- 
 approval was based he would probably have been unable to 
 explain. On the other hand, he was not reputed violent 
 or brutal, nor rancorous in speech, except when vexed by 
 opposition. He exacted no unreasonable service from his 
 family or other subordinates; allowed those about him a 
 healthful measure of physical relaxation; and having no 
 sordid or miserly love of lucre, though fond of accumulat- 
 ing money for the consequence it gave him, there was 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 77 
 
 nothing meagre in his provision for the material wants of 
 his household. At least my poor girl would not languish 
 for lack of proper nourishment, nor droop under labors to 
 which her strength was not commensurate. 
 
 Soon after the marriage an event occurred which had 
 the effect of enabling her to secure all the possible advan- 
 tages of her position. Working in his yard, upon the very 
 boat which I had ordered from him, her husband one day 
 dealt himself, with an adze, a heavy blow upon the foot, 
 the result of which was to keep him on his back for a fort- 
 night, in no little pain, but not in peril of any sort. Acci- 
 dents of the kind were not uncommon, though they gener- 
 ally fell to the share of the inferior workmen. Santo's 
 peevish irritability, under the smart of the wound and the 
 inevitable spell of compulsory idleness, was at first out- 
 rageous. For a time, he would not bear the sight of 
 Yone near him, and descanted oracularly upon the use- 
 lessness of a learned baby at a wounded man's bedside; 
 but she presently found means of proving that her patience 
 and gentleness, not to speak of her intelligent sensitiveness 
 to suffering, were of greater value than the more experi- 
 enced but less sympathetic qualifications of his clumsy-fin- 
 gered pair of mistresses, whom, I should mention, it had 
 not occurred to him, any more than it would have occurred 
 to any ordinary Japanese, to dismiss at the advent of his 
 legitimate bride. There was a virtue, till then unknown 
 to him, in her light and dexterous touch. The "hand of 
 little employment" had " the daintier sense," and it was 
 not long before it pleased the master to discard entirely the 
 attentions of his wonted companions, not at all to their dis- 
 satisfaction, and throw the whole duty of nursing him upon 
 his wife. 
 
 After all, it was incomparably less exhausting than the 
 toil to which she had been condemned by her grandparent. 
 Santo had started upon his wedded life with an undefined 
 purpose of "breaking in " his aristocratic spouse; of bring- 
 
78 YONE SANTO: 
 
 ing her down to his own level in short order, and convinc- 
 ing her that the might of marital authority was to be the 
 only recognized power in his house. But he discovered, 
 rather to his astonishment, that he had no material to work 
 upon. The girl was as docile from the beginning as he 
 could have expected to make her by months of the pro- 
 posed treatment. This, however, might be a trick of 
 feminine craft, to lure him from his scheme of discipline, 
 and beguile him into habits of indulgence. While these 
 doubts were moving in his mind, not actively by any means, 
 but in a heavy, drowsy fashion, he laid himself low, and 
 gave his sluggish reason an opportunity of acting in the 
 right direction. 
 
 The extent of Yone's influence over him was shown in 
 his totally unexpected consent to submit the injured foot 
 to foreign surgical treatment. Her first attempts at per- 
 suasion were pushed aside, with grunts of withering scorn 
 and spite. But when I called, one day, professedly to in- 
 quire about my boat, she described so cleverly some of the 
 results of my practice in similar cases simple enough in 
 point of fact, but marvelous, I presume, in the unaccus- 
 tomed eyes of the Japanese that he grudgingly yielded. 
 But only as an experiment, he declared. If the foot did not 
 improve within twenty-four hours, he should, with all cour- 
 tesy and respect to me, return to his own time-honored 
 specifics. In any case, he could not ruin himself by paying 
 such fees as the foreign physicians always charged. I 
 argued with him that, as the accident had happened while 
 he was working on my account, it was my duty, by all the 
 settled principles of European and American justice, to 
 cure him without any fee at all. He wagged his ugly head 
 with an air of simious sagacity, and said that foreign 
 morality was established on a more honorable basis than 
 he had supposed; and Yone, believing that I told the 
 truth, lifted her flushed face with an expression of relief 
 such as I would willingly have purchased at the cost of a 
 dozen fibs of the same pattern, or worse. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 79 
 
 It was not difficult to set him on his legs with very little 
 delay, and after his recovery he did not resume the subor- 
 dinating processes which he had previously thought ex- 
 pedient. He manifested no gratitude for the care which had 
 been lavished upon him; that was a matter of course, al- 
 though he had not thought it was in the girl to do so well. 
 If anybody had suggested to him that it might not be amiss 
 to reward her with a word of acknowledgment, he would 
 simply have stared, and grunted. But, without the slight- 
 est direct intention on his part, probably with no conscious- 
 ness of deviating from his normal course, he certainly did 
 make a new distinction between her and the two women 
 who lived with him in a meaner capacity. Perhaps it was 
 the outgrowth of a feeling similar to that which would be 
 called forth by some workman's development of special 
 skill. She had done a job better than others had done it 
 before her. But I never looked very deeply into the 
 matter, nor am I sure that there was anything to analyze. 
 It was satisfactory, so far as it went. 
 
 Yone's life would soon have fallen into a dreary routine 
 but for the privilege I had fortunately procured for her. 
 One day in every week she was free to go forth and earn a 
 ridiculous mite, though her husband did not know how 
 ridiculous it was, by discharging nominal duties which, I am 
 free to confess, had not much the appearance of systematic 
 translation. For half an hour, or it might be double that 
 time, she would diligently turn certain passages of my lec- 
 tures into Japanese, or convert a few pages of native his- 
 tory, science, or philosophy into English. Then she would 
 be dismissed to take a wholesome walk, to visit friends, to 
 idle as industriously as she might; always returning before 
 evening to get the books required for the study with which 
 she was for the time occupied. Of the harmlessness of 
 these mild prevarications she allowed herself to be con- 
 vinced; and, indeed, I think she fully realized that the dead 
 weight of such an existence as that to which she was 
 
So YONE SANTO: 
 
 doomed would have utterly paralyzed her mind but for the 
 relief provided for her. Every Saturday morning the 
 gentle little woman, who ought to have been kept a child 
 for years to come, appeared with her package of books, on 
 the top of which was always a pretty bunch of flowers for 
 my desk, prepared to repeat on her knees, as a Japanese 
 may do without abasement, her grateful, tremulous formula 
 of thanks to me for having saved her life, she thought, 
 her reason, she was sure. No protest, however stern; no 
 request, however earnest; no pretense of displeasure could 
 ever induce her to forego that touching refrain. 
 
 While seeking for the means to make her weekly day of 
 leisure a happy one, I lighted upon the discovery that she 
 had resumed her friendly relations with the Philipsons. 
 There was no room for lingering resentment in that forgiv- 
 ing heart. She begged me not to be offended. They had 
 been kind to her once; they meant, in their manner, to be 
 kind to her always. If they had not understood her, it was 
 so easy to excuse them; and since my anger had been only 
 on her account, would I not make her glad by excusing 
 them, too ? That, in various forms, was her constant plea. 
 Well, well; of what use was it to tell her they were not 
 worthy of the affection she awarded them ? Her humility 
 was as frank and genuine as her bounteous magnanimity. 
 It was not for me to gainsay her, nor to check the outflow 
 of her pure goodness. And so, in her simplicity, she 
 suffered herself to be preached at, pestered, and often sad- 
 dened by these querulous and discontented old maids, who 
 never dreamed that a light too fine for their dull vision 
 made their sombre house radiant with love and charity 
 whenever she visited it. The only kindred spirits there who 
 felt, without caring to comprehend, her influence were the 
 little children, especially the invalids, to whom her coming 
 brought a peace like the tranquil beauty of a fairer sphere. 
 These were the friends who never doubted, never pained 
 her. They clung to her when their fading power of recog- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. Si 
 
 nition extended to no others. Once, a dying girl, whom 
 she had sorrowfully left at nightfall, said to her nurse, 
 
 "Yone has gone away. It is all dark without her. 
 Please put me near the window; then the stars will shine 
 upon me, as she does always." 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE GATHERING OF A STORM. 
 
 ARTHUR MILTON was a pleasant, bright-faced young 
 American, who, in the early Spring of 1879, came to Japan 
 with a party of travelers of the class somewhat disrespect- 
 fully and not very wittily designated "globe-trotters," for 
 no apparent reason, except that their route of exploration 
 embraces the whole circuit of the earth, instead of being 
 confined to a limited section thereof. What there is about 
 this to justify the application of an epithet intended to be 
 offensive, I have never been able to understand. The 
 group of wanderers to which I refer numbered perhaps 
 half a dozen, and included the mother and sister of Milton, 
 both widows, and other near relations. They brought let- 
 ters to me and to the Philipsons, in Tokio, and one of the 
 methods employed to render their sojourn agreeable was to 
 send Yone about with them on occasional raids among the 
 silk-shops, bric-a-brac warehouses, and other repositories 
 alluring to casual visitors. It was upon one of these expe- 
 ditions that she met Miss Gibson, the young delegate from 
 a United States mission, who had crossed the ocean with 
 the Milton party, and had naturally accompanied them in 
 some of their sight-seeing rambles. 
 
 When the period arrived for the circumambulators to pro- 
 ceed on their westward course, the young gentleman I have 
 mentioned announced that he found the limitation of time 
 they had assigned to Japan entirely inadequate. He thought 
 that months, not weeks, should be devoted to this interest- 
 
So YONE SANTO: 
 
 doomed would have utterly paralyzed her mind but for the 
 relief provided for her. Every Saturday morning the 
 gentle little woman, who ought to have been kept a child 
 for years to come, appeared with her package of books, on 
 the top of which was always a pretty bunch of flowers for 
 my desk, prepared to repeat on her knees, as a Japanese 
 may do without abasement, her grateful, tremulous formula 
 of thanks to me for having saved her life, she thought, 
 her reason, she was sure. No protest, however stern; no 
 request, however earnest; no pretense of displeasure could 
 ever induce her to forego that touching refrain. 
 
 While seeking for the means to make her weekly day of 
 leisure a happy one, I lighted upon the discovery that she 
 had resumed her friendly relations with the Philipsons. 
 There was no room for lingering resentment in that forgiv- 
 ing heart. She begged me not to be offended. They had 
 been kind to her once; they meant, in their manner, to be 
 kind to her always. If they had not understood her, it was 
 so easy to excuse them; and since my anger had been only 
 on her account, would I not make her glad by excusing 
 them, too ? That, in various forms, was her constant plea. 
 Well, well; of what use was it to tell her they were not 
 worthy of the affection she awarded them ? Her humility 
 was as frank and genuine as her bounteous magnanimity. 
 It was not for me to gainsay her, nor to check the outflow 
 of her pure goodness. And so, in her simplicity, she 
 suffered herself to be preached at, pestered, and often sad- 
 dened by these querulous and discontented old maids, who 
 never dreamed that a light too fine for their dull vision 
 made their sombre house radiant with love and charity 
 whenever she visited it. The only kindred spirits there who 
 felt, without caring to comprehend, her influence were the 
 little children, especially the invalids, to whom her coming 
 brought a peace like the tranquil beauty of a fairer sphere. 
 These were the friends who never doubted, never pained 
 her. They clung to her when their fading power of recog- 
 
A CHILD OF JAP A. V. Si 
 
 nition extended to no others. Once, a dying girl, whom 
 she had sorrowfully left at nightfall, said to her nurse, 
 
 "Yone has gone away. It is all dark without her. 
 Please put me near the window; then the stars will shine 
 upon me, as she does always." 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE GATHERING OF A STORM. 
 
 ARTHUR MILTON was a pleasant, bright-faced young 
 American, who, in the early Spring of 1879, came to Japan 
 with a party of travelers of the class somewhat disrespect- 
 fully and not very wittily designated "globe-trotters," for 
 no apparent reason, except that their route of exploration 
 embraces the whole circuit of the earth, instead of being 
 confined to a limited section thereof. What there is about 
 this to justify the application of an epithet intended to be 
 offensive, I have never been able to understand. The 
 group of wanderers to which I refer numbered perhaps 
 half a dozen, and included the mother and sister of Milton, 
 both widows, and other near relations. They brought let- 
 ters to me and to the Philipsons, in Tokio, and one of the 
 methods employed to render their sojourn agreeable was to 
 send Yone about with them on occasional raids among the 
 silk-shops, bric-a-brac warehouses, and other repositories 
 alluring to casual visitors. It was upon one of these expe- 
 ditions that she met Miss Gibson, the young delegate from 
 a United States mission, who had crossed the ocean with 
 the Milton party, and had naturally accompanied them in 
 some of their sight-seeing rambles. 
 
 When the period arrived for the circumambulators to pro- 
 ceed on their westward course, the young gentleman I have 
 mentioned announced that he found the limitation of time 
 they had assigned to Japan entirely inadequate. He thought 
 that months, not weeks, should be devoted to this interest- 
 
82 YOKE SANTO: 
 
 ing land, and regretted that the programme had been so 
 disproportionately laid out. While agreeing with him as 
 to the fascinations of Japan, his friends ventured to sug- 
 gest that as they had not yet become acquainted with the 
 countries still to be examined, they were hardly in a posi- 
 tion to judge of their attractiveness, or lack of attractive- 
 ness, as compared with what they had already seen. But 
 he was determined to act upon his own impulses, and 
 declared himself confident that a few weeks could be ad- 
 vantageously taken from China, Siam, Java, and India, and 
 more profitably employed in adding to his stock of in- 
 formation regarding this delightful and romantic next-door 
 neighbor to his own nation. He wanted to discover for him- 
 self how these people had managed to perform their tre- 
 mendous leap from the Middle Ages plump into the heart 
 of the nineteenth century, without dislocating their brains 
 or even losing their balance; alighting, in fact, as squarely 
 and safely on their feet as if vaulting over half a dozen 
 centuries, and bursting through the interposing barriers of 
 custom, tradition, and fixed national policy, were as easy as 
 the commonest trick of the circus. He would remain 
 awhile, and join his companions at a further point of their 
 course. 
 
 There was nothing remarkable in this. Nine-tenths of 
 the visitors to Japan overpass their allotted time; half of 
 them prolong their stay for years, and not a few settle 
 themselves virtually forever, content to accept this capti- 
 vating island empire as the pleasantest haven that the 
 world affords. I had known a score of enthusiastic New 
 Englanders who had thus yielded to the various allure- 
 ments held out to them. Arthur Milton followed the usual 
 routine: proposing to master the language in a few weeks; 
 projecting scientific and social investigations on the broad- 
 est scale; evolving elaborate strategetic combinations for 
 the overthrow of insolent foreign domination and the im- 
 mediate revision of the treaties; pursuing all the bright 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 83 
 
 fancies which are sure to be awakened in ardent and amia- 
 ble minds, when first brought in contact with the evidences 
 of a national development unparalleled in history. He 
 was not wholly a visionary. He was ready enough to laugh, 
 with a friend, at his own high-flown conceptions, but not 
 less prompt to defend them with unmistakable sincerity, if 
 attacked by any of the narrow trading or "colonial " theor- 
 ists. He really wanted to put his shoulder to the same 
 wheel which so many have striven to lift out of the mire, 
 and, like others before him, was resolutely convinced that 
 nothing but a clear, vigorous statement of Japan's needs 
 and ill-treatment was needed to make the whole Western 
 world properly ashamed of itself, and to secure atonement 
 for the past and justice for the future. 
 
 I took kindly to the lad. Knowing, by disagreeable ex- 
 perience, how little was likely to result from any enterprise 
 that he could set on foot, I had no very deep faith that his 
 energy would long withstand the rebuffs and disappoint- 
 ments which await all those who attempt to redress the 
 wrongs endured by Eastern nations. But he was at least 
 for the moment sincere, and there was a glowing warmth in 
 his tone and manner which proved that his feelings were 
 strongly aroused, and that he was determined to speak 
 and to be heard, while the spirit was upon him, however 
 transitory his fervor might be. I tried to set him upon the 
 right track, helped him to what information he needed, 
 encouraged him by listening patiently whenever he came 
 to lay before me this or that plan of diplomatic or revolu- 
 tionary action, and abstained from expressing a single 
 doubt as to his perseverence or lasting devotion. 
 
 Until the afternoon when Miss Philipson launched her 
 extraordinary imputation, the idea of associating him or his 
 doings in any particular way with Yone Santo had never 
 occurred to me. That she had met the young man more 
 than once, I was well aware; for I had myself been the means 
 of attaching her to several excursions in which he, with his 
 
84 YONE SANTO: 
 
 mother and sister, took part, and I had once conducted him 
 to her husband's house, in order that he might deliver a 
 friendly souvenir left for her by those ladies. I remem- 
 bered, too, that he had spoken, on a later occasion, of having 
 obtained from her some information on social subjects, of 
 which he had been in need. But nothing of that sort could 
 cause me the least uneasiness. If I had heard that he vis- 
 ited her every day in the week, it would have concerned me 
 only to the extent of wondering whether her rough husband 
 might not object to such intrusions upon his privacy. I 
 knew my protegee too well to be disturbed by any disagree- 
 ble reflections on her account. 
 
 Nevertheless, when Milton next called upon me, I 
 thought it not amiss to make a few inquiries. 
 
 "When did you last see Yone Santo?" I asked, as soon 
 as our ordinary political conversation began to flag. 
 
 "Yone Santo? Let me think," he answered, hesitat- 
 ingly; "when did I see her ? Was it yesterday ?' 
 
 I could not avoid noticing the awkward and indirect 
 manner of his reply. 
 
 " That is what I am asking you," I said. " You probably 
 know whether you saw her yesterday, or not. Certainly, I 
 don't." 
 
 " Yes, to be sure," he responded, still with a suggestion of 
 reluctance in his tone. " I think it was yesterday, yester- 
 day morning." 
 
 "Indeed," I remarked; "she seldom goes out, except 
 of a Saturday, and the morning is a busy time at Santo's 
 place." 
 
 " Yes," he rejoined, with greater readiness; "I was there 
 on business. The old man is going to make me a boat." 
 
 "Oh, if you want a boat," said I, "you could not do bet- 
 ter than go to him. He is a capital workman, though not 
 always a model of good manners. He made my little 
 wherry, over the way." 
 
 "Just so," returned Milton. "I heard of your giving 
 him that job." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 85 
 
 The words were as simple as possible, but in the accent 
 with which they were spoken there seemed to be a shade 
 of irony, or perhaps of derision. Whatever it might have 
 been, the sound was strange, and did not altogether please 
 me. 
 
 "You could have had my boat, at any time," I suggested. 
 " It was hardly worth while to get one built, unless you 
 mean to remain here much longer than you first intended." 
 
 "The cost is nothing," he said; "and besides, I wanted 
 an excuse for going there as often as I liked." 
 
 "Ah, then you go there often." 
 
 " Every day, or so. He amuses me immensely, and I 
 like to talk to the girl." 
 
 "Which girl ? " I asked. " None of Santo's servants can 
 do much in the way of conversation, I should imagine." 
 
 " Oh, come, Doctor," he answered, laughing good- 
 humoredly, " you know whom I mean." 
 
 " Milton," said I, " when did you last hear from your 
 traveling party ? " 
 
 " Two days ago," he replied, a little surprised at the 
 sudden change of theme. 
 
 "The mails are regular?" 
 
 "I suppose so; my people were just leaving Peking." 
 
 "Your mother was well ? " 
 
 " Quite well; never better, I should judge." 
 
 " Rough travel does not disagree with your family, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, no; we are a hardy lot." 
 
 " To be sure; and how was the girl ? " 
 
 He looked at me inquiringly. 
 
 "The girl ? I hardly understand you." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you do," I asserted, with an air which could 
 not well fail to give offense. " How was she ? " 
 
 A red flush passed over his face. 
 
 " The only girl in the party, Doctor Charwell, is my 
 sister, Mrs. Seaford, a widow, as you probably know. May 
 I inquire what you mean ? " 
 
86 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " My young friend," said I, getting up from my seat, and 
 walking about the room, " you are annoyed at my expres- 
 sion. You are quite justified. I beg your pardon most 
 earnestly. I perceive that a careless word like that might 
 make no end of mischief. There, I entreat you over and 
 again to excuse me. It is the luckiest thing in the world 
 that there were no listeners." 
 
 ''Why, of course, Doctor, it's all right. You need not 
 make so much of it. Say no more." 
 
 "That depends," said I. 
 
 "What depends, he asked, "and how ? " 
 
 " It depends upon whether you have or have not any- 
 thing to say, in your turn." 
 
 " Upon my word, Doctor, I haven't an idea of what you 
 mean." 
 
 " You shall have, Milton. Your sister, Mrs. Seaford, has 
 the claim of every gentlewoman to be always spoken of 
 with courtesy. The same right belongs to Yone Santo, my 
 friend." 
 
 He stared a moment, and then broke out, excitedly, 
 
 " What, sir ! Do you mean to institute a comparison "- 
 
 I interrupted him sharply. 
 
 " Restrain yourself. I expect you, as a simple act of 
 justice, or, if you like better, I will ask )^ou as a favor to 
 me, to reflect upon this matter before saying what is in 
 your mind. A moment's delay will do you no harm. I 
 will be with you again immediately." 
 
 I left him in my office, while I went to another part of 
 the house. When I returned, five minutes later, he was 
 gone, greatly to my disappointment. But in less than half 
 an hour he reappeared, looking a little abashed and con- 
 fused, but smiling with the grace and frankness which were 
 his especial charms. 
 
 "Doctor Charwell, listen to me," he began, as he crossed 
 the threshold. " I have a speech to make, and I must not 
 be interrupted. In the first place you were all right, and I 
 
A CHILD OF J A PAX. 87 
 
 was all wrong, that goes without saying. But that is not 
 enough. The truth is, there is no snare so cunning as 
 common custom. You fall into it without stopping to 
 think. Now, everybody out here speaks of these people as 
 'Japs,' and so have I, like the other idiots. I wonder 
 how I should relish hearing myself called a * Yank ' ! In 
 the same way, I suppose, every Japanese woman, high or 
 low, is a 'girl.' But this is no excuse for me. Here have I 
 been putting myself forward for the past month as a de- 
 fender and champion of this country and its inhabitants; 
 and yet I can't keep my tongue from insulting them. So 
 much for general principles. Now for particulars. In 
 this matter of your friend, I acknowledge that I was 
 doubly to blame. I was going to say, when you stopped 
 me, that I couldn't stand any comparison being made 
 between my sister and a Japanese. Now, however, I 
 see that if we are bound to be more stringent in one 
 case than in the other, it should be when Japanese 
 ladies are alluded to. For they, unless a good fellow like 
 you happens to be at hand, have nobody to stand up for 
 them. It's cowardly, as well as mean, to slight them by 
 carelessness of speech. If anybody puts an affront upon 
 one of our women, well, my sister, for example, it isn't 
 necessary that I should be there; a dozen hands will be 
 ready to set the matter right. You may bet as heavily as 
 you like, Doctor, that you will never hear me talk about a 
 Japanese 'girl ' again; that is, in any sense that could pos- 
 sibly be unpleasant." 
 
 I let him run his course, because, as I have said, I liked 
 the young fellow, and was glad to hear how he had rea- 
 soned the matter to a fair conclusion. But it was evident 
 that he supposed my reproof to have been tendered on what 
 he called " general principles," and did not understand the 
 nature and extent of my interest in Yone; with which, indeed, 
 nothing had yet occurred to acquaint him. I deemed it 
 better, while the subject was fresh in our thoughts, to let 
 
88 VONE SANTO: 
 
 him know that I looked upon myself in a measure as her 
 guardian; and that I had deeper reason for sensitiveness 
 with respect to her than with the majority of Japanese 
 young women. 
 
 "And so you find it agreeable to visit the Santos' place ? " 
 said I, tentatively. 
 
 " Indeed I do," he promptly answered. " That clever 
 little lady can tell me more in ten minutes, about the topics 
 which I am looking into, than I can draw from a professed 
 expert in a day. And I suppose there is no harm in say- 
 ing it is a deal pleasanter to get information from such a 
 charming source than from a set of old humbugs who have 
 no sympathy with my investigations, and who, I believe, 
 have to hunt up one day what they communicate to me the 
 next." 
 
 " And what has Santo to say to your making yourself at 
 home there ? He has not the reputation of being amiable 
 to strangers." 
 
 " He doesn't seem to object; and the boat furnishes 
 a sufficient excuse for frequent calls, as you know very well 
 yourself." 
 
 " Milton," I said, "let us have a clearer understanding of 
 this business. I may make a mistake, but I think you have 
 twice put on a satirical tone in referring to my motive in 
 getting a boat from Santo. Now I tell you frankly that I 
 had a motive which did not appear on the surface" 
 
 " Precisely," interrupted he, pertly. 
 
 " My dear fellow," said I, " this is no contest of wit. I 
 have no spirit for anything of that kind. I throw myself 
 on your good feeling, in which I have great faith, and beg 
 you to believe that I am serious, deeply serious, in all I 
 have to say upon this matter. Now, being forewarned, you 
 will not wound me, I am sure. I did order the boat, for a 
 special purpose. It was long ago, before Yone's wedding, 
 you will kindly understand. I knew the marriage was in- 
 evitable, and I desired to gather some direct knowledge of 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 89 
 
 the man upon whose character and habits her future com- 
 fort must largely depend. And now I shall tell you why." 
 
 I then related, as succinctly as I could, the course of 
 Yone's joyless life, bringing the history no nearer, however, 
 than the date when the marriage was forced upon her, and 
 suppressing all mention of my futile attempt to arrange the 
 difficulty by adopting the child. 
 
 I had no reason to complain of an inattentive listener. 
 He was, indeed, more moved than I had expected, but 
 there was something superficial in his declarations of sym- 
 pathy, and many of his observations caused me to think he 
 regarded the whole business as a drama of undoubted 
 pathos, yet one in which he was not wholly disinclined to 
 enact some part. For the moment, however, I had no 
 choice but to trust to his higher instincts; and I closed the 
 subject by saying that while I could not suppose he would 
 share my feelings, I did rely upon him to abstain from doing 
 anything that might add to the young girl's troubles. This 
 seemed to surprise him, but with no other response than 
 a warm though vague assurance of discreet behavior, he 
 hastily took leave. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE COIL OF THE SERPENT. 
 
 THROUGH the remainder of the day, a restless spirit 
 possessed me, and in the evening I sought the never- 
 failing recreation of a sail upon the Sumida. I started 
 with no definite object, but the wind carried me up 
 the stream, past the islands, and beyond the thick mazes of 
 streets and canals which stretch for miles along the river- 
 banks. Presently I found myself opposite the boat- 
 builder's domicile, in which a light was still shining, 
 although the hour was late, as hours are counted among 
 the Japanese. Dropping my sail, I drifted shoreward, not 
 
90 YONE SANTO: 
 
 precisely conscious of anxiety, but desirous rather to assure 
 myself that no ground for anxiety existed. The night was 
 still and sultry; yet, as I drew near Santo's little pier, the 
 voice of Milton, talking carelessly and cheerfully, sent 
 a sharp chill through me. As I passed the extremity of the 
 tiny garden, making no sign of recognition, I was evidently 
 mistaken fora visitor to Nakamura-ya, the adjoining popular 
 " tea-house," and no attention was paid to my movements. 
 Should I openly proclaim my presence ? The conventional 
 theories as to the ignominy of eavesdropping rushed through 
 my mind, and vanished straightway, leaving no appreciable 
 impression. What? fetter myself with chivalrous fancies 
 and affectations, when the promise given me a few hours 
 earlier had been thus shamelessly broken ? Not quite so 
 childish. Since accident had brought me to the situation, 
 I felt no more compunction in discovering what mischief 
 might be afoot than any man would feel in using all means 
 of rescuing an unwitting prey from a venomous snake. 
 
 It was not long, nevertheless, before the step which I 
 thus hastily decided upon taking proved to be a most un- 
 wise one, at least in so far as its effect upon myself was 
 concerned. It brought me a half hour of torment such as 
 I never thought I could be called to undergo. But I gave 
 no heed, in my impulsive determination, to any conse- 
 quences except those upon which Yone's safety seemed 
 to depend. A fence, projecting into the river, separated 
 Santo's premises from the tea-house grounds, and 1 drew 
 my boat close to its farther side, within the broad shadow 
 which it cast upon the surface of the water. This was the 
 only spot not brilliantly lighted by the moon, and the con- 
 cealment was doubly desirable, for the reason that the 
 favorite place of resort was filled with guests, whose loud 
 speech revealed that some of them were foreigners. I had 
 certainly no wish to be observed, even by strangers, under 
 the peculiar circumstances, and I held myself close to the 
 convenient barrier, invisible to all, but able to discern 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 91 
 
 everything around me. Through the apertures of the 
 roughly laid boards I saw Yone and her untimely visitor, 
 sitting upon a bench near the shore. At a little distance, 
 a dim figure was perceptible, partly outstretched upon the 
 ground, and partly propped against a tree. This, I assumed, 
 was Santo; and although his silence indicated that he was 
 probably asleep, his mere presence afforded me an un- 
 speakable satisfaction. 
 
 The conversation, which had been interrupted by my 
 approach, was soon resumed. 
 
 " How lovely the night is ! " said Milton. " Sometimes 
 I think there are no moonlights like these in your 
 country." 
 
 " Many persons say so, and I am glad to believe it," was 
 the answer, in Yone's tranquil and tender accents. 
 
 "It is like fairyland," he said. "'/# such a night as 
 this ' " 
 
 He left the quotation unfinished, and after a little hesita- 
 tion, Yone added, timidly, "' When the sweet wind' " 
 
 "Why," interrupted Milton, in surprise, "do you know 
 those lines?" 
 
 " I know them well," she replied; "once I tried to trans- 
 late them.. They are like music, and if I close my eyes I 
 can see wonderful things, when I repeat them. It is strange 
 that such language should come from deceitful mouths." 
 
 " Deceitful ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Their words were beautiful, but faithfulness was not in 
 their hearts." 
 
 " Poor Jessica ! I won't attempt to defend Lorenzo, but 
 pretty Jessica, she couldn't help herself, you know." 
 
 " She deserted her father." 
 
 " Oh, that is your way of looking at it. So you don't like 
 Jessica's behavior ? " 
 
 " Her father trusted her, and she betrayed him. It is 
 not possible" to like a woman who would do that. But 
 what she said was like a charm." 
 
92 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "Would you not be glad to see the places they spoke of ? " 
 
 "Have you seen them?" 
 
 "I have been near them, at any rate. Have you never 
 thought of going to find them ?" 
 
 " I did, once; it was only for a few days." 
 
 "Why should you not think of it again? I wish we 
 could explore those enchanted regions, and search together 
 for Shakespeare's foot-prints." 
 
 " Search for You are going beyond what I have learned. 
 I do not know that name." 
 
 " Shakespeare ? He is the author of the play from which 
 we quoted." 
 
 " I remember now. I have not read many foreign books, 
 and I thought only of the story, and the persons in it. I 
 will not forget again." 
 
 " I promise that you shall not, if you will go with me." 
 
 " You are very merry, Mr. Milton. I must be contented 
 with my own little country." 
 
 There was not much in this to make me uneasy, but I 
 already began to regret that I had not broken in upon them 
 at the moment of my arrival, and put an end to the dialogue. 
 Still, for Yone's sake, I would stay and learn a little more. 
 
 "Do not speak so sadly; we all have our troubles," said 
 Milton, in a tone which conveyed but a slight conception 
 of what trouble meant, " all of us, and young old." 
 
 "You do not understand me," she answered. " I am not 
 sad. My troubles are gone. I have one best friend who 
 has taken them away. I have no wish to think of them, 
 now." 
 
 " Who is that friend, Yone ? " 
 
 "You know him. The good Doctor Charwell." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know him. He is an excellent fellow, but I 
 did not think he was so powerful. What, can he remove 
 everybody's troubles, then?" 
 
 "He has cured mine." 
 
 " What, all ? " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 93 
 
 " If I had any, I would go to him, and then I should 
 suffer no more." 
 
 "You have great confidence in him ! " exclaimed Milton, 
 somewhat pettishly. " And so, if you should ever be weary 
 of this hard life and dull home of yours, I suppose you 
 would look to him for relief." 
 
 It needed strong resolution to keep me quiet at this 
 point, for I was persuaded that the young man had a more 
 vicious purpose than was disclosed in his words. But I 
 kept myself under control, confident that Yone's unsuspect- 
 ing simplicity would be the most effective foil to his 
 advances. 
 
 " My life is not hard, Mr. Milton, and my home is not 
 dull. Doctor Charwell knows that; and truly, it is his 
 good friendship that helps me to enjoy so much. Oh, no; 
 my life is very easy now, and my husband is very kind. 
 When my neighbors are ill he lets me go to them freely, 
 and I think by and by he will permit me to have a little 
 school, all for myself." 
 
 " Wonderful privileges, Yone ! " 
 
 "That is true, although you do not seem to speak in 
 earnest. Not many wives in my country are allowed so 
 much. It is different, I know, in yours." 
 
 "Yes, you may well say that.. In Boston, now, we would 
 find better work for these pretty hands than nursing the 
 pauper neighborhood, and teaching the young rabble here- 
 about." 
 
 " Better work ? I do not think Doctor Charwell would 
 say so." 
 
 " Doctor Charwell, indeed ! My dear Yone, I don't be- 
 lieve he knows whether these little hands are coarse or del- 
 icate, rough or smooth; still less what they are fit for." 
 
 A ripple of mirth showed how lightly she valued the im- 
 plied flattery. 
 
 " Do you think rough hands are a misfortune ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 "A great misfortune for a girl like you." . 
 
94 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "Well, then, there is one trouble which the doctor did re- 
 move. They were rough indeed, a year ago. But I did 
 not call that a trouble. That is nothing. I think of the 
 sore places in my heart that he has known how to heal. 
 Nobody else could do that." 
 
 He made no immediate answer, but a moment later I 
 heard him say, in a much lower tone, 
 
 "Yes, they are smooth, now, and soft as down, this 
 one, at least. Is the other like it? Let me see." 
 
 My patience was exhausted. Reaching for an oar, I pre- 
 pared to push the boat around the intervening wood-work, 
 and put an end to the knavish work; but before I could 
 move from my position, a throng of merry-makers issued 
 from the tea-house, and ran noisily down a pathway toward 
 the river-side. To my consternation, I saw that it was 
 composed of residents in the foreign district of Tokio, to 
 all of whom both Yone and I were well known, while most 
 of them had heard of Milton, if they had not met him. I 
 could not venture upon a movement which would expose 
 me to their view, and inevitably direct their attention to the 
 occupants of the neighboring garden. If they should get a 
 glimpse of the scene, their tongues would be wagging, the 
 next day, all over the settlement. Though in a fever of in- 
 dignation, I was compelled to govern myself, and to con- 
 tinue silent while the colloqu^proceeded. 
 
 "Surely my hands are both alike," said Yone; "but it is 
 not comfortable for me when you hold them." 
 
 " Only one, then, Yone." 
 
 " No, Mr. Milton, there is no meaning in it." 
 
 " You are very severe with me, but I suppose that is the 
 privilege of beauty here, as in other lands." 
 
 " You do forget that it is not pleasant for me to hear you 
 speak in that way. I have asked you not to do it, many 
 times before." 
 
 " I forget nothing that you say to me, but it is hard if I 
 may not tell you what I think. You know it is the truth." 
 
A CHILD OF JAP A 2V. 95 
 
 " That I do not know. Indeed, we do not give so many 
 thoughts as foreigners to what our appearance is like. It 
 does not seem to me that this can be the truth. I am sorry 
 to be rude, but I am sure it is not true. You are making a 
 jest of me, Mr. Milton." 
 
 " Every word I utter is earnest and sincere. I never 
 thought you would doubt that." 
 
 " Then I shall beg you, as a favor, not to repeat these 
 things." 
 
 " I will only insist, then, that you are severe. I wonder 
 if you are as severe with everybody. I dare say Doctor 
 Charwell might tell you you are a beauty, without offense." 
 
 " Doctor Charwell may say anything." 
 
 " And why not I, Yone ? " 
 
 She made no reply. I was exasperated at the inaction 
 which the delay of the pleasure-party imposed upon me, 
 and waited only for their departure to leap on shore and 
 drag the young scamp away. But now I could not even 
 stir, much less call out, they were so near. 
 
 "Tell me, my little girl, why not?" repeated Milton, 
 more urgently. 
 
 " I cannot tell you," she returned, in a somewhat changed 
 voice. " Indeed, I do not know. I am very ignorant of 
 many things." 
 
 " Among others, I may mention my first name. You evi- 
 dently do not know that." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I know it." 
 
 " Then why do you not use it ? I call you ' Yone;' you 
 should call me 'Arthur.'" 
 
 "You know that is impossible." 
 
 " Why, you will do nothing to please me. I would do 
 anything for you." 
 
 "Ah, you are a learned gentleman; you know what is 
 right, and will not make mistakes. There is nothing 
 strange if you call me 'Yone.' Women, with us, are never 
 known by their family names. Those belong to Japanese 
 
gf> YOKE SANTO: 
 
 men only. But among foreigners No, no, Mr. Milton; I 
 have studied a little. Your young ladies do not speak so 
 familiarly to gentlemen, unless they are relations, or at least 
 very intimate friends." 
 
 " Very well, let us be intimate friends 
 
 " Now you are jesting again." 
 
 " Listen, Yone; do you call Doctor Charwell by his first 
 name?" 
 
 "I do not." 
 
 " Not even when you are alone with him ? " 
 
 "Why, no, indeed; how can any difference be ?" 
 
 " Ah, you think there cannot 'any difference be.' But if 
 he should ask you ?" 
 
 "Ah, then if he told me, I should do it." 
 
 "You are submissive enough to him, I see." 
 
 "I should know it would be right." 
 
 " And your your husband ? " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " You call him by his first that is, his second name ? "* 
 
 "Oh, no! " 
 
 " What, not your husband ? " 
 
 " No, never ! " 
 
 " How singular ! But you will excuse all my ques- 
 tions, Yone; you know I am trying to learn a great deal 
 about the Japanese customs in a short time. Let me ask 
 you if all the wives are so reserved in speaking to their 
 husbands." 
 
 "That is better. I mean it is much easier to answer 
 about all in general everybody in Japan than when you 
 question me about myself. Well, it is different in different 
 houses. When the persons are both young, I suppose they 
 use what with your countrymen is the first name; or, in 
 any case, after they have long been married, they probably 
 use it. I do not know very well about these things, myself. 
 
 *In Japan, as most readers are probably aware, the name of the family 
 precedes the distinguishing name of each member thereof. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 97 
 
 I have lived much alone. Others could explain it more ex- 
 actly." 
 
 " But you know enough to decide how to address your 
 husband." 
 
 " That is very simple. A young wife must not be too 
 must not * take liberties/ I think you say, with a husband 
 much older than herself. I show the respect which I owe 
 by speaking only his family name. That is more suitable 
 to him, and more" 
 
 " More agreeable to you, no doubt," said Milton, as she 
 suddenly paused. 
 
 " It is proper that it should be so," she answered; "and 
 now, shall we not talk of something else ? " 
 
 "One moment, Yone; only a moment more. This is 
 curious. It seems there is a choice in your mind between 
 your husband and the worthy doctor. You would willingly 
 call Charwell by the friendlier name, but it is not agreeable 
 to do the same with your husband." 
 
 " You confuse me, Mr. Milton. It is easy for you to do 
 that. I have told you that I am not clever. I cannot an- 
 swer any of your questions now, but you have given me 
 many things to ask Doctor Charwell about." 
 
 " Doctor Charwell forever ! I declare, Yone, I believe 
 you are in love with the man." 
 
 "That, indeed, I am," she answered, composedly. "I 
 always have been, since I was a little girl. But you are 
 laughing at me. Why do you laugh ? Do you make sport 
 of me with strange phrases ? Oh, that is very unfair," and 
 she lightly laughed, herself. " I never heard that phrase 
 before. But I will always tell you I love Doctor Charwell. 
 I cannot love him too much." 
 
 " Indeed ! And what does your husband say to that ? " 
 
 "Why, nothing; what should he say ?" 
 
 " He is aware of it ? " 
 
 " Of course he is. Everybody who knows Yamada 
 Yone," she added, with an unusual ring in her clear tones, 
 
98 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " surely knows that. Her life would be all dreariness and 
 gloom but for the goodness of that one friend, and her 
 heart must be false and base before she forgets the love 
 that belongs to him. Are you trying, Mr. Milton, to speak 
 in a way which I do not understand ? " 
 
 The revelers had by this time entered their boats, but 
 they were in no haste to depart, and while they lingered I 
 was chained to my dark corner, though the detention tor- 
 tured me. Santo's heavy breathing reminded me of his 
 presence, which was in some sense a relief, and assisted me 
 to hold myself in check. 
 
 Milton's next words were in a more subdued and humble 
 strain: 
 
 "Forgive me, Yone; I would not vex you for the world. 
 It is right that you should cling to your old friend, and I 
 honor your fidelity. But I can't help feeling envious, 
 just a little; that is natural, you know. Do not think ill of 
 me. Give me your hand before I go." 
 
 " You have had my hand, already." 
 
 " If you deny me, I shall know you are displeased. Why, 
 what is it, to clasp hands ? With us it means only a greet- 
 ing or a farewell, but to refuse is a mark of real dislike." 
 
 " You shall not suppose that, no, indeed. And I do 
 not believe you would mislead me. It would be very easy, 
 but not but not very brave. You shall take my hand, and I 
 will trust you, for I have heard that you are good to all the 
 people of my country." 
 
 " Thank you, Yone; I "- His voice faltered, and I 
 hoped his treacherous soul was shaken by this evidence of 
 her frank and confiding innocence. 
 
 "Your hand trembles," she said; " are you not well ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes, I am quite well. Don't move; keep as you 
 are, one second, only." 
 
 Once more there was a pause; and when Yone spoke 
 again, it was with a sternness so strangely at variance with 
 her usual placidity as to make it manifest that she had 
 cause for deep resentment. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 99 
 
 " You have done a foolish thing, Mr. Milton, foolish and 
 wrong. It is to your shame. You would never have done 
 it if we were not alone and in the dark. Yet I am glad 
 there is no one to see. I do not wish it known that any man 
 could treat me with scorn. Now I shall arouse my hus- 
 band, and you will go." 
 
 I felt as if the blood would burst from my veins, and 
 nothing but the overwhelming certainty of the malignant 
 scandal that would follow an exposure could have stayed 
 my hand an instant. Why had I yielded to the mad im- 
 pulse that tempted me to wait and prove the villainy with 
 which my poor child was to be assailed ? But the loiterers 
 were starting at last; a minute more, and I should be free. 
 
 "Yone, you hurt me terribly," said Milton, with intense 
 vehemence, though speaking scarcely above a whisper. " I 
 will go, if I must, but I pray you to hear one last word. 
 There was no scorn in what I did. It is an act of rev- 
 erence; I swear it is. A man of honor may put his lips to 
 an empress's hand. It is the token of his loyalty and de- 
 votion. I am telling you what every American and Euro- 
 pean knows to be the truth. Ask whom you like. Ask 
 Doctor Charwell." 
 
 " It is not needful. No one shall teach me falsehoods, 
 Mr. Milton. There was no reverence in what you did. I 
 know that I am not an empress. I do not know that you 
 are a man of honor." 
 
 " If you could see all that is in my heart, you would not 
 hate me, Yone." 
 
 " I do not hate you. You have no right to say it." 
 
 "Then listen to me; you shall listen; I will not go 
 until I have told you the whole. Don't be afraid; I would 
 not harm you to save my life a thousand times over. But 
 I must be heard." 
 
 " I am not at all afraid; that is not my feeling. But now 
 I am very sure that you are ill." 
 
 " By Heaven, I am ill, and no living being but you can 
 
ioo YONE SANTO: 
 
 help me ! Don't you see, Yone ? Can't you pity me ? " 
 
 " I can pity, but it is folly to say that I can help you. I 
 wish Doctor Charwell were here." 
 
 The tea-house boats shot from the shore in a body, their 
 occupants shouting and singing gayly, as they swept down 
 the stream. My time had come. 
 
 " He is here ! " I cried, swinging myself around the par- 
 tition, and bursting through the network of willows which 
 fringed the low bank. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 SHORT AND SHARP. 
 
 YONE sprang up from the bench on which she had been 
 sitting, and came hastily to the water's edge. Milton also 
 rose, and advanced less rapidly. Santo, startled from his 
 drowsy torpor, lifted himself with a series of jerks, and 
 stood by the tree which had supported him. 
 
 "I was wishing for you," said Yone. "Mr. Milton is 
 not not himself, I think you say." 
 
 "I have come for him," I answered; "he is not fit to be 
 here. Your hand, Milton." 
 
 He gave it mechanically, half unconscious of what he 
 was doing; and before another word was spoken, he had 
 taken an involuntary header into my boat, where he lay 
 crouched and tangled among the thwarts, in most unheroic 
 guise. 
 
 "Oh, be careful," said Yone; "I am sure that is dan- 
 gerous." 
 
 "No danger now," I replied; "he is in my charge." 
 
 " But I fear he is ill," she persisted. " I pray you to take 
 heed." 
 
 "I shall do what is necessary," I said, curtly; " have no 
 concern." Then, changing my speech to French, in order 
 to be understood by my captive alone, and struggling mas- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 10 1 
 
 terfully to deliver myself with apparent lightness and ease, 
 I added, " You will go with me without opening your 
 mouth to these people, or I will drag you back to the shore, 
 send Yone away, and not only repeat every word you have 
 spoken, but also explain your damnable meaning, from be- 
 ginning to end, to old Santo. Choose, quickly." 
 
 "I'll go," he muttered; "but let loose my wrist, unless 
 you mean to break it with your infernal surgical sleight of 
 hand." 
 
 In fact, I had a grip of iron, in those days, and an ath- 
 letic skill which I seldom knowingly used. Releasing 
 Milton, I remarked to Santo, who still stood on the bank, 
 dreamily wondering, that my countryman had broken an 
 engagement with me, and compelled me to look sharply 
 after him. I asked him to toss me Milton's hat, made 
 rapid excuses for our abrupt departure, and with the least 
 possible delay began pulling vigorously down the stream, 
 wholly regardless of the conclusions that might be drawn 
 from my behavior. 
 
 Under the shadow of the O-hashi (Great Bridge), I 
 rested on my oars. Milton had picked himself together, 
 and sat motionless in the stern. 
 
 " Now, sir," I began, " I will hear whatever you have to 
 say." 
 
 "I have nothing to say, that I know of," he answered, 
 sullenly. 
 
 "That will not do," said I; "several things. must be said 
 and settled between us, this night." 
 
 "I'll say, then, for one thing," he responded, "that 
 you are not to imagine you frighten me by any of this fan- 
 tastic performance. I was taken by surprise when you 
 appeared, and I submitted in order to spare Yone." 
 
 " To spare her ! " I retorted. " Ay, that was obvious. 
 You had been sparing her, all along." 
 
 " Oh, I see; a listener ! " he scoffed. 
 
 "Yes, sir," said I, " a listener," just that; and never 
 likely to be better contented with myself than when listen- 
 
102 YONE SANTO: 
 
 ing under such conditions and with such a purpose in view. 
 So none of that cheap sarcasm, if you please." 
 
 " I don't know what you may have heard, but " 
 
 " It does not matter," I interposed. " I had a surfeit 
 long before I could get at you." 
 
 " You saw that Santo was there," he observed, after a 
 short silence. 
 
 "Yes; and I saw the intelligent part he took in the pro- 
 ceedings. I have no high opinion of Japanese husbands 
 generally, and no especial admiration for Santo as a partic- 
 ular specimen; but I can tell you he would have pounded 
 your skull to splinters with the rudder of your own decoy 
 yacht, if he had suspected your infamous devices, if you 
 had not barred his comprehension by your despicable use 
 of a language he does not understand. Nor my poor hunted 
 child, neither," I added, presently. "Her honest studies, 
 thank God, have taught her none of the meaning of such 
 foulness as you have tried to poison her with to-night. 
 Poor girl, poor girl ! To think that her first revelation of 
 deceit and treachery should reach her through me, after 
 all ! " 
 
 I broke off with a gasp of pain and fury, and again 
 betook myself to driving the boat madly through the water. 
 Regaining some part of my self-possession, I waited a sec- 
 ond time, under the lower bridge, and resumed the dialogue 
 in a less excited key, if not in milder words. 
 
 "There is no reason in wasting our breath, Mr. Milton; 
 you have broken faith with me, and I shall be extremely 
 short in my measures with you. Within this week, that is 
 to say by the next steamer which goes westward, you will 
 leave Japan. Or, you may take your choice as to direction, 
 but here you shall not stay." 
 
 " A likely matter ! " he replied, jeeringly. 
 
 "A certain matter," I responded with emphasis. "In 
 token of which, I will go with you to-morrow to Yokohama, 
 while you engage your passage." 
 
 "And if" 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 103 
 
 " And if you refuse, I will not only disgrace you, (for I 
 begin to doubt your sensitiveness to that sort of treatment), 
 but I will beat you as such a cowardly cur should be 
 beaten; not one day, but every day, and in the public 
 streets, until you go elsewhere to heal your broken bones. 
 Oh, yes, sir; and all who see shall know for what villainy 
 you are punished." 
 
 "This is very lively language," said Milton, speaking in 
 a manner curiously at variance with his usual buoyancy and 
 heartiness; "but it will do no harm to you or your object 
 if you listen to me for a moment. As to your threats, if I 
 know myself at all, they do not move me one particle. I 
 don't know whether you have the power to execute them, 
 to begin with," 
 
 "Stop, sir," I interjected; "you are perfectly aware that I 
 am incapable of a vain boast on a theme like this. It is true 
 that I am speaking in great exasperation, and at a later 
 hour I may see cause to modify my plans with regard to 
 you; but there is no more doubt in your mind than in mine 
 that I can accomplish all I choose to warn you of." 
 
 "Well, it does'nt strike me as formidable. If I really 
 feel myself in bodily peril," he pursued, with a sneer, " I 
 dare say I can provide myself with some contrivance to 
 keep you at a reasonable distance." 
 
 " Since you show your hand so plainly," I rejoined, " I 
 will use my present opportunity. I shall take you straight- 
 way to my house, and keep watch over you, as I would over 
 any other vicious and cunning wild beast, until to-morrow. 
 Then the order for your passage shall go to Yokohama by 
 telegraph. This programme is quite as easy as the other, 
 perhaps easier." 
 
 " You had better hear me to the end," he answered. " I 
 don't propose to go to your house to-night, and you will not 
 get me there unless you have some clever device for killing 
 me first. What I do propose is this. I will I will well, 
 I have undoubtedly broken the pledge I gave you this day, 
 
104 YONE SANTO: 
 
 and what I feel about that you are not likely ever to know." 
 His voice fell gloomily, and for a moment he was silent. 
 After a brief pause he continued; " We will drop promises, 
 then. My statement is that I shall voluntarily be at your 
 house to-morrow morning at eight o'clock, or earlier, if you 
 choose. This subject can then be taken up again, on -any 
 basis that suits you. To that I consent, and to nothing 
 else. That is all I have to say, and all I undertake to per- 
 form, for the present." 
 
 A hundred feverish thoughts raced through my brain, as 
 I propelled the boat toward Tsukiji, the foreign district of 
 Tokio, at more moderate speed than before. I was not 
 wholly unconscious of the wildness of my recent speech, nor 
 of the violence of my menaces. But I was nevertheless, at 
 the moment, as ready to carry them through as I was un- 
 questionably able, so far as physical strength was concerned. 
 It was an accident, to which I had never given much con- 
 sideration, that I possessed far more than the average mus- 
 cular force; and in my bitter rage against this smooth-faced 
 rogue, it seemed as if it had been given me only to bruise 
 and maim, or perhaps to crush him out of existence, if he 
 ventured to resist the orders I should lay upon him. As 
 the moments flew by, however, other considerations began 
 to fill my mind. The fierce desire for an immediate re- 
 venge gradually gave way to more prudent reflections as to 
 what was most important for Yone's welfare. Was it my 
 part to create or to magnify a new and cruel scandal ? This 
 was precisely what I had striven to avoid, by keeping my- 
 self from observation by the party at Nakamura-ya. Rap- 
 idly adjusting these views, I adopted, not without misgiving 
 at the time, what I am now well assured was the wiser con- 
 clusion. By acceding to Milton's proposal, I should run 
 no risk of his escaping me. I could keep as strict a guard 
 upon him, for my purpose, in his own house as in my own. 
 As we drew near the landing steps, I said: 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 105 
 
 " Very well, Mr. Milton, I agree to your suggestion. I 
 shall expect you not later than eight, to-morrow." 
 
 But it appeared that his ideas had also undergone a 
 change, for he answered, as he stepped ashore, 
 
 " I shall be there, Doctor Charwell, unless, indeed, you 
 prefer a more prompt discussion. I see an advantage in 
 that, which did not occur to me when you spoke before. It 
 is not late. If you are as little inclined to sleep as I am, 
 and are disposed to give an hour, at once, to the matter in 
 hand, I will go with you, and let you hear my determination 
 as it now shapes itself before me." 
 
 I was surprised, but by no means ill-satisfied. Signifying 
 my assent, I led the way to my quarters, a few paces dis- 
 tant. 
 
 XV. 
 
 FAIR PROMISE. 
 
 SEATED on my veranda, overlooking the broad bay of 
 Yedo, I waited to hear the motive of this new demonstra- 
 tion. 
 
 "I will say once more," Milton began, "and say it for 
 the last time, that, so far as I can judge myself, your threats 
 of abusive treatment have no weight with me. But there are 
 arguments at work in my own mind which do indeed affect 
 me. Until this night, although I ought to have known, I 
 did not fully know in what direction I was tending, nor 
 with what insane speed. No I do know. No harm, fortu- 
 nately, has yet been done, and within a week I shall quit 
 Japan, without again seeing Yone Santo." 
 
 He was a strange compound of weakness and impulsive 
 vigor, of honorable and ignoble propensities. Listening to 
 him now, marking the fervor, the apparent frankness, and 
 the unmistakable feeling with which he spoke, no unpre- 
 pared hearer could have distrusted him. For myself, I do 
 
io6 YONE SANTO: 
 
 not doubt that a* the moment he was thoroughly sincere. 
 But it would have been a lamentable folly, knowing his 
 utter instability, to leave him in a condition of such merely 
 superficial and probably transitory regret. His impressions 
 might change entirely in a day; and I had or believed I 
 had ample evidence of the worthlessness of his pledges. 
 
 "Much harm has been done, sir," I said, in reply to one 
 part of his observation. 
 
 "None whatever," he responded, "thanks to Yone's in- 
 nocence, not to my honesty. When I reached home, after 
 leaving you this afternoon, I found a note from her, written 
 at Santo's dictation, and asking for instruction about a de- 
 tail of the boat. I first thought of going there to-morrow. 
 But the evening was so bright that I determined upon an 
 after-dinner walk to the building-yard If you had asked 
 me, I should have said it was mainly, if not solely, with a 
 view to answering Santo's inquiries." 
 
 " And it would not have been true." 
 
 " It would have been true then, for, as I remember, that 
 was certainly my conviction. Now, of course, I recognize 
 that it was little better than a pretext, imposed by myself 
 upon myself. But I had no foreshadowing of what would 
 occur. The opportunity was unusual, and the temptation 
 was great. Having settled the business question, old Santo 
 himself proposed going into the garden; and after seeing 
 Yone and myself seated on the bench, he straightway 
 dropped asleep. I think we might have been there half an 
 hour when you appeared. How much you heard I do not 
 know. It was the first time I had ever addressed her in a 
 way in a way likely to do harm. I had been friendly, 
 and, I admit, affectionate before, too much so, perhaps, 
 but I had never tried to pervert her notions of right and 
 wrong. As you probably know, I failed completely, and 
 I thank God for it. I was surprised in the beginning, then 
 vexed, at her total lack of comprehension. I could not help 
 wondering if it was genuine, but I soon saw I might as well 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 107 
 
 have endeavored to make her understand a new language 
 as tried to sully her thoughts with a suspicion of evil." 
 
 " Why do you tell me this ? " I demanded. 
 
 " Because, whether I succeed or not, I wish to try and 
 repair some of the damage I have done, the only damage, 
 I may say, which is the uneasiness I have caused you." 
 
 " That may rest. But it is not the only damage. The 
 unfamiliar words and ideas you have planted in Yone's mind 
 will not pass out of her recollection, as if she were a girl of 
 mean intelligence. You have laid a foundation upon 
 which her imagination will build, until she becomes 
 acquainted with the existence of many things yet unknown 
 to her. It was against such a risk that I would have 
 guarded her, at any cost." 
 
 " But surely, Doctor Charwell, I may say Heaven knows, 
 without a thought of offense that a girl of her peculiar 
 beauty would be sure, sooner or later, to be enlightened." 
 
 " You know little of this country, sir. She might live to 
 old age, and never hear a whisper of such venomous stuff 
 as you have attempted to pour into her ears to-night. That 
 does not happen to be the style of ill-treatment which the 
 Japanese apply to women of a decent class. It was re- 
 served for foreigners to institute the pastime of woman- 
 hunting in this part of the world. And a noble revelry 
 they make of it ! They remind me of that princely Nim- 
 rod, the Count de Chambord, who used to have his deer 
 driven so close that he could look into their eyes, and then, 
 as he slaughtered them right and left, he called it sport. 
 The pursuit of Japanese women by foreigners is the same 
 sort of manly diversion. They bring down their game, not 
 because they are expert or daring, but because their victims 
 are all unconscious of the danger that threatens them. You 
 and others fall in with a pretty and attractive girl, and ply 
 her with seductive words she has never heard before, 
 words which she did not know could be spoken to her, and the 
 sound of which awakens emotions she had never dreamed 
 
lo8 YONE SANTO: 
 
 of. She becomes alive to possibilities far outside of her 
 accustomed sphere, and to the possession of faculties as 
 strange to her as sunlight to the blind. Think how narrow 
 are the limits of a Japanese woman's happiness ! Maternity 
 is the single deep and absorbing joy she can know. If she 
 gets a husband who treats her with reasonable kindness, 
 she may become moderately attached to him; but conjugal 
 love is a sentiment she never feels, and never dares to feel. 
 If she finds it stealing upon her, she knows her sole hope 
 is to crush it out, lest she suffer the more keenly when the 
 inevitable day of neglect and cruelty comes. As for the 
 proud delight of courtship, the little span of bliss when the 
 weaker becomes the stronger, when the expectant bride is 
 the ruler and her lover the willing slave, no glimpse of such 
 ecstasy ever dawns upon girlhood in Japan. Of all the 
 women in the land, not one knows what it means. But you 
 are not to suppose them any more destitute of tender sen- 
 sibilities than our own daughters and sisters. The loving 
 instincts of their sex are not called into life here, that is 
 all. But what is to happen when one of them listens to 
 professions, against the danger of which our young women 
 are guarded by parental vigilance or conventional educa- 
 tion ? Why should the untaught Japanese doubt the sin- 
 cerity of what she hears ? She knows no reason why any 
 man alive least of all, any foreigner should take pains to 
 flatter or delude her by false avowals. What is she, to 
 assume that it is worth any man's while to beguile her with 
 deceitful protestations ? Who would so foolishly waste 
 time on her ? Strange as it seems, it must be real and true. 
 She has never before been told she possessed beauty, or 
 grace, or other charms; certainly not as she is now told. 
 Her thoughts have never been turned into those channels. 
 In the ordinary course of her life they never would be. 
 But now she is confronted by a foreigner, a being upon 
 whom she looks as a moral and intellectual superior, who 
 flutters her little soul with caresses which she does not 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. log 
 
 know how to reject, and which open to her a rare new 
 world of poetry and romance. Then comes her dream of 
 happy love, which lasts a month, two months, more com- 
 monly a week, and from which she awakes with her poor 
 fond heart broken, broken as ruthlessly as the tie which 
 she believed, because she had been told, would endure for- 
 ever. That's the proud game of the woman-hunter in 
 Japan. That is the game which you, Mr. Milton, start out 
 to play with a trusting, unsuspecting child, confident that, 
 in the unequal contest, your practiced weapons will swiftly 
 beat down her weak defenses, and destroy her." 
 
 "I won't admit," said Milton, without a trace of the 
 anger or impatience I had looked for, " I won't admit that 
 any injury can come of it, though I have no intention of 
 exculpating myself. I will say, whether you credit it or 
 not, that there was no premeditation. The grievous story 
 you told me earlier in the day was fresh in my mind, and I 
 was filled with pity for the poor girl. Pity that is to say, 
 well, you shall have the truth without disguise, it was not 
 all pity. She has had a hold upon me, for weeks, which I 
 could not break away from. Not that she knew anything 
 about it. All she has heard amiss from me she has heard 
 to-night. It cannot hurt her. She is not one of the igno- 
 rant and unguarded class you speak of. She is well edu- 
 cated; her training has been ample. She is far above dan- 
 ger from so small a mischance as this." 
 
 " Not so. Her education has not prepared her for expe- 
 riences of this kind. Warnings against the snares of un- 
 scrupulous foreigners could hardly be taught in the schools 
 for Japanese girls. Unhappily, her culture, though far 
 from what it should be, has advanced sufficiently to render 
 her keenly susceptible to severe misfortune. She is one of 
 the few whose minds have been too rapidly and maturely 
 developed for the position they are constrained to hold 
 Without foreign cultivation of any kind, she might have 
 passed through life, even as the wife of a rude mechanic, 
 
no YONE SANTO:. 
 
 and never felt the worst of the griefs and humiliations she has 
 now to endure. Left unaware that the conditions of her ex- 
 istence were a perpetual degradation, she would have known 
 little of the shame which now oppresses her. Fortunately, 
 her scholarship yields her some compensations, and her 
 own beautiful nature sustains her in patience. But there 
 is one misery from which neither her studies nor her high 
 character can protect her, and which, if it falls upon her, 
 will be increased a thousand-fold by the very acuteness of 
 her intelligence. She has no knowledge yet at least I 
 trust not as to what her own heart is capable of. All I 
 can wish for her is a composed and tranquil passage, -with- 
 out heavy sorrows, over the course marked out for her. 
 But if her stronger affections are ever awakened by such 
 wiles as a reckless libertine may employ, and if she .learns 
 what passionate love means, then her peace is gone, her 
 future is a hopeless misery. And if you, Arthur Milton, 
 set yourself to an undertaking so cowardly and base as to 
 draw this good and noble girl away from the life to which 
 she has resigned herself, only to leave her presently to 
 everlasting despair, you are a monster of whom, I tell you 
 plainly, I think the Almighty might well be helped to rid 
 the world with the least possible loss of time." 
 
 " I have said I shall go away from Japan," answered 
 Milton, " and I mean to go. I cannot bring myself to 
 share your apprehensions, but I will act as if I did. I con- 
 sent to be governed by your extravagant theories, but it 
 will never be apparent to me that a young woman's whole 
 life need be made wretched by a bit of harmless flirtation." 
 
 " Flirtation ! I tell you again that girls of Yone's stamp 
 know nothing of such a word. They either believe or dis- 
 believe what is said to them. You do not require to be 
 told whether your language and tone were calculated to de- 
 lude her into a false conviction of your sincerity. You are 
 well aware that if she had continued to listen understand- 
 ingly, she would have taken your declarations in all hon- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. in 
 
 esty. She is not the girl to yield to them in any way affect- 
 ing her good name, never suppose that, but she might 
 have been touched by a spell which would endanger her 
 peace of mind. I trust to God she has escaped it. She 
 cannot know what a happy love is; it is too late for that. 
 After all she has gone through, she had better die at once 
 than learn what love in any form but that of friendship 
 means." 
 
 " Of course you know, Doctor Charwell," said Milton, 
 after a few moments' thought, " that I could bring a score 
 of opinions to set against yours. I have met more than one 
 man, with as much experience as you have had, who would 
 scream with glee at the notion of a Japanese girl breaking 
 her heart on any pretense. Plenty of the * old residents ' 
 are quite as emphatic on their side of the question as you 
 are on yours." 
 
 " Yes, you have fallen in with some of those hardened 
 brutes leaders of rational public opinion, they call them- 
 selves who strive to establish a belief in the general 
 profligacy of Japanese women, in order to lessen the scan- 
 dal of their personal iniquities. I know the set, and what 
 their evidence is worth; and so do you, I'll warrant, though 
 you choose to quote them as entitled to credence. But I 
 tell you that if you listen long to those cold-blooded rep- 
 tiles, you will soon wish to forget you ever had a mother or 
 sister." 
 
 "Bad as they may be," replied Milton, " they have facts 
 to support them. They do get possession of Japanese 
 women without much difficulty, and generally with the con- 
 nivance or approval of their fathers or brothers." 
 
 " That is a different matter. I make no attempt to defend 
 such Japanese men as condemn their wives and daughters 
 to shameful lives. The best contrived tortures of a couple 
 of centuries ago would be too good for them. I speak only 
 of the women. They are victims, not willful sinners. 
 They are brought up to believe that the highest virtue is 
 
112 YONE SANTO: 
 
 blind obedience to parental decrees. They accept their 
 doom as a martyrdom, and surrender themselves to a con- 
 tamination which, they assume, the dire need of their 
 elders renders inevitable. It is often the saddest of sacri- 
 fices, yet foreigners, knowing this to be true, inhumanly 
 pretend that the vicious course is adopted with satisfaction, 
 if not with eagerness. Worse than all, the foreign 
 women who come here with maxims of Christian charity 
 in their mouths, ostensibly to aid in the work of civiliza- 
 tion, these women, almost without exception, join in the 
 defamatory outcry, and, from the moment of their arrival, 
 act upon the absurd theory that they are dealing with a 
 race of human beings among whom chastity, modesty, and 
 delicacy are unknown. They treat their charges, not as if 
 a single one of them possessed the naturally clean instincts 
 of girlhood, but as if they must be all put through some 
 humiliating process of moral purification before being ad- 
 mitted to companionship with these over-righteous messen- 
 gers of social enlightenment. And the result ? But we are 
 straying far from the track, Mr. Milton. Our subject is 
 particular, not general. Your departure, I understand, will 
 take place " 
 
 " Within a week, as you shall see," he answered. 
 
 I thanked him, but with an effort, for indeed nothing 
 would have completely satisfied me except, probably, his 
 immediate withdrawal, even at that impracticable hour, 
 on foot, if necessary, to Yokohama, and his prompt em- 
 barkation from that port early in the morning. I had 
 obtained, however, as much as I could expect; and with 
 that partially consolatory reflection I retired, to pass the 
 night in conjectures as to the steps required for my ill- 
 guarded child's welfare in future, mingled with deep re- 
 grets that, among the whole body of European and Ameri- 
 can residents settled in Japan, I could not bethink me of 
 one true, large-hearted woman to whom I might confide the 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 113 
 
 story of Yone's life, and whose generous sympathy would 
 supply the help which my sex and my rougher nature alike 
 disqualified me from offering. Not one ! 
 
 XVI. 
 
 TREACHERY. 
 
 As I sat alone, the next morning, still musing, with 
 many misgivings, over the difficult situation, I was startled 
 by the abrupt entrance of Milton, in vehement haste and 
 much disorder, and so agitated as to be for some moments 
 incapable of speech. He flung himself into a chair, and 
 gazed at me intently, essaying at intervals to articulate, 
 but repeatedly failing. I carried him a glass of spirits, part 
 of which he drank, exclaiming, afterward, in a husky 
 voice, 
 
 " I wish to God it was poison ! " 
 
 "You don't wish anything of the sort," I replied; "and 
 I hoped, from our understanding of last night, that there 
 would be no more occasion for these mock heroics. What 
 has happened ? " 
 
 He left the chair he had taken on first entering, and 
 seated himself in another, close beside my table. 
 
 "We can be alone, I hope," he said. 
 
 " Certainly;" and I locked the office doors. Returning 
 near him, and examining him attentively, I saw that he was 
 in an unnatural state of excitement, from which I could not 
 but draw alarming forebodings. 
 
 " Come, what has happened ? " I again demanded. 
 
 "Worse yes, much worse than I could have believed," 
 he panted, in response. 
 
 " Speak plainly, man ! " I cried. " To begin with, you 
 have seen Yone." 
 
 "But I did not go to her," he protested, eagerly. "It 
 was the purest accident." 
 
H4 YONE SANTO : 
 
 "There, there, I" answered, " leave off excusing yourself 
 and your misdeeds. What has happened to Yone ? " 
 
 " Nothing, nothing serious, I hope I believe. I have 
 just left her, at the bridge near the Custom House. J think 
 she will soon be coming to see you. I I wanted to see 
 you first." 
 
 " Naturally," said I, giving full vent to my contempt, 
 and concerning myself in no degree about his feelings, now 
 that I felt assured Yone was safe, "naturally enough; 
 you wanted me to hear your own story before getting the 
 absolute truth from her." 
 
 "In any case," he proceeded, "you had best listen to me, 
 at present. You can learn what you wish to learn from 
 her, afterward. She has gone to the school, and may be 
 here in a few moments. God knows I don't want to see 
 her again, not now, if ever. I want to get over what I 
 have to do, and be gone. No, sir, you have no conception 
 of my motive in coming. I have broken faith, and 'dis- 
 graced myself; and I choose that you shall hear of it from 
 me, rather than from one whose kind heart would lead her 
 to soften to conceal my miserable " 
 
 He broke off abruptly, and so livid a pallor overspread 
 his countenance that I forebore further reproaches. Pres- 
 ently he resumed: 
 
 " I was at work the best part of last night, packing and 
 making ready, and by to-morrow I should have been pre- 
 pared to start for Yokohama. I had not the remotest idea 
 of seeing Yone again. But my cursed fortune brought us 
 face to face, as I was walking about Tsukiji, early this 
 morning. She was on her way to see you. Her curiosity, 
 at least, was excited by what happened last night, and she 
 was looking forward to an explanation, I suppose." 
 
 " No doubt I could have given her one that would have 
 done no harm," I answered. 
 
 " But I could not," he rejoined, excitedly. " There was 
 nothing for me to tell but the truth. I could have avoided 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. n 5 
 
 her, I tried to; but to be with her, beside her, again 
 
 Good God, Charwell, don't you know what temptation 
 means ? I lost all thought of everything, everything but 
 her and myself. I forgot I had ever made a promise. I 
 forgot that we could ever be separated. We walked to- 
 gether for an hour, perhaps two hours." 
 
 " And what did you tell her ? " 
 
 "All all that I ought not to have told her. But she 
 acted very nobly, Charwell; you must not have a single 
 doubt about her. She was all you could have wished. But 
 for myself " 
 
 " Ay, keep to yourself, young man, and don't you offend 
 decency by undertaking to vindicate Yone Santo. We shall 
 have the devils from hell, next, avouching the purity of the 
 saints." 
 
 " You may say and do to me what you please, Doctor 
 Charwell. Take a pistol and fire it in my face, if you like. 
 I deserve that and more." 
 
 " If you have nothing in your head but theatrical shams," 
 said I , " you had better go. You seem to have done your 
 worst in every way. You have lied like a scoundrel, and 
 you have sown unending sorrow in a gentle, harmless 
 breast. I thank God I never before knew so foul a coward 
 and villain, and I trust I never may see your like again. 
 Now go ! " 
 
 " You strike me when I am down." 
 
 " Not I . I would, heavily enough, if it could do any 
 good. But you had better get out of my sight. I see an- 
 other visitor approaching. Not by that door; come this 
 side. You can find your way through the house, and go 
 out by the rear entrance." 
 
 He went, with hesitating steps, and paused once, as if he 
 would have spoken again; but I would endure nothing more 
 from him, and closed with violence the door through which 
 he disappeared. Then, with a choking sensation, I turned 
 
n6 YONE SANTO: 
 
 to admit the child who grew dearer and dearer to me as 
 each bitter stroke of fate befell her. 
 
 I had urgent cause to exercise all the self-control that re- 
 mained to me, as I took her hand and led her to a seat. 
 A single night, or, more probably, the last few hours, had 
 wrought a change in her which only the the most hardened 
 in worldliness or professional self-righteousness could see 
 unmoved. The fair, open brow was clouded, and marked 
 with lines of pain. The soft, engaging smile, seldom 
 brightly joyous, but always infinitely winning and endearing, 
 had disappeared; and her lips were pressed closely together, 
 as if to hold in restraint the expression of an unwonted grief. 
 The rich, dark eyes, which usually shone undimmed in frank 
 and trustful sincerity, were cast down, under the influence 
 of an emotion which she dreaded to betray. As I saw her 
 slender form yielding to the physical weakness which the 
 suffering of her earlier life had fastened upon her, I felt as 
 if some dire fatality must have interwoven itself with the 
 unhappy girl's destiny, to overcome which no human skill 
 could avail. All that my care had done to remedy the in- 
 juries inflicted upon her in childhood little enough it was, 
 I knew too well was now, I feared, undone at a blow. 
 It seemed impossible that she could still retain sufficient 
 strength to carry her through another term of tribulation. 
 
 " Thank you, good Doctor," she said, presently lifting her 
 face. " You did not look for me to-day. I asked permis- 
 sion to come to Tsukiji before the usual time, because 
 something had made me anxious. You are always very 
 kind, and I am sure you will help Yone a little." 
 
 "Yone has no need to ask that," I answered. "I hope 
 it is nothing too serious for us to dispose of easily." 
 
 " I do not know," she sighed. " I think it is serious, 
 and I am afraid it cannot be easily mended. It hurts me 
 a little to tell, and if I might ask for a good deal of time I 
 should be easier. But if you are occupied I shall wait, or 
 come another day." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. n 7 
 
 " No, my child, I am not occupied," I replied, feeling at 
 the moment that I would be willing to make it my sole 
 business for weeks and months to come, if I could hope to 
 heal the wound I feared she had received. 
 
 " It ought not to be difficult for me to speak to you of 
 anything," she resumed. " I do not quite understand it, 
 so old a friend. Yet it is hard to begin. You will not 
 be angry, I know that." 
 
 "Never, Yone, never; and being an old friend, I may be 
 able to make it easier than you think." 
 
 She glanced at me with some surprise, and I continued, 
 clasping her right hand in a vague desire to impart to her 
 some of my own strength: 
 
 " Now let me save you the trouble of beginning. It is 
 about Mr. Milton." 
 
 Again she gave me a startled look, and then bowed her 
 head in assent, without speaking. 
 
 " You came because of what occurred near your house, 
 on the river, last night; but since you reached Tsukiji some- 
 thing more important has happened, and that is what I 
 must hear about." 
 
 She now gazed full in my face. 
 
 " You have seen him," she said, in a low voice. 
 
 " Yes, I have seen him. Do not tremble so. He has 
 not told me much, and you need not tell me any more than 
 you wish to. I am quite sure that everything you have 
 done is right." 
 
 " You know, perhaps, that Arthur has given me " 
 
 " Wait, Yone; why do you call him Arthur ? " 
 
 " He asked me to do so last night, but then I was unwill- 
 ing. He begged me again, very earnestly, this morning, 
 and the things he said to me made me believe that it would 
 not be wrong." 
 
 " There is no wrong about it, so far as you are concerned; 
 but for the present it is better for you to speak of him as 
 you always have done." 
 
n8 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " I am sorry for that," she murmured, dejectedly. 
 
 " Why, Yone, does it please you, do you wish to call 
 him Arthur?" 
 
 " No, it is not that," she answered; " but he told me it 
 was right. I am grieved that he did so. I trusted him." 
 
 "And he deceived you. But that fault is his, not yours, 
 my child," said I, failing to seize at once the fact that 
 already her concern was chiefly for him, and for his repute 
 as an honest counselor. 
 
 " He wished me to call him Arthur, because, he said, he 
 loved me." 
 
 "No doubt, no doubt; but now, you see, since he de- 
 ceived you in a small matter, it would be unwise to believe 
 him in a larger one." 
 
 "But I did believe him," she exclaimed; "I could not 
 help but to believe him ! Why should he trouble to tell 
 me such a thing only for falsehood ? No one would do 
 that. There is no reason in it. I do believe him." 
 
 " Yone, my poor girl, what can I say to you ? You must 
 not believe him." 
 
 " Doctor," she replied, softly, but very firmly, and look- 
 ing steadily into my eyes, while the delicate color of her 
 face deepened painfully, " Doctor, I wish to believe 
 him." 
 
 " Go on, then, Yone; let me hear all you have to tell. I 
 will speak afterward." 
 
 She passed her disengaged hand across her forehead, 
 and, struggling to command herself, answered thus: 
 
 " Last evening, by the river, he began to say things 
 which were quite new to me. At first I did not listen atten- 
 tively, and understood only a little part. Soon it seemed 
 that he was making jests, for both of us to laugh at; but 
 suddenly he spoke and acted in a way that gave me great 
 surprise, yes, and pain. Then, just before you joined us, 
 he talked so wildly that I believed some trouble had dis- 
 turbed his reason, and I was deeply alarmed for him. I 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 119 
 
 saw that you were displeased. I had been displeased, top, 
 but I could not bear to ask myself why. As I sat alone, 
 beneath the stars, and recalled what had happened, strange 
 thoughts came upon me. They were not wise, I knew 
 they were not wise, but I did not put them away. Doctor, 
 I shall keep nothing from you: I could not compel myself 
 to drive them away. They were with me through the 
 night." 
 
 Her lips trembled, and she paused, again pressing her 
 hand to her brow. 
 
 "And then " I presently suggested. 
 
 " To-day he was more clear. I met him beyond Tsukiji, 
 as I was coming to your house. He wished me to walk 
 with him a little, and then he said he had loved me since 
 he first saw me, though he had never before dared to tell 
 it. I asked him why he had not dared, but he did not ex- 
 plain. Yet I know he was in earnest. His voice shook 
 while he spoke. His cheeks were sometimes so pale as to 
 frighten me, and sometimes like burning flames. He im- 
 plored me to love him, too. He said I must go with him " 
 
 "What where?" I hastily demanded. 
 
 "Away, far from Japan. And that is the most serious 
 question I have to ask you, Doctor. He told me it would 
 be right for me to go; that if I loved him one half as well 
 as he loved me, I ought to go, and be always with him. 
 Oh, Doctor, you can tell me, was it true ? Is it right ? 
 Would the good men and women in your own country say 
 it was right for me to go ? That is what I must know." 
 
 " Yone, do you really wish me to tell you how you should 
 answer him?" 
 
 " No, no, dear Doctor, you do not understand," she re- 
 sponded, in great agitation and distress; "you need not 
 tell me that. I did answer him. But what I wish to know 
 is if he spoke if his words were true, when he told me 
 that he was right to ask me, and that I should be right to go/' 
 
 " Tell me first, Yone, what your answer was." 
 
120 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " Ah, that will pain me to repeat, for I was obliged to 
 hurt his feelings. But I must not hide it from you. I 
 showed him, as kindly as I could, how far distant such a 
 thought must be from my mind. I showed him that, 
 though I could not suppose he would mislead me about 
 what men and women might do or say in Western coun- 
 tries, it was my duty not to think of them, but of the rules 
 which we in Japan learn from our elders. Only a worthless 
 woman, I had been taught, would leave her home at a 
 stranger's commandment. And though Yone, the last of the 
 daughters of Yamada, was a poor unlearned girl, no wick- 
 edness or shame should ever be spoken of her, or give her 
 ancestors reason to look at her from above with scornful 
 faces. It was severe, Doctor, yet I did not wish to be 
 severe; my meaning was only to be truthful and just; and 
 he Mr. Milton saw that, I am sure, for he made no sign 
 of anger." 
 
 With a long and deep breath of thankfulness I drew her 
 toward me, and softly kissed her forehead. What ! Had 
 I allowed the faintest shadowy outline of a doubt as to the 
 dear girl's integrity to darken my mind, even for the brief- 
 est moment ? I turned away my head, utterly subdued. 
 
 "Why, Doctor, have I said anything to afflict you ? The 
 tears are in your eyes. What shall happen when our strong 
 doctor has tears in his eyes ? You have something still 
 harder for me to hear, I am afraid. But I must know it 
 all. Tell me, I do beg you, did he speak the truth ?" 
 
 " I can do no good, my dear, by concealing my thoughts, 
 or making light of Mr. Milton's conduct. You have to 
 learn a rough lesson, which I hoped you might never need 
 to be taught. That man has no truth in him. Everything 
 about him is false. He has, I believe, an easy and indolent 
 fancy for you, because you are a girl of much beauty, and 
 your beauty is of a kind he never saw before. But if he 
 loved you with honest and manly sincerity, he would never 
 have approached you as he did, For it is not true, in any 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 121 
 
 country on the earth, that a man is permitted to talk to a 
 woman as he talked to you, unless he can honorably make 
 her his wife. He has been a villain from first to last. He 
 meant to persuade you to join him in a disgraceful flight, 
 in spite of my watchfulness. He swore to me, last night, 
 that he would never see you again, that he would leave 
 the country without doing more harm. He is a perjured 
 caitiff ! " 
 
 She lifted her hand with a gesture of entreaty. 
 
 "Do not use such bitter words," she said, faintly. "I 
 feel that you are right. He is not good; but it wounds me 
 to hear he has acted with so much unkindness, all at once. 
 I hoped oh, I did hope you could tell me that what he 
 said was in some manner true; that in foreign lands there 
 were unguilty ways of following the course he urged to me. 
 It would have made no change in my mind, nor in my 
 action. I must do what is right in my own eyes, and be 
 led by the teaching of our own good men. But if you could 
 have made me sure that he did not try to blind me by 
 wicked lies, I should be so much less unhappy. I cannot 
 bear to think such things of him, such wicked, cruel 
 things." 
 
 Again the generous spirit was troubled more by the dis- 
 closure of his craft and falsehood than by the sorrow he 
 had inflicted upon herself. But it was impossible for her 
 to check or disguise, by any effort, the intensity of her own 
 suffering. She pressed her hands convulsively to her 
 breast, in the endeavor to control an anguish alike new 
 and poignant. 
 
 " He has done his infamous work, my poor Yone, I see 
 he has, and done it swiftly." 
 
 " So swiftly, yes. All in a day; all in one little hour." 
 
 A tapping at the door of an inner room interrupted us. 
 Supposing a servant to be there, I opened it without hesi- 
 tation, but found no one on the other side. Looking 
 about, however, I presently, to my amazement, saw Milton 
 
122 YONE SANTO 
 
 in an opposite corner, endeavoring to escape other observa- 
 tion than mine. He beckoned, and I went to him at 
 once. 
 
 "There is no way of getting out of this house of yours," 
 he said, in a whisper. " The doors at the back are locked, 
 and if I goby the side I shall be seen as I pass the windows 
 of the room where you are. Help me away, somehow." 
 
 " You have been here ever since ? " I asked. 
 
 "L have," he answered. 
 
 "And have heard " 
 
 " I have heard every word. My God ! What an ordeal, 
 and what a revelation ! " 
 
 " Come this way," said I, intending to show him a pas- 
 sage by which he might depart unnoticed. But, as we 
 turned, we saw Yone standing at the door. Her quick ear 
 had caught our subdued tones, and had probably recog- 
 nized Milton's voice. 
 
 " No, do not go," she said, with a firmness I could not 
 have expected. " I beg you, Doctor, to permit him to stay. 
 It is well that Mr. Milton should know what I have heard 
 from you, since he left me at the bridge, not long ago." 
 
 The control of events was slipping out of my hands. 
 Certainly, at this moment, I did not feel that I could inter- 
 fere. 
 
 "Come back, then," I said, "since she wishes it so." 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE OF A NOBLE SOUL. 
 
 " You need not tell me what you have heard," Milton 
 began, as soon as he entered the room, addressing himself 
 directly to Yone, and in response to her last remark. " I 
 know it all. I was close at hand. You have been told I am 
 a traitor, a liar, and a perjurer. Oh, yes," and he forced 
 a laugh, " I know the whole of it." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 123 
 
 "Ah," I interposed, "you heard what 7 said, and that, 
 I see, galled your pride; but I should like to know which 
 of your senses was touched when you heard what this 
 brave-hearted girl said." 
 
 " Do not speak of it, not now," he answered, in humbler 
 accents. Then, turning again to Yone, he added, " It was 
 all true, all that part of it. You do not know, you cannot 
 know, how horrible it is for me to say it, but it must come 
 out. "Lhave betrayed you; I have spoken falsely. For 
 this I cannot defend myself. I cannot even ask you to 
 forgive me. But you have been made to believe one thing 
 which is not true. Neither Doctor Charwell nor any man 
 has the right to say I do not love you " 
 
 "Stop there !" I cried. 
 
 " Why shall I ? " he persisted. " Let me tell the one ex- 
 cuse for my perfidy, poor as you choose to think it. I 
 swear to you, Yone, that my whole heart " 
 
 I sprang toward him with, I imagine, a warning light in 
 my eyes, from which he saw the madness of continuing 
 in that strain; but before I could act upon the impulse to 
 hurl him forth into the street, Yone's mild voice once more 
 arrested me: 
 
 " Be not violent, dear Doctor, and do him no harm, I 
 beseech you. He cannot hurt me any more; that is ended. 
 And it is right he should know what my feelings are. No, 
 Arthur Milton, I do not believe that you love me. 
 It is not true that you have ever loved me. You 
 have caused me to love you, and that I cannot help, not 
 for many years, and perhaps not while I am alive. But if 
 I love you, I do not respect you, and one single small 
 word from my kindest friend and father, here, means more 
 to me than all that you can avow. You have been drawn 
 to me by what has pleased you in my foolish Japanese face- 
 It would have been more happy for me if my miserable 
 body had been scarred by the pestilence which disfigured 
 so many thousands in my infancy. I was told that I had 
 
124 YONE SANTO: 
 
 a fortunate escape. I now see that the scourge would have 
 been a blessing. It would have saved me from your cru- 
 elty, Arthur Milton, which is worse to bear than disease, or 
 or death." 
 
 Her voice sank as she uttered these words, to which 
 Milton attempted no reply, only writhing and cringing, as 
 if each sentence stung him like a lash. 
 
 "I do not understand it," she continued; "I do not seek 
 to understand why you came to crush and to destroy, if you 
 could, a simple woman who never thought harm of you, but 
 who believed you were as good as your speech was gentle, 
 and as honest as the face you wear. I shall never ask how 
 a man like you could make it his sport to throw me into 
 sorrow and shame." 
 
 " Don't say that, Yone," I exclaimed. " Not shame, my 
 poor child, not shame. Sorrow enough, and too much, 
 dear girl, but not a touch of shame. I never held you in 
 such honor as I do this day." 
 
 " Doctor, you do not know the whole," she replied; " I 
 had not time to tell you. Others do not think like you. 
 I visited the school before I came here." 
 
 For a short space I did not comprehend the full meaning 
 of this statement. Then suddenly it rushed upon me. 
 
 "Good Heaven, Yone," I cried, "you have not done 
 so thoughtless a thing as to tell those people what has 
 happened ! " 
 
 "Most of it I have told to the two older ladies," she an- 
 swered, calmly. 
 
 "You have made an unfortunate mistake, my child," 
 said I. 
 
 "I fear so now," she admitted. "But I could not know 
 I hoped, although they were not always mild in their, 
 speech, that they were still my friends. And this grief, 
 Doctor," she continued, paying little heed to Milton, who 
 sat apart, " was new to me. I felt it was a grief belonging 
 to women, for women to understand and tell me how to 
 
A CHILD OF JAP A. V. 125 
 
 heal. I did believe it was my duty to ask for help from 
 some kind and generous ladies " 
 
 " Not there, my dear; you could not find help in that 
 place." 
 
 " Also there is something else," she proceeded, in a 
 lower tone than before. "You have seen the little scrolls 
 hanging from their walls, with beautiful words taken from 
 the book of their faith. They have long been wrtten in my 
 mind, but I never had such thoughts about them as came to 
 me this morning. One, more than all others: 'Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest.' With those words of invitation shining on their walls, 
 it was my true hope that even if they could not welcome me 
 as friends, they would aid me in faithful obedience to the 
 religion they profess. Even if I had done wrong, by their 
 rules they were bound to give me help. But I have done 
 no wrong to any one. I told them the truth: that Milton, 
 their countryman, had tried to make me forget the teach- 
 ings of honor and uprightness; that I had closed my eyes 
 upon him forever, notwithstanding that my heart was full 
 of tenderness for him; and I begged them to show me 
 how that sacred promise of their prophet could give me 
 ease in this great pain." 
 
 " This, also, I have driven her to ! " cried Milton, when 
 Yone paused, gathering strength to proceed. " Is there 
 no remedy, Charwell, is there no way out of this 
 misery?" 
 
 " They turned away from me," she resumed. " They 
 said I was a wicked girl. And that is false ! " She rose 
 suddenly from her seat, and a flash of indignation, the first 
 I had ever known to be kindled within her, shot from her 
 eyes. "Yamada's daughter has many faults, it does not 
 become her to deny them; but wicked she never was. 
 Doctor, you will protect me from such disgrace. You can- 
 not fail me. You always know me, and you will trust me." 
 
 A confused outburst of execrations fell from Milton's 
 
126 YONE SANTO: 
 
 lips, but little notice of what he said was taken by Yone, 
 who pursued intently her own train of thought: 
 
 " Many, oh, many times they have urged me to join their 
 religion, and more than once I have reflected on it, not 
 because of what I heard from their lips, but for what I read 
 in some of their books. I think, to-day, if they had not 
 hidden their faces from me, and wounded me in my 
 sorrow, wounded me in spite of those solemn pledges in 
 a holy name with which they cover their walls, to-day, if 
 they had offered me the charity of the wise and gracious 
 Christ in whose ways they tell us that they walk, I might 
 have willingly, and perhaps gratefully, consented to their 
 wish. But they are not what I thought them. Now I will 
 look to the God of my fathers, whose priests are not learned, 
 but are pitiful and kind. They cannot give me rest, I 
 know that; but they can make my life active in useful 
 labor, and help me to forget a part of my own burden in 
 lightening the burdens of others; and that is the best I can 
 hope for, in many dreary years to come." 
 
 Parts of this touching lament were uncomprehended by 
 Milton, as she had spoken alternately in English and in 
 Japanese; and she seemed at times almost unaware that 
 she had listeners. As she concluded, she moved toward 
 the door, unheeding the young man's renewed appeal, 
 
 "Yone, wait; let us see if something may not yet be 
 done. Charwell, in Heaven's name, stop her." 
 
 " Not against her will," I answered. " Do you wish to 
 go now, Yone ? Are you strong enough ?" 
 
 " I wish to go," she feebly responded. 
 
 "Then I will go with you. Say nothing to hinder me. 
 Obey your doctor; you are not well enough to be alone. 
 You, Mr. Milton, will, I hope, be here two hours hence. I 
 have something of serious moment to say to you, quite dif- 
 erent from anything you have yet heard." 
 
 "What ! " he said, eagerly, "do you mean there is still a 
 hope?" 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 127 
 
 "I mean to give you one more chance; look to it that 
 you appreciate its importance and its value." 
 
 I found a spacious jin-riki-sha, and insisted on sitting 
 beside her as she was drawn homeward. As we passed the 
 little church which the ladies of the seminary were accus- 
 tomed to attend, we encountered the Philipson twain, 
 promenading. Their heads twirted around as if simultane- 
 ously moved by machinery, and their faces remained 
 averted until we were at a distance. Yone grew a little 
 paler than before, but gave no other sign of having ob- 
 served the slight. 
 
 " Yes, you will have to look elsewhere for your religion," 
 I said, to give her ideas a more active turn. 
 
 " They could never tell me what I wish to know," she 
 replied; " I see that now. And I never shall enter their 
 house again, unless great sickness or trouble is there. Or, 
 if you mean to speak of the church itself, I do not think I 
 should have gone to it often. I have never been there 
 without discomfort. It is not pleasant to hear gentlemen 
 and ladies, whose purpose I am sure is kind, telling strange 
 things in a language which nobody can understand. I have 
 always been sorry for them. The younger girls, with 
 naughty mischief, would go to laugh at them, because, in 
 spite of their earnestness, they had not really learned to 
 speak Japanese. They would declare to us, before begin- 
 ning, that their Lord would smooth away all differences of 
 tongues and make everything plain; but in truth very few 
 of them said anything we could comprehend. No, no; it 
 was not by listening to them that I could have been re- 
 lieved from trouble. I should have hoped to find what I 
 needed by myself, with a little friendly help. One might 
 almost be satisfied with those comforting legends which 
 the ladies hang about their rooms. But though I wish to 
 say no ill of any person, I think the words have meanings 
 which those two stern sisters do not take into their souls." 
 
128 YONE SANTO: 
 
 After this, she was silent until we had nearly reached her 
 dwelling, when she spoke again: 
 
 " Doctor, he said he could not ask me to forgive him, 
 Mr. Milton, I mean. I did not heed him then, and I could 
 not answer. I wish you would promise me to tell him that 
 he has no need to ask. I shall forgive him. But he must 
 not know it until he is going away, just at the end. Noth- 
 ing must happen that may lead him back to see me again. 
 Only when you take leave of him, you can say that Yone 
 will strive to forgive him, with all her with all her 
 strength." 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 THE LAST HOPE. 
 
 RETURNING to my home, two hours later, I found Milton 
 awaiting me. 
 
 " You are punctual," I said. 
 
 " I have been here ever since. I was determined to wait 
 for you, though I have twice been nearly driven away by 
 one of those extraordinary missionary women, who seemed 
 disposed to take absolute possession of the premises. She 
 made me half wild by her attempts to drag me into conver- 
 sation." 
 
 " Who was she ? " I asked. 
 
 " Jackman I think she said the name was." 
 
 My heart sank. I could not comfort myself with a doubt 
 as to the object of her call. 
 
 " Here she is again ! " exclaimed Milton, impatiently. 
 " I hope she has no business with you." 
 
 " None whatever If she comes in, I will do my best to 
 get rid of her, you may be sure." 
 
 The unwelcome visitor entered in breathless haste, and, 
 without waiting for forms of salutation, began to interro- 
 gate. 
 
A CHILD OF JAP AX. 129 
 
 " Have you heard the news, Doctor Charwell ? It con- 
 cerns you." 
 
 I was staggered by her audacity. 
 
 " What news ? " I asked, thrown off my guard. Re- 
 covering instantly, however, I added, " I have heard no 
 news, and if you will excuse me, Miss Jackman, I am too 
 much occupied to listen to any, now. I have an engage- 
 ment with this gentleman." 
 
 She had not failed to observe my momentary confusion. 
 
 "I think you must have heard something," she said; 
 "but if not, it is plainly my duty to inform you." 
 
 " I told you, Miss Jackman, that I have an engagement 
 with this gentleman." 
 
 She gazed at him curiously and intently, pinching her lips 
 together in an aguish smile. 
 
 " Perhaps this gentleman is Mr. Milton, of Boston," she 
 observed, with extreme pungency of utterance. 
 
 I made no reply. 
 
 " Am I right, sir ? " she continued, pertinaciously, ad- 
 dressing herself this time directly to Milton. 
 
 "That is my name, madam," he answered, shortly. 
 
 She glowed with exultation over the opportunity that had 
 unexpectedly fallen to her. Now her proposed projectile 
 would strike a double target. 
 
 " I am not sure," she proceeded, seating herself with stiff 
 deliberation, "but that I have a call to deliver myself even 
 in the presence of this very individual. The matter may 
 be important for him to hear. A word in season is never 
 misplaced." 
 
 Milton looked at her with surprise. He had no ac- 
 quaintance with the robust and vigorous "reclaimer,*' and 
 was utterly at a loss to understand the purpose of her re- 
 remarks. I knew to what they tended, and endeavored to 
 frustrate her malice by announcing an event which had 
 been officially communicated to me the same morning, and 
 thus introducing a theme which, I believed, would serve as 
 
130 YONE SANTO: 
 
 a counter-irritant, and divert her fulminant energies into a 
 new channel. 
 
 " Ah ! " I cried, " of course I know your news ! Speak- 
 ing of delivering yourself gives me the cue. It is true: an 
 imperial infant was born last night. I can't imagine how 
 you heard of it." 
 
 The device was successful. A certain feature of the 
 emperor's domestic system, sanctioned by immemorial 
 usage, but not amenable to the canons of Western morality, 
 had always been an object of this lady's most impassioned 
 denunciation. She sped madly off upon the tempting 
 tangent. 
 
 " Who who who " she gasped. 
 
 " Who is the mother ? " I responded, catching the mean- 
 ing of her incoherent appeal. " Not the empress, I regret 
 to say." 
 
 "Abominable ! " she burst out, stamping her foot. "If 
 / were the empress " 
 
 " Ah, if you were ! " I answered, quietly, by no means 
 insensible to the humor of the suggestion, but unable, op- 
 pressed as I was by anxious cares, to derive any entertain- 
 ment from it. My sole desire was to keep her ideas fixed 
 upon this new and harmless topic. " As it is," I said, " the 
 young prince will enjoy the customary privileges of his 
 paternity, and probably succeed to the throne. The dig- 
 nitaries go to cou-rt to-day to offer congratulations." 
 
 She rose, trembling with wrathful agitation. 
 
 " It is a court of shame and infamy," she railed; "it is a 
 lost and abandoned court ! " 
 
 " Not wholly, let us trust," I remonstrated. " There may 
 yet be time for you to reclaim it, if you start at once." 
 
 She shot a vicious glance at me, and for an instant ap- 
 peared undetermined whether to remain and pursue her 
 original design, or rush to the dissemination of the later 
 and more momentous intelligence. The fear of being fore- 
 stalled decided her, and she darted forth to unburden her- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN 131 
 
 self of the interesting fact and of the presumably righteous 
 indignation with which it inspired her. 
 
 Excepting for his restlessness at the delay she had 
 caused, Milton had regarded her demonstrations with in- 
 difference, being ignorant of her motive in intruding. I, 
 on the contrary, was filled with dismay, for it was evident 
 that she had come from the Philipsons, and had taken upon 
 herself the congenial task of circulating their version of 
 my poor child's sorrowful tale. Her reason for including 
 me in the round of visitation was undoubtedly that she 
 hoped to glean additional matter for redistribution. Mil- 
 ton's presence would have been no check, but would rather 
 have instigated her to especially offensive manifestations; 
 and it was a satisfaction to have warded off the explosion 
 which would certainly have followed the disclosure of her 
 errand. The expedient I used was simply the one which 
 first presented itself, but it was vividly recalled at a later 
 period by circumstances which impressed it indelibly upon 
 my memory. 
 
 The moment she disappeared I locked the office doors 
 and drew the window curtains together. 
 
 "We will not be interrupted again by anybody," I re- 
 marked. 
 
 "I thank you, Doctor Charwell." 
 
 Then, attacking the subject which had been weighing 
 upon him, he said, 
 
 " Your last words, when you took Yone away, gave me 
 something like hope. I trust you intended them to do so." 
 
 Since my return he had not stirred from his position at 
 one end of a table in an obscure corner of the room. I 
 seated myself facing him, at the opposite side. 
 
 "It wholly depends upon yourself, Mr. Milton," I replied. 
 " If you have manlier qualities than you have shown in the 
 last few days; if the events of this morning have given you 
 more correct ideas of justice and duty than you held be- 
 fore; to put it plainly, if you are worth the effort 1 may be 
 
132 YONE SANTO. 
 
 induced to make, then I don't deny that there is something 
 like hope." 
 
 " Do you think, Doctor Charwell, that any human being 
 could go through what I have, see what I have seen, hear 
 what I have heard, without becoming a changed man ? " 
 
 " I don't know, I don't know. My chief concern must 
 be for Yone. At least, I suppose you know her better than 
 you did. You will not pretend to question her goodness 
 and nobleness now." 
 
 " God knows I do not." 
 
 " Her beauty needs no praise; and her cleverness and in- 
 telligence are not far behind it. She is not perfection. 
 Persons of my age do not look for that in men or women. 
 But she is as near to it as any being I ever saw. Now, the 
 question is, Shall I attempt a thing most distasteful to my- 
 self, the wisdom of which I more than half distrust, but 
 which will enable you to thoroughly comprehend and profit 
 by the girl's rare virtues; or shall I take the safer course 
 of sending you away, and allowing time to heal her bruises ? " 
 
 " I am bound to go if you exact it; but is it not possible 
 to find a way that may be better for her ? " 
 
 " You can be sure, young man, that I have no other ob- 
 ject in view. I understood you to say that -you would do 
 anything in your power to repair the injury you have 
 caused." 
 
 "I did; and so I will, gladly, eagerly. Only show me 
 that it is possible." 
 
 " I can make it possible. Or, not to be too positive, I 
 do not doubt my ability to do so. But let there be no mis- 
 takes. You are to remember that I attempt it only by rea- 
 son of my affection for Yone. If you second me heartily, 
 and do your best to make her happy again, I will more than 
 forgive you. And yet " 
 
 "You hesitate, because you still distrust me," broke in 
 Milton. " I have given you cause. If I did not feel this, 
 you know I could not have undergone so patiently what 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN, 133 
 
 you have said to me. But let me have the chance, and this 
 time I will prove my title to confidence. There ! I will 
 offer you no more pledges. Try me and you shall see." 
 
 The haggard look already began to pass from his face, 
 and his eyes brightened, apparently with good promise an( 
 sincere hopefulness. But this, again, might be only a 
 transient phase of his variable, shifting nature. 
 
 " After all," I said, " if my plan fails, it will be only an- 
 other downward step on your part. Yone will not hear of 
 it. Now, Mr. Milton, be good enough to tell me exactly 
 what you proposed doing, if she had been the woman you 
 thought her, and you had succeeded in getting her away." 
 
 It was an unexpected question, and he answered with 
 some confusion: 
 
 " If I had succeeded I meant perhaps I had no fixed 
 or immediate intention; but I certainly proposed to keep 
 to the letter every promise I had made for her happiness." 
 
 " You would have taken her from Japan ? " 
 
 " Yes, surely." 
 
 " Clandestinely, I presume." 
 
 " Is this line of inquiry necessary, Doctor Charwell ? " 
 
 " I must see my way,- sir. I have no desire to say dis- 
 agreeable things. I will try to avoid them. But we are on 
 a new track now, and I must have a clear course before 
 me." 
 
 " Certainly I could not have taken her otherwise than 
 secretly." 
 
 "And what was your destination ?" 
 
 " Oh, that I cannot tell. Any place in the wide world 
 where she would have wished to go." 
 
 " And for how long ? " 
 
 "For how long? I don't understand you." 
 
 " I wish to know at what time and place you would have 
 proposed to desert her." 
 
 " Desert her ! You are trifling with me, Doctor Char- 
 well. Desert her ! I wish you could read my thoughts. 
 
134 YONE SANTO: 
 
 She should never have ceased to be cherished and pro, 
 tected. I would have assisted her to realize every desire of 
 her heart. Her lightest fancies should always have been 
 gratified. I have abundant means, for that matter; more 
 than enough, most persons will say. She should have 
 asked for nothing on earth a second time, as long as she 
 lived." 
 
 "Ah, as long as she lived," I repeated, drawing my chair 
 close to him, and looking him steadily in the face. " Well, 
 then, since you would not have deserted her, and would 
 have devoted yourself to her as long as she lived, at what 
 time and place would you have proposed to marry her ? " 
 
 He started violently, knocking from the table a set of 
 bronze ornaments, which he immediately stooped to pick 
 up, keeping his face averted from me as he did so. 
 
 "Why why you know," he stammered, "as regards 
 that, there is an obstacle; as matters stand, it is impossible. 
 She is married already." 
 
 " I perceive, Mr. Milton, that you have not made your- 
 self completely familiar with the phenomena of Japanese 
 social life. You evidently know very little about the con- 
 jugal relation here; which, to be sure, is too repulsive, in 
 many features, to attract ardent inquirers. It happens to 
 be the case that for the most trivial causes I might almost 
 say for any cause, or, indeed, no cause a husband can cast 
 off his wife, and leave her to follow a separate course of 
 life. He is entirely free; and, for all practical considera- 
 tions that we need look at, so is she. Therefore there 
 would have been no impassable barrier to marriage, at your 
 earliest pleasure. But you will not imagine that I should 
 approve any irregular proceeding. Nothing of that sort is 
 in my mind. Nothing which might be deemed indecorous 
 would satisfy my notion of what is fitting for Yone Santo. 
 No running away for her; no law-breaking, bad as the law 
 may be. She has a husband already, as you say, and you 
 consequently assume that she cannot marry you. But now 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 135 
 
 let us suppose that I remove the obstacle; that I make it all 
 clear and practicable, reputably, and in perfect accordance 
 with every conventional requirement." 
 
 He changed his attitude as I thus addressed him, and 
 stared at me, as if suddenly bereft of his senses. 
 
 " You astound me, Charwell. I can't take in such a train 
 of thought. How can you make it possible ? How can it 
 be done ? " 
 
 " For that matter," I replied, " the best explanation is in 
 the byword of our immaculate spinster, Miss Sophia Philip- 
 son, ' because we are in Japan.' For once in a way, a 
 beneficent use can be made of a detestable system. It is 
 absurd to imagine that Santo Yorikichi is capable of esti- 
 mating the worth of a woman like Yone, and he never had 
 an idea of deep attachment to any human being. He mar- 
 ried her with the dim notion that he might thus ' get even ' 
 with the aristocratic class, to which, as he knew, she be- 
 longed. But he has outgrown that fancy, and I have little 
 doubt that the constant proximity of a creature so delicate 
 and refined, so antipathetic in all respects to his own 
 coarse fibre, begins to weary him. Now, then, you see my 
 drift." 
 
 Another set of ideas began to work in his unstable mind. 
 He clutched nervously at the arms of his chair, grasped his 
 head in his hands, and by divers signs and gestures indi- 
 cated an extreme disquietude. 
 
 "I hardly think so," he said, hesitatingly. "No, not 
 yet. All these things are so new, so remarkable to me. 
 I am not sure I understand you, even now." 
 
 " The sole difficulty is that Santo is a well-to-do man, for 
 his station, and may not come readily to terms. He dotes 
 on money, but he has already a fair amount of it. How- 
 ever, I will undertake to satisfy him in one solid way or an- 
 other. The separation can and shall be effected. In less 
 than a week, I trust, Yone may be liberated, without any 
 deviation from proper and recognized Japanese practice. 
 
136 YONE SANTO: 
 
 She shall stand before you free from entanglement, utterly 
 free from reproach, ready unless she is more unforgiving 
 than I can believe to overlook what has passed, and to be- 
 come your wife." 
 
 " My wife ! " he cried, while an expression of blank 
 amazement and incredulity settled on his face, " my wife ! 
 In God's name, what are you' raving about ? Are you talk- 
 ing to me of marriage with the divorced wife of a Jap- 
 anese mechanic ? You must be mad ! " 
 
 For a moment I was powerless to speak. Then my tem- 
 per, never under the steadiest mastery, burst forth uncon- 
 trolled, and a blinding rage possessed me. 
 
 " By the Lord, I believe I am mad ! " I stormed. " I 
 swear I must have been out of my senses for the last half 
 hour. I thought I was talking with a man, and I only now 
 discover that it's a dog. Come, take advantage of the hal- 
 lucination, you hound ! Get out of my sight and reach, 
 before I have time to think again what you really are." 
 
 XIX. 
 
 DIVERGENT PATHS. 
 
 MILTON stumbled forth, across the threshold and into the 
 street, in a dazed and bewildered manner, and before the 
 next evening he had transferred himself and his belongings 
 to Yokohama, as I took sure measures to discover. This, 
 then, was the end of the sorrowful drama, so far as that 
 heartless miscreant was concerned. But for Yone, who 
 could tell what the end might be ? The day following the 
 scene at my office was Saturday, when she usually came to 
 me, if on no other errand than to ask instruction as to the 
 treatment of some new invalid whom she had added to her 
 private list of patients; but as she did not appear, I started 
 on Sunday morning to walk to her residence, fearing she 
 might have been prostrated by the excitement she had un- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN '. 137 
 
 dergone, or by her endeavors to stifle and overcome it. 
 
 Near the Philipson school I overtook a small group of 
 missionaries, including the ladies at the head of that estab- 
 lishment; Miss Gibson, the neophyte mentioned in the 
 earlier pages of this narrative; and a few others, of both 
 sexes. I was about to pass them with a silent salutation, 
 but the leader of the party called me back. 
 
 "Doctor," she said, "I believe Miss Jackman looked in 
 upon you the day before yesterday." 
 
 " She did, madam," I replied. 
 
 " I understand that she left you before she could explain 
 the particular object of her visit. 'Do you know what it 
 was ? " 
 
 " It is not always possible to know what Miss Jackman's 
 particular object may be. Her general object seems to be 
 to make herself disagreeable." 
 
 " She knows her duty," testified the earnest spinster, " and 
 she fulfills it, no matter what suffering it may cost her." 
 
 "Or anybody else," I supplemented, ironically. 
 
 " Or anybody else," she assented, with matter-of-fact 
 composure. 
 
 The younger sister now pressed forward. 
 
 " Pray tell me, Doctor Charwell," she began, " was not 
 Mr. Milton also at your house ? " 
 
 "I was about to make the inquiry," said the elder, in a 
 tone of mild reproof. " But first I would ask the doctor if 
 his protegee, Mrs. Santo, was in Tsukiji yesterday." 
 
 " I do not know, madam; I have not seen her since Friday/' 
 
 "Oh, Friday," she repeated, significantly; "dear me, yes. 
 I am aware that you saw her on Friday. Many persons 
 saw her; too many, I might say." 
 
 " I am convinced of that, madam," I responded. 
 
 "Oh, quite too many, " exclaimed Miss Kezia, obtuse to 
 my fling of sarcasm, and intent upon her own point only, 
 "altogether too many; there can be no doubt of that, poor 
 creature." 
 
133 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " As to 'poor creature,' I am not so sure," said the sour 
 senior. " But well, yes; on the whole, as we are in Japan, 
 we will say ' poor creature.' " 
 
 " Good-morning, ladies," said I, endeavoring to move 
 forward, out of range of their pestilent tongues. But they 
 were walking in the same direction, and I could not escape 
 them. 
 
 "Excuse me, Doctor; one moment, I beg of you. I 
 trust you will ease my mind on a serious matter. You can- 
 not possibly know all that has happened, but I assure you 
 we have learned sufficient to justify us in excluding that 
 young woman from our habitation, hereafter." 
 
 "Indeed; and from whom have you learned it, madam, 
 may I ask ? " 
 
 " From the best authority, sir, from her own self." 
 
 "Her own self," iterated the younger sister; "she con- 
 fessed everything." 
 
 " Confessed ! " I ejaculated. " That's an extraordinary 
 word to use in connection with a stainless woman. Do 
 you pretend to say that she confessed in the sense of having 
 a fault to reveal ? " 
 
 They both hesitated. 
 
 "Pray answer; did she not come to acquaint you with a 
 heavy misfortune that had befallen her, and to ask your 
 sympathy and assistance ? " 
 
 " Really, Doctor, you put it in so singular a way." 
 
 " Was not that the way she put it ? " 
 
 " I dare say she did; she was always a designing girl, 
 they all are," said the elder sister, who never lacked re- 
 sources for a retort. " But what I more particularly wanted 
 to say was, that I hope the severity we have found it 
 necessary to exercise with her will not have the effect of 
 depriving us of the service you have always so generously 
 tendered." 
 
 " Oh, I will do what I can for the little ones," I an- 
 swered; "but you have deprived yourselves of a healer 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. .139 
 
 who can do more for your sick than a dozen men like me." 
 
 "Ah, Doctor, you do exaggerate so." 
 
 " Not I. Yone has kept life in many a drooping body 
 which I could never have revived. She alone knew the 
 secret of counteracting your " 
 
 " Our what, Doctor, if you will be so kind ? " 
 
 "Well, your carelessness, your neglect, your ignorant 
 treatment, your improper food, if you must be told. You 
 can't build up sickly infants on imperfect nourishment and 
 bad temper. Yone kept their little heads above water, in 
 spite of all, God bless her. In rejecting her you do more 
 mischief to them than to the girl you persecute." 
 
 The exemplary lady was speechless with ire; not wholly 
 to the dissatisfaction of Miss Kezia, whose opportunities 
 for eloquence were few, and who promptly availed herself 
 of the occasion. 
 
 "As to that, we do not know," she said; "that is in the 
 hands of a higher power. Better, perhaps, that their sinful 
 bodies should perish than that their immortal souls be cor- 
 rupted by evil communication. We only know our duty. 
 The inward monitor indorses our resolution not to receive 
 her." 
 
 Murmurs of approbation affirmed the general confidence 
 in so responsible a backer as the Philipsons' inward 
 monitor. 
 
 " Not to receive her," I repeated. " That seems to recall 
 a familiar phrase. ' Whosoever shall receive this child ' 
 How does it run ? I am a bad hand at quotation. You 
 know all about it, Miss Philipson. It belongs to ancient 
 literature." 
 
 Though still palpitating with indignation at my arraign- 
 ment of her domestic system, she was not insensible to the 
 flattery of being appealed to as a historical authority. 
 
 " To ancient literature," she echoed, " to ancient litera- 
 ture. Let me consider. Classic, I presume" 
 
 An ominous whisper rustled through the procession. 
 
I 4 o YONE SANTO: 
 
 Heads were bent together, and a subdued warning buzzed 
 along the line, until it reached the ear of Miss Sophia. 
 
 " Gracious Heaven ! " she cried, as I suppose she might 
 have cried if a scorpion had stung her. " Thisis too horri- 
 ble ! Much I could expect, and much I would endure; but 
 that blasphemy should be thrown into my face, straight into 
 my open face, on this sacred day, almost under the shadow 
 of that sacred steeple at the next corner, rank blasphemy, 
 and in the public streets, it is too much ! " She sought 
 relief, as was her frequent habit when unduly excited, in a 
 maze of metaphorical confusion. " The line is drawn, Doc- 
 tor Charwell. A gulf rises between us. Here I cross 
 over to the Rubicon. We will turn now, sister, and friends. 
 Miss Gibson, I think you will do well to come with us." 
 
 "You know I cannot, madam," replied that young lady, 
 gravely. 
 
 "Oh, good-day, then; good-fay\ 9 \ exclaimed the others 
 of the party, as they moved toward the little church which 
 constituted their stronghold. 
 
 "This is odd," I remarked, on finding that Miss Gibson 
 and I were left standing alone. " May I ask if you are not 
 taking their course ?" 
 
 " There's a double meaning in that question, I imagine," 
 she said, smiling faintly; "but at any rate, I am not taking 
 their course now." 
 
 " If you are walking toward the river," said I, " I hope 
 you will let me accompany you a little way." 
 
 " Certainly," she answered; and indeed I think I shall 
 ask you for some information, if you please." 
 
 I was so perplexed by the circumstance of her separation 
 from her customary associates, and on a Sunday morning, 
 too, that I failed to respond at once; but, presently recollect- 
 ing myself, I said abruptly: 
 
 " Yes, yes, by all means. Pray excuse me; I was taken 
 a little aback by your sudden secession from our friends 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 141 
 
 yonder. It's no affair of mine, Miss Gibson; I am well 
 aware of that, and I won't offend you by referring to it 
 again." 
 
 "There is no offense, Doctor Charwell; I may find it ex- 
 pedient to refer to it myself, rather openly. But I am more 
 especially anxious to learn if Yone Santo's visit to the Phil- 
 ipsons occurred as you just now stated it." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " Did she really go there in trouble, to ask for consola- 
 tion and sympathy ? " 
 
 " That is precisely the case. Will you tell me why you 
 wish to know ? " 
 
 " Certainly I will. I have no idea of concealing that, or 
 many other things. Those ladies have been telling every- 
 body that she came in a wild, despairing state, to make a 
 confession of depravity which she could no longer keep on 
 her guilty soul; and that she then ran away to rejoin her 
 her lover, I believe they said." 
 
 " Meaning Mr. Milton, no doubt." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Milton, my fellow-townsman. But you are 
 not to think I accepted the story as unvarnished truth. I 
 am sorry to say I know the Philipsons better than I did." 
 
 " If I were not afraid of making a breach between you 
 and the heads of your mission, I would tell you exactly 
 what occurred; for it all came authentically to my knowl- 
 edge." 
 
 " There is no longer any question of making a breach," 
 she began, sadly; but changing suddenly, she added: " No 
 harm can come from my learning the real truth, provided 
 there is nothing that ought to be left untold, as to which 
 Miss Philipson expressed many doubts." 
 
 "You shall judge," said I; and as we walked to the 
 river, crossed the bridge, and proceeded toward Santo's 
 house, I laid before her the incidents of the past few days, 
 reverting also to a few details of Yone's earlier life, illus- 
 trative of her candor and simple uprightness. More than 
 
M2 YONE SANTO: 
 
 once, the warm-hearted American girl's handkerchief was 
 lifted to her eyes, and I began to hope that my lonely 
 sufferer would at last win a friend better suited to her wants 
 than a grim, rugged, and stormy-tempered bachelor, more 
 than thrice her age. 
 
 XX. 
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 
 
 " PERHAPS you are going to her now ? " suggested Miss 
 Gibson, when I had ended. 
 
 " I am; she did not come to our part of the town yester- 
 day, and I am anxious about her." 
 
 " You have reason to be, Doctor. Will you let me go 
 with you ? " 
 
 "Gladly joyfully," I replied; but, thinking of Sahto's 
 rough ways and Yone's uncongenial surroundings, I con- 
 sidered it necessary to enlighten her on these points. 
 This involved further allusion to Yone's undeserved mis- 
 fortunes, to which Miss Gibson listened with amazement 
 and indignation. 
 
 " The unhappy child ! " she exclaimed; " her life seems 
 to have been one continuous sorrow. But surely the case 
 is most unusual." 
 
 " Do not think so," I said; "it is only too common. The 
 mass of the Japanese women are condemned to similar 
 mental trials, if not to equal bodily hardship. It is true 
 that those who are utterly untaught escape the worst misery. 
 They accept their degradation without inquiry or com- 
 plaint, as the natural accompaniment of their lot." 
 
 "But I hav heard nothing of these things before," she 
 said, with startled eagerness. 
 
 "You have not been here long," I answered; "and as 
 for the elders of your body, I conclude that they are dumb 
 and blind because they have no wish to be otherwise." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 143 
 
 "This is dreadful, Doctor Charwell; if you are correct, 
 the more we try to educate them, the more they must 
 suffer." 
 
 "For a time, unfortunately, yes; it may be for a long 
 time. But that proves nothing against continuing to ed- 
 ucate them as thoroughly and rapidly as possible. It is a 
 tangled question, Miss Gibson, which we cannot unravel in 
 a hasty conversation. You shall know, however, that my 
 judgment is totally against the system of missionary culture 
 ordinarily attempted with Japanese girls. It is more likely 
 to lead to their ruin than their redemption. But I am teach- 
 ing you rank rebellion. What would those best of ladies 
 say, if they knew where I am leading your thoughts ? " 
 
 " They would have nothing to say," she replied, sadly; 
 " when I left them at that corner, I left them forever." 
 
 " Indeed; was it so serious a matter ? " 
 
 " The matter itself was not serious. You would probably 
 smile at it. But it was one in a series of difficulties which, 
 sooner or later, would have worn me out. They were de- 
 termined that numbers of Japanese laborers and mechanics 
 mostly of a low class, but none the worse, I dare say, for 
 that should join, each Sunday, in the musical part of our 
 church service. Now I truly hope these converts are well 
 meaning people, and as full of good purpose as they say; 
 but their adoption of Christianity does not make musicians 
 of them. They do not know, and in most cases never can 
 know, one tone from another. To me, who have very 
 strong feelings about religious music, it is an awful mockery 
 that they should be allowed to turn the service into such 
 utter ridicule as they do, merely to gratify some strange 
 vanity of their own, or to indulge a wild fancy for making 
 a senseless noise. It is profanation to think that the Deity 
 can listen with approval to such barbarous uproar. 
 
 I fancied that the young lady might not have taken the 
 matter so much to heart if she had not herself been a mu- 
 sician of no mean ability, and thoroughly qualified to direct, 
 
144 YONE SANTO: 
 
 without interference, the performances of the choir. But 
 her objections were sensible enough, as might be attested by 
 any listener to the vocal burlesques which she condemned. 
 
 " You are quite right," I said. " Martin Luther pro- 
 tested against devoting good music to the devil. He would 
 have flung his inkstand at anybody who said bad music 
 was fit for the Almighty." 
 
 " Doctor, it may not be a very solemn subject, but I 
 hope you will not laugh at it, for all that." 
 
 " By no means, my good young lady; you will never find 
 me laughing at anything genuinely religious. I under- 
 stand your feelings, and respect them; and I also under- 
 stand the proceedings of the church managers, who in this 
 instance desire to call attention to the increased number of 
 Japanese in their congregations, attendants whose sin- 
 cerity, they will claim, is proved by their energetic partici- 
 pation in the singing." 
 
 " Energetic, indeed. But still it seems curious that these 
 rough-grained Japanese should endure the tedium of a 
 whole service that is " (she corrected herself, with haste 
 and blushes), " it must be tedium to f/icw solely for the 
 sake of gratifying themselves in their extraordinary way for 
 a few moments, now and then." 
 
 "It is not agreeable to break up your innocent illusions," 
 I replied; "but you must remember there are many rival 
 carpenters, shoemakers, grooms, applicants for domestic 
 labor, and the like, in this neighborhood; and the mission- 
 ary corps is large. Now, one way, at least, to secure pat- 
 ronage " 
 
 "Say no more," she interrupted; "Pray say no more. 
 Can you discover nothing good to speak of the missionaries 
 here, in Tokio, and those whom they strive to convert?" 
 
 I was silent. 
 
 " Tell me," she persisted, have you not one friendly 
 word to say of them ? You would not, surely, venture to 
 pronounce against them all." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 145 
 
 " Miss Gibson," I said, with as much earnestness as I 
 could command, strongly desiring to allow no cause for 
 suspicion that I was capable of sharing a certain vulgar 
 tendency among numerous foreigners to revile and discredit 
 missionary enterprises, " I will tell you more on this head 
 than I have latterly thought it desirable to tell any other 
 person. During many of the years I have lived in Japan, I 
 sought, with an assiduity I could hardly make you real- 
 ize, for missionaries whom I could hold in honor, whose 
 characters I could unqualifiedly respect, whose methods of 
 dealing with the Japanese seemed to me worthy of ap- 
 proval. It was for a long period that I pursued this inves- 
 tigation, with unswerving persistence. My objects were 
 not always such as you would sympathize with, at least 
 not now; but I think they were disinterested and humane. 
 I could have experienced no gratification equal to that of 
 meeting a few good men, and especially a few good 
 women, of your calling, in whom the loftier spirit of devo- 
 tion, unselfishness, and willing sacrifice might be found. It 
 seemed incredible that of all who came in this cause, none 
 should be conscious of the broad and comprehensive duties 
 that lay before them. But the inexorable fact was always 
 staring me in the face." 
 
 " Do you mean that no single one of them equaled your 
 hopes and wishes ? " 
 
 " Not one, Miss Gibson, not one. If I sometimes thought 
 I had encountered a simple, upright, well-meaning soul, I 
 soon learned that it was steeped in ignorance more befitting 
 the rudest peasant than a pretended teacher of religion. It 
 is humiliating to think of the carelessness and indifference 
 with which illiterate men and women are sent to the East 
 charged with functions demanding the highest learning and 
 wisdom. I could not ask cooperation from persons of this 
 stamp, or seek to cooperate with them. Then there were 
 many who came plainly in pursuit of gain, and with no 
 Other view. They were not of the stock I wanted, Once 
 
I 4 6 YONE SANTO : 
 
 or twice, indeed, I have believed myself approaching a 
 point of contact with individuals who seemed fashioned in 
 a nobler mould; but they shrunk before such tests as I felt 
 bound to apply, and their falling masks revealed the self- 
 ishness, or cowardice, or conceit which pervaded and domi- 
 nated them. Hard disappointments, many of them, for 
 me. It may be that I demanded greater virtues and capa- 
 bilities than mankind is commonly endowed with. I cer- 
 tainly looked for qualities which I knew I could not, 
 myself, even approximately supply. But I must ac- 
 knowledge to you that some years have passed since I 
 hopelessly abandoned my efforts to make friends with 
 any missionaries, except those that come to do medical 
 work, whose studies have in most cases enlarged their 
 understanding and endowed them with broader human sym- 
 pathies. Those who appear here as clergymen only have 
 long ceased to attract my observation. It may therefore 
 be true that a different and worthier class has taken the 
 place of those among whose ranks I searched in vain. I 
 can only say that, in my time of exploration, I never 
 caught a glimpse of success. The good material with 
 which I might have wished to ally myself was completely 
 nullified by the superstition, ignorance, prejudice, vanity, 
 and presumptuous arrogance that stood in the way. You 
 are a later observer than I. You can say whether the same 
 obstacles still bar the way to substantial missionary 
 progress." 
 
 In her turn> Miss Gibson was silent. 
 
 "Let us hope, then," I added, "that a change has taken 
 place. But it is too late, in any case, for me to begin my 
 labors over again. They must be resumed by other 
 hands, if at all." 
 
 We were now drawing near Santo's work-shop and dwell- 
 ing. 
 
 " Reflect, now," said I; " if you once go in, you break with 
 the Philipsons for good and all. They will never forgive you." 
 
 " I will go," she answered. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 147 
 
 " I should be sorry to persuade you to any action which 
 might injure your prospects, and this may be serious." 
 
 "Have no fear," she rejoined; "1 risk nothing. lam 
 not irrevocably bound to them, like most of the others. I 
 am only a volunteer, quite free to leave and return home, 
 if I find the work distasteful." 
 
 " Ah, then you are safe. And so, you will soon be going 
 home. Poor Yone ! " 
 
 "Thank you for saying that, Doctor; but I am not sure 
 about going home, just yet." 
 
 "My child," said I, unconsciously adopting the paternal 
 style of address, and not exactly understanding why she 
 began to laugh, "this is not the place for you. The real 
 work that remains to be done in Japan is to emancipate the 
 women and give them their rights, or a satisfactory share of 
 them. All other tasks that women can take part in are 
 now fairly provided for. Indeed, the Japanese have no 
 claim to look for any more outside help, until they do jus- 
 tice to their own wives and sisters." 
 
 "Why cannot a woman like myself aid in bringing that 
 about ? " 
 
 "No, no; not for the present. The reform will hardly 
 begin in my days. The most I hope is to see the founda- 
 tions laid. Your youth can be given to other things, per- 
 haps to similar undertakings at home. When you reach a 
 sturdy old age like mine, you may come again, and take on 
 with the enterprise as it stands then." 
 
 "Doctor," she said saucily, as we entered the gate, "I 
 do believe you want to do it all with your own hands, and 
 get the whole of the glory yourself." 
 
 We were received by Santo, who had seen us drawing 
 near, and was ready with gruff greeting at his threshold. 
 
 " You have come for Yone," he said, as soon as the or- 
 dinary salutations had been exchanged. " I will lead you 
 to her. It is a new place, Doctor-san; you cannot find the 
 way. The house is turned upside down. I do not like it 
 at all." 
 
143 YONE SANTO: 
 
 He guided us through a passage with which I was unac- 
 quainted, and drew aside the door of a little chamber, at 
 one end of which Yone lay upon a bed of cushions. Ex- 
 cusing herself for not rising, she begged us to occupy a 
 couple of cane chairs, to which she pointed with an air of 
 peculiar satisfaction, at the same time inviting our attention, 
 by a significant glance, to the unusual adornments by which 
 she was surrounded. A table, covered with English books, 
 was within her reach; a tiny desk stood in a corner; pic- 
 tures hung upon the walls in what looked like profusion 
 for a Japanese interior, and a mirror, ingeniously set in a 
 silken frame, reflected a variety of dainty objects seldom 
 gathered together in an Oriental dwelling. 
 
 " What part of the world are we in ? " I exclaimed, per- 
 ceiving that a recognition of all this grandeur was ex- 
 pected. 
 
 " My husband allows it," she remarked, sedately; " I 
 have not thanked him enough. Indeed, he gives me no 
 opportunity. Will it please you to enter, danna-san ? " she 
 added, addressing him directly. 
 
 He stood at the entrance, a statue of stolidity, his coun- 
 tenance exhibiting various shades of doubt, distrust, and 
 defiance. For a dull man, he certainly possessed a marvel- 
 ous faculty of twisting his features into combinations of 
 disagreeable expression. Before responding to Yone's in- 
 vitation, he cast his eyes about the room, surveying the de- 
 tails with what I conceived to be an air of scornful supe- 
 riority. 
 
 " Where shall I put myself ? " he demanded. " Do I 
 look like a man who has learned to dance among eggs ? 
 If I go in, I shall break something. It is like a foreign fur- 
 niture shop. I suppose there was never such foolishness 
 since the gods were on the earth." 
 
 " If you object " I began, nettled at his manner. 
 
 " He does not object," Yone interposed, hastily. " If he 
 objected, it would not be so, Why, Doctor, is not that 
 easy to see ? " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 149 
 
 As I was not ready with an answer, she looked inquir- 
 ingly at her other visitor, between whom and herself some 
 signal of intelligent appreciation was probably exchanged. 
 It was too subtle for my capacity, but I observed that the 
 girls smiled confidentially, without a shadow of annoyance 
 at Santo's roughness. When I turned, in some bewilder- 
 ment, to speak with him again, he had disappeared, and his 
 heavy footsteps presently resounded, as he hobbled away, 
 along the dark corridors. 
 
 "Joy go with you ! " I cried; at which the young folks 
 smiled more contentedly than before. 
 
 " You take things very amiably," I grumbled. 
 
 " There is nothing to complain of, Doctor Charwell," said 
 Miss Gibson, "nothing at all." 
 
 Since they saw no cause of offense, it was not for me to 
 incite sedition. Giving heed to the serious purpose of my 
 call, I speedily discovered that Yone had fallen into a sad 
 state of depression and feebleness. She had not left her 
 couch upon the matting -since her return home, two days 
 before, and this unusual suspension of her active pursuits 
 proved the severity of the shock she had undergone. But 
 the coming of Miss Gibson was a better remedy than I 
 could have provided for her. These two young persons 
 were in closer acquaintanceship with one another than I 
 had imagined, their meetings at the school having been 
 frequent and their association almost intimate. For a little 
 while I watched, with unspeakable gratification, Yone's re- 
 viving glow under the cheering influence, and then, leaving 
 them together, I went into the boat-yard, where Santo was 
 superintending his laborers with seventy of language and 
 gesture. It was his pleasure to assume a bearing of ex- 
 treme and indiscriminate bad humor. 
 
 "This is a fine piece of work," he shouted, as I ap- 
 proached him. " Where is the young American man, and 
 what am I to do with that ? " He pointed to the unfinished 
 boat. 
 
150 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "Well, Santo, the American young man has gone to visit 
 his mother in China, like a dutiful son; and the boat is to 
 be finished with all the taste and skill and experienced 
 judgment which distinguish the products of Santo Yori- 
 kichi's renowned manufactory." 
 
 "Yes, that is very ticklesome to the ear; but who is to 
 pay for it, I should like to know ? " 
 
 " He is to pay for it, Santo of the strong and dexterous 
 right hand; he is to pay for it, through me, your humble 
 servant, in good paper money, which will be very tickle- 
 some to the fingers." 
 
 " But he kept ordering alterations, which will make the 
 bill very high. Do you know that ? " 
 
 " I know it very well. Everything will be paid." 
 
 " He is a strange man, that young American man. I do 
 not understand him." 
 
 " As you say, Santo Yorikichi, he is strange, and prob- 
 ably it is not worth while trying to understand him. There- 
 fore, the less we say about him, the better for us all. But 
 everything will be paid, and if he does not return to take 
 the boat, I shall know what to do with it. ' So I hope you 
 are satisfied." 
 
 " No, I am not at all satisfied," he retorted. " There is 
 my wife. She has been sick for a week, and the house is 
 going to destruction." 
 
 "Pardon me, she has been sick only two days; which I 
 know particularly well, because I am her doctor. As to 
 the house, it is, as usual, the neatest and cleanliest house 
 in the empire of the Rising Sun." 
 
 " Why should she be sick, even for two days ? It is the 
 most ridiculous thing." 
 
 " Of course, of course, Santo; sickness is always a ridicu- 
 lous thing. You were sick yourself, you know, desperately 
 sick, not very long ago, and nothing could be more ridicu- 
 lous than you were then." 
 
 The cross-grained fellow gave no other response than 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 151 
 
 one of his comprehensive grunts, charged, in his estimation, 
 with as much meaning as a nod of the approved Lord Bur- 
 leigh pattern. On this occasion it appeared to signify that 
 while it might be perfectly legitimate and defensible that 
 men should sometimes fail and droop in health, no justifi- 
 cation could be pleaded for similar eccentricity on the part 
 of women. 
 
 "Well, she is sick, Santo; and she must have rest and 
 change of some sort. Don't interrupt me; I say she must. 
 Now I know a party that is going to Hakone and there- 
 about, and Yone can go with them. She talks English ex- 
 cellently." 
 
 " And what good is that to me ? " said this pillar of 
 contumacy. 
 
 " Why, she will be paid, no doubt; you know she always 
 is." 
 
 " I know she is not paid much, and I know she always 
 wants half the money for children's reading books, or med- 
 icine for strangers." 
 
 "This time," I urged, "she shall have double payment; 
 and I guarantee that she shall not ask for more than one- 
 third of the money for the frivolous and unwarrantable pur- 
 poses which you mention." 
 
 "I do not understand," he persisted, "why you all make 
 so much disturbance about my wife. Look at the Ameri- 
 can miss, what is it to her ? I might be on my back sev- 
 eral tens of weeks, and nobody would be anxious for me, or 
 cross the Sumida to inquire." 
 
 "You are entirely wrong, Santo, my friend, it is un- 
 doubtedly out of respect to you that so many persons are 
 interested in your wife. And you should consider that you 
 might, indeed, fall ill again. What would happen to you, 
 in that case ? Yone is in no condition to take care of you, 
 as she did before. On your own account, you had better 
 let her go and get well." 
 
 " There is reason in that. I do not altogether like it, but 
 
152 YONE SANTO: 
 
 I will let her go. I should get no good of her, anyway, 
 lying idle there," he grunted, in what might be the tone of 
 a deeply injured and reluctantly resigned bear. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 AMONG THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS. 
 
 THE party of which I had spoken, in a sudden inspira- 
 tion, was intended to consist of no others but Miss Gibson, 
 Yone, and myself. I found less difficulty in putting it into 
 practical shape than I had expected, since Miss Gibson was 
 not sorry to have a reason for abruptly leaving her asso- 
 ciates without apparent ill-will, and Yone needed no per- 
 suasions to cause her to cling with tender affection to the 
 first foreign friend of her sex, and proximately near her 
 age, whom she had ever known. 
 
 In the lovely groves and valleys which lie at the base of 
 the Hakone hills, my poor child passed the first hours 
 of peaceful and unbroken enjoyment she had ever known. 
 Miss Gibson, too, was delighted with her hew companion, 
 and set herself to playing a semi-maternal part with im- 
 mense enthusiasm. For a beginning, she insisted that 
 Yone should lay aside the garments of her people, as being 
 cumbersome and ill-suited to intricate sylvan explorations, 
 and invested her with a loose robe of her own; protesting 
 that the transformation was in the highest degree improv- 
 ing. Convenient it certainly was, but harmoniously becom- 
 ing it did not appear to me, until the progressive American 
 wrought a more complete change by abolishing the elabo- 
 rate capillary structure which surmounted her friend's 
 head. Intending at first to replace this by a foreign 
 coiffure, she was restrained by the sight of Yone's de- 
 scending rush of dark hair, which fell quite to her knees, 
 and enveloped her like a mantle. Then the decree went 
 forth that, during the country sojourn at least, the wavy 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 153 
 
 mass should flow loose and unconfined, without subjection 
 to any of the fetters of an artificial civilization. 
 
 "Now, Yone," said Miss Gibson, "at last you arc a 
 pretty girl." 
 
 Yone accepted the eulogy with demure complacency 
 She had received similar assurances, on various occasions, 
 from the same source, so that the value of the qualification 
 implied by the words " at last " was not distinctly apparent. 
 She was always pleased that those whom she liked should 
 think her pretty. As a rule, she was not much interested 
 in the question of her personal appearance. The women 
 of Japan, for various reasons, give less heed to such mat- 
 ters than their sex in Western communities. The trivial 
 consideration she had bestowed upoathe subject probably led 
 her to the conclusion that sfie was not, in strict truth, es- 
 pecially comely. It is next to certain that she had never 
 been told so by any of her own race; and, indeed, the style 
 which belonged to her was not at all in accordance with the 
 Japanese traditional type of beauty. Even her hair, which 
 just now called forth Miss Gibson's encomium, was slightly 
 curly, a defect which any Japanese girl who wishes to 
 think well of herself will employ all sorts of expedients to 
 remove. And it was not densely black, as it should have 
 been by the native standard, but in certain lights exhibited 
 the reddish under-tinge which so often puzzles foreign ob- 
 servers. As to her features and the outlines of her face, 
 she conceived that it was necessary only to compare them 
 with the ideals of feminine loveliness depicted by skilled 
 Japanese artists, to discover that her endowments were not 
 of a kind to merit approbation. On the other hand, she 
 knew that her friends from afar must find some quality of 
 fairness in her, as otherwise they would not put themselves 
 to the trouble of saying so; and she was frankly gratified 
 that anything about her was attractive to them. If we 
 really liked it, she would be delighted to wear Marian's dress, 
 and let her hair swing free, until we should return to re- 
 
154 YONE SANTO: 
 
 gions where conventional propriety exercised its critical 
 sway. 
 
 It was with no superficial purpose that Miss Gibson de- 
 sired to effect these changes of external appearance. She 
 wished to make use of every expedient by which the 
 afflicted girl's thoughts might be turned from the channels 
 in which they had recently run, and to divert her, by vari- 
 ous devices, from the contemplation of her past identity. 
 The energies of the zealous American were presently de- 
 voted to awakening new interests in Yone's mind, and per- 
 suading her to look upon pure recreation and amusement 
 as entitled to occasional consideration. In course of time 
 she succeeded in developing a sense of humor in her com- 
 panion, who, I presume, had never in her life before emitted 
 a hearty laugh, and who, beirfg incited thereto by her in- 
 structress, first fell into reflective astonishment at finding 
 herself capable of such demonstrative mirth, and subse- 
 quently yielded unreservedly to the merry contagion, her 
 voice ringing lightly through the woods, like the soft-toned 
 bell-bird of the Japanese wilds. 
 
 But she could not be led to forego entirely the pursuits 
 for which nature seemed to have designed her. Wherever 
 we wandered, she found means of making herself ac- 
 quainted with objects upon which to lavish thoughtful and 
 kindly attention. Many of her busiest hours were passed 
 in the village schools, and there was scarcely an afternoon 
 when she was not called upon to administer solace to in- 
 valid pilgrims, who were quite as eager to secure a listener 
 to the recital of their woes as to submit themselves to the 
 healing influences of the baths. As we made the round of 
 the watering-places it was not long before Yone came to be 
 regarded as the informal adviser and consoler of each little 
 sojourning community; and I was sometimes under the ne- 
 cessity of organizing excursive expeditions, solely to get 
 her beyond the range of the popular sanitary resorts, and 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 155 
 
 to free her from importunities which she was wholly in- 
 capable of resisting. 
 
 The days went blithely by, and we saw with delight that 
 as our patient gathered bodily vigor and animation, her 
 spirits rose to an even placidity which encouraged us in 
 bright hopes for the future. I think that she was more clearly 
 aware of our solicitude than we then supposed, and that 
 some part of the vivacity which gratified us may have been 
 assumed; but that was all to her advantage, in a way, since 
 the consciousness of affording pleasure was sure to act upon 
 her as a direct restorative. She enlivened our intervals of 
 rest and leisure, often making them exuberantly merry by 
 describing her personal adventures among the rustic popu- 
 lace and her interviews with health-seeking tourists, whose 
 selfish garrulity did not by any means impose upon her 
 good sense, though she was always tolerant of even their 
 imaginary tribulations. Sometimes she had matter of 
 graver interest with which to entertain us, for the region in 
 which we traveled was rich in historical associations, and 
 enabled her to recall many a tale of mediaeval gallantry and 
 daring. With all her gentleness, she was not insensible to 
 the warlike glory which was once the revelry of her race, 
 and the flash of her eye, the thrill of her voice, as she re- 
 peated the ancient legends of heroism and devotion, told 
 us that in the depths of her quiet little spirit there were 
 still some sparks of the fire that had burned in the souls 
 of her ancestors. 
 
 While in the vein of martial reminiscence, she narrated, 
 one evening, as we sat in the garden of an old inn at Do- 
 gashima, the story which for nearly three hundred years 
 had been the pride of her family, and in which the valor- 
 ous traditions of her forefathers had culminated. Through 
 many centuries the house of Yamada had held conspicuous 
 rank, its foundation and rise being authentically recorded 
 in the remote ages preceding Nara. It was from an off- 
 shoot of this ancient stock that our Yone was directly de- 
 
156 YONE SANTO: 
 
 scended. Her own pedigree dated from the memorable 
 battle of Sekigahara, in 1600, when the privilege of cre- 
 ating a new line was conferred upon a cadet of the name, 
 in reward for an act of precocious bravery. The Yamada 
 of that day, a captain of prowess, on setting out at night- 
 fall for the field upon which the fortunes of the illustrious 
 chieftain lyeyasu were to be finally established, left his 
 youngest son at a village hard by, in charge of the few re- 
 tainers who could be spared from the coming engagement. 
 The lad had pleaded for permission to follow and observe 
 the conflict, if he might not join in it; but his tender years 
 he was but thirteen forbade the expectation that he 
 could possibly be of service, and made it probable that 
 his presence would be an incumbrance. His entreaties 
 were disregarded, but as a solace to his disappointment he 
 was authorized to proceed cautiously, on the following day, 
 starting after the noon meal, to a point at which he might 
 hope to meet his sire, returning victorious. 
 
 In the early hours of the eventful morning, the neighbor- 
 hood was excited by divergent rumors from the scene of 
 strife, but as the sun ascended, reports of unvaried dis- 
 aster began to spread dismay among the adherents of the 
 Tokugawa champion. When these grew more darkly omi- 
 nous, the child's anxiety became uncontrollable. With all 
 his youthful energy he urged the little body of attendants 
 to anticipate the time of departure, and to advance with 
 him at once to the fighting-ground. Their inclination was 
 as keen as his own, but the word of the master was their 
 law, and they dared not stir. Still the portentous tidings 
 continued to expand, until, in desperation, the boy flung 
 out reproaches and taunts, accusing his loyal servitors of 
 selfish indifference, and inflaming them with vehement ap- 
 peals to the loftier sense of honor, beside which the merit 
 of tame obedience was a dull and spiritless virtue. He pic- 
 tured their lord in an extremity of peril from which a single 
 bold stroke might rescue him, and warned them that if 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 157 
 
 calamity should result from their inaction the shame would 
 rest upon them and their memory forever. At last his 
 passionate prayers prevailed. Mounting their horses in 
 haste, they rode forth with shouts of fierce acclamation; 
 and long before the tide of combat had finally turned, the 
 chivalrous stripling had led them to the heart of the fray, 
 where, with a silent obeisance, he placed his small reserve at 
 his father's disposal. 
 
 The relief came at a critical moment, when the strength of 
 half a dozen fresh men-at-arms was eagerly welcomed. An 
 hour later, the enemies of Iveyasu were flying in disorder to 
 their strongholds, and numbers of his officers were direct- 
 ing the division of the spoils, and distributing rewards 
 among their deserving followers. In the centre of a som- 
 bre group stood Yamada, his countenance wearing an ex- 
 pression of sorrowful dejection, in place of the proud ex- 
 ultation that had lighted it in the moment of triumph. 
 Before him knelt his son and the four survivors of the 
 party who had come to aid him in his greatest need. To 
 them he owed perhaps his life, and assuredly the augmented 
 glory which the issue of that day would bring to his house. 
 But the rule of domestic discipline was not less rigorous, in 
 that stern age, than the military law which governed public 
 actions. Both had been violated when the parental in- 
 junction was set at naught. The fame of the youthful 
 hero and his gallant band would descend to the latest gen- 
 erations, but their bodies must be sacrificed to the immuta- 
 ble decree. They had known, even while starting upon their 
 errand of devotion, that, whatever service they might ren- 
 der their master, they were riding to their own doom. Death 
 thus encountered, and inflicted by their own hands, had no 
 terror for them. It was inevitable, and they asked only for 
 authority to immolate themselves upon the field of valor, 
 that their renown might be mingled everlastingly with that 
 of the mighty victory. Already the swords were bared, when 
 a messenger dashec} into the circle, bringing orders from the 
 
158 YONE SANTO: 
 
 supreme commander to arrest the proceedings. Seated on 
 his camp chair, at a little distance, and exchanging pleas- 
 antries with the nobles, as was his habit after each success- 
 ful contest, the conqueror of all Japan had caught the 
 story as it flew from mouth to mouth, and, with the impul- 
 sive generosity that nobly distinguished his character, re- 
 solved to interpose his fiat against the exaction of a penalty 
 which, though demanded by conventional usage, he had 
 the undoubted power to remit. At his command the harsh 
 ordinance was suspended, and it was proclaimed that the 
 four samurai should be held guiltless of the sin of insubor- 
 dination; while the daring boy was further distinguished, 
 after the manner of the times, by the award of a separate 
 crest, and by elevation to independent knighthood. From 
 this incident sprang the secondary branch of the family, whose 
 sole remaining representative was now our gentle friend. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 ONLY A WOMAN. 
 
 " LOOK at her ! " cried Miss Gibson, as Yone stood erect 
 in the moonlight, her whole aspect and bearing animated in 
 an unusual degree by the emotions which her recital had 
 kindled. " Look at her ! She wants only a suit of armor 
 to be the living image of the young cavalier, I do believe." 
 
 " You must not say that," Yone objected, in a tone from 
 which all the vibrant resonance was suddenly banished, and 
 smiling in deprecation. " I am only a woman." 
 
 " Only a woman, indeed ! And what am I, Madam, if you 
 please ?" 
 
 " You, Marian ? Oh, it is different. You are an Ameri- 
 can. If I were like you " 
 
 "Listen to her, Doctor," laughed the cheerful Bostonian; 
 " it sounds vastly like ambition, that little ' if.' The world 
 is moving swiftly in this part of Asia." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 159 
 
 "Ambition," repeated Yone, softly, "may such a word 
 be spoken by a Japanese girl ? " 
 
 " Why not, my dear, why not by you as well as by 
 me?" 
 
 " Can you ask that ? If I felt in my heart the wish to 
 rise a little from the earth, how could I ever do it ? You do 
 not know, but I think the doctor has sometimes guessed 
 for he sees everything that is in me that I have had my 
 foolish dreams, my pictures of a real life, perhaps a useful 
 life. Yes, I have thought what it must be to feel truly 
 free, to have the right to be fearless, to look for a path of 
 noble action and try to walk in it. You will not chide me, 
 Marian; I know it is only my wandering vain fancy. You 
 would not tell it to anybody. 
 
 Understanding her character and her present needs bet- 
 ter than her new companion, I took to myself the privilege 
 of intruding. 
 
 "Who can say?" I suggested, in a matter-of-fact strain. 
 "Your chance might come, some day. If you wait pa- 
 tiently, we may find a way for you to do something of the 
 kind you wish." 
 
 "Why, Doctor, I shall be provoked at you ! " exclaimed 
 Miss Gibson, impetuously. " What is she doing now, from 
 morning till night, wherever she goes ? " 
 
 "Playing, surely," said Yone, opening her big eyes. " I 
 think of nothing but to enjoy myself, all the day long." 
 
 " Playing, you dear child ! " was the warm response. 
 " Oh, Yone, I would be more than content if my whole ex- 
 istence were made up of such play as yours." 
 
 "Yone is all right," I interposed; "she has her fashion 
 of amusing herself, and she is satisfied, I presume. She 
 will have to be satisfied while we are here, for there shall be 
 no hard work if I can prevent it." 
 
 But now our patient chose to be afflicted with compunc- 
 tions. 
 
 "No, Marian, it is not fair," she protested. "How can 
 
160 YONE SANTO: 
 
 you speak so of yourself? Think of where you are, and 
 what you are here for. You have come thousands of mile s 
 from your American home to labor for the good of strangers 
 who can offer you nothing in return, and who hardly know 
 how to thank you. It is beautiful to do that. No woman 
 of my country can have such happiness." 
 
 She reflected a moment, during which we said nothing. 
 
 " I am sure it must be a happiness," she presently contin- 
 ued. "Why should so many come, if it is not their best 
 pleasure to bring wisdom and learning from distant lands, 
 and plant them among our people ? And to give all so gra- 
 ciously, what is there more noble in the world ? " 
 
 I did not care to oppose her, and it was not easy to 
 acquiesce in these ardent eulogies, so I bethought me of 
 Santo's inarticulate vocabulary, and, borrowing his method, 
 evaded responsibility by grunting, a form of expression 
 not at all satisfactory to Miss Gibson, who turned upon me 
 with vivacity. 
 
 "If it gratifies her to believe so," she remonstrated, 
 " why should we seek to harden her ? For my part, I am 
 thankful that she is willing to shut her eyes to unpleasant 
 things." 
 
 "As you like," I replied, not in the most lenient humor. 
 " Let us make a Juggernaut of the entire foreign system, 
 and prostrate ourselves before it. How many would you 
 wish to see crushed ? " 
 
 Miss Gibson perceived that further discussion would 
 vex me, and was considerately disposed to abandon the 
 topic; but Yone's mind had long been overcharged, and, 
 with a fervor which betrayed itself in the unsteadiness of 
 her utterance, she presently broke the silence, addressing 
 her words more directly to me. 
 
 " It grieves me," she said, " that any troubles of mine 
 should cause my best friends to differ, even in the smallest 
 trifle. I would far rather have them all forgotten. Noth- 
 ing would make me speak of them but the fear that they 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 161 
 
 are too harshly remembered by you who care so much for 
 me. It is not right or respectful to set my judgment 
 against that of one who has been my teacher and protector 
 since childhood, and I should not dare to do it in any case; 
 but as he is always indulgent, he will let me ask if it may 
 not be that his generous affection which is the most pre- 
 cious of all his gifts makes him more pitiful to me than he 
 is just to others. These are bold things to say; I am not 
 used to be so forward. Do I displease you, Doctor?" 
 
 "No, child, no; but this is holiday time. I wish you 
 would bear that in mind." 
 
 "If I do not displease you," she resumed, " I hope I may 
 tell you how I feel. It seems that you mean never to forgive 
 those persons who have been severe tome; that your anger 
 will not die, but burns stronger every day. And I am the 
 cause. If it were another who had been unkindly treated, 
 you would not be so unrelenting. ' 
 
 "Come, Yone," I expostulated; "if we must talk about 
 them, let us keep within reason. There is no justice in 
 straining charity so far as to cover the misdeeds of the 
 Philipsons. That is my conviction, at any rate. You'll not 
 expect me to overlook what they have done." 
 
 "That is not to be expected, truly," she admitted. 
 "Have I not said that I should enter their house no more? 
 It is a great support, it gives me courage and strength, that 
 you do not overlook what they have done to me; and if I 
 ever ceased to be grateful I should not be fit to live. But I 
 am only one. Though they did indeed harm me, they have 
 helped others. Many L know whom they have sheltered, 
 and fed, and taught; lifting them from ignorance and 
 wretchedness; nursing them when they were sick; saving 
 them from suffering, sometimes from disgrace. Shall I 
 make myself blind to what has been done for them ? I look 
 often with great wonder at those ladies, and all like them, 
 who come across the oceans to offer comfort and knowl- 
 edge and happiness to our poor and humble. You have no 
 
1 62 YONE SANTO: 
 
 need to wonder, you and Marian, for you also are here for 
 the same purpose. It is not marvelous in your sight, but it 
 fills me with amazement and reverence. They may make 
 mistakes; oh, yes, who is there that can be always sure of 
 doing right? I am not likely to forget what has happened 
 to me, but you would be the first to reprove me if 1 denied 
 the charities and the blessings that they have lavished upon 
 the children of my people. And yet you will acknowledge 
 none of them now, because I have been hurt. It is as if I 
 were to blame." 
 
 " I could answer you in many ways," I rejoined; "but 
 you are an obstinate infant, and I might never convince 
 you. Certainly I shall not permit you to convince me. 
 Cruelty is too ugly a thing for me to countenance or com- 
 mend." 
 
 " Doctor, are you quite fair to me ? " she pleaded. 
 " That is so much more than I have ever said or thought. 
 To commend cruelty ! I do not know what it means. But 
 for many actions that cannot be commended it is possible 
 to find excuses, to explain them in ways which make us 
 judge them more mercifully. I do not wish to oppose you. 
 It is not becoming that I should doubt anything you tell 
 me, but you must let me believe that those who seem to 
 show too little feeling for others are often moved by their 
 ideas of duty, and not by a desire to cause injury or pain." 
 
 " Oh, if you reason on that line, you can trace most of 
 the crimes of history to false doctrines of duty." 
 
 "I have heard so; and does not that take from them 
 their worst sinfulness ? If duty governs, perhaps there is 
 no crime. The wickedness should be in the intention." 
 
 " We know pretty well what wickedness is, Yone, and we 
 can recognize suffering when we feel it or see it. I shall 
 not tolerate the notion of a duty that goes against my hon- 
 est convictions." 
 
 " If all people could be of one mind, it would be plain 
 and simple," she proceeded. " The laws are so unlike in 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 163 
 
 different cases. Yet if we may not trust the sense of duty, 
 that is strong within us, what is to be our guide ? There 
 was Miura Kitasaburo. I did not tell you about him, the 
 story was growing so long. He was the leader of the little 
 guard that remained with my ancestor, and who left the 
 place where he was ordered to remain. Will you listen to 
 what befell him ? " 
 
 We cried out against the suppression of any part of the 
 romantic legend, and Yone then went on to relate the se- 
 quel: 
 
 " Miura was a hardy soldier, and had followed the flag of 
 lyeyasu through many wars. He was' famed for his loyalty, 
 and it was the habit of his companions to measure their 
 constancy by his example. His friends boasted that he had 
 never suffered a rebuke, and that, of all the retainers of 
 Yamada, he was known as one whose faith had been as 
 spotless as his sword and as unswerving as the thrust of his 
 lance. Until he rode, that morning, to Sekigahara, his 
 face had never turned from the line of strict obedience, 
 and for the first time his courage fell as he advanced 
 to meet his chief, who received him with words of flaming 
 anger, casting reproofs at him for bringing the last son of 
 the house into deadly peril, from which it might happen 
 that the proud family name would be blotted from the roll 
 of living samurai. * To you, Kitasaburo,' he cried, * I gave 
 the keeping of my hopes for future ages; and you have be- 
 trayed me ! ' Then Miura knew that his honor could be 
 redeemed only by a solemn and terrible expiation. He 
 fought with strength and skill, and all men saw that his arm 
 was mighty in hastening the hour of victory. With a heart 
 free from care, and eager to repair the fault that had been 
 charged upon him, he made ready to offer his life in atone- 
 ment, knowing that he would thus regain the favor of his 
 lord, and win back his place in the world's esteem. When 
 the command of great lyeyasu came, relieving him and his 
 comrades from the penalty, forbidding them to shed their 
 
164 YONE SANTO: 
 
 blood, and declaring them free from guilt, he alone 
 displayed no satisfaction. He stood apart, like one 
 bearing a weight too heavy for mortal endurance. 
 Throughout the afternoon- he moved as if in a 
 dark dream, joyless, oppressed with gloom. At the mo- 
 ment of his expected doom his face had shone with cheer- 
 fulness and content, and it was only when the fatal decree 
 was set aside that his spirit drooped and languished. For 
 an hour, perhaps more, he disappeared into seclusion; then 
 as the day was about to end, he came to the front of his 
 captain's tent, and kneeling, with his eyes turned to the 
 setting sun, he bowed his head, and swiftly passed from 
 this earth, to join the brotherhood of stainless warriors 
 whose renown could be dimmed by no breath of reproach, 
 and whose glory would last unsullied so long as upright- 
 ness and fidelity should claim the homage of mankind. It 
 was an act of rare nobleness, judged by the unflinching pre- 
 cepts of those days. lyeyasu himself came to gaze upon 
 the body, and the tradition says that tears were on his 
 cheeks as he stood speechless beside it, for his soul was 
 touched at the proof of such true manliness, as it was 
 then regarded. A scroll was found fastened to the dead 
 man's sword, upon which, in accordance with the practice 
 on these grave occasions, he had written his last words, in 
 poetic measure. The lines have not the form of Western 
 verse, but this is their meaning: 
 
 The steel corroded by poisonous vapors is cleansed with the blood of re- 
 pentance. 
 Let the rust of a moment be forgotten in the lustre of a thousand ages. 
 
 Thus, in giving up his existence, the sturdy soldier left to his 
 descendants a legacy which they have never ceased to cher- 
 ish as their most glorious possession. The name of 
 Yamada, which is my title to respect in my own province, 
 had no surer foundation of merit than that of the more 
 lowly born clansmen who served our house through all the 
 years of peace, until the great earthquake of change came, 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 165 
 
 a little after my birth-time, and the old ties of fellowship 
 and vassalage were destroyed. While the feudal beliefs 
 lingered, it was a custom in our part of Owari to connect 
 my family with the remembrances of daring bravery which 
 belonged to the past; and Miura's was associated with the 
 sentiment of staunch and steadfast duty." 
 
 "Thank you for the tale, Yone," I said, when she had fin- 
 ished. u These recollections of old Japan give us plenty of 
 matter for meditation. Are we to apply the moral to suit 
 ourselves ? " 
 
 " It is only that the influence of duty is too powerful for 
 any of us to resist. In the sight of foreigners the conduct 
 of Miura would seem extravagant and strained, and even 
 among my countrymen the spirit which prompted it is said 
 to be fading away. Nevertheless, it was the highest chiv- 
 alry three centuries ago, and it will be long before the 
 principle is wholly forgotten. The message which the 
 faithful samurai left did much to mould the character of 
 those who succeeded him. The sword, which they have 
 sacredly guarded, has been their symbol of integrity and 
 devotion. I have myself known them to put it to fearful 
 uses, in preservation of the family honor. No one has 
 questioned the motives of their acts, and no suspicion of an 
 unworthy purpose has fallen upon them, yet I have heard 
 them condemned for carrying their convictions of what is 
 right and needful to tragical extremities. I am an ignorant 
 child; I have moved in narrow circles; my experience has 
 no value. I can only think, and think again. I, too, must 
 hearken to the bidding of my conscience, and submit to its 
 instructions. Then, tell me, am I to say that others whom 
 I meet in my little world are less honest or true, or sincere 
 than I ? Would you be content with me if this were my 
 belief ? Dear Doctor, you are learned and wise, and I look 
 to you for the laws that rule my life; but it will be an 
 affliction if you gainsay me in this, for I do not feel that I 
 can here be wrong." 
 
1 66 YONE SANTO. 
 
 Her voice fell as she uttered these last words, and, for 
 many minutes after, no sound but the gathering murmurs 
 of the autumn night followed her pleading, tremulous 
 tones. I did not attempt to answer her, I could not. The 
 faint rustle of the forest trees, the ripple of hurrying 
 streams, the hum of the busy insects, the plaintive breath- 
 ing of the winds, all the intense and thrilling whispers of 
 the wilderness, seemed, in my softened imagination, to 
 echo and prolong the tender human appeal with touching 
 and persuasive eloquence. Miss Gibson, who had taken 
 but little part in the conversation, rose without speaking, 
 and folded her companion's slender figure in her arms. It 
 was with a strange mingling of emotions that I at length 
 roused myself to give the reply which was awaited. 
 
 " Let it pass, Yone. If I think you are wrong I shall 
 not try to change you. Your own way is the best for you; 
 and for me it does not matter. Follow your way, my dear, 
 while you can. All I wish is that you shall be happy. You 
 know that we depend upon that a great deal, Miss Gibson 
 and I. You must not lead yourself into excitement and 
 worry, that disturbs me. You are discomposed because 
 you fear I am tempted to be revengeful with the Philip- 
 sons. Well, I promise that I will do nothing in revenge, 
 either on your account or mine. That ought to satisfy you, 
 and, in return, you will drive away all your anxious thoughts 
 as quickly and completely as you can." 
 
 She came and knelt by my side. 
 
 " I was afraid, dear Doctor, that I had made you offended 
 with me, and now you are more kind than ever before. I 
 think no other woman in the world has had such friends as 
 I have, in you and Marian.'' 
 
 "When I first met Doctor Charwell," said Miss Gibson, 
 in little broken fragments of phrases, striving with very 
 imperfect success to be firm and coherent, u when he told 
 me of you, Yone, what you were, what I should find in 
 you, what I should learn from you, I did not dream how 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 167 
 
 speedily and surely his prophecy would be fulfilled. He 
 has been my best friend, too, in this land, for he has given 
 me you, to love me better than I deserve, and to be loved 
 with all my humble heart, my own true darling." 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 YONE AT PLAY. 
 
 AMONG the numerous villages which glisten and sparkle 
 upon the breasts of the Hakone hills, Miyanoshita claims 
 distinction as the most popular of holiday resorts. Acci- 
 dent, rather than superiority of natural charms, has given 
 it this preeminence; for, although the entire region is so 
 bounteously endowed that no single spot is without its 
 share of loveliness, the attractions of the prosperous water- 
 ing-place are by many degrees less rare and exquisite than 
 those of its more modest neighbors. Fashion, however, 
 has favored it with constant and steady approval, and the 
 preference awarded it by dignitaries of the court has con- 
 ferred a social lustre to which none of its rivals has 
 attained. The season was early when we arrived at this 
 centre of activity and gayety, yet we found the place 
 thronged with visitors of all grades and nationalities. In 
 the spacious and showy European hotel, divers phases of 
 Western idleness were plentifully represented. The state 
 apartments of the honjin, or leading Japanese inn, were 
 occupied by a lady whose rank and exceptional position in 
 the imperial household were regarded by the foreign circle 
 as inviting and authorizing the most intrusive scrutiny. 
 The retinue of this lofty patroness was distributed among 
 the first-class lodging-houses, and the humbler grade of 
 taverns, of which the hamlet is chiefly composed, were so 
 overcrowded that we were glad to take refuge in a quiet 
 Buddhist temple, from the privacy of which we were en- 
 abled, for a while, to gaze with the interest of unconcerned 
 
168 YONE SANTO / 
 
 spectators upon the human kaleidoscope that briskly re- 
 volved before us. 
 
 But only for a while. First through our hosts, the char- 
 itable priests, and presently by other agencies, the young- 
 est of our party was drawn into participation with the living 
 interests around her, and was soon engaged in the pursuits 
 which best accorded with her inclinations, and which, re- 
 membering her characterization of them at Dogashima, we 
 began to describe as "Yone's play." At the outset she 
 gave no heed to this pleasantry, but its frequent repetition 
 gradually attracted her attention, and appeared to touch 
 her in some sensitive spot. Being asked by Miss Gibson, 
 with a peculiar intonation, at the close of one of her busy 
 days, if she had found plenty of partners to play with, 
 during the afternoon, she regarded us earnestly, and said, 
 in a manner implying a shade of anxiety, 
 
 "Am I absent too often, Marian ? " 
 
 "What an idea ! How can you imagine such a thing?" 
 was the reply; whereupon Yone addressed herself to me: 
 
 " Have I been neglecting you, Doctor ? " 
 
 " Not that I know of, my child. Perhaps Miss Gibson is 
 afraid you will tire yourself." 
 
 " It is impossible to be tired with nothing but " She 
 checked herself at the familiar word, which seemed to be 
 assuming a new significance, and again looked at us inquir- 
 ingly. 
 
 "You need not be so solemn," observed Miss Gibson; 
 "you shall enjoy yourself as you like, if you will not try to 
 do too much. But I am not sure that you can be allowed 
 to have any more acquaintances to look after. Who was 
 the young man that spoke to you, on the bridge ?" 
 
 " Did you see him ? I wanted to tell you. But he is not 
 an acquaintance; he is a stranger. He gave me a compli- 
 ment." 
 
 "Gave you what?" I exclaimed, astonished. 
 
 "A compliment, Doctor, a delightful one." 
 
 "What on earth do vou mean ? " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 169 
 
 " I suppose he was puzzled by my dress. He said he 
 had seen me walking with many sick people, and thought I 
 was a nurse." 
 
 " Do you call that a compliment ? Then you probably 
 told him how wonderfully kind the sick people are, to per- 
 mit you to go about taking care of them." 
 
 " Now the doctor is pretending to be severe," she retali- 
 ated, lightly. " No, the strange gentleman wished to know 
 if I would go and see a young girl, who is ill at Fuji-ya inn." 
 
 " Dear me ! " cried Miss Gibson. " I hope you did 
 not promise." 
 
 " I did not quite promise, for I thought you might not 
 like that, but I said I would ask Doctor Charwell to go to 
 her; and if she really is ill " She looked wistfully at us, 
 leaving the phrase unfinished. 
 
 " Who is she ? " I inquired, " a foreigner ? " 
 
 " The gentleman is a foreigner," she answered, with a 
 little hesitation. " I believe the young girl is Japanese." 
 
 " Oh, pray be cautious ! " said Miss Gibson. " Think 
 what it means: a foreigner, you do not know who, asking 
 you to visit one of your country-women. There is that 
 spiteful Miss Jackman watching every movement you 
 make, from the balcony of Nara-ya, like a " 
 
 " Like a guardian angel," I hinted, as she seemed at a 
 loss for a comparison. " But I did not know Miss Jackman 
 was here." 
 
 "She came over from Hakone, three days ago," explained 
 Yone. " This is her vacation time. Yes, she is very 
 watchful; but can you indeed care, Marian, for what that 
 lady does or says ? " 
 
 "I ought not, perhaps; yet it harasses me to have her 
 near us. I wish she had stayed away." 
 
 "She might annoy us by one device or another," I re- 
 marked; "but we certainly are not bound to consider her, 
 and she must not stand in the way of anything that Yone 
 seriously wishes to do." 
 
iyo YONE SANTO: 
 
 " It is only in case I am really needed," said Yone. "If 
 there is no illness, I do not wish I prefer not. You will 
 see the young girl, Doctor ? " 
 
 " I will see her. What is her name ? " 
 
 " I have not heard. The gentleman's name is Roberts." 
 
 " Does he know who you are ? " asked Miss Gibson. 
 
 " Not at all. He spoke to me, and I answered, in Jap- 
 anese. But I will not think of it any more, since there may 
 be an objection. I was inclined to consent, because I had 
 refused, a few minutes before, to call upon another person, 
 and I did not like to say ' no ' twice." 
 
 This surprised us. It was a novelty to hear that Yone 
 was able to reject any demand upon her attention, and we 
 at once prepared ourselves for an interesting disclosure. 
 But she appeared reluctant to pursue the subject, and for 
 the moment our expectation remained unsatisfied. At a 
 later period of the evening, she seemed on the point of 
 enlightening us, and had gone so far as to say that she 
 wanted our counsel in a difficult matter, when we were 
 startled by a voice from without, loudly calling: 
 
 " Is Doctor Charwell anywhere about here ? " 
 
 " It is he, Mr. Roberts," Yone whispered hurriedly. 
 
 "He chooses his time oddly," I said, not too well 
 pleased; "and he has an original way of announcing him- 
 self." 
 
 "The young girl may be worse," our peacemaker sug- 
 gested. 
 
 " He shall come in, but I will see him alone, if you 
 please; " and I went forth, while my companions retired to 
 an inner chamber. 
 
 I found the visitor engaged in a noisy colloquy with the 
 simple priests, and led him to the apartment which served 
 as our drawing-room. 
 
 "Beg pardon, Doctor Charwell, for shouting so," he 
 commenced volubly, " but they told me you were in one of 
 the temples, and gave me no other clue. If I hadn't sung 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 171 
 
 out, I should never have gofc at you. Allow me, my name 
 is Roberts; ' Fitch, Burgess and Roberts, Number Four 
 Hundred and Seven.' " 
 
 He was easily recognizable as belonging to the middle 
 shopkeeping class of Yokohama, a forward, unpolished, 
 self-satisfied man, about thirty years of age, with signs of a 
 somewhat quicker intelligence than is commonly found 
 among his order, and with an alertness of speech and 
 bearing which showed at least that he had thus far kept 
 himself out of the torpid stagnation into which the majority 
 of aliens sink, after a brief experience of Oriental inertia, 
 and through which their existence in Japan becomes a pro- 
 longed and sluggish hibernation. His accent betrayed 
 Scottish birth, and the squareness of his jaw indicated that 
 he possessed no small share of the national stubbornness; 
 but there was a pleasant gleam in his eye, and the harsh- 
 ness of his features was tempered by a smile in which a 
 kindly humor seemed to contend with an assumption of 
 shrewd conceit. In rapidly forming these impressions, I 
 was doubtless influenced by the circumstance that his 
 countenance, otherwise an ordinary one in his sphere, was 
 notably free from signs of the hard brutality which the 
 average British trader acquires by contact with what it is 
 his habit to call the inferior Asiatic races. Still, his 
 appearance was not on the whole attractive, and I waited 
 to learn his errand without much predisposition in his 
 favor. 
 
 " I'm sorry to intrude at this hour," he said, as he stood, 
 hat in hand, "but I couldn't help it, I really couldn't. 
 My little girl is in great trouble. I suppose you have heard 
 about her? " 
 
 " I have heard of a case of sickness at Fuji-ya," I an- 
 swered, "and that you spoke of it to Mrs. Santo, this after- 
 noon." 
 
 "Yes, Mrs. Santo, that's it; Yone Santo is the name. 
 I came to see her, if I can." 
 
172 Y0tf SANTO: 
 
 "You had better speak with me, if a physician is 
 needed." 
 
 " But I want her," he persisted. 
 
 " Indeed ! " I replied, with growing disapproval. " The 
 ladies of my party are not accustomed to this sort of 
 summons, Mr. Roberts, nor odinarily subject to the call of 
 strangers." 
 
 "Precisely, yes, no, I suppose not," he responded, 
 slightly abashed. " Naturally you think you should be 
 asked first, but it's a peculiar case, Doctor Charwell. It 
 isn't illness alone, but low spirits, miserably low. I don't 
 mind telling you the whole story. There's a parcel of mis- 
 sionary women in this town, and they've got hold of my 
 poor girl and set her just topsy-turvy, unbeknown to me. 
 I brought her here because she was pining, and, instead of 
 mending, she has been drooping all the time. They have 
 been persecuting her every day, when my back was turned, 
 and I tell you, sir, they have worried her so that she is 
 nearly off her head. An excitable little thing she is. As 
 for her position, she it doesn't matter about her position. 
 I won't have her sat on and torn to pieces by a pack of 
 hyenas, ; heartless hyenas I call them. You agree with me, 
 I am sure." 
 
 " Not in the least, sir," I rejoined, more and more dissat- 
 isfied; " and I do not see how this concerns me or anybody 
 in my charge." 
 
 " Why, Doctor Charwell, I thought you and I were pas- 
 sengers in the same boat. I was told that you had your 
 own good reasons for wishing the missionaries exterminated, 
 root and branch; that you knew, better than most of us, 
 what a low-lived, useless crew they are." 
 
 " I don't care to discuss my opinions, or the reasons for 
 them," I retorted curtly, "and I am very far, at this par- 
 ticular moment, from regarding the body you speak of as 
 low-lived or useless. If you have no other business " 
 
 He stared at me as if I had propounded the most start- 
 ling of paradoxes. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 173 
 
 " I I didn't reckon upon this," he stammered; " I don't 
 take it in, at all. This is the last thing. In the name of 
 Dai Butsu, will you tell me what use they are, on the face 
 of the earth?" 
 
 " Since you ask me, I will. They are useful, extremely 
 useful, in setting a pattern of social cleanliness and deco- 
 rum, which foreigners generally would do well to copy. 
 They are useful in showing the natives of this land that 
 domestic life is possible without looseness and irregularity. 
 You know well enough what the conspicuous vice of the 
 country is, and you ought to know that the Japanese peo- 
 ple are singularly susceptible to good examples. They 
 cannot help remarking that the missionary element is dis- 
 figured by none of the licentiousness which is their own 
 bane, and against which they take too little pains to guard 
 themselves. The lesson is a sound and wholesome one, 
 and I am not aware that it is taught by any other section 
 of the foreign community. To that extent the mission- 
 aries are in a high degree useful. They preach the vir- 
 tues of morality, and in their practice they offer a model 
 to be respected, if it cannot be followed by the laity." 
 
 The color mounted to the young man's face, and he 
 twisted his hat nervously in his fingers. 
 
 " That is one for me, I presume; red-hot, with dynamite 
 attachment. I see I have given offense, though I didn't 
 mean it. That was not in my calculations, I can assure 
 you. Out I go, sir, as quietly as I can." His speech was 
 fantastic, but there was no trace of boisterousness or 
 bravado as he turned away. " No use, now, to ask you to 
 see my poor baby; put my foot in it too deep for that. 
 Good-evening, sir." He paused at the threshold. " Do 
 you know can you tell me if there is another doctor in 
 Miyanoshita? I may ask that much, I hope." 
 
 A rustling noise in the adjoining room apprised me that 
 the dialogue had been overheard, and a jarring of the loose 
 partition led me to apprehend a sudden incursion. 
 
174 YONE SANTO 
 
 " Why do you say that ? " I demanded quickly. " I will 
 go to her; if she is ill I will go at once." 
 
 " I thought, from the way you turned the missionary 
 hydrant on me, that I had no chance. There was some- 
 thing else, but you knocked me out of time before I could 
 get to it; drove everything I had to say clean out of my 
 head.' 
 
 "Say it now, if you like." 
 
 "Yes, it isn't much." I didn't know who the Japanese 
 lady was, but she mentioned your name, and when I re- 
 peated it to my little girl she almost went wild. * It must 
 be Yone who is with him !' she cried out. 'Do beg her to 
 come and help me; ' and she told me all about Mrs. Santo. 
 Then I had to give her a warning. I hated to do it, for 
 you know how thin-skinned these poor creatures are; but I 
 was obliged to tell her that the young lady, or her friends, 
 might object, under the circumstances. Well, sir, she 
 wouldn't listen to me. * I know she will come,' she kept 
 saying; 'she will surely come to Shizu Miura' " 
 
 In the flash of an instant the door was thrown aside, and 
 Yone was with us. 
 
 " Shizu ! my playfellow, my schoolmate ! Why did you 
 not tell me at the bridge ? Doctor Marian she was my 
 dear friend when I was a child, in Nagoya." 
 
 Mr. Roberts surveyed her, and Miss Gibson, who had 
 also entered, with astonishment. He had never before 
 heard a Japanese girl speak English with such fluency, nor 
 seen one upon such terms of equal intimacy with an alien 
 of her own sex. 
 
 " Perhaps, then," he ventured, "you will go, after all." 
 
 " Indeed, yes," said Yone. " I am ready now." 
 
 " It is getting to be very late," observed Miss Gibson, 
 with an anxiety which Yone would have been unable to 
 fathom. Is it not better that Doctor Charwell should 
 make the first visit ? If he finds if he consents, you can 
 go to-morrow." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 175 
 
 " But she is in trouble. Oh, Marian, did you not hear ? 
 It is hard to stay, if she needs me." 
 
 " Miss Gibson is right," I felt bound to declare. " If 
 there is nothing in the way, you can go early in the morn- 
 ing, Yone. And for you, Mr. Roberts, that ought to be 
 sufficient." 
 
 " It ought, sir; certainly it ought. It isn't the fair thing 
 for me to insist, but to tell you the truth, although Shizu is 
 really ill, the young lady can do more for her than the doc- 
 tor. She has been in a wretched state all this day, griev- 
 ing and fretting to the depths, until she took the notion 
 that her friend was here; and then you never saw such a 
 change. She brightened up as if a sunbeam had struck 
 her; actually thought of leaving her bed and coming out 
 herself, to hunt for for a little womanly kindness. It was 
 nothing but * Yone,' c I must go to her ' * Yone will help 
 me,' 'Yone knows,' and the like, until I undertook to 
 get a message for her, even if I had to go back alone." 
 
 He gazed eagerly at each of us in turn. Yone said 
 nothing, but laid her hand beseechingly on Miss Gibson's 
 arm. 
 
 " I do hope you will give permission, Miss," resumed the 
 Yokohama merchant. " She shan't get an atom of harm. 
 There's nothing I pledge you my word, there's nothing 
 very bad about Shizu; she's just a child. I beg your par- 
 don," he went on, almost breathlessly, noticing that Miss 
 Gibson averted her head with a movement of repulsion; 
 " I've made another mess of it. I'm not fit to plead the 
 case, that's the truth. But it is my fault; don't let my 
 stupidity set you against the poor girl." 
 
 a I will go with you, Yone," said Miss Gibson, in a low 
 tone and with evident effort. "You must have me by your 
 side. Whoever sees you shall see that we are together." 
 
 " It's amazing kind of you, Miss," broke in the irrepres- 
 sible stranger; " not like those Excuse me, Doctor; I'm 
 so confused, I believe I have lost my wits. I'll tell you 
 
1 76 YONE SANTO: 
 
 what I will do; walk ahead to show you the road, and 
 leave you to go in by yourselves. Then I'll keep myself 
 out of the way entirely; you sha'n't be bothered by another 
 sight of me." 
 
 His uncouth awkwardness was more to his credit than 
 he was aware of, and altogether preferable to the 
 bold assurance with which he had set out, and which 
 one of his grade might have been expected to main- 
 tain to the end. But the situation was disagreeable, how- 
 ever viewed, and I was fully conscious that Miss Gibson had 
 taken upon herself a difficult and distasteful task, out of 
 regard to Yone, whose thoughts were exclusively bent upon 
 giving relief to a fellow-being in distress, and to whom the 
 embarassment under which her companion labored, was not, 
 for the moment, perceptible. 
 
 "We will do this," I announced. " The hotel is close at 
 hand. Mr. Roberts shall take me to the invalid, and I will 
 see what is needed in my way. If everything is as I antic- 
 ipate, I will return by myself for both of you." 
 
 " I may be with her alone ? " entreated Yone. " I have 
 known her all my life, until a few months ago. We were 
 infants together." 
 
 " That is what I meant," I replied. " Miss Gibson and 
 I will wait for you in the hotel dining-room. We will give 
 you half an hour to-night, and to-morrow well, to-morrow 
 shall take care of itself." 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 A PITIFUL DISCLOSURE. 
 
 So IT was carried out. Within five minutes I was at the 
 bedside of a sweet-faced, slenderly framed girl, whose 
 physical ailment, due apparently to over-exertion, was in- 
 creased by a mental strain she had recently undergone, the 
 nature of which I was able to conjecture from Roberts's vin- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 177 
 
 dictive allusions, although the sufferer showed no disposition 
 to enlarge upon it. Her yearning for Yone's comforting 
 presence was uncontrollable, and it was plain that little 
 could be done to relieve her while she was kept apart from 
 the friend of her early days. I saw no reason for opposing 
 her wish. The considerations which would naturally 
 weigh heavily with Miss Gibson, and possibly compel her, 
 as an obligation of duty, to resist the exposure of our pro- 
 tegee to what she conceived to be a contaminating associa- 
 tion, had no force with me; for I knew that the evil of this 
 young creature's life was undoubtedly a burden imposed 
 upon her by a cruel fate, and that her soul was free from 
 the guilt, if her body was not free from the shame, to which 
 others had condemned her. 
 
 After instructing Roberts as to the course of treatment 
 which I deemed expedient, I sent him into banishment, and 
 brought Miss Gibson and Yone from the temple. To the 
 hapless victim of an odious Japanese usage our gentle min- 
 istrant carried the consoling sympathy and charity which 
 instinct enabled her to impart with ineffable delicacy, and 
 which was more urgently needed, as it was infinitely 
 more welcome, than the service it had been my prov- 
 ince to render. While waiting in the dining-hall, I en- 
 deavored to engage the unsophisticated Bostonian in con- 
 versation upon matters concerning which she was imper- 
 fectly informed, and which required to be presented to her 
 judgment in a new light. It was essential to her peace of 
 mind that she should divest herself of some prejudices in- 
 separable from her Western training, before confronting 
 the painful social problems which cannot long be concealed 
 in Japan, and the solution of which, even in individual 
 cases, demands a courage, a luminous impartiality, and a 
 rigorous renunciation of commonly accepted traditions, of 
 which many of her sex are incapable. But she was too 
 profoundly absorbed in her own reflections to respond to my 
 advances. At the end of the stipulated half hour Yone re- 
 
178 YONE SANTO: 
 
 joined us, also grave and thoughtful, and we quietly returned 
 to our temporary quarters. Roberts was standing at the 
 hotel gate as we passed, but he made no attempt to accost 
 us, and offered no sign of recognition beyond a formal sal- 
 utation; which exercise of self-restraint was noted to his ad- 
 vantage by at least one of our party. It was about ten 
 o'clock when we were again seated in our little brevet par- 
 lor. Without direct declaration of her desire, Yone made 
 it obvious that she had intelligence of some importance to 
 communicate, and we allowed the customary hour of re- 
 tirement to go by unobserved. 
 
 " This has been a strange meeting," she said, when she 
 saw that we were ready to attend, "very strange, very 
 unexpected, very sad. You know who she is, Doctor ?" 
 
 I shook my head in denial. 
 
 " You have heard me speak of her: my schoolfellow, 
 Shizu Miura, whose uncle adopted her, and saved her from 
 a marriage which she wished to avoid." 
 
 " I remember now. I thought all was well with her." 
 
 "All has been ill, since that time. The marriage would 
 have been easier to bear than what followed. Her uncle 
 had made himself an akindo [merchant,] and his business 
 seemed to prosper for a short while; but the samurai of my 
 country have no cleverness in buying or selling. All they 
 have ever learned about trade was to despise it. The un- 
 skilled gentleman could not stand against the men of in- 
 genious craft. He became poorer than his brother, and 
 Shizu went back to her old home, knowing that her selfish- 
 ness had brought difficulty to two households. By accept- 
 ing the husband provided for her, she would have lightened 
 the cares of her family, and perhaps given them a new 
 hope of support; but now she felt herself to be a heavier 
 load than before. No one reproached her; only her con- 
 science told her that she had added to the misfortunes of 
 those whom she could have helped, and ought to have 
 helped. I cannot describe to you how poor they were. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 179 
 
 Marian, you would not understand it, but the doctor does, 
 for he has seen the calamities of our feudal gentry, those 
 who were thrown upon the world when the great change 
 came, who were ignorant of every kind of industry, who 
 could earn no livelihood, who knew nothing, not even how 
 to beg. In one day they saw their incomes taken away, 
 and themselves, with their kindred, cast down to ruin. 
 There was no warning for them, no gradual loss. They 
 fell, millions of them, I have been told, from comfort, ease, 
 perfect content, to the lowest depth of despair. Yet they 
 endured their lot patiently, and without much complain- 
 ing, for they knew that their rulers were not to blame. 
 They hid their griefs, so far as they could, even from the 
 strangers whose coming had brought the disasters upon 
 them, and who, we have always believed, have' kept our 
 people in poverty for their own gain." 
 
 " Yone, it cannot be," cried Miss Gibson; "it is incredi- 
 ble. Tell her, Doctor, that she is that they are de- 
 ceived." 
 
 " It is God's truth," I answered; "the governments of 
 Europe and America are indeed responsible for the direst 
 woes of this country. But you have promised me, Yone, 
 not to agitate yourself by brooding upon these things." 
 
 "Forgive me; it is Shizu's sorrowful story that has 
 brought them to my mind. I will speak of them no more. 
 You have made me comprehend that they are too awful for 
 a child like me to dwell upon." She shuddered, as she sat 
 silent for a moment, and seemed to struggle against the 
 perturbing and oppressive recollections which had suddenly 
 overwhelmed hlr. When she resumed, her thoughts were 
 once more centred upon the immediate object of her com- 
 passion. 
 
 " For a long time Shizu watched the frightful contest of 
 her family with the penury which was wasting their flesh 
 and blood, and prayed for the relief that would not come. 
 Everything they owned was sold; of all that had once been 
 
i8o YONE SANTO: 
 
 theirs, only one article of value remained in their posses- 
 sion. Even this was pawned, though they would rather 
 have given up their lives than part with it forever. Oh, the 
 torture of those days of hunger, and sickness, and death ! 
 for death came to more than one of them. The first to 
 leave them was a little sister. I knew that I had no cause 
 to lament her; the pain of her existence was ended. Then 
 the aged brother of her grandfather fell ill; his voice grew 
 weak, his eyes were dim, all his strength forsook him, for 
 want of food, nothing but want of food. I could send 
 them only a small portion" 
 
 "You speak as if you had witnessed these scenes," I in- 
 terrupted. " Did you know, at the time, how they were 
 situated ? " 
 
 " I knew, but we also were poor, Doctor, and my hands 
 were not free, as you can remember." 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, why did you keep it from me, my 
 child?" 
 
 "Ah, Doctor, do you think that they alone, among 
 my friends, were in that terrible condition ? There were 
 hundreds whose suffering was as great, perhaps greater. 
 I never doubted your goodness, but I could not tell you of 
 all who were afflicted. It was net in your power to save 
 them, much as you would have wished it." 
 
 " You should have told me of this case, if, as I fear, the 
 girl was driven by desperation to sacrifice herself." 
 
 " Not then; that happened later. I tried to do what was 
 best, but I lost sight of them before the darkest days came. 
 There were other deaths; not slow, like those which I 
 knew of, but hasty and violent enough to distract a helpless 
 girl's mind. The fading lives of all who were left depended 
 upon her; they were famishing, and she could rescue them. 
 Knowing what the people of my country are, I dare not 
 judge her, but I may ask Marian if I have not the right to 
 love her still." 
 
 " Don't ask me ! " Miss Gibson cried, recoiling from her 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 181 
 
 appeal. " I am horrified at everything I have heard. I 
 don't know what to say or think. I never dreamed that 
 such enormities could be. You tell me, Doctor Charwell, 
 that the Christian nations have combined to desolate this 
 feeble and burdened race, and that is bad enough; but the 
 picture which Yone is drawing has a background so hideous 
 that I cannot bear to look at it. Are these things true ? If 
 they are, don't ask me to pronounce upon them. The worst I 
 have dreaded was trivial in comparison. I never have believed 
 
 I only guessed faintly a little part"- Her utterance 
 
 was choked by a hysterical flood of tears, as she turned 
 aside and covered her face with her hands. 
 
 Yone sat motionless, striken with consternation, uncer- 
 tain how to meet this unlooked-for outburst, which had 
 been evoked by her possibly abrupt disclosure of one of the 
 shocking realities in the domestic system of Japan. To me 
 it appeared that the abruptness of the disclosure was of 
 little moment. It could scarcely be called premature, in- 
 asmuch as a person coming to the country with Miss Gib- 
 son's definite purpose might reasonably be accounted 
 familiar with the notorious fact that the women are often 
 expected and required to degrade themselves for the mate- 
 rial benefit of those to whose authority they are subject. 
 In any case it was inevitable, without much delay, and was 
 not especially to be regretted. I was convinced that a few 
 decisive words would be effectual in allaying the present 
 disquietude, and providing against future misconceptions. 
 
 "You will be calm, Miss Gibson," I said, "and will not 
 prolong Yone's distress, which is greater than you ought 
 to inflict upon her. I did not know you were so ill pre- 
 pared, but since you have been unwisely left in ignorance, 
 I have some satisfaction in assuring you that you have no 
 further revelations to apprehend. There is nothing, in all 
 Japan, beyond what you have now caught sight of. You 
 know the worst that you will have to contend with as long 
 as you remain here. Of course there is no palliation for it, 
 
182 YONE SANTO: 
 
 but I shall try to-morrow, to show you how to place your 
 condemnation where it is merited, and not to apply it where 
 commiseration alone is due. To-morrow, if you please; to- 
 night we will all rest, as tranquilly as we can." 
 
 XXV. 
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 
 
 BEFORE leaving the temple, on the following day, Yone 
 took me aside, and questioned me with respect to the pos- 
 sibility of finding a means of livelihood for a young person 
 who had precisely the qualifications which she herself pos- 
 sessed, and was equally capable of serving as interpreter or 
 copyist. 
 
 " I have no secrets from you," she said; " I am thinking 
 of Shizu. She was a good scholar at Jo-gakko, and under- 
 stands English well, though she has had but little chance 
 to speak it until lately. If I have been of use, in my 
 poor way, I am sure she could gain enough for her needs. 
 A very little would support her." 
 
 The difficulty of extricating this friend from her present 
 mode of existence was greater than Yone could divine; but 
 if the experiment could be tried, I was willing to cooperate, 
 and to provide occupations, in case of need, which should 
 be sufficiently genuine for the purpose in view. In addi- 
 tion to my habitual desire to encourage and participate in 
 her benefactions, this particular scheme was in direct 
 accordance with a project I had long entertained, and 
 promised to supply an instrument essential to my op- 
 erations. I therefore assured her that the employment 
 should not be lacking, if the girl were disposed to devote 
 herself to it. 
 
 " There is no doubt of that, "she answered; " I know her 
 well. If I had told you all, you would have no fear." 
 
 Miss Gibson declared herself again ready to proceed to 
 
A CHILD OF JAP AX. 183 
 
 Fuji-ya, but I explained that an escort had been desirable 
 in the first place only because we had no knowledge of the 
 invalid's surroundings, and it seemed possible that Yone 
 might be drawn into a false position. As there was now 
 nothing to be apprehended on that score, it was better, all 
 points considered, that she should go alone. She was ab- 
 sent several hours, and on her return informed us that she 
 hoped we would be pleased with what she had done, 
 although she foresaw that Mr. Roberts would soon be with 
 us, and that his visit would perhaps not be an agreeable 
 one. She would not ask Miss Gibson to be present at the 
 impending interview, as he would certainly bring up un- 
 pleasant topics, and Marian had already been made too un- 
 comfortable and unhappy. The doctor knew what was 
 likely to occur, and he would give all the assistance that 
 was absolutely needed, in arranging matters with the gentle- 
 man from Yokohama. 
 
 " I will do whatever you wish," said the Boston girl, not 
 without signs of contrition. " Do riot think so meanly of 
 me as to suppose I would desert you at a difficult moment. 
 I am ashamed of my behavior last night. I should at least 
 have had more consideration for you, my dear. I see 
 things more clearly now, and if you want me with you, my 
 place is by your side, no matter what is to happen." 
 
 "Indeed I want you," replied Yone, glowing with satis- 
 faction. " To have you near me will give me strength, if 
 I grow timid, and your presence will produce a great effect 
 upon Mr. Roberts. Simply to see you with me, and to 
 know that you are supporting me, will make him listen 
 carefully to what I say. If he understands that you trust 
 me, he will believe that he also may trust me. Am I not 
 right, Doctor ? ' 
 
 I told her she was entirely right, and that we both would 
 assist her to the limit of our power; for I thought it in- 
 judicious then to acquaint her with my conviction that she 
 alone could exert an appreciable force in the enterprise to 
 
184 YONE SANTO: 
 
 which she had addressed herself, and that her influence 
 would be far more effectual than purs in carrying it to a 
 successful issue. 
 
 We had not long to wait. About the middle of the 
 afternoon Mr. Roberts presented himself, flushed and agi- 
 tated, and proclaiming defiance in demeanor, tone and ges- 
 ture. 
 
 " I have called to settle accounts, Dr. Charwell, and close 
 the connection. I don't propose to be rude, but I can't 
 allow any interference in my private affairs. I didn't look 
 for it, sir, from you. However, that is neither here nor 
 there. I'll pay your bill and thank you to keep away from 
 me and mine hereafter. You understand me, and that is 
 enough." 
 
 " Not altogether; it may be that Mrs. Santo does," I 
 answered, feeling instinctively that I could not do better 
 than entrust all the proceedings to Yone's tact and dis- 
 cretion. 
 
 " Mr. Roberts means that I have endeavored to induce 
 Shizu to leave him." 
 
 " That's what I mean, and I take it extremely ill, I can 
 assure you. Her relations with me are nobody's business 
 but mine." 
 
 "Hers, surely," said Yone, with perfect gentleness; "and 
 perhaps mine, since I am her oldest friend. May I not 
 call it my business to think of her welfare ? " 
 
 " That's what those the others always say. No, I thank 
 you, I can take first-class care of her welfare; and if Doc- 
 tor Charwell will be good enough to hand me his bill, I'll 
 not detain you any longer." 
 
 " Doctor Charwell will ask you we will all ask you to 
 wait a little, while I speak about Shizu. She is like a sis- 
 ter to me, my only sister. You will not be so unkind as to 
 refuse. I beg you to be seated, and listen to me." 
 
 His eyes had been wandering restlessly around the room, 
 but as they met Yone's clear aud earnest glance he com- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 185 
 
 posed himself, and replied, with a perceptible abatement of 
 surliness: 
 
 " Oh, yes, I'll listen. I don't want to be rough, -and I'll 
 listen; but my mind is made up. I won't let her go." 
 
 " Not if she wishes it ? " 
 
 " I don't wish it, and that's sufficient. I can't get on 
 without her. Think of my children; it was mostly on 
 their account that I took her. I never could manage them, 
 never; and she, I don't mind saying it, young as she is, 
 she's the same as a mother to them. They have no mother 
 of their own, poor things." 
 
 " Ah, how old are they, Mr. Roberts ? " 
 
 " Three, and four. I couldn't send them back to my 
 people at home, you see, at their age." 
 
 "And when they grow up ? " Yone still inquired. 
 
 " What then ? " 
 
 " When they begin to be young ladies, what will become 
 of Shizu ? " 
 
 " Right you are ! I must have her out of the way before 
 that time. But you needn't fear. If she runs a straight 
 course, she will never come to grief; I will look out for 
 that." 
 
 " You mean that you will give her money, and send her 
 away from you. What will her feelings be, then ? You 
 are thinking only of yourself and of your children, Mr. 
 Roberts." 
 
 " Bless my soul, Mrs. Santo, what are you thinking of ? 
 If I provide for her, I am not bound to trouble myself 
 about her feelings, half a dozen years from now. What 
 claim has she upon me ? I don't mean to give offense, not 
 the least in the world, but do you know the position she 
 was in before she came to me, where she would have been 
 in less than a week, if I hadn't taken command and towed 
 her into a safe port ? You'll excuse me, but I can't put 
 much stock in the feelings of a girl of that kind." 
 
 Miss Gibson uttered an indignant exclamation, and 
 
1 86 YONE SANTO: 
 
 would have given her rebuke a more intelligible form, if I 
 had not hastily taken upon myself the duty of replying to 
 this last observation. 
 
 " I have no doubt, Mr. Roberts, that you are doing your- 
 self an injustice, and assuming a callousness which is not 
 at all in your nature, in order to make a conventional 
 point of argument. You could not pass a single week in 
 close association with any Japanese girl of gentle birth, and 
 fail to discover that her sensibilities are exceptionally acute 
 and tender. So we may let the question of ' feelings ' go 
 by without discussion. But if you expect to produce an 
 adverse impression, or any impression but one of profound 
 pity, upon Mrs. Santo by speaking of the position to which 
 her unhappy friend was reduced, you will be disappointed. 
 She cannot enter into your view of the matter. Women do 
 not, in this part of the world, necessarily descend through 
 successive stages of vice to the lowest level of abasement. 
 The transition is often instantaneous from innocence and 
 purity to a condition which in your estimation implies the 
 abandonment of every virtue, and familiarity with every 
 form of depravity. Here it implies nothing of the kind. 
 You must bear in mind the distinction between guilt and 
 misfortune, or you will be hopelessly at cross-purposes 
 with this lady. Shizu's position, whatever it may have 
 been, cannot be turned to her disadvantage in this conver- 
 sation." 
 
 " I know what her position was," said Yone sadly; "but 
 no one would be so cruel as to believe it was her own 
 choice, or that she looked upon it otherwise than as a heavy 
 disaster. I am thinking less of it than of Mr. Robert's 
 opinion that she has no claim upon him. Perhaps she has 
 not. I would not myself say that there is anything that can 
 be called a claim, directly, and she would be the last to re- 
 mind him of one, if it existed. But I can show him, unless 
 I am mistaken, that her great afflictions entitle her to more 
 of his consideration than he has given, if not to his respect; 
 
A CHILD OF JAP AX. 187 
 
 and that when he coldly speaks of her as ' a girl of that 
 kind,' his judgment is wrong in every way." 
 
 "To be sure, I might have put it more mildly," Roberts 
 rejoined; "but I have to go by what I have seen and heard. 
 I know this much: that her father was the commonest sort 
 of a servant in the house of the Tokio head of our firm; 
 and she there's no getting over it; I wouldn't be so blunt 
 if T could help it she was on the verge of selling herself 
 outright when I stepped in to the rescue." 
 
 " And that is all you know ? Have you not learned the 
 truth about her father's death ?" 
 
 " I always fancied that some part of that affair had been 
 kept back; but Shizu was shy of referring to it, and I 
 couldn't very well press her. It was a mystery how he came 
 to be so desperately wounded, and no one else seriously 
 damaged. Some of us would have been badly enough 
 damaged, if he hadn't been on hand, I, for example. I 
 never was so scared in all my life. May be that is what 
 you mean by a claim. I haven't overlooked that, I can 
 assure you. If there is anything behind, I should be glad 
 to hear it, indeed I should." 
 
 " I must tell you, then, that my knowledge of all 
 that touches Shizu is as certain as if she were a member of 
 my own family. Her father, as my friends here will re- 
 member, was a faithful retainer of ours; and it used to be 
 said in Nagoya, my native city, that the fortunes of Yamada 
 depended upon the constant adherence of Miura." 
 
 " Miura ? " repeated Miss Gibson. " Why, yes, Miura 
 was the ancient hero whose adventures you related. Is it 
 possible that this is one of his descendants ? " 
 
 " You don't mean," I exclaimed, " that the rugged soldier 
 of Sekigahara was the ancestor of this poor child ? This is 
 a rare surprise." 
 
 " She is the daughter of Miura, our vassal," answered 
 Yone. "I thought you would have recognized the 
 name." 
 
1 88 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "And so I ought; I heard it plainly enough. But I 
 could not associate that fragile, delicate creature with the 
 marvelous tale you told. I can't quite realize it even* 
 now." 
 
 " Nor I," said Miss Gibson. " It brings the Middle/ 
 Ages close within our reach again. It is wonderful." 
 
 " Not to me," Yone responded. " In my youth, Japan 
 had not stirred from the Middle Ages. Many of our peo- 
 ple still belong to that time which seems to you so far 
 away. Miura was one who might have lived in the very 
 days of lyeyasu." 
 
 Mr. Roberts rose, and advanced toward us, with bewil- 
 derment and curiosity in his eyes. 
 
 " If you could let me into the secret, I should take it 
 kindly. I haven't an idea what this is about." 
 
 " Nor had any of us until this moment, except Mrs. 
 Santo," I answered. "Shizu Miura is the lineal descend- 
 ant of one of the stalwart old heroes of Japanese history. 
 But I dare say you are not particularly interested in that. 
 Go on, Yone, with what concerns Mr. Roberts." 
 
 " You shouldn't say that, sir. I am interested, extremely 
 interested, in all that relates to her. It is strange she never 
 spoke to me of her parentage." 
 
 Yone looked intently at him, as he drew his chair nearer 
 and resumed his seat. 
 
 " She is not of the vulgar rabble; she belongs to a family 
 of singular pride and reserve. Though their rank was not 
 lofty, they were held in high repute, and had commanded 
 the respect of the gentry in our province for many genera- 
 tions, I can almost say centuries. Shizu is only a woman, 
 but the blood of her forefathers runs in her veins. She 
 has fallen very low, and in her degradation she has not the 
 heart to recall the scenes of the past, or speak of the time 
 when the name she bears was honored by all. I do not 
 wonder that she has told you nothing of her people. In 
 Owari they were prosperous; they had six villages assigned 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 189 
 
 to them by the daimio, from which their income came. 
 Until the great revolution, when Shizu was seven years 
 old, they were almost rich, as wealth is reckoned in Japan; 
 then they lost all. They came to Tokio, thoughtlessly and 
 blindly, and the change was fatal to the simple country 
 gentleman. It was as if he had stepped from a forgotten 
 age into an unknown land. He was as helpless as the chil- 
 dren he brought with him. Two of his family died of 
 hardship and privation while I was dwelling near them, 
 and before my marriage took me to a distant part of the 
 city. What happened afterward I learned last night. 
 Crushed by calamities, Miura bent down his haughty head, 
 ^and begged for employment among the foreigners whom 
 he disliked and feared. He offered himself as a servant, 
 'the commonest sort of a servant,' Mr. Roberts; it was all 
 he was fit for, and in the house of your friend in Tsukiji 
 he found a chance to earn a little money by the roughest 
 kind of toil." 
 
 " It isn't my fault," Roberts remonstrated, "if your Jap- 
 anese samurai, as you call them, never learned to make 
 themselves useful. I spoke of him as I found him, when I 
 passed a fortnight at our place in Tsukiji. How could I 
 know ? After all, he made a living, and he wasn't badly 
 treated as a rule. Have you heard that Mr. Burgess gave 
 him an advance of wages, to get him out of some scrape ?" 
 
 " I have heard; and also what it cost Miura to ask and 
 accept that boon. He was deeply in debt; his mother was 
 dying, and he could not purchase the necessities for her 
 comfort, nor call a physician to restore her. More than this, 
 to his mind, he was threatened with the loss of an article 
 most sacred to him. It was to redeem this precious relic, 
 an heirloom, or perhaps a talisman, you would term it, 
 that he placed himself under obligation to his master." 
 
 "It was the sword!" cried Miss Gibson, in unwonted 
 excitement. 
 
 " It was the sword with which his ancestor slew himself 
 
I 9 o YONE SANTO: 
 
 on the battle-field. The weapon was dearer than life to its 
 humble possessor. It cost him his life, indeed, to regain 
 it." 
 
 "How is that possible?" inquired Roberts. "I don't 
 see any connection." 
 
 " You do not forget the letter promising repayment, 
 which he brought to Mr. Burgess ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. Burgess had it translated, and thought 
 the man was making game of him. He gave him a terrific 
 cuff. Rather hasty it was, I will say, though Burgess is my 
 senior partner, and a good fellow at most times, in spite of 
 his hot temper. But it was a cranky document, you must 
 admit. I got it by heart, and many a laugh I have raised 
 with it, since. What do you say to this, Doctor Charwell ? 
 'I, the inferior Miura Senzo, have borrowed twenty yen 
 from you, the honorable Burgess lord, and if I do not re- 
 pay, you have my full permission to call me a fool.' " 
 
 There was no laugh now over the eccentric acknowledge- 
 ment. Yone's gravity was a check upon the mirth it might 
 ordinarily have provoked. 
 
 " It was the only method of binding himself that he 
 knew," she explained. " He was completely ignorant of 
 business, and the best he could do was to make use of a 
 declaration which was formerly in common use, and which 
 he thought, in his simplicity, would be as satisfactory to a 
 foreigner as to any Japanese who knew the ancient prac- 
 tices." 
 
 " But just conceive of it," said Roberts. " ' If I do not 
 repay, you may call me a fool.' Burgess took it for granted 
 that he was chaffed, and he never could stand that, even 
 from one of us. What do you make of it, Doctor Char- 
 well?" 
 
 " I have seen hundreds of these old-fashioned bonds," I 
 replied, " and they all seem to be based upon the peculiar 
 Japanese sense of honor. A samurai would suffer anything 
 rather than to submit to insult. Nothing worse could hap- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 191 
 
 pen to him than to receive an opprobrious epithet without 
 the power to resent it, and in these quaint pledges the 
 signer put himself more absolutely at the mercy of the 
 creditor than would be possible by any proffer of material 
 security. The language, you should understand, is not so 
 richly endowed as ours, with terms of offense. Miura 
 selected one of the very few abusive words that it contains, 
 perhaps the most abusive. The whole proceeding was a 
 survival of the feudal customs; quite incomprehensible, I 
 take it, to the practical experience of Messrs. Fitch, Bur- 
 gess, and Roberts." 
 
 " You may say that, and a good deal more. I never ex- 
 pect to get inside the heads of these people. But I was 
 sorry Burgess hit him, and I didn't hesitate to say so when 
 I picked him up, for he was knocked quite flat. I took him 
 to my room, and gave him a drink. He seemed to need it; 
 his face was ghastly, not white, but a sort of sickly green. 
 His hand shook so that he could hardly hold the glass. I 
 really imagined he was badly injured, until the next night, 
 when he showed what sound stuff he was made of. He 
 couldn't have felt it much." 
 
 " It was his death-blow," said Yone, in a tone that 
 chilled us who knew her, and the solemnity of which 
 quelled the rattling vivacity of the Yokohama tradesman. 
 " The bruises, the hurts to his body, were nothing, but his 
 manhood was destroyed. He could not avenge himself, 
 for a samurai must not attack the master with whom he has 
 taken service. If that were possible, there would be many 
 tragedies in the homes of foreigners. Moreover, he had 
 accepted and used the twenty yen, and with that obligation 
 hanging over him his hands were doubly tied. But his 
 spirit was utterly broken. He went to his little residence 
 in Asabu, where his mother lay dying, and told her and his 
 daughter -what had befallen him; and then it was that 
 Shizu resolved upon the sacrifice which the women of my 
 country are expected to make, in the extremest need, on be- 
 
IQ2 YONE SANTO: 
 
 half of those to whom they owe obedience. She would 
 have taken this course before, if her education, by Ameri- 
 can teachers, had not given her new views of duty. Now 
 there was no influence to restrain her, and she determined 
 to avail herself of the last resource." 
 
 " In the name of reason," Roberts exclaimed, "how am 
 I to take this ? You wouldn't mislead me, but are you sure 
 you haven't been misled yourself ? What do you say, Doctor ? 
 This sounds like a horrid chapter from the Tales of Old 
 Japan." 
 
 "Naturally it does," I answered; "the Tales of Old 
 Japan are literally true. I should rejoice to believe there 
 was anything extraordinary in what she tells us. You are 
 amazed only because it is the first time that such facts are 
 brought home to you." 
 
 "And to me," sighed Miss Gibson; "to me it is all as 
 strange as it is terrible." 
 
 " I have little more to say," Yone resumed; "but to you 
 who are unfamiliar with the habits and sentiments of my 
 people, the end will be an additional surprise. You re- 
 member, Mr. Roberts, how the midnight robbery of the 
 house in Tsukiji was prevented ? " 
 
 " Every particular: it was Miura who gave the warning. 
 Burgess didn't half believe in it, though the burglars had 
 raided every third compound in the settlement, he told me. 
 It had an odd appearance that a servant should know ex- 
 actly what they were projecting." 
 
 " They looked to Miura for assistance. News flies with 
 magical swiftness among the poor classes in Tokio, and 
 the abuse he had undergone was talked of throughout the 
 foreign quarter. The thieves, who had made themselves a 
 terror to the neighborhood, were confident that he would 
 welcome the opportunity. They knew the stock of which 
 he came, and offered to make him their leader, but they 
 understood only a part of his character. He had one rule 
 of life, and he never abandoned it. Before bidding his 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 193 
 
 mother and daughter farewell, on that last day, he said, * I 
 shall leave no debt to be charged against me. That will 
 be wiped away by the service I shall perform this night. 
 If there is danger for my master and his friends, I will de- 
 fend them. There is one among them whom I shall be 
 glad to keep from harm, for he has a true heart, and he 
 soothed me with kind words when I was beaten like a 
 dog.' " 
 
 " Do you think he meant me ? " 
 
 " It was of you he spoke. Shizu has never forgotten it." 
 
 " Poor fellow, poor fellow ! And she would not tell 
 me." 
 
 "I have said that she has the pride of her race; and be- 
 sides, we are always doubtful how foreigners will receive the 
 things which affect us most deeply. But I do not hesi- 
 tate to tell you. I wish you to know all: how Miura, with 
 fierce hatred in his heart toward the master who had put 
 deadly shame upon him, was steadfast to his honor; how 
 by the courageous performance of a duty he freed himself, 
 as he believed, from a burden of obligation which he had 
 no other means of removing." 
 
 " Why do you say ' no other means ' ? It was only a few 
 months' wages, at the outside. But there would have been 
 no question of that paltry sum, if he had lived. He could 
 have had anything he wanted from Burgess, or from me, 
 after his gallant fight, that night. He settled the beggarly 
 gang, and drove them away, almost single-handed; the 
 other servants did nothing but run about and howl." 
 
 " They were not samurai," said Yone. 
 
 " We had no idea he was so much hurt; he was steady 
 enough, to look at, after it was over, though he said he 
 must go home. He even talked of walking, and declared 
 the slashes in his side amounted to nothing, but I wouldn't 
 hear of that. I put him into a norimono, and he thanked 
 me with a smile. I don't think I ever saw him smile but 
 that once; he was a gloomy sort, well he might be, con- 
 
I 9 4 YONE SANTO: 
 
 sidering what he had gone through. When we went to look 
 after him, the next day, it was all over. Burgess was very 
 much cut up; he offered to do anything for the old woman 
 and Shizu, but they wouldn't have it, actually turned their 
 backs upon him. The girl said she had plenty of money 
 coming to her; but when I learned where it was coming 
 from, and what it was for, I had to interfere. It was too 
 monstrous." 
 
 "They did not refuse you, Mr. Roberts." 
 
 "No, no; I am thankful they didn't, more thankful to- 
 day than I ever was before. Still, they wouldn't let me do 
 the half of what I wished to. I undertook to spend any 
 reasonable amount in hunting down the murderers, but 
 they went on their knees and begged me not to say another 
 word upon the subject. That was one thing I never could 
 make out." 
 
 " Murderers ! There were none. The wounds which 
 the robbers gave were trifles. Miura Senzo killed himself 
 with the same sword that had ended Kitasaburo's life, 
 nearly three hundred years before." 
 
 There was no response, and for a minute the dead silence 
 in our little parlor was unbroken. The revelation was not 
 unexpected by me, and I think Miss Gibson had partly 
 foreshadowed what was to come; but Roberts was as- 
 tounded. He stared straight before him like one bound by 
 a spell, until Yone rose and approached him, apparently to 
 study his countenance; for the sun had set behind the high 
 Hakone hills, and the light was dim. Then he rose like- 
 wise, not without an effort, and . leaned heavily upon the 
 back of his chair, as if a sudden dizziness had overmastered 
 him. 
 
 " Now, Mr. Roberts, you have heard the truth, all the 
 truth, about my friend. You know what her father was, 
 what she is, and by what fearful necessity she was driven 
 to the position for which you despise her " 
 
 "I don't despise her," he interrupted; "I never 
 despised her. I was a brute to hint at it." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 195 
 
 Yone lifted her hand to stem the torrent of protestation 
 he was ready to pour forth. 
 
 " Will you now refuse to release her ? " she inquired. 
 
 " I will do anything in the world; only let me be sure it 
 is for her good. If you say so if she says so " 
 
 "We do say it." 
 
 "After all, you have no need of my consent; there is 
 nothing to chain her." 
 
 " She cannot leave you without it; she is your servant. 
 She owes you what she lives upon, from day to day. She 
 is in your debt for the comforts you gave her mother, while 
 that poor woman lingered, and for the graves in which her 
 parents rest. She is bound to you for your kindness to 
 her father, and for your benevolence in saving her from 
 the lowest misery. She cannot break away, unless you 
 consent." 
 
 " Don't don't talk to me in that way," said Roberts, in 
 a quavering voice; " I can't stand it. Don't you see there's 
 another side to the bargain ? Do I owe her nothing ? I 
 must get out of this. Doctor Charwell, is it too much to 
 ask you to walk to Fuji-ya with me? I am still in the dark, 
 here and there, and you can enlighten me." 
 
 " I have your promise ? " Yone urged. 
 
 "You have; anything that is for her good. I will not 
 keep her a day, if she wishes to go. Give me till to-mor- 
 row to think about it. I'll not disappoint you, Mrs. Santo; 
 you are a good woman." 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 YONE'S TRIUMPH. 
 
 I WENT with Roberts to the hotel, but this did not con- 
 tent him, and in the evening he came again to the temple, 
 eager to be made acquainted with the antecedent history of 
 Shizu's family, of which he had caught only glimpses dur- 
 
196 YONE SANTO: 
 
 ing the afternoon interview. Although he had dwelt sev- 
 eral years upon the soil of Japan, his associations, like 
 those of his class in general, had been almost exclusively 
 alien, and this was his first introduction to the realities of 
 Japanese life and character. He was much impressed by 
 finding himself enveloped in an atmosphere of antiquity 
 which he had always considered to be far beyond his range, 
 and which he had regarded as belonging, if not to the re- 
 gion of fable, at least to an ideal and insubstantial sphere, 
 with which he could never be brought into relationship. 
 Being a Scotchman, however, his imagination did not 
 utterly revolt at the contemplation of extravagances which 
 would probably have thrown the average mercantile mind 
 of Yokohama off its balance. Familiarity with the legends 
 of his own country assisted him to comprehend the clannish 
 devotion, the exaggerated sense of personal honor, and the 
 stern fatalism of the samurai, even though his faith in the 
 solid proprieties of the nineteenth century forbade him to 
 approve these qnalities. His final judgment of Miura 
 Senzo was summed up in a series of observations, to the 
 effect that of course he was crazy, and it seemed impossible 
 for a man imbued with the ideas of Japanese chivalry to be 
 anything else; that his notion of rushing to suicide as the 
 suitable solace for a bodily indignity was reconcilable only 
 with a madness exceeding the proper allotment of an army 
 of hatters and a wilderness of March hares; but his pluck 
 was magnificent, even if wofully misapplied, and his respec- 
 tability was guaranteed by a pedigree of the length of 
 which a Highland chief need not be ashamed. Roberts 
 made no attempt to conceal his altered estimate of the 
 daughter, regarding her as the last representative of an 
 ancient family, and the legitimate bearer of a hereditary 
 crest, the significance of which he had never suspected, 
 but which he now chose to consider a badge of aristocratic 
 distinction, conferring upon its owner attributes not dis- 
 similar to those of a titular nobility. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 197 
 
 He announced, on the following day, that he was willing 
 to accede to Yone's solicitations, being convinced that they 
 were earnestly seconded by Shizu, but it was evident that the 
 concession had cost him a severe struggle. " I couldn't 
 have believed that any one would have brought me to this," 
 he averred; "but I see she has the right to dispose of her 
 future, and I'll not stand in her way. It will be hard on 
 the children; they are mightily fond of her, as well they 
 may be. And so am I. What a fraud it is for me to talk 
 about the children ! I shall be the biggest baby of the lot, 
 when she goes." He at first insisted upon making her an 
 allowance, settling a pension on her, he termed it, 
 affirming that it was done every day, and that it would be 
 shabby for him to permit her to go out into the world un- 
 provided for; but this was resolutely resisted by Yone, to 
 whose influence he submitted with remarkable pliancy. 
 Upon another point, however, he was less tractable. He 
 assumed that he and his offspring were to maintain friendly 
 communications with the young girl so long as his affairs 
 should keep him in Japan, and warmly resented the propo- 
 sition that every tie should be definitely and permanently 
 sundered. His perverse obstinacy would have worn out 
 the patience of most people, but Yone had good reasons, 
 as we presently discovered, for dealing gently with him, 
 and allowing his irritability no opportunity to assert itself. 
 After hours of ineffectual persuasion, at the end of which it 
 seemed inevitable that she should either succumb or risk a 
 rupture of the negotiations, she asked to speak with him 
 privately, and led him to a far-off corner of the building, 
 beyond sight or hearing of Miss Gibson and myself. Here, 
 imposing secrecy upon him, and appealing to his humanity 
 to keep her friend, especially, in ignorance of what she was 
 about to impart, she put forward her last and most pathetic 
 plea. 
 
 It was very simple and ingenuous. Ardent gratitude had 
 been the first sentiment awakened in Shizu's heart by the 
 
198 YONE SANTO : 
 
 young man's generous intercession at the most critical 
 moment of her destiny, but the unexpected sympathy which 
 she received in her subsequent bereavement and loneliness 
 had drawn her more tenderly to him, and the attachment 
 she already felt promised to become intense and absorbing, 
 if the separation were not made complete and absolute. It 
 was for him to decide whether she should be subjected, in 
 her new career, to a more painful trial than any she had yet 
 endured, with the certainty of a perpetual and ever-increas- 
 ing sorrow hanging over her, or be left free for time to 
 efface all disturbing recollections. What forms of argu- 
 ment or exhortation Yone employed I never knew, but it 
 was not long before their effect was made manifest in an 
 unlooked-for way. The young merchant presented him- 
 self before us, with a bearing and aspect so diametrically 
 opposite to those with which he had made us familiar as 
 to suggest that he had undergone some radical process of 
 moral transformation. Miss Gibson was later heard to de- 
 clare that his attitude, at this crisis, was " most interest- 
 ing; " but my more critical scrutiny detected nothing that 
 could identify .the pert, underbred, colonial tradesman, 
 even in appearance, with a typical hero of romance. He 
 was surprisingly subdued, however, and seemed for the 
 moment to have forgotten that aggressive arrogance was 
 one of the features of his role as a commercial civilizer of 
 the far East. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten every- 
 thing but his determination to show that there was a manly 
 side to his character, and that he was capable of acting up 
 to it. 
 
 " Do you know what she wants me to do ? " he asked. 
 "She hasn't proposed it, but I have seen it working in her 
 mind for the last half hour. It isn't to jump down into 
 the crater of Fujiyama: oh, no; that would be easy, in com- 
 parison. She wants me to make myself the laughing-stock 
 of Yokohama, don't contradict me, Mrs. Santo; that's just 
 what it is: to walk into the British consul's office, and tell 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. igc, 
 
 him to draw up a matrimonial contract between Archibald 
 Roberts, of Scotland, and Shizu Miura, of Japan. That's 
 the upshot of it, Miss Gibson; that's what I must do to 
 please her, Doctor Charwell." 
 
 He had commenced in a querulous and plaintive strain, 
 but raised his voice as he proceeded, until the last words 
 were almost shouted. Miss Gibson had nothing to say; 
 she was too astonished. I was not less so, but the impulse 
 seized me to conceal the fact, and to accept his announce- 
 ment as a simple matter of course. 
 
 " If that is what you must do," I said quietly, "you had 
 better set about it at once." 
 
 " I intend to," he replied, moderating his tone. " I 
 won't disappoint Mrs. Santo; she is too good a woman for 
 that. And she is one who will not laugh at me, no matter 
 what everybody else does." 
 
 " Laugh at you ! " exclaimed Yone, with a beautiful light 
 in her eyes, " I do not understand what you mean. I re- 
 spect and honor you, and it makes me happy to know you 
 will be rewarded for your goodness and your courage. Ah, 
 yes, you will be rewarded, Mr. Roberts; have no doubt of 
 that." 
 
 " I have no doubt of anything, when you tell it to me. 
 Don't I say you are a good woman ? You look like the 
 others, but there's a difference, is there not, Miss Gibson. 
 I'm not so sure that she's a woman at all. You have put a 
 European frock upon her shoulders, but I don't believe 
 it fits them, any more than her kimono. You won't find the 
 garment to suit her in your fashion-plates; no room for 
 wings in any of them. I suppose they have wings, the 
 Japanese kind, just the same as ours. Never mind, Mrs. 
 Santo; you can't take in my poor jests, and you don't need 
 wings to convince me how good you are." 
 
 After he had left us, to break the great news to Shizu, 
 and to make ready for his own immediate return to Yoko- 
 hama, Miss Gibson thought it expedient to dilate upon this 
 farewell burst of rhetoric. 
 
200 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " He may not be the cleverest of men," she remarked, 
 " but he has learned how to turn a compliment more grace- 
 fully than when he mistook our Yone for a nurse. Let 
 me explain it to you, dear." 
 
 "It is not necessary," said Yone, lifting her hand to her 
 face, and looking at us through her parted fingers with 
 what was, for her, quite a creditable attempt at roguishness. 
 
 " Then you did understand him ! How do you dare to 
 know what such things mean ? I thought that they were 
 far beyond that you were far beyond their comprehension." 
 
 " Why should you ? " I demanded, with austerity. " The 
 meaning of flattery is the first thing a vain girl learns in 
 any language, and this is the vainest girl in all Japan. 
 You will find it out in good time, Miss Gibson. But I beg 
 you to believe that I never taught her such absurdities." 
 
 " They are very pretty, those absurdities," replied Yone. 
 " We seldom hear them in this country, but it is pleasant to 
 be praised, in earnest, even if not true." 
 
 " It is true enough," I rejoined. " I have been telling 
 you, for years, what you really are. Witches have wings, 
 you know, as well as other flighty supernatural creatures. 
 No genuine, authentic witch would be admitted to practice 
 without them." 
 
 " For shame ! " cried Miss Gibson. " Yone, do not listen 
 to him." 
 
 "Would you have me believe that anything short of 
 witchcraft could take the conceit out of a Yokohama shop- 
 keeper, a British shop-keeper in Japan, and convert him 
 into the semblance of a human being? Come here, my 
 little girl, and let me look straight at you. Hold up your 
 head, like the best of small children. There, that will do. 
 Now ! Miss Gibson may give you what name she likes, 
 and so may Mr. Roberts, but nobody can be more contented 
 with you than I, or happier in )-our charming success. 
 Shall I call it a miracle ? Shall 1 say you are a magician ? 
 Do you want me to tell you what I truly think of you, at 
 this moment, the whole of it ?" 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 201 
 
 " No, dear Doctor; I am afraid you would say something 
 to make my eyes dim, and that is not the way to end this 
 joyful day." 
 
 " I should think not. Tears at a jubilee ? Never; we 
 will hold high festival, nothing less. You, Miss Gibson, 
 shall hang out banners and lanterns, and ring the temple 
 bells, if the priests permit, while I wend forth, and summon' 
 two guests to banquet in state this eve. Since Shizu is to 
 join our party, we may wisely expedite her coming. Of 
 course she will remain in our care until Mrs. Roberts's 
 mansion is ready for her reception, in the foreign cosmop- 
 olis which she and her husband will inhabit. Let us go 
 for them, Yone, at once. Miss Gibson will welcome our 
 reappearance with salutes of grape and canister, . 
 grape in fermented and other forms, and canisters 
 replete with succulent viands. We will respond with 
 detonating engines from the cellars of Fuji-ya, admirable 
 for their explosive properties, if not entirely trustworthy 
 with respect to the beverages they contain. We will cele- 
 brate with pomp and circumstance, to the utmost extent of 
 Miyanoshita's resources, and the ides of May shall be re- 
 corded in our private annals, and commemorated forever 
 as the anniversary of Yone's triumph." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 ft 
 
 THE CRAFT OF INNOCENCE. 
 
 FROM that time Shizu Miura was transferred to our care, 
 under which she continued during the short remainder of 
 our excursion. Upon the very day of her arrival among 
 us, a subtle change was apparent in Yone's demeanor, the 
 nature of which may be indicated by the circumstance that 
 at the same time she put aside the foreign garments she had 
 been wearing at Miss Gibson's desire, and resumed the na- 
 tive dress, with all its characteristic accessories. Her deli- 
 
202 YOKE SANTO: 
 
 cate tact was so much a matter of instinct that I am not 
 sure she could have explained with precision the reasons 
 which prompted her to this proceeding. It needed but 
 little observation, however, to discover that she was anxious 
 to establish the closest possible connection between herself 
 and the object of her solicitude, and to discard every out- 
 ward sign or token that might convey the slightest suspicion 
 of contrast. There was no great difficulty in accomplish- 
 ing this end. Although unlike in countenance, the two girls 
 were strikingly similar in bearing and manner. In all their 
 movements, in their attitudes and gestures, there was a 
 suggestion of perfect unity. Even in speech they appeared 
 to reflect one another. But the insufficient development of 
 many qualities in our new guest disturbed the complete- 
 ness of the identity. She often produced upon us the 
 effect of a shadowy and immature reproduction of the vivid 
 reality with which we were familiar. Her gentleness could 
 scarcely have exceeded Yone's, but the subdued reserve 
 which seemed to impart a natural grace to the one took the 
 form, in the other, of a shrinking timidity, that could be 
 overcome only by strenuous effort. Her voice, when she 
 spoke English, was so low as to be almost inaudible, and 
 while her vocabulary was abundant and apt, like that of 
 most Japanese who study foreign languages in earnest, her 
 utterance was hesitating and slow. 
 
 In spite of the few points of variance, there were periods 
 when Shizu was so nearly the image of her friend as to 
 make Miss Gibson keenly, and not always agreeably, con- 
 scious of the resemblance. She would have been better 
 pleased if the difference had been more marked. I must 
 say, in her behalf, that she struggled valiantly to conceal 
 every vestige of the disfavor with .which she had originally 
 regarded the hapless child, and to extend the charity and 
 sympathy which she knew were due; but her judgment was 
 controlled by the training and the associations of her whole 
 life, and could not be easily moved to a thoroughly just 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 203 
 
 consideration of the question now suddenly brought before 
 her. She could be pitiful, and she thought herself lenient, 
 but she could go no farther. I had no right to blame her. 
 Knowing as absolutely as I did that Shizu's sorrows entitled 
 her to a commiseration far deeper than should be given to 
 the less severely tried, I nevertheless felt myself incapable 
 of viewing her in the same light as those who had been 
 spared the most cruel ignominies; and if I, who believed 
 my reason to be unobscured by pusillanimous prejudice, 
 was forced to acknowledge this sense of treachery to my 
 principles, it was clearly not my privilege to criticise the 
 shortcomings of another. 
 
 It is satisfactory to remember, however, that no lack of 
 kindly or hospitable warmth was perceptible, either by our 
 visitor or by her young protectress. The idea that any 
 human being could withhold the fullest measure of generous 
 friendliness, at such a moment and under such conditions, 
 would, indeed, have been beyond the range of Yone's 
 comprehension. The slight disturbance in Miss Gibson's 
 mind was manifest to me, probably, because I shared it, in 
 a limited degree. In all that related to Shizu's future wel- 
 fare the American girl's interest was zealous and unwearied. 
 After Roberts's departure for Yokohama, on the day fol- 
 lowing our improvised banquet, she let fall sundry observa- 
 tions implying disquietude and doubt respecting his sincer- 
 ity of purpose. I was glad to put her at ease on the most 
 essential point. 
 
 " He will keep his promise," I assured her. " I have his 
 signature to certain papers which are sufficient to bind him. 
 But these will not be needed. He is a man to be trusted, 
 when he has given his word, and he has pluck enough or 
 obstinacy enough, if you choose to withstand the derision 
 he will have to encounter. His jaw bears witness to that. 
 I don't mean his jackdaw chatter, but his chin. He will not 
 give up a thing he has set his mind to." 
 
 " I am rejoiced to believe it," said Miss Gibson: " it is a 
 happy stroke of fortune for her." 
 
204 YONE SANTO: 
 
 If I agreed with her, as to which I was not definitely sat- 
 isfied, it did not please me to avow it too cordially. 
 
 "Possibly," I replied: "she will be comfortably estab- 
 lished, after a fashion, and I suppose he will not abuse 
 her." 
 
 " Doctor, I think you really try to be unfair. As I view 
 it, he has shown a fine spirit, and Shizu ought to be proud 
 of the position he will give her." 
 
 " I dare say she will be, but I don't admit that she ought 
 to be, by any means. What is he ? A third or fourth rate 
 colonial tradesman; a petty shopman and a snob. It is 
 hard lines when we have to congratulate ourselves that we 
 are dealing with a snob, but that is just our case. Nothing 
 struck him so forcibly as the discovery that the girl belongs 
 to an old family. You saw that his exaggerated notion of 
 her former station influenced him more than any other 
 detail. Our deft little mediator builded wiser than she 
 knew, when she brought forward the family records. I am 
 afraid it all turned upon that opportune revelation. Don't 
 look so reproachfully at me. Let me test your real estimate 
 of this worthy gentleman. How would it affect you if the 
 circumstances were such as to allow an attractive and eligi- 
 ble suitor of the same stamp to honor Yone with his 
 addresses ? " 
 
 " Doctor ! How can you dream of anything so hor- 
 rible?" 
 
 " Precisely; that tells the whole story. Never mind; it 
 might be worse. I don't deny that he is many heads and 
 shoulders above the average of his tribe. If I were not 
 convinced of this, and if Shizu's silly little heart had not 
 somehow fastened itself to him, I should have opposed the 
 whole proceeding. My plan was to set up the school that 
 Yone has been longing for, and let the two take charge of 
 it together. I do not like to see my sober, wholesome pro- 
 jects overturned by a juvenile match-maker." 
 
 " Surely this is better, in every way." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 205 
 
 "Oh, well, he doesn't appear to be an utter brute, like 
 the majority, and she will not be maltreated. What I hope 
 is that he will shut up shop in that den of thieves, and carry 
 her away to Europe. And that is what I expect. He can 
 hardly stand the pressure of mockery, here, year after 
 year. His associates will never forgive him for being a 
 better man than themselves. He will be jeered at wherever 
 he shows his face. The newspapers will print swinish 
 paragraphs about him and his wife. They will call him 
 1 sentimental,' and that breaks the back of any commercial 
 camel in this part of the world. A foreigner in Japan may 
 be guilty of almost any infamy, he may lie, cheat, steal, 
 forge, pulverize the ten commandments, and hold up his 
 head in impudent defiance of popular opinion and consular 
 law; but let him exhibit a spark of feeling for the natives 
 of this land, and he is made the scoff of the * settlements.' 
 If he persists, he becomes an outcast. In the last extrem- 
 ity he is branded as - sentimental,' and then his doom is 
 sealed, for that means ostracism. I think our friend Rob- 
 ers has a good deal of the bull-dog in him, but he has other 
 qualities as well, and, unless I am in error, it will not be 
 long before an unappeasable homesickness takes possession 
 of him. I trust he can afford to yield to it. Home is the 
 place for him and his, hereafter. As soon as he gets there, 
 he will begin vaporing about his high-born Oriental bride. 
 Let him alone to make the most of that glory. Of course 
 she will have a title, princess, probably, but he need not 
 trouble himself with that matter; every Japanese girl be- 
 comes a princess the instant she touches European or 
 American soil." 
 
 Yone entered the room while I was saying these last 
 words. She looked searchingly at me, as if my observation 
 had a special interest for her. 
 
 " May I ask if you were speaking of a princess ? " she 
 inquired. 
 
 "Not a real one," I answered; "only a princess of the 
 
206 YOXE SANTO ; 
 
 mind, a false creation, like the dagger of another distin- 
 guished Scotchman. Nothing to be in awe of." 
 
 " I wonder if it is the same," she continued. " Have you 
 seen Miss Jackman ? " 
 
 " No, indeed; has she turned princess ?" 
 
 "You have not heard from her? " 
 
 " She has left us in complete ignorance of her presence 
 here." 
 
 " That will not be for long. I must tell you she has 
 been urging me, for several days, whenever I have met her, 
 to visit Tanegasima-san, at Nara-ya. She wished me to go 
 on the day when I first saw Mr. Roberts, but I did not 
 think it necessary. Now she is very angry, and declares 
 she will complain to you. She says ' the princess ' is ex- 
 pecting me, and scolds me for neglecting my duty. She 
 always calls her 'the princess.' I thought she had perhaps 
 been here." 
 
 " She has not; but why does she concern herself with 
 Tanegasima? That is the last combination I should have 
 looked for." 
 
 Yone smiled. 
 
 " Miss Jackman has been at Nara-ya ever since she 
 arrived in Miyanoshita. It is said that she greatly desires 
 to become acquainted with Tanegasima-san, but finds it 
 difficult. Art interpreter is needed, and she thinks that I 
 should be useful. I am not very willing. I have told her 
 she must excuse me." 
 
 " This is delightful ! " I cried. " The last time I had 
 the luxury of conversing with Miss Jackman she could not 
 devise epithets enough to denounce this lady, the mikado, 
 and the entire imperial household. You, Miss Gibson, 
 must have heard some of the reverberations of her wrath." 
 
 " I heard the original explosion," said Miss Gibson, 
 laughing. " She came straight from your office to Miss 
 Philipson's with the news the news which inflamed her. 
 I cannot imagine what she wants with the object of her 
 former fury." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 207 
 
 -) 
 
 " Some magnificent programme of reclamation, it may 
 be; or, more probably, she is fascinated by the aristocratic 
 glitter of the society at Nara-ya. The subjects of her 
 Britannic Majesty are not the only snobs in the universe. 
 New England has as keen a scent for a princess as old 
 Scotland." 
 
 " Why do you say ' princess ' ? " asked Yone. " She is 
 the daughter of a kuge, I know, and her rank is high, but 
 I did not think she could be named a princess." 
 
 " My dear, there is nothing so attractive to the people of 
 the enlightened West as a lofty title. When they cannot 
 get the genuine article, they console themselves with shams. 
 If you and *6hizu should go abroad, you would be hailed 
 everywhere as princesses." 
 
 " I should not like that." 
 
 " You could not help it. When Mr. Roberts takes Shizu 
 home, he will have a Japanese princess for a wife, mark 
 my word. Think of that fellow married to a princess ! " 
 
 " Pray do not speak of him so. He will never be any- 
 thing less than a prince to Shizu." 
 
 " Ah, she is infatuated with him. You are right, Yone. 
 I half believe you saw this when you first went to her." 
 
 " It is true; I did." 
 
 "Why, then, Yone," exclaimed Miss Gibson, " did you 
 strive so earnestly to induce him to give her up ? " 
 
 " Yes, why? " I repeated. " Expound that riddle, if you 
 please." 
 
 Instead of replying, she glanced at us alternately, a little 
 timorously, yet with an odd, mischievous light in her eyes 
 which L did not recognize as habitual. Then she started 
 to run away, but apparently reminded herself that evasion 
 was not consistent with her ordinary practice, and again 
 confronted us, silent and demure. 
 
 "How could you have the heart," resumed Miss Gibson, 
 "to seek to separate them?" 
 
 " Perhaps," said Yone, thoughtfully and undecidedly - 
 
208 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " perhaps I did not. It was not my wish I think it was 
 not to separate them." 
 
 " Why, you gave the man no peace for two successive 
 days," I declared. " Be good enough to interpret yourself, 
 immediately." 
 
 " No, Doctor, that is impossible; I do not exactly know 
 how. But I did not intend that they should be kept apart, 
 though I could not say so at the beginning. It was very 
 difficult; sometimes I was deeply anxious; but it was 
 always my strong desire that he should not let her go." 
 
 " That was your purpose, all through ? " 
 
 " That was what I hoped." 
 
 " You are a wily conspirator; we shall never get to the 
 bottom of your schemes. What do you say now, Miss Gib- 
 son ? You had better accept my theory without any more 
 dispute. Witchery is the only word." 
 
 Miss Gibson gave no response, but sat gazing so intently 
 as to startle the little plotter with vague alarms. The 
 gleam of playfulness vanished from her features. 
 
 " Have I displeased you ? Was it wrong? I meant to 
 do what was best. I did not say a thing that was not true. 
 And it was not a scheme, not really a scheme. I tried to 
 watch him, to follow his thoughts, to make him see and feel 
 how he should act. There are many ways to show people 
 what is just and kind. Marian, she loves him. I wished 
 to make her happy. I knew what it would cost her to lose 
 him. I knew, I knew. Who could know so well as I ? 
 Have you forgotten " 
 
 I hurriedly checked her. 
 
 "Hush, Yone; you are all astray. What possesses you, 
 my child, to suppose that we ever misconceive you ? Why 
 should you distrust us, or yourself? Would you rob me of 
 my jests ? That would be a more woful deprivation than 
 any Shizu could have suffered. I believe you are resolved 
 to remain a child throughout your life. Was it yesterday, 
 or last week, that you came to me with your kitten and the 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 209 
 
 dictionary, in the garden at Yumoto ? I wish you could 
 have seen her, Miss Gibson; she was the best little girl in 
 the world, with all her sly cunning, and was bent upon 
 proving herself the worst. It is an old trick, you perceive. 
 Yes, Yone, you look precisely as you did that afternoon. 
 What, six years ago ? You should have learned something, 
 in all that time." 
 
 " I shall never learn to be anything but a foolish girl, 
 Doctor; I have not changed in that. It seemed to me that 
 Marian was offended because L had not been quite quite 
 frank." 
 
 " Miss Gibson is not such a goose, if she will pardon me 
 for flattering her." 
 
 "I was only thinking," said that young lady, "how glad 
 I should have been to do the very same, if I had known 
 how." 
 
 " What beautiful things you say to me! " cried Yone, her 
 face flushing with renewed confidence and content. " And 
 the doctor, too, though I see that he laughs at me very 
 often. That is what I like best, if I can be sure he is sat- 
 isfied, and does not misunderstand me." 
 
 It is hardly necessary to repeat that the danger of misun- 
 derstanding her was not formidable, and that my assur- 
 ances of satisfaction would have been frequent enough, had 
 it not been my settled determination to drive all serious 
 reflections from her mind, and give her thoughts a lighter 
 and gayer tendency than they were naturally disposed to 
 assume. 
 
 "Very well," I said, with fictitious moroseness; " it is 
 you who will have to pay the penalty of your misbehavior. 
 You have lost a chance of establishing the school which you 
 had set your heart upon." 
 
 "That is hard," she sighed; "but perhaps another chance 
 will come for me, while this was Shizu's only one. I had 
 to think of her, this time." 
 
 " This time ! Oh, certainly, you are quite right. This 
 
210 YONE SANTO : 
 
 time, to be sure. I am glad you are beginning to think of 
 others a little. Cultivate the habit, my dear; make it your 
 constant study. I don't know anybody who is in greater 
 need of it." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 PRINCESS-HUNTING. 
 
 Miss JACKMAN'S visitation was not long delayed. After 
 once or twice repeating, in casual encounters, her ineffectual 
 attempts to secure Yone's cooperation, she presented herself 
 at the temple on an afternoon when our party of four happened 
 to be all united together. With massive stateliness she an- 
 nounced that the illustrious patroness of the Nara-ya hotel 
 had for several days been ready to receive her, and was wait- 
 ing only till the services of a suitable. interpreter could be 
 obtained. Miss Jackman was prepared to recommend Mrs. 
 Santo as a competent medium of communication, had, in 
 fact, already done so, and had tendered that humble mem- 
 ber of society the brilliant opportunity of holding indirect 
 converse with one of the pillars of state; but the proposi- 
 tion, instead of being received with grateful acquiescence, 
 had been persistently declined, possibly owing to an un- 
 willingness to cross the barrier which, in the far East, sep- 
 arates the lofty from the lowly. That deterrent motive, 
 however natural and becoming, need not prevail in the 
 present instance, our visitor felt empowered to declare, 
 and it was to be hoped that Doctor Charwell would exer- 
 cise his influence and authority to bring about the desired 
 result. 
 
 " This is a matter for Yone to decide," I remarked, at 
 the conclusion of her exordium. " If she does not incline 
 to go, you can doubtless find another assistant. I should 
 suppose, indeed, that your command of the language would 
 render an interpreter superfluous." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 211 
 
 " The princess has signified her acceptance of Mrs. 
 Santo," replied Miss Jackman, "and it would be awkward 
 to introduce another name. As for myself, I do not pre- 
 tend to be at ease in the dialect of the central provinces, 
 from which the princess comes. Mrs. Santo has no occa- 
 sion to be afraid; she will be under my protection." 
 
 "Afraid!" said Yone. "That would be singular. I 
 used to know her well." 
 
 " Know the princess ? " questioned Miss Jackman, lifting 
 her eyebrows. 
 
 " Tanegasima-san studied with me, at Jo-gakko, for a 
 long time. She was one of my own pupils." 
 
 " Utterly impossible ! " exclaimed the astonished mis- 
 sionary. " I am speaking of the Princess Tanegasima." 
 
 " It is the same individual," I asserted, " whatever you 
 like to call her. I don't see why you should be so very 
 much surprised. The Emperor's cousins go to the public 
 school, and a kuge's daughter may certainly study at the 
 college for girls without disturbing anybody's serenity." 
 
 For a brief space Miss Jackman was lost in confusion. 
 
 " Then that accounts " she began to murmur; but, re- 
 covering, she assumed a more ingratiating tone, and took 
 up a new line of approach. " In that case, Mrs. Santo 
 should be overjoyed to meet her distinguished school com- 
 panion once more. It is most interesting. I am delighted 
 to be the means of bringing them together. Shall we ap- 
 point to-morrow, Mrs. Santo ? " 
 
 Yone was silent, and her countenance indicated a grow- 
 ing discomposure. I was anxious to shield her from fur- 
 ther importunity, but at the same time desirous to prevent 
 the conversation from taking a hostile tone; for I knew that, 
 under provocation, I was as little likely as our caller to 
 hold myself in judicious repression. While I deliberated, 
 the proposal was repeated. 
 
 " I will send word at what hour it will be agreeable for 
 the princess to grant us an audience. I suppose we may 
 say to-morrow ? " 
 
212 YONE SANTO: 
 
 At this point Miss Gibson was moved to participate in 
 the discussion: 
 
 " Really, Miss Jackman, I must beg you to desist. Yone 
 objects to visiting that lady, and I respect her objection. 
 So does Doctor Charwell. It is not to be thought of." 
 
 "Why not, Miss Gibson?" the stubborn "reclaimer" 
 demanded. " Why should she refuse the summons of one 
 of the most exalted personages in this empire ? " 
 
 " I don't choose to go into that question," said Miss Gib- 
 son, " though the answer is simple enough. It seems 
 strange that a Japanese girl should be aware of restraints 
 of propriety which are not apparent to a foreign teacher of 
 morals." 
 
 " Exceedingly strange," was the reply, loftily delivered; 
 " and still more strange that the subject of morality should 
 be brought up in this company, considering the associate 
 that has been admitted here." 
 
 Miss Jackman's eyes flashed with the light of battle, as 
 she stretched her arm toward Shizu, who sat trembling and 
 terrified at the outburst, the cause and purport of which 
 she but partially understood. 
 
 " Run away, children ! " I cried, throwing open the 
 sliding doors, and bustling the couple into the corridor with 
 scant ceremony. " (iet to your own quarters. This lady 
 uses language not fit for young girls to hear." 
 
 "Young girls ! " she scoffed; "young girls, indeed ! I 
 came in Christian charity, ready to overlook the misdeeds 
 of that abandoned woman, and I am met with insult and 
 vituperation." 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, Miss Jackman, let us have peace ! 
 It is no pleasure to quarrel with you every month in the 
 year. Why can't you let us alone ? " 
 
 " I entered these walls," she responded, " with peace and 
 forgiveness in my heart, bearing an invitation from one who 
 sits in high places, an invitation emanating from a source 
 which makes it equivalent to a command. The prin- 
 cess" 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 213 
 
 The incessant iteration of this fictitious title was too 
 much for my nerves. 
 
 " Come, Miss Jackman," I protested," you know very well 
 that there is no princess in this neighborhood. It doesn't 
 make a woman a princess to become the mother of .the 
 emperor's son. Why, it was only a few weeks ago that you 
 were boiling with indignation against this identical person. 
 You told me that the court in which she figured was a court 
 of shame and infamy. Don't you remember wishing you 
 were the empress, to give her a trouncing ? You have 
 grown wonderfully tolerant, of a sudden." 
 
 " I am not accountable to you, sir, for my judgments or 
 my actions." 
 
 "Assuredly not; you may endure, and pity, and embrace, 
 to your soul's content. But you must allow us our privi- 
 leges as well. You have been informed a dozen times that 
 Yone prefers not to call upon Tanegasima-san." 
 
 " I see where her preference lies, and it is not extraordi- 
 nary that you should encourage it; but I confess I am 
 amazed to discover that Miss Gibson, whom I thought a 
 stranger to the vileness of this land, has been inveigled 
 into a recognition of such a creature as I see flaunting her- 
 self in your circle." 
 
 " You can't affect me in the least by remarks of that 
 sort," interposed Miss Gibson. " You cannot even make 
 me angry. But it is right that you should learn that the 
 young girl to whom you allude is about to marry a gentle- 
 man of good standing in a broader circle than ours." 
 
 For the second time in this short interview, our unbidden 
 guest's self-confidence received a staggering blow. 
 
 " I don't believe a word of it ! " she vociferated. 
 
 "That's a pity, for you are one of the first to hear it; 
 and," I suggested, " it might gratify you to circulate so 
 pleasant an item of intelligence." 
 
 "You refer to that Mr. Roberts, "she continued. "If 
 the thing were credible, he ought to receive a warning. I 
 
214 YONE SANTO: 
 
 have no high opinion of him, to be sure, but her I know 
 thoroughly. I wrestled and pleaded with her day after 
 day, and there was no grace within her. It may be my 
 duty to admonish him." 
 
 " I wish to goodness you would. You failed with her; 
 now you can try your luck with him. You will find 
 him in Yokohama, at No. 407. Do go. I dare say the 
 princess can spare you for a week." 
 
 " I will go when it suits me," she retorted, in a state of 
 combustion for which, I am bound to admit, I had not been 
 backward in furnishing fuel. " Yes, I will go; but not before 
 I hold up a mirror in which Miss Gibson may witness the 
 precipice on which she stands. She shall know from my 
 lips, before it is too late, if indeed it is not now too late, 
 the character of this man who is luring her on the down- 
 ward path, and dragging her in the mire with the refuse 
 and dregs of Japanese iniquity; this man who, for his own 
 base purposes, sets up a pretense of monopoly in humanity; 
 who makes a mockery of us who labor -for righteousness, 
 and of all other sacred things " 
 
 She stopped short, in the middle of her tirade, and fixed 
 her gaze upon Miss Gibson, who had seated herself at a 
 table, and was now writing with rapidity. 
 
 " What are you doing ? " she asked, in an altered tone. 
 
 " I am taking it all down; I am something of an expert 
 in short-hand. I shall publish every syllable." 
 
 It was an afternoon of surprises for Miss Jackman, upon 
 whom this third unexpected statement acted like an elec- 
 tric shock. In her wildest flights of fantasy there was al- 
 ways a method which kept her from overleaping the utter- 
 most bounds of discretion, and she was instantly alive to 
 the inconvenient consequences that would follow the ex- 
 ecution of the threat. It did not occur to her to doubt its 
 reality. She had no time to reflect that it might be a ruse, 
 extemporized with the sole view of stemming the torrent of 
 her eloquence. She gathered herself together, and swept 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 215 
 
 forth without further articulate speech; breaking the silence 
 only by staccato exclamations, which, though charged with 
 belligerent significance, were of a nature to elude phono- 
 graphic reproduction, and fulgurating in fierce glances the 
 wrath which she did not venture to proclaim in words. 
 
 That same evening, before sunset, we had another 
 glimpse of her ample form, the last in that region, as it 
 was carried past our windows in a kago, along the road 
 leading to Hakone. Our inference that she had definitely 
 shaken the dust of Miyanoshita from her feet was con- 
 firmed, a little later, by a messenger from Nara-ya, who, pre- 
 vious to delivering a missive addressed to Yone, imparted 
 the information that the innkeeper had for a considerable 
 time been expecting the foreign lodger to bring a Japanese 
 lady whom his principal patroness especially desired to 
 greet; that the foreigner had 'been permitted to tarry at 
 the honjin, which was uncomfortably overcrowded, 
 solely because of her promise to satisfy this expecta- 
 tion; that she had just now acknowledged her inability to 
 fulfill the condition, and had consequently been politely re- 
 quested to vacate her apartment, and seek accommodation 
 elsewhere. 
 
 The letter, which was from Tanegasima, expressed the 
 pleasure with which the writer had heard that Yone was 
 close at hand, and the hope that she might receive a visit 
 from her friend and teacher of former years. The phrase- 
 ology was intricate and affected, in accordance with the 
 courtly forms prescribed for epistolary intercourse, but 
 evidences of sincere feeling were discernible through the 
 ornate verbal embroidery. Yone read it more than once, 
 and pondered deeply before acquainting us with its tenor. 
 
 " If I thought that I were needed," she finally said, " if she 
 were sick, if I could help her in the smallest trifle, I would 
 ask permission to go. But she is busy with lively occupations, 
 her hours passlightly from morning till night, and I truly know 
 of no way in which I can serve her or give her pleasure- 
 
216 YONE SA.VrO.' 
 
 It pains me to hold myself back from her, but I have no 
 belief that I could be useful; and we are so far so very far 
 apart." 
 
 She slowly folded the paper, and looked thoughtfully at 
 Miss Gibson and me. 
 
 " Are you willing to advise me ? " she asked. 
 
 " Dr. Charwell knows better than I," the Boston girl re- 
 sponded; upon which I told her that it was not a matter to 
 cause her serious concern, either way, and that she might 
 safely trust her own instincts. 
 
 A few minutes later Shizu's voice was heard, speaking 
 softly, but earnestly, in her native language. She saw that 
 our attention was attracted, and reminding herself, appar- 
 ently, that she could not be comprehended by Miss Gibson, 
 drew nearer to that lady, and proceeded in English, her low, 
 mild, measured tones sounding like a fine and delicate 
 echo of Yone's clear accents. 
 
 " I ask pardon of everybody; it was not right for me to 
 speak as if I had a secret with Yone. It was only that I 
 am forgetful, not my intention to be rude. I wished to 
 say that perhaps she does not know all the reasons why 
 Tanegasima writes to her. I can understand a little better. 
 When I was very lonely, not long ago, I hoped each day 
 that I might see a face that would look kindly at me, and hear 
 such words as a friend would speak, to make me less sor- 
 rowful. I was always thinking that if I could call to my 
 side some dear companion of the years that seemed 
 far away, the years when I was a child, my sadness 
 would be easier to bear. Then I heard that Yone 
 was near me. Oh, I cannot tell you what I felt, nor 
 what was in my heart, when she came and stood over me, 
 with love and pity in her eyes. It is not the same with 
 Tanegasima as it was with me, no, all is different. She 
 has faithful servants to obey her, she can be gay, she is 
 powerful to do great things, there are many who will help 
 to drive grief from her and fill her thoughts with pleasure. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 217 
 
 But that is not enough; ah, Yone, it is not enough. Do 
 you remember the school days when she was so happy ? I 
 do not forget them. I think she never can forget them. Now 
 she is in the midst of grandeur; most things that she wants 
 she has but to command, and they are hers. But not all. 
 There is one thing that she does not command. She asks 
 it gently and without pride. Her letter is like a sister's. 
 She wishes to be led back, for a little while, to the time 
 when you and she were close in friendship. She wishes to 
 be made for one hour the same young girl that was given to 
 your care, and to be carried to the old place by her 
 teacher's side. Who can do this for her but Yone ? There 
 is no other. Dear Yone, you have been good to me in the 
 greatest trouble of my life. Be good to her. You tell us 
 she does not need you, but you cannot be sure of that. 
 Do not refuse. It is not difficult; there is nothing to pre- 
 vent you. I shall be so glad if you will go." 
 
 It was manifest, long before she had finished, that her 
 supplication could not be resisted. Yone's answer was 
 not immediate, but in her pause there was no sign of doubt 
 or indecision. 
 
 "We will go together," she murmured; " early to-mor- 
 row, if the doctor and Marian consent." 
 
 " 1 shall go if you tell me," said Shizu, " but it is you that 
 she wants." 
 
 When we separated, two hours later, Miss Gibson turned 
 to Shizu with unusual warmth. 
 
 " Will you kiss me, dear, to-night ? " she asked. 
 
 "To-night?" repeated Shizu, with a peculiar intonation 
 which struck my ear curiously, but to which the American 
 girl appeared to attach no especial significance. 
 
 "To-night, and every night, if you care for our foreign 
 caress," she said tenderly. 
 
 " I do care, greatly," replied Shizu, with more than her 
 usual gravity. 
 
 " I know it is not supposed to mean anything, here," 
 
218 YONE SAN 7^O : 
 
 continued Miss Gibson; "but Yone lets me kiss her, like 
 one of my own countrywomen." 
 
 " To me it would mean much," our guest responded, 
 again with a singular vibration in her voice, though the 
 words were so softly breathed as to be scarcely distinguish- 
 able. She moved slowly across the room, and as she passed 
 me I saw that she was contending with an emotion which 
 she struggled to conceal. Dropping upon her knees, and 
 bending forward, she lifted her new friend's hand to her 
 lips. 
 
 " That is not what I wished, at all ! " hastily exclaimed 
 the recipient of this unexpected salutation, surprised and 
 perplexed. 
 
 Without further remark, Shizu bowed and left us. Yone 
 would have followed on the instant, but was checked by a 
 demand for information. 
 
 "Why did she do that? I wanted her to kiss me as 
 you do. I thought she understood." 
 
 " I believe she did understand," Yone answered, some- 
 what confused. " You will excuse her; you saw that she 
 was agitated. I have told you of her sensitiveness, and she 
 is proud as well. That is a fault she cannot put aside." 
 
 " Proud ! Why, she is all humility. Surely it was not 
 pride that made her kneel before me. I cannot let her do 
 such things." 
 
 " That is not humility, in Japan; here every one kneels. 
 She desired to show that she was grateful; but to be kissed 
 by you, she did not look for that. She was not prepared, 
 and she could not accept it. I am afraid, Marian, that I 
 explain very badly. You must not think there is anything 
 wrong or vain in her pride. It is very simple, and I am 
 not at all ashamed of her for it. Perhaps I should not call 
 it pride; there may be a better word, though I do not know 
 it. Sometimes it seems to me that pride and humility are 
 exactly the same. But I can tell you in another way: if 
 you will kiss her on the day when she is married to Mr. 
 
A CHILD OF JAP AX. 219 
 
 Roberts, she will thank you not only with her lips, but with 
 her whole heart and soul." 
 
 Miss Gibson did not answer immediately. After a short 
 delay she said: 
 
 " I see my mistake. I should have taken her in my arms, 
 without speaking a word." 
 
 " Ah, if you could have done that ! But " 
 
 " But it is too late now. You are right, Yone. I will 
 wait." 
 
 " And you will think as well of her as before ? " 
 
 " Have no fear; I shall think a great deal of her self- 
 respect. My feeling for Shizu is all that you could wish; 
 you shall see that it is. And so shall the doctor." 
 
 " You have been out of my depth for the last ten min- 
 utes," I declared. " I should be drowned, if I had not 
 something more solid under my feet than your fanciful 
 metaphysics. To tell you the truth, I was nearly asleep." 
 
 It was not telling them the truth, nor anything near it; 
 but I imagined it would please Miss Gibson to hear me 
 say so. 
 
 During the few remaining days of our inland sojourn, it 
 was noticeable that this large-hearted American's intellect- 
 ual activity was strongly stimulated, and that she was rest- 
 lessly eager for opportunities to demonstrate the sincerity 
 of her good-will toward all deserving mankind. Her 
 succinct explanation of the impulse which possessed her 
 was that she could not sit still and see those two little 
 heathens doing all the good. She had been most effect- 
 ively moved by Yone's phenomenal success in promoting 
 the union of Shizu and the Scotchman; and, in a spirit of 
 emulation, she set herself to the task of readjusting the 
 destiny of more than one of her companions. The ardor 
 with which she undertook the redress of Yone's wrongs 
 often surprised and embarrassed the object of her advo- 
 cacy. She began to construct elaborate schemes for rescu- 
 ing her cherished friend from what she termed the present 
 
220 YONE SANTO: 
 
 thralldom, very few of which, I was obliged to inform her, 
 had the merit of being practical. She went so far, on more 
 than one occasion, as to propose, tmblushingly, to my face, 
 that the plan of divorce which I had suggested for Arthur 
 Milton's acceptance should still be carried out, with the 
 simple difference of substituting me, Charwell, for the run- 
 away scapegrace. 
 
 " Not that abominable wretch; oh, no ! But I will give 
 her to you, Doctor; you shall take her, and make her free 
 and happy." 
 
 She returned so often to this attack that I found it neces- 
 sary to talk seriously to her. 
 
 " My dear Miss Gibson," said I, " you must not speak of 
 this again to any person. You compel me to remind you 
 that Yone is another man's wife. You would not think of 
 such a thing, if you were not, as your recent guide and 
 philosopher would say, * in Japan.' Wait one moment. I 
 think you are about to tell me that I overlooked the obsta- 
 cle of her present marriage when it was a question of unit- 
 ing her to Milton. But in that case I had in view the 
 prospect at least the possible prospect of a life of almost 
 unbounded happiness for Yone. She loved the young man 
 with a love as intense and absorbing as it was suddenly in- 
 spired; and if he had been worthy of her, I could have 
 reconciled myself to straining a good many points of con- 
 ventional delicacy, for the sake of brightening and cheering 
 her whole existence. But there is now no such object to be 
 considered. Even if she were entirely unfettered, I should 
 not ask her to take a step of the kind you suggest, unless 
 it were absolutely necessary, to preserve her from great 
 and otherwise unavoidable danger. Why, she is an infant, 
 in my eyes. I have watched her growth since she was a 
 little child. I have no feeling for her but that of a father. 
 Her affection for me is simply a fond daughter's. It would 
 shock me even to think of her in any other relation. I beg 
 you never to reopen the subject, either with me or any one 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 221 
 
 else. It might lead me to forego or abridge the gratifica- 
 tion I now have in watching over her as a guardian." 
 
 " A guardian ! " she exclaimed, struck by the word; " and 
 why not a guardian always ? I heard something of what 
 happened when you thought of adopting her, before; but 
 what does that matter ? If that old boat-maker could be 
 brought to relinquish her for one purpose, he would cer- 
 tainly do it for another, and a better. Why, the trouble is 
 ended already. Nothing can be easier, and it would make 
 me it would make us all so happy." The impulsive gir 
 glowed with anticipative delight. 
 
 " You must not think I have neglected any inquiry 
 that can be useful," I said. " I believe I have left noth- 
 ing undone in search of methods by which Yone's chains 
 might be loosened. Her marriage with a foreigner is pos- 
 sible. Her adoption, situated as she is now is, is impossi- \/ 
 ble by the laws of the empire." 
 
 "That seems incredible," she replied. "Why one, if not 
 the other ? " 
 
 " There may be sound reasons, or it may be only an 
 oversight. But there is no chance of getting the rule re- 
 laxed at this day. I have served the State as well as many, 
 but not for me nor any other will the rulers consent to 
 waive a single legal right, while they continue bound down 
 by the vicious and oppressive foreign treaties. They will 
 yield nothing, until their independence is restored to them. 
 They are thoroughly justified, though the individual hard- 
 ships are severe. You will understand, however, that if 
 Yone's grandmother had agreed to break off the proposed 
 marriage, and had left her here, alone and unprovided for, 
 as I hoped she would, then I should have taken her un- 
 hesitatingly; for I am sure the authorities would not have 
 interfered to restrain me from following what they would 
 consider a humane impulse. But the child was provided 
 for, in a way, and now her transfer from Santo to me, as an 
 adopted daughter, would not be sanctioned. If done at 
 
222 YONE SANTO: 
 
 all, it would have to be done in defiance of an usage which 
 has all the force of law. Santo would never risk the 
 consequences of such a violation of precedent, and I would 
 do nothing to subject her to the discomfort of public noto- 
 riety, or discussion, or criticism; unless, as I have said, it 
 were to save her from some greater evil than seems likely 
 to befall her." 
 
 " How can you talk so about it ? " Miss Gibson cried. 
 " Have you so little No, not that forgive me, Doc- 
 tor." 
 
 " I have no wish to talk about it in any way," I answered. 
 " L'et this matter rest forever. If, in time, I see a clearer 
 path than now, you shall know of it, I promise you." 
 
 Then she desisted, and to my great content, although it 
 was impossible to remain unmoved by these evidences of 
 generous and womanly sensibility. Her energies were 
 thenceforward applied t'o the development of projects more 
 consistent with the necessities of Yone's position; and 
 in these she had no cause to complain of my lack of inter- 
 est or readiness to cooperate. 
 
 One little incident occurred to cloud, though only for a 
 moment, the cheerfulness of our excursion. At the end of 
 the tour, we chanced to pass a night in the village of 
 Tonozawa, at a house much frequented by foreigners, the 
 landlady of which regarded us with an air of partial recog- 
 nition, as she superintended the preparations for supper. 
 She asked when we had honored her place before, and 
 seemed perplexed on hearing that this was our first visit. 
 Later in the evening, she submitted for our edification a 
 collection of autographs, native poetry, ancient Chinese 
 maxims, and more or less elaborate sketches, left wfth her, 
 in accordance with a common custom, by travelers from 
 near and far. Not appreciating the merit of the ideo- 
 graphic writings, Miss Gibson and I were glancing over 
 them somewhat carelessly, when an exclamation from Yone 
 diverted our attention. She had risen to her feet, and, 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 223 
 
 grasping a scroll in her hand, she bent upon the hostess a 
 look of mingled pain and reproach, as if grieved by the 
 idea that the woman had designedly inflicted an unwelcome 
 surprise upon her. Immediately after, realizing the injus- 
 tice of this suspicion, she resumed her seat, and with a fal- 
 tering hand replaced the paper upon the table, not attempt- 
 ing to conceal it, which, in fact, would have been totally 
 contrary to Yone's open disposition. We, her foreign com- 
 panions, hardly needed to look at it, knowing instinctively 
 that it must be the handiwork of Milton, who had passed 
 many days of the early spring in this neighborhood. It was 
 a medley of disconnected drawings which he had contrib- 
 uted to the general store, bits of landscape, figure groups, 
 and a number of outline heads; among which latter, Yone's, 
 mine, and his own were included. The likenesses were all 
 excellent, though rapidly produced. That of himself was 
 bright and spirited, presenting him in the best and happiest 
 humor; while into Yone's he had, perhaps unwittingly, 
 thrown an expression which seemed to show what the ten- 
 dency of his feeling toward her had been, some time before 
 he allowed it to become apparent. As I have remarked, 
 she made no effort to put the sheet out of sight, but con. 
 tinued to keep it in view, until her lips ceased quivering 
 and her eyes grew clear, and the composure which had 
 briefly deserted her was regained. Then she turned to us 
 with a plaintive smile, which would, I think, have touched 
 the stoniest heart that ever hardened itself to human sor- 
 row. 
 
 "You will buy it for me, Doctor" she began; then 
 paused, reflecting. 
 
 We waited with concern for her next words. 
 
 " And destroy it," she added, softly. 
 
224 YONE SANTO. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 HOW THE TEST CAME TO JAPAN. 
 
 OUR holidays were over, and we returned to Tokio, to 
 encounter, fewer changes than might have been expected. 
 A correspondence had been opened between Miss Gibson 
 and her former associates, the interlineal reading of which 
 showed that it was hoped, on the Philipson side, that the 
 credit of the establishment need not be injured by a sud- 
 den breach; the direct suggestion being that it might, on 
 reflection, seem more judicious to continue, at least to out- 
 ward appearance, the same terms of intercourse as before. 
 This proffer was in no wise misconceived by Miss Gibson, 
 but it indicated what was manifestly the most convenient 
 course for herself; and so, pending her ultimate decision, 
 she resumed her residence with the two sisters, this time as 
 a boarder, and without especially defined functions. She 
 busied herself much with the children, and took a deep in- 
 terest in Yone's private projects of benevolence, the extent 
 and elaborate organization of which surprised her, as in- 
 deed they would have surprised any one not thoroughly 
 familiar with the extraordinary cheapness of food and lodg- 
 ings among the natives of Japan, and the amount of whole- 
 some instruction that can be imparted at infinitesimal cost, 
 under intelligent and systematic management. 
 
 A culminating shock of astonishment was reserved for 
 her in the discovery that, during our absence, a spacious 
 edifice had been erected upon the open ground at the rear 
 of my dwelling, and made ready for the accommodation of 
 more than fourscore children, to be chosen by herself 
 and Yone from the humblest strata of the populace, at a 
 
A CHILD OP JAPAN. 225 
 
 total disbursement not exceeding two hundred dollars; and 
 that the working expenses of this frugally administered in- 
 stitution, including the outlays for teachers, for books and 
 other paraphernalia, and for occasional juvenile festivals, 
 were estimated at twenty-five dollars each month. Here, 
 at last, was something to live for ! It was a wonder that 
 Shizu could resist the temptation to renounce her matrimo- 
 nial prospects, and dedicate herself to this matchless enter- 
 prise. What, in comparison, were the ignes fatui of 
 Yokohama, or even the more substantial glories of the 
 outer world, Scotland, Britain, Europe, the broad conti- 
 nents of the West ? 
 
 In the person of Mr. Roberts, however, a fact existed 
 which neither argument nor imaginative sophistry could 
 nullify or extinguish. Under his guardianship, now legiti- 
 mately exercised, the young girl was soon transferred to 
 the new position at her old home in the adjacent port. As 
 I had foreseen, it was not long before the moral atmos- 
 phere became too oppressive to be tolerated by the adven- 
 turous merchant; and, to escape being stifled outright, he 
 took rapid measures for transferring himself and his be- 
 longings to a healthier social clime. The little matron came 
 several times, with her Scotch step-children, to visit us in 
 Tokio, hoping, by gradual farewells, to soften the impend- 
 ing separation from her schoolfellow and friend. It was 
 not known to any of us, then, that no words of final parting 
 would ever be spoken. 
 
 Between Yone and her American coadjutor a charming 
 and happy alliance was established, unimpeded by the dif- 
 ference in their ages, which was nearly ten years. It ap- 
 peared, indeed, that in all their little joint proceedings the 
 foreigner was generally ready to transfer to her younger 
 companion the direction which the Japanese, on the other 
 hand, would gladly have yielded to her older and more 
 mature associate. One point of disagreement, however, 
 always divided them. No earnestness, no eloquence of 
 
226 YONE SANTO: 
 
 entreaty, would induce Yone to visit Marian Gibson at her 
 own dwelling. Into the house of the Philipsons she would 
 not enter, even to meet the friend whom she loved. Those 
 women had struck at her honor and good name, and the 
 spirit usually so yielding and docile was for once aroused 
 to a sharp and abiding sense of injury. She could not be 
 turned from her avowal that she would never set foot in 
 their school, except in the event of being called thither on 
 some errand of charity or humanity, a contingency of 
 which she could foresee no possibility. 
 
 Marian regretted this resolution, but could not withhold 
 the acknowledgment that it was just, and necessary for 
 Yone's self-respect; and this position she hotly maintained 
 whenever the Philipsons incautiously ventured an attack 
 upon any single act of her comrade. She managed her 
 contests with fine strategy, I was told, presenting an aspect 
 of coolness which she did not really feel, and thereby pro- 
 voking her antagonists into glaring general indiscretions of 
 speech; immediately upon the utterance of which she would 
 draw forth a memorandum book, and take notes with 
 phonographic rapidity, murmuring, the while, dark and 
 mysterious allusions to the work she was preparing for 
 speedy publication, on the broad question of the fitness of 
 missionary measures and men, with chapters especially 
 designed for and applicable to missionary women. But the 
 bold and courageous attitude thus preserved in presence 
 of the enemy was by no means consistently adhered to in 
 confidential intercourse with the children, who were always 
 clamorous for news of their beloved Yone, and for messages 
 of fond remembrance. These were invariably received, 
 and not infrequently imparted, with an emotion which, if 
 perceived or suspected by the heads of the establishment, 
 might have seriously impaired the glory of Miss Gibson's 
 dashing triumphs over her elders. 
 
 In July, 1879, occurred an act which, in due time, will 
 take its place in history, notwithstanding all efforts to ex- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN . 227 
 
 elude it, as one of the most revolting and inhuman outrages 
 ever perpetrated by superior force of arms upon a feeble 
 nation. Cholera, the most dreaded scourge of the Far East, 
 had already made its appearance in isolated cases, and the 
 government of Japan was straining all its authority to 
 annul the dangers of former years by establishing an effect- 
 ive quarantine at the most frequented seaports. In the 
 midst of these laudable endeavors, a German merchant 
 steamer arrived at Yokohama directly from an infected 
 district. She was, naturally, ordered to comply with the 
 quarantine regulations duly promulgated. Her captain, 
 however, appealed to the German diplomatic authorities, 
 who immediately sent a Prussian ship of war to the scene, 
 under convoy of which the suspected vessel was brought 
 into Yokohama harbor, and her passengers and cargo 
 landed, in defiance of protests and warnings from Japan- 
 ese officers of every rank, and from foreigners in their 
 medical service. What may, perhaps, be regarded as aggra- 
 vating the offense was the fact that the government of 
 Japan was at that moment engaged in lavishing hospitality 
 with singular and exceptional liberality upon two grandsons 
 of the emperor of Germany; and a peculiar coincidence 
 in the proceedings was perceptible in the active approval 
 of the quarantine violation which was exhibited by a foreign 
 envoy at Tokio, who represented a sovereign most nearly 
 allied, after their own family, to the young princes in ques- 
 tion. The German and British ministers boldly maintained 
 that the interests of commerce must not be endangered on 
 so insufficient a plea as the possible destruction of any 
 indefinite number of Japanese subjects by one of the most 
 horrible pests known to mankind. For some time, indeed, 
 it was a matter of doubt whether British or German vessels 
 had been mainly instrumental in importing the disease. 
 The majority of the official delegates from European courts 
 looked on in calm indifference. The diplomatic agent 
 from the United States, on the contrary, viewed the per- 
 
228 YONE SANTO: 
 
 formance with unconcealed aversion and horror. One of 
 the most illustrious soldiers of modern times, who was then 
 sojourning in Japan, an ex-president of the American 
 republic, bringing to an end a memorable voyage around 
 the world, openly avowed his opinion that the Japanese 
 authorities would have been fully warranted in directing the 
 guns of their powerful ironclads against the invading ships, 
 and straightway sinking them, if they stirred beyond the 
 boundaries imposed by rules of quarantine. 
 
 But the government, fearing no doubt with good reason 
 to incur the ill-will of the potent and unscrupulous 
 Chancellor Bismarck, saw no other course open than to re- 
 double its precautions, and protest with energy against the 
 cruel outrage of which it had been the victim. 
 
 With quick and angry stride, the plague took possession 
 of the country surrounding the open ports, and the most 
 populous part of the empire was stricken with desolation. 
 The circumstance that Europeans and Americans were not 
 exempt from this inroad, as they mainly had been from 
 previous attacks, gave it an importance, in foreign eyes, not 
 usually accorded to such visitations. The democratic and 
 impartial dealings of the destroyer struck alarm to the 
 breasts of all aliens. Attempts, more or less efficacious, 
 were made in various directions to impede the progress of 
 the disease. In Tokio, particularly, certain well-concerted 
 hygienic arrangements were organized. 
 
 As was naturally to be expected, though not entirely to 
 my satisfaction, Yone presented herself at an early stage of 
 the proceedings. Something must be given her to do; 
 where and of what nature she would willingly leave to me. 
 But I must appoint her to some line of service, or she would 
 feel it her duty to seek a field for herself, and these, un- 
 happily, were already numerous. 
 
 I was not a little disturbed by this appeal. I felt that 
 she had really not strength enough to go into regular hos- 
 pital work, and it was only in a hospital that I could even 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 229 
 
 partially watch over her. I reminded her of her fragile 
 condition, which she did not attempt to deny. 
 
 " It is very true," she answered; " I am not so strong as 
 I ought to be. But my weakness is not unwholesome 
 weakness. Why, cholera cannot come near me. I should 
 carry disinfection into every room I entered. When I fan 
 me, the odors of carbolics and all sorts of acids fly many 
 yards about me." 
 
 This was not so convincing as she perhaps hoped, but it 
 suggested the idea that if I kept her near me she might al- 
 ways be reasonably safe from infection; whereas in her own 
 region, though not in her own dwelling, the provocations to 
 disease were unnumbered. I proposed that we should ask 
 Miss Gibson to give us her counsel, knowing that she 
 would assent to everything for our dear child's advantage. 
 
 "Oh, surely," said Yone;"and if I can work beside 
 Marian, I shall be so well pleased. What is she doing 
 now ?" 
 
 " She is under Doctor M , one of the best of leaders. 
 
 That is, she was yesterday; but she will tell us soon. It is 
 close upon her hour to be here." 
 
 Soon, indeed, she came, entering in a state of no little 
 excitement, which increased the moment she caught sight 
 of Yone. 
 
 " This is a strange piece of fortune, to find you here! " she 
 exclaimed. " I am so glad. It has saved me the trouble 
 of sending for her, Doctor," she added, turning to me. 
 " Would you ever believe it ? We have cholera all over the 
 school." 
 
 "Nothing easier to believe," I replied, "considering the 
 notions of drainage, ventilation, food, and everything per- 
 taining to health that have always prevailed there. Ah, 
 well; having defied and disobeyed all my injunctions, I 
 suppose they now want me to go and undo the mischief 
 they have set on foot. If I succeed, it will be the happy 
 result of their petitions to heaven; if I fail, it will be owing 
 to my lack of skill." 
 
230 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " Don't talk so, Doctor," said Miss Gibson; " this is not 
 a time for ill-feeling, and I know you cannot mean all 
 that you say. Come and help us with good work, and let 
 those poor ladies manage their fastings and prayers." 
 
 "What ! " I shouted. " Fastings and prayers ! Have 
 they forgotten what I told them upon that very point, and 
 the reasons for my warning ? Harken to me, Miss Gibson: 
 go back at once, and take Yone with you. She will go, I 
 presume ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Yone, "I will go now." 
 
 " Very well; I will follow in half an hour. But unless you 
 you can assure me, at the door, that there is plenty of nourish- 
 ing food in preparation, beef tea and chicken broth, above 
 all, and that the children are not to be harassed by pray- 
 ing panics, which will go far to take away their weak- 
 little capacity of resistance to the disease, I swear to you I 
 will not go inside the house, nor move one step in trying 
 to help you." 
 
 " I think, Doctor, you use your opportunity rather un- 
 fairly," said Miss Gibson dejectedly. 
 
 " Not so, not so; what right have you to imagine that I 
 would oppose any practice which these ladies follow in the 
 name of their faith, unless I saw peril in it ? What I pro- 
 test against is the resort to fasting at a moment when phys- 
 ical nourishment should be increased by every possible 
 means, and the fatal error of allowing these timorous in- 
 fants to believe themselves threatened by a danger which 
 nothing but supernatural agencies can avert. I have told 
 you repeatedly that I am an enemy to no man's religion. 
 But I speak now as a practical physician. Some day you 
 shall see the records of the epidemic in Scotland, a quarter 
 of a century ago. You can soon learn the ghastly conse- 
 quences of spreading superstitious terror among starving 
 people at such a time. You can see, also, what the most 
 popular and powerful of English statesmen thought it 
 his duty to do, in the face of a fanatical demonstration 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 231 
 
 which was intended to destroy his political life. But go 
 go ! Every instant may be of vital importance ! " 
 
 " Come, Marian," said Yone; "you know that the doctor 
 must understand best. We will go at once, Doctor, and 
 will do everything that is possible." 
 
 The impetuous Boston girl yielded to her calm and 
 earnest companion, and they hastened to the scene of their 
 new labors. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 CHARMS AND SPELLS. 
 
 Miss GIBSON'S quick and energetic temperament was not 
 without distinct advantages, at times. On arriving at the 
 seminary, the two girls chanced to be met, at the very door, 
 by that notable reclamatory agent, Miss Jackman. This 
 lady, it will be readily believed, had brought back from the 
 country no increased tenderness for the Japanese girl 
 whose fastidiousness had thwarted one of her favorite en- 
 terprises. She planted herself on the threshold and began 
 to interrogate. 
 
 " May I ask, Miss Gibson, upon what authority you pro- 
 pose to admit that young person to this establishment?" 
 
 Miss Gibson, as I was afterward told, glared at her ques- 
 tioner for perhaps twenty seconds, expanding, the while, 
 with gathering wrath. She then commenced to brandish 
 her umbrella in a wild and irregular fashion, which the 
 most practiced of French tambour-majors would have found 
 it difficult to emulate. Presently, however, the movements 
 took a more methodical shape. They seemed to menace 
 the portly " reclaimer " from every possible direction, ex- 
 cept the open way to the street. That was left clear, but 
 on all other sides magical and supernatural passes weirdly 
 threatened her, until, totally bereft of self-possession, she 
 bowed her heavy head, and plunged toward the thorough- 
 
232 YONE SANTO: 
 
 fare; acknowledging her defeat by an inefficacious whim- 
 per, as incongruous with the body from which it emanated 
 as a mouse's tiny squeak proceeding from the ponderous 
 and ivory jaws of an elephant. 
 
 Slamming the door after her discomfited adversary, Miss 
 Gibson turned, with a look of exultation which showed that 
 the surrounding troubles were momentarily forgotten, and 
 exclaimed: 
 
 " There ! I always knew our sword exercise would do me 
 a good turn one day. I learned that eight years ago, Yone, 
 dear; but, oh, it makes the wrist ache. I will teach it to 
 you by and by." 
 
 Yone laughed, actually laughed, as in the forests of 
 Hakone; but, soon remembering the needs of the situation, 
 said: 
 
 " I will run to the children at once. And you, Marian, 
 please go and get the prayer classes stopped, at least for to- 
 day, as Doctor Charwell ordered us." 
 
 The two girls separated on their diverse errands, and, 
 thirty minutes later, I found them able to relieve all my 
 immediate anxieties. Miss Gibson had gained her point 
 by fixing upon the mind of the elder Miss Philipson who" 
 fancied herself hourly succumbing to the disease, although 
 she had shown thus far no single symptom of it that I 
 would not set foot within the premises upon any other con- 
 dition; and Yone, after a first 'hasty visit to the little people, 
 and making them half delirious with the joyous news that 
 she had come to take care of them, had flown to the kitchen, 
 where, conquering the cook absolutely by the mere bright- 
 ness of her salutation and the warmth of her sympathetic 
 inquiries, she had been given complete command; had 
 turned the storeroom inside out, partially converted all the 
 available beef and chicken into soups, sent for more mate- 
 rial, and made the house redolent with appetizing odors, so 
 wholesome and invigorating as to drive away, for a time, 
 the dire disquietude which was beginning to prevail. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 233 
 
 Heavy cares soon descended upon us. The poor chil- 
 dren, whom a false idea of sanitary economy had made 
 ready victims to the pest, began to droop and die. I was 
 obliged, before long, to run out to Santo's place, and to in- 
 form that irascible personage that he could not expect his 
 wife's return for an indefinite period; whereupon, as was 
 anticipated, he flung himself into a rage. 
 
 " Is it my wife, or is it not my wife, that you are plotting 
 to keep away from me ? " he vociferated, with flaring eyes. 
 
 "Undoubtedly it is your wife, my most amiable Santo; 
 but for the rest, nobody is plotting to keep her away from 
 you." 
 
 " I know all about it. She was with you in the country 
 for the best part of this year." 
 
 " Less than a month, you will find, Santo, if you consult 
 that admirable memory which is qne of your finest posses- 
 sions, and excites the envy of all your neighbors." 
 
 " And now she has been absent a week." 
 
 " Two days, if you please. Send for the soroban, and 
 make the calculation with your own nimble fingers. You 
 will see that it is precisely two days." 
 
 " It does not matter at all. I have had my eyes wide 
 open. Now, look you, she is an aristocrat. Do you think 
 I care for aristocrats ? Not so much as a spark from my 
 anvil. But it suited me to have an aristocrat for my wife. 
 You need not tell me ! I know she comes directly from the 
 Empress Suiko, many ten thousand years ago. But she 
 belongs to me, and I will not have her plotting to keep 
 away because she is high born. Yes, yes; I know, I 
 know ! " 
 
 " Excellent Santo, did she ever tell you she was high- 
 born ? " 
 
 " No, no; but I am not a frog in a well. I know; yes, 
 indeed ! " 
 
 " Well, she certainly never made any boasts to me, and 
 it seems you are the only one that talks about it. As for 
 
234 YOKE SANTO: 
 
 plotting to stay away, she shall come home to-day, if you 
 like, but she will perhaps bring the cholera with her." 
 
 The boat-builder staggered, as if he had received a blow 
 in the centre of his thick forehead from one of his heaviest 
 adzes, and for a moment remained speechless. The word 
 " cholera " was invested with terrors too awful to be ex- 
 pressed in any language available by the class to which he 
 belonged. He retreated from me, gasping for breath. 
 
 "Where, where " he stammered. 
 
 " Where is she, do you mean ? She is in my care, safe 
 enough. You had better leave her with me until the dis- 
 ease has passed away from Japan. I have far too much 
 regard for you, my strong-minded and warm-hearted Santo, 
 to allow any risk to come near your person." 
 
 " Thanks; yes, thanks. You are always my friend. But 
 you, Charwell-sama, you yourself ?" 
 
 "You are too kind," I answered, with some surprise at 
 this unexpected sign of consideration; "but doctors are 
 never in danger, you know. You need not fear for me." 
 
 " Why should I fear for you ? " he demanded, having 
 now made his way outside of the house, and put a consid- 
 erable space between himself and me. " You ! It is all 
 in your business. I am not thinking of you. No; it is 
 the danger you bring here, to me, Santo Yorikichi. I beg 
 you to leave me. Perhaps already " 
 
 His voice faltered, and his bronzed countenance took on 
 an unwholesome bluish hue. 
 
 " Santo," said I, " it is singular that a marine architect of 
 your reputation cannot comprehend that when a man is a 
 brute it is not absolutely commanded by nature that he 
 should also be a fool. The teachings of your earliest child- 
 hood ought to remind you that there are magical charms 
 against which all the deadly diseases put together have no 
 power. I have thrown one of these charms around you. 
 I came to-day for that purpose. I have been doing it 
 ever since I arrived. In fact, I have just finished. You 
 are perfectly safe. But there is a condition " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 233 
 
 "Yes, yes anything, anything," he palpitated; "only 
 give me the charm." 
 
 " It is already in operation, though you cannot see it," 
 said I; "a wave of my hand has fastened it upon your 
 body, unknown to you. And the condition " 
 
 " Ah, I will be true to it." 
 
 " It is merely that you should speak no word to any per- 
 son of what I have bestowed upon you. You will give 
 heed to this." 
 
 " Oh, yes," he answered, indifferently. 
 
 " But you must take great care," I added. " If you tell 
 what has happened, others will apply to me, and the pro- 
 tection I give them will be drawn away from you. Be 
 warned ! " 
 
 " Not a syllable shall pass my lips ! " exclaimed the self- 
 ish boor, with a fervor born of newly excited fears. 
 
 "Then all will be well. Live quietly, eat sparingly," I 
 repeated a few maxims for his general guidance, " and 
 the cholera will leave you unharmed." 
 
 As I walked away, I endeavored to congratulate myself 
 that I had made one human being of a tolerably low 
 grade, but still human confident and reliant in the midst 
 of a panic-stricken community. Santo felt himself en- 
 tirely safe, with all the trustfulness of a believer in spells, 
 incantations,, and the mysterious potency of a science un- 
 familiar to him. No preventive, however skillfully com- 
 pounded, no watchfulness of treatment, would have gone a 
 hundreth part as far toward rendering him inaccessible to 
 the epidemic. For such as he, a firm conviction that in- 
 fection cannot touch them is an almost certain guarantee 
 of exemption. I was reasonably sure, then, that I had 
 made one wretched creature's life secure by appealing to 
 his blind ignorance and superstition. After all, it is per- 
 haps not only among the illiterate that medical craft finds 
 it necessary to resort to such devices, and it might not be 
 disadvantageous if intelligence and enlightenment could 
 sometimes be wrought upon as effectively. 
 
236 YONE SANTO: 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 CALAMITY. 
 
 As I entered the school, the next morning, I was met at 
 the door by Miss Gibson, whose countenance gave warning 
 of new evils. 
 
 "What has happened ?" I asked. 
 
 " The children are no better," she said, " and Miss Phil- 
 ipson has at last frightened herself into real cholera, I do 
 believe." 
 
 "Hardly that, I think; she will not be an easy victim. 
 She has never subjected herself to the regimen of the 
 establishment. Is that all ? " 
 
 " Alas ! that is not all, Doctor; I have been greatly to 
 blame. I cannot understand how I could be so thoughtless. 
 I mentioned it to Yone." 
 
 " Mentioned what ? " 
 
 " I told her that Miss Philipson had been taken ill. It 
 was late. The children were mostly at rest, and she 
 Yone " 
 
 "I see," said I sternly; "you need tell me no more." 
 
 " Don't, Doctor, don't ! " she implored, covering her face 
 with her hands. " Heaven knows I foresaw no evil. And 
 even now " 
 
 "Well, child, well," I answered, as I led the way to the 
 sick-room; " she would have had to hear of it from some 
 one, I suppose. And then she is fated; I have always felt 
 that. The long sacrifice of her life can have only one fit- 
 ting end. So, then, tell me." 
 
 " It was about nine o'clock, Doctor. I had gone to watch 
 with the children, meaning that Yone should have a good 
 night's rest; and by telling her she would soon be fit for 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 237 
 
 nothing if she allowed herself so little sleep, I persuaded 
 her to leave everything in my hands, until the morning. It 
 was only by chance a miserable, hateful chance that I 
 spoke of Miss Philipson's attack. The instant I mentioned 
 it I saw the mischief I had done, and tried to make light of 
 the matter; but Yone shook her head, and said, ' No, I 
 must go to her.' I assured her that the younger sister was 
 perfectly well, and could do all that was requisite, but again 
 she said, ' Oh, no, Miss Kezia is not equal to it; I will go.' 
 Then I promised to look after the old lady myself, watch- 
 ing half the night here and half with Miss Philipson; but 
 she would listen to nothing." 
 
 "You should have known she would not." 
 
 " I ought, indeed. Oh, Doctor, do not reproach me. If 
 any harm befalls, what shall I do, what shall I do ? " 
 
 " And did she pass the night there ?" 
 
 " She did. I was there every half hour. When I first 
 went in with her, the Philipsons made a pretense of refus- 
 ing her aid, and then accepted it as if they were bestowing 
 a favor. Yone said not a word, but set about caring for the 
 thankless woman lying in bed. As for that useless Kezia, 
 she sat comfortably in an armchair, taking great praise and 
 glory to herself for staying and tending her dear afflicted 
 sister, whom she never went near, contenting herself with 
 ordering Yone about, until I told her plainly that if she 
 spoke another word in my hearing, I would take her out of 
 the room with my own hands, and lock her up some- 
 where." 
 
 "Ah, my child, if you could have done that with 
 Yone ! " 
 
 " I did what I could, Doctor; little enough, but my best. 
 I gave her some beef tea, and made her rest at intervals, 
 while I nursed and fanned that impatient creature. Doc- 
 tor, not all the children together have shown one tenth of 
 the ill-temper, selfishness, oh, I can't say what, of that 
 one woman in a single night. At dawn, or just before, I 
 
238 YONE SANTO: 
 
 did contrive to get my darling to my own room, promising 
 faithfully to call her if I found things going beyond me. 
 But I fear " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I fear that the real reason why she consented to go was 
 that she felt her strength was leaving her, and that she 
 could do no more." 
 
 "Come," said I, starting forward; "we have delayed too 
 long." 
 
 On entering her chamber, we found Yone sleeping. I 
 looked carefully at her face, and, while I saw enough .to 
 give me deep concern, I discovered no trace of that which 
 was most to be feared. Placing on guard a quiet little 
 scholar who was devoted to her, as which of them was 
 not ? with instructions to run for me the instant she saw 
 signs of waking, I first went the round of the youthful inva- 
 lids, having reasons for doubting the existence of the ex- 
 tremest peril on Miss Philipson's part, and finally made my 
 way to that lady's apartment. 
 
 " Oh, Doctor Charwell," she cried, as soon as she caught 
 sight of me, " at last, thank Heaven, at last. Twice have 
 I been at the point of death, twice at death's very door. 
 Save me, oh, save me ! " 
 
 "Certainly, madam," said I. "I have come for that 
 express purpose." 
 
 " I sent for you, sir, twice, last night," continued the 
 excited spinster. " Two separate times, when I felt death 
 stealing upon me, I gave orders that you should be sum- 
 moned, but I suppose you were absent, absent from home, 
 Doctor Charwell, when the grim spectre was hovering over 
 me." 
 
 "Well, Madam," I replied, " I am absent from home now, 
 for that matter. The grim spectre is hovering over more 
 sick people hereabout than you, perhaps, are aware of; 
 but still, I do not remember " 
 
 I stopped abruptly at a sign from Miss Gibson, who pri- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 239 
 
 vately told me that Yone had taken it upon herself to 
 countermand the order, knowing that the case did not then 
 require my attention, and that I needed all the rest I could 
 obtain. 
 
 " She thinks of everybody," I whispered to Miss Gibson, 
 " except herself." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, tell me, is there any hope for me ? " moaned 
 the occupant of the bed. 
 
 "I should be glad," I suggested, "to know who looked 
 after you during the night." 
 
 " She was well cared for," said the younger sister. " I 
 was here myself, from the moment the danger declared 
 itself." 
 
 "Ah, then," I observed, examining the medicine phials, 
 " so these were measured and administered by your skillful 
 hands, Miss Kezia. Nothing could be more regular." 
 
 " Miss Gibson undertook it occasionally," was the reply, 
 every syllable of which sounded like the snapping of a jack- 
 daw's beak. 
 
 As the reader knows, I had been made aware of what 
 had passed, but, since it suited my humor that the truth 
 should be drawn from the reluctant couple, I pursued my 
 inquiries relentlessly. 
 
 " Then you and Miss Gibson were the only attendants ? " 
 
 "No, sir, not necessarily," rejoined the now angry 
 Kezia. 
 
 " Who were the others, permit me to ask ? " 
 
 " Is it important, Doctor Charwell, that you should know 
 the name of every person who may have happened to be 
 called in during the course of the night ? " 
 
 " Doctor Charwell," interposed the elder sister, " I insist 
 that you answer my question, instead of continuing this 
 useless catechism. Is my life to be sacrificed in this dread- 
 ful devastation, or shall I be spared ? " 
 
 "You see, madam," I responded, "it is desirable that I 
 know what particular treatment you have been under; and 
 
240 YO.VE SAX TO: 
 
 to learn that, I should be informed of the names of your 
 attendants." 
 
 " Well, then, do let him know," said the invalid. " There 
 was my sister; and there was Miss Gibson, very kind, in- 
 deed, of her; and there was that Yone Santo, who seemed 
 determined to come in, I don't know why; nobody asked 
 her." 
 
 " Then I will tell you why," broke in Miss Gibson. " It 
 was because difficult and wearying and thankless work had 
 to be done; and wherever such things are required, there 
 you will find Yone Santo on the spot." 
 
 " Oh, indeed !" sneered Miss Kezia; "and little enough 
 return for the countless blessings that have been showered 
 upon her from this house." 
 
 " Come, Miss Philipson," I remarked, taking my hat in 
 hand, " I can afford to waste no more time here. Unless 
 my questions are answered, I shall be obliged to leave 
 you." 
 
 " Don't let him go," screamed the recumbent Sophia. 
 " Tell him all he wants to know, I commandyou, Kezia. I 
 slept so much that I remember nothing." 
 
 " Oh, well ! " exclaimed the junior, while tears of spite 
 stood in the corners of her eyes; "after nine o'clock, Yone 
 Santo undertook a good deal of the work." 
 
 " After nine o'clock ? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes, sir; after nine." 
 
 " And at what hour did the symptoms begin to appear ? " 
 
 " At what hour ? Let me see. " 
 
 " Shall I tell you ? " inquired Miss Gibson. 
 
 " No, miss; your interference has already been more than 
 sufficient. It was about nine o'clock, sir." 
 
 " Then," said I, " Yone's attention began immediately 
 upon the appearance of the disease. You are trifling with 
 me, ladies. I bid you good-day." 
 
 " What do you mean, Kezia ? " shrieked the terror-stricken 
 elder. "How dare you disobey me? Tell him the truth 
 at once ! " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 241 
 
 "Oh, if you wish me to magnify that creature into a 
 saint" 
 
 " Never mind what I wish. I wish to be cured. That is 
 the first thing. Afterward, we can " 
 
 "Very good," hastily interrupted Miss Kezia, whose wits 
 Were a little more manageable, for the moment, than those 
 of her confused senior; " then, if you must know, Yone 
 was here from about nine last evening, when the illness 
 first showed itself, until sunrise." 
 
 " No one else touched the medicines ? " 
 
 "N no; unless, perhaps, Miss Gibson." 
 
 "I did nothing," said the young lady referred to, "but 
 lend Yone my strong arms once or twice." 
 
 "And this excellent friend of ours," I continued, re- 
 solved, in my irritation, to push the matter home, " did 
 nothing of any kind, I conclude." 
 
 " It was surely needful," Miss Kezia feebly protested, 
 " that somebody should superintend the proceedings." 
 
 "Precisely, precisely," said I. "And now, Miss Philip- 
 son, I will answer the question I would have answered im- 
 mediately, if your sister had obliged me with the informa- 
 tion I have with difficulty extracted. From the moment 
 that I know you were in the hands of Yone Santo, I know 
 also that you are undoubtedly safe, without reference to 
 your sister's capabilities of superintendence. Yone's ex- 
 perience was large, last year, as you ought to remember 
 gratefully. She knows as well as I what needs to be done, 
 and you may count yourself a fortunate woman in having 
 secured a ministration which I don't mind saying, madam, 
 you have not in any degree deserved." 
 
 I need hardly remark that the invalid's condition was 
 not such as to excite the least alarm, as in that case I should 
 have taken a more rapid diagnosis. Whatever danger there 
 might have been in the beginning had evidently vanished 
 some hours before; and I was simply enjoying my oppor- 
 tunity of probing for the conscience which these two ladies 
 
242 YONE SANTO : 
 
 might be supposed to possess, an operation which may 
 be pronounced heartless and unmanly, but which I shall 
 not take the trouble to defend; neither that nor any part 
 of my subsequent conduct toward this earnest-minded and 
 otherwise gifted couple. 
 
 Half an hour later, I was called, by her little guardian, to 
 the chamber in which Yone was reposing. The child con- 
 fided to me that her kindest of teachers was not so kind as 
 usual, this morning. Instead of telling beautiful stories, 
 as she always could, she kept interrupting the natural flow 
 of her Japanese speech with long sentences in English, and 
 would speak of nothing but furnaces, ovens, and such un- 
 pleasant things. I sent the child for Miss Gibson, and 
 made all speed to Yone's bedside. 
 
 "You are there, Doctor?" she said, smiling faintly. " I 
 was going to dress me, but the atmosphere is so heavy here 
 that I cannot get my strength. It is so warm in this place, 
 close to the stoves; I cannot bear it." 
 
 As I brought her some water, Miss Gibson entered. 
 
 "Why have they kindled all the fires?" continued Yone, 
 speaking with great rapidity and a slight huskiness of 
 utterance. 
 
 "There are no fires, my dear," said Miss Gibson; "there 
 would be none in any case, on this floor." 
 
 " Hark, Marian; you will hear the roar of the blaze, as 
 well as feel the heat. Oh, Doctor, it is terrible ! What will the 
 little sick ones do ? I must go and stop it. And see," she 
 exclaimed, glancing at the window, "the sun, the sun itself, 
 is coming near us ! What fearful sounds ! Dear friends, 
 what is threatening us ? Look from the window. That 
 angry, raging sun comes to consume us." 
 
 She made a sudden attempt to spring out upon the floor, 
 but, being withheld, covered her face with the bed-clothes, 
 shuddering violently. Miss Gibson gazed at me in speech- 
 less horror. 
 
 "Yone, hear me," I said firmly. " I can free you from 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 243 
 
 some of your anxieties, but you must put great faith in me. 
 Try to believe everything that I tell you, even if it is hard 
 to do so. Doubt nothing that I say for a little while, no 
 matter if you fancy I am mistaken, or am misleading you. 
 And you, Miss Gibson, will think of the invalids else- 
 where. You will go" 
 
 " No, Doctor, no. I shall stay here. Could you think "- 
 
 I stopped her with a hasty and violent gesture, pointing 
 also to Yone, whose face was still concealed by the bed- 
 coverings, to indicate that my meaning must be hidden 
 from her. 
 
 " You will go," I continued, " and order all the ice that 
 can be purchased, to be carried to the place where you 
 will understand it is most needed. Then run across, your- 
 self, to my hospital, select a comfortable litter, send it no, 
 let my servants bring it, and come you also. But leave 
 instructions to make ready the up-stairs room in the south- 
 west corner. Be here again in less than five minutes." 
 
 She was off like the wind. 
 
 " Now, Yone, said I, "can you speak with me?" 
 
 " Yes, Doctor," she answered, cautiously drawing down 
 the coverings. " Is the danger past ? Did Marian bring 
 it and take it away? But that is impossible; yet she is 
 gone. Tell me, Doctor, what is this dreadful heat ? " 
 
 She was again speaking rapidly and wildly. My hope 
 was that I could keep my hold upon her reason until our 
 friend should return with the litter, and Yone's rare docility 
 and confidence enabled me to accomplish this, in good 
 part. She realized, at least, that she had overtasked her- 
 self, and accepted my assurance that she must rest for a 
 while, without work of any sort. I allowed her to think the 
 interval might be short, in order to cheer her with the hope 
 of speedily resuming her labors. 
 
 In less than a quarter of an hour, she was on the way to 
 a more suitable place for treatment. While passing through 
 the street, from one house to the other, she spoke once, in 
 supplicating tones: 
 
244 YONE SANTO: 
 
 " Doctor, Marian, must I stay in this burning boat, 
 while you float beside me in the cool water ? " 
 
 From that moment, for many a day, she uttered no word 
 that could be understood by any listener. Miss Gibson at 
 once dedicated herself to the sufferer, and at first resented 
 the idea of sharing her task of affection with a hired 
 assistant. 
 
 "My arms are strong, and my head is clear," she said; 
 " there is nothing I cannot do." 
 
 " But your heart is not hard," I told her; " and some 
 exercise of force will probably be needed. No, my child, 
 you must have a professional nurse with you. There is no 
 help for it." 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 DARK SHADOWS. 
 
 THE cholera ran its course among us, desolating many a 
 household, and filling the city with gloom. More than one 
 hundred thousand victims were believed to have been sac- 
 rificed to the perversity and arrogance of two ruthless 
 agents of foreign oppression. But all traces of the visita- 
 tion had vanished long before our most cherished patient 
 recovered her reason. And when the light of understanding 
 returned to her countenance, it was with an anxious dread 
 that I beheld the ravages which a violent fever had 
 wrought upon her delicate frame. Marian Gibson, less 
 tutored by experience, was able to contain her joy at what 
 seemed to her the beginning of the recovery only on being 
 warned that Yone must be kept in ignorance of the peril- 
 ous state to which she had been reduced. Her intellect 
 being fully restored, Marian now became her sole attend- 
 ant. Indeed, excepting that devoted girl and myself, she 
 saw no one. The thick-witted husband, still terrified by 
 wild visions of cholera, which disease had never touched 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 245 
 
 Yone at all, would not come near her; and, indeed, his 
 rough presence and coarse speech were not much to be de- 
 sired in an invalid's chamber. 
 
 This was a time when the assistance of Shizu Miura 
 would have been gladly welcomed, but she was already on 
 the way to her new home in a distant land. Deep was the 
 affectionate girl's distress at leaving the companion of her 
 childhood in bodily pain and peril, but Roberts's plans for 
 removal had been definitely arranged before the illness, 
 and could not be set aside without injury to the interests 
 of many parties. He was more touched than I had ex- 
 pected by the harsh necessity which compelled his wife to 
 depart at a period when the mind of her friend and bene- 
 factress was clouded, and no intelligent farewell could be 
 given or received. He promised without hesitation that 
 Shizu should be privileged to return, after an interval; and 
 though the pledge was undoubtedly qualified by mental 
 reservations, the deception was kindly intended, and bene- 
 ficial in effect. 
 
 As the days went on, bringing no gain of strength to 
 Yone, I called for the opinions, one by one, of the fellow- 
 members of my profession, whose earnest and unaffected 
 concern was a true consolation in that afflicted period. 
 The missionary physicians a set of men loftily elevated, 
 as a rule, above their exclusively religious colleagues in the 
 extreme East, were foremost in proffering their aid, with 
 the magnanimity which is developed, I make no doubt, by 
 their humane vocation, and which rises superior to the 
 intolerance that often accompanies imperfect education. 
 Not a few of these were familiar with the fine spirit and 
 character of my patient, and well knew that her loss would 
 be a grievous bereavement to the sick and poor of her quar- 
 ter. But they could say little, either in encouragement or 
 the reverse. We could hope only for the healing touch of 
 Nature's comforting hand, and those whose eyes were 
 keenest saw that, to be effective, this must not be much 
 longer withheld. 
 
246 YOJVE SANTO : 
 
 Presently we thought it wisest to allow her such simple 
 diversions as befitted her condition, and, for several days, 
 some of her little favorites from the school were invited to 
 be with her, of an afternoon. She asked for others, who 
 had not been able to struggle through the ordeal of the 
 previous month; and when we could not answer, the 
 effect was so painful that we deemed the experiment too 
 severe for repetition. But she begged so piteously for her 
 child friends, promising that she would no more be dis- 
 turbed by the absence of any of them, that they were ad- 
 mitted again without further discussion. 
 
 " Why shall I mind missing those that are gone ? " she 
 said, with a strange expression in her thoughtful eyes; "it 
 is for such little time. My doctor knows it will soon be 
 their turn to come to Yone's arms, and then these will be 
 the absent ones." 
 
 I think, from something which happened a little later, 
 that she would not have spoken thus if Miss Gibson had 
 been present; but she turned her face to me with a smile 
 of sorrowful meaning, from which I learned for the first 
 time with certainty what the near future had in store for us. 
 
 One day the Philipson sisters presented themselves, with 
 an intimation that, if desired, they would favor the sick girl 
 with an interview. I had then determined to defer in 
 everything to Yone's wishes, and on finding that she made 
 no objection, the ladies were admitted, though not with 
 Miss Gibson's cordial concurrence. 
 
 "Why, Yone, child," was the salutation of the elder, 
 " how shockingly you look ! Have they taken proper care 
 of you here, I wonder? " 
 
 " Shocking, indeed," said Miss Kezia; whereupon a sharp 
 glance passed between the pair, foretelling a philological 
 combat aToutrance, at the first opportunity, on the question 
 of employing adverbs or adjectives, here represented by 
 "shockingly " and " shocking," in certain familiar forms of 
 expression. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 247 
 
 " Not quite such perfect care as Yone took of you, Miss 
 Sophia," remarked Miss Gibson; "but still the best it was 
 in our power to afford." 
 
 " I have been treated most kindly," was heard, in Yone's 
 calm, sweet voice; "and of kindness only let us think, if I 
 may ask it. You are welcome here, ladies; it does gladden 
 me that you passed through all danger without harm." 
 
 "We are quite well, Yone," Miss Sophia replied, "as I 
 am sure you will be, soon." 
 
 " Oh, we are all sure of that ! " exclaimed the junior. 
 
 But to this our invalid did not incline to respond, al- 
 though she regarded both the sisters with a pleasant smile. 
 
 "Well, we cannot stay long," said Miss Sophia, rising. 
 " I hope, Yone, we are friends." 
 
 " I wish you well, Miss Philipson, with all my heart." 
 
 " You know, if I sometimes seemed a little harsh " 
 
 " Do not speak of it, I beg; it has not a place in my 
 thoughts," said Yone. 
 
 " It was my religion that compelled me to take a course 
 toward you which I would often have wished to avoid; but 
 you cannot understand that." 
 
 " Certainly not," affirmed the second Miss P.; "we do not 
 expect you to." 
 
 Yone now turned her lustrous eyes upon them. 
 
 " No," she said slowly; " no, truly, I cannot understand 
 that." 
 
 " Never mind," rejoined Miss Sophia, glancing quickly 
 at Miss Gibson and myself; " never mind, we shall see you 
 again soon, and meanwhile I will pray for your convales- 
 cence." 
 
 "Do not think of that, madam; there is no need, and 
 your prayers would not avail." 
 
 A scared look passed over the elderly woman's face, and 
 her thin, pinched lips trembled as she replied: 
 
 " Why, Yone, you speak as if you hated me. I have al- 
 ways wished to be your friend. And why should my 
 prayers be unheard ? " 
 
2 4 8 YONE SAM TO: 
 
 " I never hated anybody, Miss Philipson. I should be 
 in despair now, if I could remember to have hated any- 
 body. And I thank you for your offer. I should have 
 done that before, but I was thinking how certain it was 
 that no prayers could keep me in this world. And my 
 mind was fixed upon another matter, besides. We are 
 taught, in our faith, that those who are taken away to 
 heaven are permitted to plead for those who are left 
 behind; and if, hereafter, I am not unworthy to be heard, 
 I shall have no such happiness as to recall all the good" 
 
 She was interrupted by a sudden start from Miss Philip- 
 son, who, pressing a handkerchief to her lips, moved hastily 
 toward the bed in which Yone lay. What her impulse 
 might have been I never knew. It remained unfulfilled; 
 for after two or three quick steps, she turned about, mur- 
 mured something the sense of which was obscured by her 
 handkerchief, and hurriedly withdrew from the chamber, 
 pulling her sister after her. If it was a tardy impulse of 
 tenderness, as to which, indeed, I cannot be sure, it was 
 checked before it could declare itself; and I have more than 
 enough reason to believe it was held in characteristic re- 
 straint forever after. 
 
 While Yone was speaking, the color vanished from Miss 
 Gibson's face, leaving it of a death-like hue; and as the 
 visitors departed, she quickly followed them, with an ap- 
 parent pretense of taking leave outside. Being alarmed for 
 her, I, too, presently followed, and found her alone, in a 
 state of passionate and convulsive grief. 
 
 "It is not true, Doctor," she sobbed; " her delirium has 
 returned. There was no meaning in those awful words. 
 Oh, tell me, tell me " 
 
 " If you can be calm, Miss Gibson, you shall know all 
 that I know. But if I may not reckon upon you, where 
 shall I look ? To-morrow, I give you my word, I will tell 
 you my true conviction." 
 
 " To-morrow ! But I shall fear the coming of each day, 
 
A CHILD OF JAP Atf. 249 
 
 now. And I, also, have something to tell. Perhaps I 
 should have told before; perhaps, I have thought, I should 
 not tell at all. I have been greatly perplexed, but now you 
 give me new and terrible reasons for deciding quickly." 
 
 " Does it concern Yone ? " 
 
 "Yes, closely, intimately." 
 
 "Then I should say But you will judge best, no 
 doubt." 
 
 " Do not be offended, Doctor. It is a matter of much 
 difficulty. I have had such anxious hours; but from this 
 moment I am resolved. To-night you shall learn the whole. 
 As soon as I can leave Yone, I will go to your office." 
 
 At a later hour she came, bringing news that was indeed 
 unlocked for. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 LAST LESSONS. 
 
 "ARTHUR MILTON is here ! " 
 
 My amazement was so great that for a while I could not 
 answer, but stared speechlessly at her, awaiting further in- 
 telligence. As she likewise remained silent, I brought my 
 mind to bear more clearly upon the strange announcement, 
 and to consider what it portended. 
 
 " Arthur Milton ? " I repeated. " Here again, to witness 
 Do you mean that he is in this city ? " 
 
 "I believe so; certainly not far away. I received a 
 letter from him, dated Yokohama, early this morning, a 
 truly mournful and penitent letter. Doctor, I do think it 
 would move the most unforgiving spirit. Pray tell me, are 
 you as sure as ever that he has no good quality in him ? " 
 
 " He has ingenuity, at least. Why did he write to you, 
 instead of me, do you suppose ? " 
 
 "I have been wondering why." 
 
 "Then I will tell you. Because he knew his false 
 
250 YONE SANTO: 
 
 lamentations could no longer impose upon me, and he 
 thought a woman might be more successfully deluded. 
 Nothing could be easier than for him to learn how intimate 
 you and Yone had become. He would have no difficulty 
 in informing himself about our journey in the country. I'll 
 warrant he urges you to conceal his return, and the fact of 
 his writing, from me." 
 
 " You are not altogether right, Doctor. He asks me to 
 see him first, and after one interview he is willing he de- 
 sires, even that you shall be told. I wish to be guided 
 solely by what is best for Yone. I think of nothing else. 
 I will leave his letter with you, and to-morrow morning we 
 will consider all its merits, or its faults. But I must ask, 
 more than that, I must demand to speak and to be heard 
 in this matter. Yone is a woman, my younger sister, I 
 feel her to be that, and nothing less; and there are things 
 concerning which a woman's loving instinct is more to be 
 trusted than the wisest father's sagacity. Doctor Charwell, 
 we must think and work together in this." 
 
 "God bless you, my child; I ask for nothing better than 
 your generous help; but I beseech you to build no flatter- 
 ing hope on so vain a foundation as Milton's honor or in- 
 tegrity. That is my only warning. And now, good-night." 
 
 The letter, as might be expected, was eloquent, pathetic, 
 and eminently calculated to move the compassion of any 
 person not familiar with the writer's loose and vacillating 
 nature. Knowing him as I now did, I nevertheless was 
 struck with its seeming grief and remorse. It was most 
 difficult to distrust the genuineness of his emotion at the 
 time of writing. He had, moreover, some remarkable facts 
 to communicate. He had met his party on their return 
 from Peking to Shanghai, and after a series of vain endeav- 
 ors to share their pleasures, and a futile struggle to accom- 
 pany them on their journey through Southern Asia, had 
 gathered together the members of his family, told them 
 unreservedly, he declared the story of the past few 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 251 
 
 weeks, and proclaimed his purpose to return to Japan 
 without delay, there to fulfill what he knew was his duty, 
 and to insure the happiness of his life. With no little 
 pains, but yet with less than he anticipated, he had ob- 
 tained his mother's and his sister's assent, which was not, 
 indeed, indispensable, but which would stand in proof of 
 the honesty of his intentions. At this point, the idea 
 appeared to be conveyed that Mrs. Milton and her daugh- 
 ter were profoundly conscious of the sacrifice about to be 
 made, and had pressed entreaty and remonstrance upon 
 him, until they found his resolution utterly immovable. 
 This was the weak passage in an effusion of which the 
 greater part was distinguished by a touching accent of 
 humility. 
 
 In the morning I found Miss Gibson better prepared 
 than I had hoped, for what she had to hear. She listened 
 with all the control she could command while I told her 
 the hour of separation was very near at hand, and found 
 some relief from her anguish in my assurance that Yone's 
 life would end as tranquilly as it has passed, and far more 
 painlessly. We agreed that she should herself decide upon 
 the question of permitting Milton to visit her, as her com- 
 posure was greater and her judgment, we believed, clearer 
 than our own. And when we submitted it to her, we 
 found that our confidence was justified. 
 
 " I told you, Doctor, that he must never see me again," 
 she said. " Yes, you remember that." But I did not know 
 what would happen so soon. It is different, now. If you 
 are willing, he shall come." 
 
 After a few words of explanation, Miss Gibson started 
 for the place where he had said he could be found. Imme- 
 diately upon her departure, Yone beckoned to me with the 
 pretty Japanese gesture of invitation. 
 
 " Please sit beside me, Doctor, and let me hold your 
 hand. I am glad we may be alone a little. One thing I 
 wish to say which Marian, perhaps, would not understand; 
 
252 YONE SANTO: 
 
 but you, dear friend, understand everything. It is selfish, 
 oh, I can see very selfish thoughts, if I look to the bot- 
 tom of my heart, but it shall be confessed. I must tell 
 you how happy I am to remember that you are not young. 
 You do not need to show that this is not right. I know, 
 I know. I love Marian dearly; she has been like a true 
 sister to me. How beautiful and good ! But it is to you 
 I owe everything, all, all, all the brightness the world has 
 ever contained for me. I can bear to wait for her; but you, 
 my constant help and protection, the guardian of my whole 
 life, the father of my soul, ah, I have taken such pleasure 
 in hoping we shall be so little time apart. If it is wrong, 
 you will forgive me. You always have forgiven Yone's 
 faults." 
 
 " Don't, Yone, don't speak to me like that. You are 
 stronger than I am, now, my child. Think what I am feel- 
 ing and say no more, dear; not just yet, not just yet." 
 
 She took her hand from mine, and, as if wishing to dis- 
 pel the sad emotions she had awakened, held up the little 
 feeble fingers for my inspection, smiling at the recollection 
 they happened to suggest. 
 
 " Do you remember Mrs. Steele?" she said. "Mrs. 
 Steele would not complain of these hands. How they once 
 did vex her ! She would not scold me, now." 
 
 " Nor would she ever, if she had a woman's 'heart." 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, forgive me, but I think you are hasty to 
 say that. It was a great trouble to her, my untidiness; and 
 she could not know the reason. No, no; I should never 
 mind that. Only, when" 
 
 "Go on, Yone." 
 
 "Yes, there is something else. When we were all three 
 together, at Miyanoshita, oh, those glad days ! I was 
 never so happy, and my thoughts went out joyfully to 
 everybody I had ever known. I wanted to tell them all of 
 my good fortune, my pleasure, how grateful I was. I wrote 
 a letter to Mrs. Steele. I thought she would not be unwill- 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 253 
 
 ing to hear about the brightness that had come, as she 
 knew something of my sorrows. I thought so, but " 
 
 " She did not answer ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Perhaps she never received the letter, Yone." 
 
 "She received it, Doctor." 
 
 " Do not be too sure; I will make inquiry." 
 
 "That is not necessary; she sent it back to me." 
 
 " My poor patient darling. Why in God's name do all 
 the women who come here leave charity and humanity 
 behind them?" 
 
 " Not all, Doctor, not all. I have Marian, and for her 
 dear sake I will think no evil thing of any of them. You 
 will tell Mrs. Steele, some day, when it is right to do so, 
 when she knows all the truth, that Yone sent her a fare- 
 well message through you, and " 
 
 " Forgave her? " 
 
 " Yes, if that word is not amiss, to my teacher and my 
 elder." 
 
 Again she clasped my hand, and we remained in silence 
 until the faithful messenger reappeared. 
 
 " He will be here," she told us, "very soon; but if he 
 gets a warning, at the door, that he is too early, he will go 
 away, and return after another hour." 
 
 " He must not wait too long," said Yone, placidly, "if he 
 wishes me to see him." 
 
 "Dear Yone," entreated Marian, "you cut me to the 
 heart. Do not grieve us so." 
 
 " But we are not to deceive ourselves in what we think 
 or what we say. Let us look at what is coming without 
 fear. Tell me, Marian, where has he been since I last saw 
 him ?" 
 
 " Mr. Milton ? He has been in China and Siam. He 
 came back on your account only." 
 
 " Does he know how ill I am ?" 
 
 " I have told him all" 
 
254 YONE SANTO: 
 
 "Yes, "sighed Yone; "yes, that is best. It will spare 
 him pain." 
 
 " But what can I say ? He will not believe me. He 
 passes it all by as mere exaggeration or illusion. Would to 
 God he were right ! I hope he is right. Oh, I hope, I 
 hope " 
 
 The tender-hearted girl burst into tears, and her speech 
 became broken and incoherent. 
 
 " It gives me great joy to know how much you love me," 
 said Yone. " That was the last blessing I could wish for; 
 and it came, dear Marian, when I did deeply need it. Now 
 I shall tell you all the truth. You know what my doctor 
 has done for me ever since I was a little, foolish, ignorant 
 child: He alone is nearer to me than you, my dear, and 
 for a while he must be; but early in the millions of happy 
 years of our next companionship, our affection will become 
 quite the same. Yone will have no cause to seem unkind 
 in speaking of earthly preferences." 
 
 "You are never unkind," Miss Gibson declared; "but is 
 that the belief of your people ? " 
 
 " That is what we learn for truth," answered Yone. 
 
 " I did not k'now it," said the older girl. " And do you 
 think, forgive me, Yone, do you think that in time your 
 good-will may extend to all you have ever met even those 
 who have not cared for you, even such as those ladies of 
 the school ? " 
 
 " Oh, surely so ! " replied Yone; " how can you ask 
 
 me 
 
 " I will ask no more, dear love; your answers shame 
 me." 
 
 Soon after, the dying girl requested me to move her bed 
 near the centre of the room, so that one of us, her friends, 
 might be on either side of her. As we sat thus upon the 
 edges of the cot, she passed an arm around each, letting 
 her thin, worn hands rest upon our shoulders, and raising 
 herself by this means to a higher position. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 255 
 
 " Now I am comfortable," she said. " Doctor, let my 
 left hand hold your right; and, Marian, my right shall clasp 
 your left." 
 
 Her pulse was feeble, though not alarmingly so; and I 
 should have derived some satisfaction from her slight 
 ability to exert herself, but that she remarked, a soft flush 
 rising to her cheeks: 
 
 " This is a great liberty for a Japanese girl; but for once 
 you will not mind it. ... Yet you are not to forget 
 it," she added, smiling gently at us in turn. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 FAREWELL. 
 
 A SERVANT appeared, with the announcement that Mr. 
 Milton was asking for me below. I was about to disen- 
 gage myself, when Yone interposed, saying: 
 
 " No, do not go; do not leave me, either of you. I am best 
 in this way. Lifted upright, as I am, I speak more easily." 
 
 "' Are you well enough to speak at all ? " I asked. " Do 
 not attempt too much." 
 
 But Miss Gibson had given orders 'that the visitor be 
 brought to us, and Yone said softly: 
 
 " I wish to see him. I need to see him now." 
 
 I doubt, nevertheless, if she could have been in any de- 
 gree prepared for the agitating incidents which ensued. 
 We heard his footsteps rapidly approaching, then saw his 
 well-remembered form and face framed for an instant in 
 the doorway. For an instant, only, he stood motionless. 
 Then he tottered, caught vainly at the lintel above, with 
 an outstretched arm, staggered blindly forward, and fell, 
 with a sharp cry, by the side of the bed. where he remained 
 kneeling, his head clutched within his hands, and crouch- 
 ing, half hidden, close to the body of the girl from whose 
 life he had driven peace and happiness. 
 
256 YONE SANTO : 
 
 " My God, O my God, what is this ? " he presently cried. 
 " What does it mean ? What have you done to her ? 
 Yone, for merciful Heaven's sake, speak to me ! I don't 
 dare to look at you, but give me a word, just one word. 
 Or you, Doctor Charwell, are you here ? For God's sake, 
 tell me this is not the end." 
 
 There was a briei interval, and then Yone's sweet and 
 plaintive voice was heard. 
 
 " It is not the end, Arthur," she said, " and I am more 
 glad than I can tell, that you are here in time. I wonder 
 that I am so glad. I thought I could have died without 
 much grief if you had not come; but now I see how little I 
 knew myself." 
 
 " Why does she talk of dying ? " exclaimed Milton, 
 partly raising his face, and giving a sidelong glance at me, 
 but still averting his eyes from the wasted form beside him. 
 " She shall live a life of such happiness as a man's best 
 affection can give her. I am here with my hand and my 
 name for her acceptance. Santo will consent to an honor- 
 able divorce, and Yone will have all the devotion that a 
 true lover and an honest husband can bestow. Oh, Yone, 
 don't speak of leaving me, my treasure; don't think of it. 
 Come to me as I have come to you." 
 
 Yone had started when he spoke of the divorce, for the 
 scheme had never been revealed to her; but his meaning 
 was plain before he had finished. 
 
 " Then you did come to marry me," she said simply. 
 
 "I do, I do ! " he cried. "You shall soon see. My 
 mother and my sister wish it, too, Yone. They have sent 
 their love to you, and many messages of kindness. As 
 soon as you are better you shall learn everything." 
 
 "Arthur," she said gravely, " look in my face." 
 
 With slow and reluctant movements, as if afraid to con- 
 front again the sight which met him when he entered, he 
 turned his eyes upward, and fixed them upon the features 
 he had hitherto seen only in health and loveliness, but 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 257 
 
 which now revealed the fatal signs of a hopeless disease. 
 Stricken speechless, he gazed upon the face which had once 
 been lighted by a rare and noble attachment, an attach- 
 ment called into existence by him, but upon which he had 
 trampled with the recklessness of a blind and unmanly 
 egotism. And as she returned his gaze, there came back 
 before our amazed view a strange and chastened reflection 
 of the purity, the modest grace and tender delicacy, which 
 had made all other youthful charms appear dim and dull 
 beside those of Yone Yamada. At the summons of the 
 only absorbing love she had ever known, the fairness of 
 her brighter days revived and clothed her again with the 
 unforgotten beauty. 
 
 " I see nothing to disturb me," he faltered. " You have 
 been ill, very ill, I fear; but Doctor Charwell who has 
 been my best friend when I least thought him so will soon 
 restore you to us. Heaven only knows what I shall owe 
 him then ! " 
 
 It was a marvel, the power of this creature of impulse 
 over our senses, when our judgment still refused to con- 
 done his baseness. As he knelt before us all, with a glow, 
 hardly less fervent than Yone's transient flush, beaming 
 from his eyes, and with his whole aspect betraying the 
 most eager and intense solicitude, it seemed cruel to doubt 
 that he realized, at last, the force of .his former iniquity. 
 In any case, this was not the time for suggesting doubts, 
 and we Miss Gibson and I were grateful for even the 
 briefest term of happiness which Yone could enjoy. As I 
 caught Marian's interrogating glance, I almost allowed my- 
 self to disregard the sorrowful testimony of experience, and 
 to imagine the possibility that the newly kindled joy might 
 inspire with fresh vitality that fragile and exhausted frame. 
 Alas, it was but a passing fancy, unsustained by any reality 
 of hope. 
 
 4< Come nearer to me, Arthur," said the fading girl; and 
 as he moved forward, still kneeling, she disengaged her hand 
 from my shoulder, and laid it upon his head, 
 
258 YONE SANTO 
 
 " Regard him now, Doctor," she continued, appealingly; 
 "he never thought to harm me. Marian, he meant no 
 wrong. He did not know. I am sure he did not know." 
 
 " Yone, you crush me with your goodness," he answered, 
 in half-stifled tones. "I did think to harm you. I did 
 mean wrong. I cannot keep the truth from you. But now 
 all is changed. All shall be well, my poor, wounded dove. 
 I know how to love you as you deserve, now; they shall all 
 witness it. I think of nothing but to make you my wife, if 
 if only you will forgive me." 
 
 " Forgive you ! " she responded, in a tone which, gentle 
 as it was, thrilled through us all. " Forgive you ? Oh, 
 Arthur ! But I think my two best friends, here, may not 
 understand you as well as I do. This is what they will 
 both do to please me. Doctor, you will forgive all his mis- 
 takes. Marian, you too, for my sake." 
 
 "I do not know Miss Gibson," murmured Milton, "and 
 Doctor Charwell does not know me as E am now. But if 
 they will wait " 
 
 " Oh, no," said Yone; "there is no need to wait. They 
 will refuse me nothing. But I wish them to feel that you 
 that you deserve it. Therefore, in the days to come, 
 when I can no longer speak for you, dear Arthur, let your 
 actions, I pray you, always be such as to keep their friend- 
 ship with you true and sacred." 
 
 He looked at us with a bewildered air, and again turned 
 to Yone. 
 
 " Do not misunderstand me, Yone. I am sure you mis- 
 understand me, for you could not be willingly unkind. I 
 ask that we may never be separated. I shall always be 
 near you till you are well, and from that time we shall con- 
 stantly be together." 
 
 " Arthur, it is you who will not understand. Are you 
 alone unable to see what all the rest can see ? Speak tome 
 no more like that, and remember that for me the time of 
 sorrow is past. You cannot know the happiness I feel, ex- 
 cept only for the grief I must soon give to you around me. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN, 259 
 
 And now but you will wait for me a little; I am fatigued. 
 Marian, dear, please raise me again." 
 
 She was moved, as she desired, and as her lips were dry, 
 I moistened them with a cooling cordial. She thanked us, 
 and closed her eyes wearily, still keeping her hand on 
 Milton's head. 
 
 " If this is real," he muttered huskily, "what is left for 
 me ! Must I wait for God's just vengeance, or will it strike 
 me here and now ? " 
 
 Yone heard, but did not comprehend. She opened her 
 eyes, looked at us intently for a space, and then, more 
 faintly than ever before, said, with an effort that could not 
 be concealed: 
 
 " Now I shall ask you each to place your right hand 
 upon my breast, as I lie here. I wish to fold mine over 
 them. It is only for a little time." 
 
 We did as she requested, and as she laid her slender 
 hands upon ours, and pressed them near her heart, she 
 added, with a smile of infinite tenderness: 
 
 " This is my utmost power. It is all I have, and I give 
 it to you to show the strength of my love for you." 
 
 Again the eyelids fell, and all was silence." 
 
 As we stood -motionless, fearing, indeed, to stir, nor dar- 
 ing to look at one another, a curious sound came through 
 the hall-way, as of heavy bodies moved or moving stealthily. 
 We felt that the shock of a rude intrusion would be un- 
 bearable, yet none of us could stir to close the door. 
 
 Presently we heard rough whispering, yet still we were 
 incapable of breaking that solemn circle. 
 
 The voices drew nearer. One of them, at least, could 
 be recognized. Speaking in Japanese, that memorable 
 " reclaimer," Miss Jackman, delivered herself thus, in an 
 undertone, though apparently with little intention of con- 
 cealment: 
 
 "That is the door. Go in there: you will see what I 
 have brought you for." 
 
. 
 260 YONE SANTO 
 
 The next instant we heard her retreating footsteps, while 
 Santo, the boat-builder, entered the chamber. 
 
 "What does it mean ?" he asked. " The big woman 
 why, she is gone, now she came to my place, with round 
 eyes and a green face, and dragged me hither in a jin- 
 riki-sha. She had two jin-riki-shas ready, waiting for us. 
 She told me to be calm, and to be merciful, and to shed no 
 blood. Why should I not be calm, and merciful; and why 
 should I shed blood ? Ah, ha ! Is she crazy, more or less, that 
 big one ? Now here is nobody but the doctor, and the teacher- 
 miss, and the young American buyer of boats. Yes, she 
 told me he was here, very softly, making such awful faces 
 as you never saw. Ha, ha ! To be sure, she is crazy, 
 all crazy, every pound of her. And there is my Yone. 
 Will it do me no harm to go near her ? You think not ? 
 Well, cholera is a thing to keep away from, generally. How 
 is she now, Doctor?" 
 
 Then noticing that we kept our heads averted, he drew 
 nearer, and peered inquisitively at us. At the same mo- 
 ment, Yone's thin, attenuated hands relaxed their grasp 
 and fell to her sides. Milton dropped to his knees again, 
 and hid his face from sight. Marian threw her arms about 
 the frail figure, trembling violently, though with slight audi- 
 ble demonstration of grief. I turned to the husband, who 
 had been brought with such malicious design, and whose 
 advent had been so strangely timed. 
 
 "What! is she, then, dead?" he inquired, subduing his 
 harsh voice, and staring with astonishment at the unex- 
 pected sight before him. 
 
 I made an affirmative gesture. 
 
 " But this is stranger than anything in the world. Why 
 are they crying ? You, too, I see you are crying. Is it 
 because she is dead ? " 
 
 "It is." 
 
 " Well, I cannot understand it. I should never think of 
 crying. I may *cry at the theatre, or when I listen to the 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN, 261 
 
 hanashi-ka, but not in my own house. Is it a custom of 
 foreigners ? " 
 
 " Not always. But we respected and admired Yonevery 
 much, and loved her dearly." 
 
 " What, that poor little doll ? " 
 
 " She was a good woman, Santo, the best woman I have 
 known in all my life." 
 
 " I never knew that, Doctor-san, never thought of such 
 thing. Are you sure of it ? " 
 
 " Quite sure." 
 
 " Because that other, the big woman, tried to say Oh, 
 but she is crazy from head to foot." 
 
 " Entirely so. And now, Santo Yorikichi, if you will 
 excuse me, we will not talk any more. You shall stay, or 
 go; but you must allow us to be quiet." 
 
 " Yes, I will go. I have no idea of foreign customs. 
 To think that my poor Yone was so good a woman ! And 
 I never suspected it. It is a pity I did not learn it earlier. 
 I will go, I will go. To-morrow we will make some 
 arrangement about the burial. Good-day to everybody. 
 Farewell, Yone; I shall tell our neighbors how good a 
 woman you were. I wish I had known that before." 
 
 He went out, with an evident desire to maintain a decor- 
 ous bearing, but obviously more startled and bewildered 
 than touched by grief, and, I made no doubt, calculating in 
 his mind the probable cost of the ceremonies which he 
 would be called upon to pay for. His anxieties on this 
 latter question were, indeed, turned to our advantage; for 
 we found no difficulty in obtaining his consent that the in- 
 terment should take place at Tenno-ji, a tranquil and not 
 too sombre burial-ground, partly appropriated to aliens, 
 where we were able to procure a tomb in one of the most 
 silent and secluded corners. There, at last, this long- 
 suffering white-souled little pagan saint found rest. 
 
262 YONE SANTO: 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 REST AND SILENCE. 
 
 WE WERE sitting, Marian Gibson and I, beside Yone's 
 grave, one afternoon, some weeks after the sepulture, 
 when we saw approaching a species of irregular pro- 
 cession, in the centre of which we detected the mon- 
 olithic figures of the Misses Philipson. Our familiarity 
 with the neighborhood enabled us to retire unobserved, 
 and take shelter behind a cluster of willows, which, while 
 concealing us, left the new-comers open to our inspection. 
 Their object in visiting the spot we could not at first 
 divine, being confident that the sisters, at least, had no pre- 
 cise knowledge as to Yone's modest tomb; but we soon 
 discovered that they were escorting a party of excursionists 
 through the noted localities of Tokio, and had crossed over 
 from the Park of Uyeno, hard by, to this sequestered 
 retreat. Four or five of their most advanced pupils were 
 with them, brought out, no doubt, to serve as guides and 
 interpreters. As they drew near to Yone's little inclosure, 
 these young girls detached themselves from the others, 
 walked rapidly forward, and, falling on their knees 
 before the gate, devoltly inclined their bodies until their 
 foreheads touched the green sods. The astonishment with 
 which the Philipsons regarded this proceeding proved to 
 us that a revelation was awaiting them. First of all, how- 
 ever, a note of objurgation was sounded by the younger "of 
 the twain. 
 
 " Whatever does this mean, girls, getting on your knees 
 in all this dust and mud ? Explain yourself, Tama Yasuda. 
 Come here, all of you, don't stay sprawling there when I 
 call you." 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 263 
 
 " Be moderate with them, Kezia, I beseech you," said 
 the elder, not disinclined to pose before the visitors in the 
 character of a merciful intercessor, and at the same time to 
 impart an erudite interest to the occasion. " These poor 
 children are all familiar with the ancient shrines," she con- 
 tinued, " even when the landmarks are set aside, as in this 
 neighborhood. Now I dare say that if we listen to them, 
 they can tell us an impressive story of fortitude and hero- 
 ism, or patient suffering, connected with this very spot. 
 That, no doubt, is the explanation of the reverent prostra- 
 tion we have just witnessed." 
 
 By this time the younger Miss P. had drawn the facts 
 from her scholars, and was advancing toward her senior, 
 endeavoring, by facial contortions of the most extravagant 
 description, to arrest the latter's flow of historical eloquence. 
 
 " What is it, sister ? " was the gracious inquiry. " What 
 is the object of veneration associated with this scene of 
 classic beauty ? " 
 
 A rapid whisper followed. 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Miss P. No. i, with portentous dignity. 
 " You girls, you five, will report yourselves for punishment 
 to-morrow, before breakfast. Such disgusting slovenliness ! 
 Such heartless disregard of the unhealed scars of our in- 
 nermost wounds ! " 
 
 Here some of the travelers, whose curiosity was excited 
 by the sudden transition from benignant complacency to 
 vengeful ire, made bold to ask for an elucidation; where- 
 upon the too precipitate superior of the academy found it 
 necessary to take in sail, and tack, and perform other 
 manoeuvres to which her skill and cleverness were not 
 wholly adequate. 
 
 " The truth is simply this," she said, trembling with in- 
 dignation and a fear that she might, in her confusion, mix 
 herself up more ridiculously than was appropriate to a re- 
 sponsible elderly female, "simply this: that these forward 
 minxes seem to have engaged in a conspiracy to mortify us. 
 
264 YONE SANTO: 
 
 I now learn for the first time that this is the grave of a young 
 woman, a Japanese, in whom we took a great interest both 
 before and after her marriage, but who ill repaid our watchful 
 care. She was respectable enough while under our eyes, 
 but she afterward got completely corrupted by contact with 
 a young American; and as she showed no shame, and 
 would not repent, keeping up the improper connection to 
 the day of her death, we believe, we were obliged, of 
 course, to throw her off. She was a sort of leader among 
 a certain set of native girls, and, as you have seen to-day, 
 their obstinacy is incorrigible. There is no accounting for 
 it, except by remembering, as we are constantly compelled 
 to do, that we are in Japan." 
 
 We were listening, of necessity, to the chorus of asinine 
 acquiescence which arose as the party passed on, the silly 
 echoes of " Quite so," " To be sure," " How truly dread- 
 ful," " So sad," when Marian uttered an exclamation of 
 alarm, and, darting from me down a steep side path, suc- 
 ceeded in arresting the onward progress of a young man 
 who was marching with great strides in pursuit of the 
 retiring body. 
 
 " Let me go," he said. " There may be a man or two 
 among them, to learn what it is to desecrate a grave." 
 
 " You shall not go ! " exclaimed Marian. " Would you 
 cast a blot upon Yone's perfect memory ? Come with me; 
 come with us. You surely did not see the whole. The be- 
 ginning would have reconciled you to the end." 
 
 " The brutes the devilish hags ! " he cried passion- 
 ately. 
 
 " Milton," said I, having now made my way down to the 
 level where he stood, " it was as hard for me as for 
 you, but I had to bear it. Reflect seriously; shall the poor 
 girl's peace be broken, and by you, in this her only place of 
 repose ? " 
 
 " You are right," he answered; " and perhaps I ought not 
 to be here when foreigners are likely to come; but it is not 
 easy to keep away " 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 265 
 
 "We have not seen you since the burial," said I; "where 
 have you been? " 
 
 " I have found," he replied, after some hesitation, " a 
 little house in the priests' quarters, close by. It is very 
 comfortable, and the people are very nice. Will you come 
 and see?" 
 
 He led us to one of the daintiest cottages imaginable, 
 built originally in the quaint old native style, but variously 
 modified and adapted for foreign occupation. Observing 
 that our attention was attracted by the evidences of care 
 and expense which had been bestowed upon it, he re- 
 marked: 
 
 " It was hardly habitable when I first came, and as I mean 
 to remain, I had to put it in order." 
 
 Marian looked at him with innocent and admiring won- 
 der. I saw no occasion for pursuing a conversation on the 
 line suggested, and we presently left him to his unrestful 
 solitude. 
 
 The day was not far spent, and we directed our steps 
 toward Yone's recent dwelling, upon the opposite bank of 
 the river. Santo received us at the gate, as he had met 
 us on Miss Gibson's first arrival, a few months before, and 
 silently guided us to the chamber in which we had found 
 the invalid of whom we were then in search. He threw 
 aside the door, and we saw, to our surprise, that the con- 
 tents were precisely as they had been left by the former 
 occupant of the little apartment. Nothing had been 
 removed, and the arrangement of the simple furniture 
 appeared in all respects unchanged. 
 
 " Will you go in ? " he said. " You see everything is the 
 same. I have been thinking a little; perhaps she will be 
 pleased to have it so." 
 
 "You are very good, Santo Yorikichi; we thank you 
 sincerely." 
 
 " It is a small matter," he answered quickly, in a tone 
 which seemed to protest against the imputation of undue 
 
266 YONE SANTO: 
 
 sensibility. " The house is spacious, there is plenty of 
 room, it gives no trouble, and it costs nothing." 
 
 Observing that he remained in the passage, I asked him 
 to come nearer to us. 
 
 " No, no," he objected; " I never go there. The servants 
 do everything, very carefully. It is their duty, but I never 
 go in." 
 
 "Since you are kind enough to let us enter," said Miss 
 Gibson, "I hope you will join us." 
 
 I translated her remark, but without immediate effect. 
 
 "Ah, it is different for you," he replied. " You under- 
 stood, I never did. You did not tell me about her. No, 
 I shall wait here." 
 
 " Beg him to come, this once, Doctor." 
 
 I told him that we both earnestly wished it, and then he 
 yielded. 
 
 "Do you think I might? Would she like it? Truly, you 
 ought to know. Well, I will do as you bid. The room be- 
 longs to her, and you are her friends. If you say it is 
 right, I will come. Indeed, I do not keep myself apart 
 from her always. I go to her tablet every day. Presently 
 you shall see the tablet. I hope you will be content with 
 the name that the priests have chosen. To find the best 
 name is not an easy thing, they all say. It is a sorrow, 
 Doctor-san, that no one told me she was so good, while she 
 was alive. It is a great sorrow, but I have often thought 
 about it, since she died." 
 
 He walked to the little bed on which she had lain, and knelt 
 beside it, inclining his head as if in meditation. Miss Gib- 
 son was much moved. Approaching him, and resting her 
 hand upon his shoulder, she said: 
 
 " If you know it now, Santo-san, that is enough for you, 
 and for her." 
 
 Without responding, or appearing to be aware of her 
 touch, he raised himself slowly, and began to recite the 
 opening line of a song which we recognized as one that 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 267 
 
 Yone had been used to sing. After a few unsteady sylla- 
 bles, his voice fell hoarsely to a dull, unmeaning sound. 
 He flung out his right arm, as if to thrust away the unusual 
 emotion which oppressed him, and endeavored, almost 
 fiercely, to continue the familiar verse. Again his utterance 
 was suddenly broken, and his heavy frame was shaken by 
 three or four harsh, grating, gasping sobs. Then, dashing 
 his hand across his forehead, he turned and ran headlong 
 from the room, while we stood in shocked amazement at 
 the unexpected, and to me inexplicable, outburst. A 
 moment later we heard him in the boatyard, furiously 
 berating the workmen for some hastily imagined offense. 
 
 "Let us go," said Miss Gibson; "he cannot bear to 
 meet us after this. He will think he ought to be ashamed 
 of his weakness, the dear, rough, honest soul." 
 
 " But he wished to show us Yone's ihai " (posthumous 
 tablet), I suggested. 
 
 " Not now; we will come another time. You do not 
 quite understand him, Doctor; Yone and I noticed that, not 
 long ago, on this very spot. No, let us go at once, with- 
 out speaking to him again." 
 
 As we made our way off the premises, we were obliged to 
 pass near him, but he avoided us, pretending to gaze in 
 another direction, and filling the air with fresh and more 
 vehement vituperations of his astonished laborers. 
 
 " How he scolds, God bless him ! " exclaimed my com- 
 panion, with what I chose to pronounce the purest feminine 
 inconsequence. But I was fain to admit that his scolding 
 was more satisfactory to my ear than Mr. Milton's protes- 
 tations of eternal constancy had been. 
 
 " Yet Mr. Milton declares that he means to remain in 
 perpetual seclusion at Uyeno," said Miss Gibson, in a some- 
 what awe-stricken tone, as we walked toward Tsukiji. 
 "Will he really never leave that place ?" 
 
 "'Never' is a terribly long word," I replied. 
 
 "But. to think that he should give up even the years of 
 his youth so devotedly ! " 
 
268 YGNE SANTO: 
 
 " My child, he will not give up the years of his youth, 
 nor yet a single year. Pray make no mistake about that." 
 
 " Doctor, you think him utterly incapable of truthfulness 
 or good feeling. You are too hard upon him." 
 
 "Oh, no; I think he is a better man than he was, 
 and that his experience in Japan has done him good. 
 Whether the result was worth the sacrifice of such a life 
 as Yone's I shall not say. But certainly it would do him 
 no additional good to stay where he now is, even for a little 
 while." 
 
 "He said he should." 
 
 " And he thinks so, undoubtedly, for the moment. But 
 the fact that he is fitting up the little cottage so luxuriously 
 that alone shows he is not in the ascetic frame of mind 
 suitable for a long term of isolation. No, indeed; we shall 
 soon see the last of him, or, rather, I shall. You will 
 meet him in another season or so, as you go your social 
 ways in Boston." 
 
 "Then I am to be driven out of Japan, also: is that your 
 determination, Doctor ? " 
 
 "There is not much to keep you here, Marian," said I. 
 "At your age you can do nothing alone, and you have 
 not the experience nor the patience to ally yourself with 
 young women of Yone's stamp, even if you were sure of 
 finding them. Yet I know you will never forget your little 
 friend, and, far away in the future, when you have learned 
 more of the world's lessons, you may be able to come back 
 and give a helping hand to those who will then be strug- 
 gling, as she did, and falling by the wayside, as she did not, 
 for want of sympathy and charity. But I don't think it 
 very likely. The odds are all against your ever seeing this 
 country again, after you once leave it." 
 
 "Perhaps so; who can tell? In any event, Doctor, as 
 you say, I shall never forget." 
 
 Nor do I believe she has forgotten, though I have heard 
 but seldom from her since she sailed away, a few months 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 269 
 
 after we had thus conversed together. Milton waited a 
 little longer, and was then summoned home by that " neces- 
 sary business " which is the convenient pretext of the 
 habitual idler. He was fervent, on his departure, in pro- 
 testing that he would rejoin me the following summer; but 
 several summers have since passed, without bringing him. 
 Not long after reaching Boston, he wrote to ask me if I 
 would take charge of a fund a truly munificent amount, I 
 am bound to say for the protection and education of de- 
 serving Japanese girls; or, if preferable, for the establish- 
 ment of an academy in which young women should be 
 harbored and taught, upon principles directly adverse to 
 certain false and injurious missionary methods. The 
 scheme had many tempting features, but no amount of at- 
 tractiveness could induce me to cooperate in such a project 
 with Arthur Milton. By no process so easy and simple to 
 him could I be led to condone his crime, or to associate 
 any act of his with the memory of the gentle creature whose 
 existence he had darkened with grief and desolation. 
 
 In the execution of a more modest and unambitious trust 
 confided to me, I have, however, found a satisfaction which 
 time has never deadened or diminished. At the appropri- 
 ate seasons of each year, packages of flower seeds, from 
 Shizu Roberts, in Scotland, cross the seas, accompanied by 
 small sums of money, which I am requested to apply to the 
 embellishment of the inclosure wherein the dearest object of 
 her love and veneration lies. An occasional line from her 
 husband vouchsafes the information that nothing would 
 gratify him more than to increase the humble contribution 
 a hundred-fold, "in honor of that truly good woman;" but 
 as Shizu has set her heart upon maintaining the supply 
 from a little domestic fund which is "all her own," he can 
 not oppose a wish expressed with such extreme intensity of 
 feeling. 
 
 The elder Miss Philipson no longer enjoys the satisfac- 
 tion of attributing the mischances of her declining years to 
 
270 YONE SANTO: 
 
 the circumstance that she is " in Japan." She was, in due 
 season, relieved from the cares of school administration, 
 and, with her sister, returned to illuminate the coun- 
 cils of credulous devotees at home. I have never heard 
 that either of the ladies suffered in any form for the possi- 
 ble errors of their Oriental career. On the contrary, they 
 flourished socially and prospered materially; the time not 
 having arrived, in their day, for the application of such tests 
 as should determine the trustworthiness of those who bring 
 tidings from the unknown East. They were greatly in 
 requisition for lectures and addresses on topics with which 
 their extensive experience was supposed to make them 
 familiar. For reasons satisfactory to their friends, how- 
 ever, they did not pursue a common path. It was deemed 
 preferable that they should separately shine as examples of 
 zealous and devoted service among the heathen. Keen ob- 
 servers had remarked that when they were brought to- 
 gether upon the same platform, a jarring lack of harmony 
 was perceptible in the proceedings. Thus, when Miss 
 Sophia would relate " with due reservations, necessitated 
 by political exigency," as she explained the circumstances 
 under which she had converted an illustrious personage to 
 Christianity, sister Kezia would assume an expression of 
 countenance which could hardly be called confirmatory of 
 that interesting narrative. And when the younger lady 
 told how she had once marshaled a host of promising 
 pupils, " daughters of the aristocracy," and marched them 
 into Yedo Bay, to be baptized in a body, sister Sophia was 
 heard to whisper to those around her that the children cer- 
 tainly underwent the immersion described, but did so in 
 the conviction that they were simply to be taught swimming 
 in foreign style. When privately questioned as to these 
 disagreements, Miss Sophia would declare, with a compas- 
 sionate smile, that, notwithstanding her admitted seniority 
 of age, it had been happily granted that her memory, at 
 least, had never suffered from the strain of mental exertion 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 271 
 
 to which she had, for years, been subjected; and Miss 
 Kezia would intimate that one of her chief sources of con- 
 tent was the reflection that a protracted sojourn in a land 
 renowned for the romantic inventiveness of its people had 
 not tended to an abnormal development of her purely im- 
 aginative faculties, however it might have affected others. 
 Wherefore, although it was acknowledged, by the commu- 
 nity they adorned, that the awakening stimulus of their 
 recitals was too valuable to be sacrificed, arrangements 
 were made by which they might, for the future, revolve in 
 different orbits. 
 
 And Doctor Charwell ? There has been little enough in 
 his life to interest any reader, during the eight or nine years 
 since the occurrences hereinbefore related. I dare say he 
 is credited by his neighbors with an abundance of the mo- 
 rose eccentricity which distinguishes most foreigners who 
 grow old in the service of an adopted country, and I am 
 bound to admit that he makes few exertions to secure a 
 more favorable verdict, either from aliens or from the 
 people among whom he has cast his lot. I may mention 
 that he undertook, last summer, not without misgivings, an 
 excursion to a certain popular watering-place, a favorite 
 resort of his, a dozen years ago. But the place had lost its 
 old attraction. The streams sparkled less brightly; the 
 bloom of the gardens was dim; the songs of the forest birds 
 and insects failed to charm again. It was not a successful 
 expedition, and it will never be repeated. I must confess 
 that, as the days go by, the doctor does little to dispel the 
 gloom which, as he very well knows, is said to be gather- 
 ing mistily about him. He cares for no companionship, 
 except that of an aged cat, which he cherishes with much 
 consideration, although the creature has long outlived all 
 possible usefulness; and he consorts with none of his own 
 species, unless it may be, upon odd occasions, with an un- 
 couth and crusty old carpenter, who plies his trade of boat- 
 builder near Yokoami, on the Sumida river. For the rest, 
 
272 YONE SANTO : 
 
 his sole habit of recreation, if so it can be called, is 
 as lugubrious as the character attributed to him. At 
 frequent intervals he walks out to Uyeno, the city's 
 gayest pleasure park, not to seek diversion in its noble 
 avenues and shining lawns, but to wander among the 
 graves of Tenno-ji, an adjoining cemetery. One of these, 
 noted for its constant adornment of flowers at all seasons 
 of the year, is said to be the object of his chief attention, 
 though as regards the cause of his interest reports are un- 
 certain. Time runs swiftly, for foreigners, in these islands 
 of the Eastern sea, and the periods of their residence are, 
 in most cases, so brief as to allow no extensive range of 
 memory; and, as the modest burial-plot contains no stone 
 or tablet to assist investigation, it is an unsettled ques- 
 tion whether the ground is tenanted or vacant. As nearly 
 as I can ascertain, the general opinion is that the doctor, 
 who makes no secret of his intention never to leave the soil 
 of Japan, has chosen this as his last tenement, and takes 
 the same morbid pleasure in keeping it well prepared for 
 occupation that is enjoyed by many philosophers who, 
 in the prime of life, choose to surround themselves with 
 coffins, skeletons, and other emblems of mortality. How 
 far this surmise is correct few can learn with exactness, 
 during his life, for he encourages no communication on the 
 subject. That it will eventually prove well founded, to a 
 certain extent, there is no doubt; for, whether his time for 
 everlasting sleep comes soon or late, his resting-place will 
 surely be by the side of the child whom he loved better 
 than any other being in all the world. 
 
 THE END. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN, 273 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 THE story is ended; but upon certain questions con- 
 nected with the yet unacknowledged claims of the Japanese 
 people to confidence and support from Western communi- 
 ties, the author desires to append a few observations for 
 perusal let us say for private and confidential perusal 
 by those readers to whom he has succeeded in im- 
 parting his own undisguised convictions. Others may 
 likewise accompany him, if they choose; they shall be 
 heartily welcome. Let it be understood, however, that 
 they do so of their own free will. They are no more 
 under compulsion than was the knightly hero of Gadshill 
 in his most independent mood. 
 
 In a memorable letter to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
 George Eliot, referring to a conspicuous vice of her coun- 
 trymen, uses these words: " Toward all Oriental peoples 
 with whom we English come in contact, a spirit of arro- 
 gance and contemptuous di-ctatorialness is observable, 
 which has become a national disgrace to us." Directing 
 her critical outlook to a broader field, she adds: " There 
 is nothing I should care more to do, if y were possible, than 
 to arouse the imagination of men and women to a vision of 
 human claims in those races of their fellow-men who most 
 differ from them in customs and beliefs." 
 
 " If it were possible ! " 
 
 The difficulty of the task was strikingly shown in the 
 futility of the eminent Englishwoman's effort on behalf of 
 a race which is in no true sense alien to the civilization of 
 
274 YONE SANTO: 
 
 Europe and America. From her admitted and, by herself, 
 anticipated failure it may be judged how infinitely laborious 
 is the work of those who struggle to secure the slightest 
 semblance of justice for races obviously alien. If any 
 doubt in this matter were imagined to exist, it could 
 speedily be dissipated by the testimony of those who, dur- 
 ing the past score of years, have striven to protect the fore- 
 most of Asiatic nations from the consequences of injurious 
 foreign association. One country alone has vouchsafed 
 these advocates even a partial hearing. Official influences 
 have steadily opposed them, and powerful interests have 
 united to counteract their endeavors. In no part of Eu- 
 rope is it generally recognized that a highly intelligent and 
 progressive Eastern empire is held in subservience, and de- 
 prived of its inherent rights, by sheer force unjustly and 
 cruelly exercised. The circumstances are known to many, 
 but parliaments refuse to deal with them, and the press ex- 
 cludes them from discussion. Japan is thousands of miles 
 away, her afflictions are beyond the range of enlightened 
 sympathy, and the amourpropre of sensitive constituencies, 
 must not be wounded by disclosures of the misdeeds of 
 their representatives in distant Asia. Englishmen must 
 not be told how two of their diplomatic agents* succes- 
 sively forced war upon a people guiltless of offense by 
 any law of nations, for no purpose but to beat into them a 
 conviction of physical inferiority and helplessness to with- 
 stand spoliation. They must not learn how a third envoy, f 
 by fraudulent and mendacious proclamations, helped his 
 countrymen to fill their pockets with stolen money; in- 
 trigued, in shameless violation of treaties, to promote the 
 infamous opium traffic; and instigated a weak-minded and 
 inexperienced German plenipotentiary]; to break down the 
 barriers of quarantine at a perilous crisis, and expose avast 
 
 * Lieutenant-Colonel Neale and Sir Rutherford Alcock. 
 
 f Sir Harry Smith Parks. 
 
 ^Captain Eisendecher; afterward German Minister at Washington. 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 275 
 
 population to the ravages of cholera. France, Germany, 
 and the other continental states must be kept in ignorance 
 of all the abominations which their emissaries have perpe- 
 trated or abetted. It is a far cry from the Pacific Ocean to 
 the capitals of modern civilization, and the voices of those 
 who call for retribution can always be over borne by political 
 and commercial clamor. 
 
 Still, the labor of Japan's adherents has not been wholly 
 fruitless. Public conscience in the United States has been 
 faintly touched, and the government no longer finds enjoy- 
 ment in playing the role of a greedy bully, tormenting and 
 plundering a feeble child. The promise of upright inter- 
 course for the future has not yet been given, but a degree of 
 atonement has been offered for offenses in the past. One 
 envoy has been recalled for failing to remember that all 
 the privileges of the Japanese were not extinguished by 
 the treacherous treaties they were compelled to sign. 
 America's share of the money wrung from an impoverished 
 treasury by threats of wholesale slaughter has been in good 
 measure restored, and the partnership which compelled this 
 country to cooperate in all the perfidious acts devised by 
 hostile heads of legations has been annulled. The early 
 policy of Great Britain is now modified, although no open 
 acknowledgment of previous error is vouchsafed. The 
 ruffian who was empowered for fifteen years to harass and 
 humiliate an unresisting people was withdrawn from his 
 field of activity before the close of his unprincipled career, 
 and his successors were given to understand that the 
 aggressive attitude maintained by him should be forever 
 abandoned. It is true that the European governments 
 show no disposition to release Japan from political bond- 
 age, but there is little likelihood of the repetition of such 
 appalling enormities as were once committed under Ger- 
 man warrant and with the sanction of the entire body of 
 allies, America alone excepted. It is improbable that any 
 minister will hereafter take upon himself the awful respon- 
 
276 YONE SANTO: 
 
 sibility of scattering destruction broadcast, on the soil of 
 Japan, either by fire and the sword or by the deadly 
 plague. 
 
 But the fact remains that every individual who lifts his 
 voice in rebuke of hardships or indignities inflicted upon 
 this much enduring country has to reckon upon organized 
 antagonism from innumerable sources. Sometimes the 
 obstacles he encounters are formidable and disheartening, 
 requiring sturdy courage and inexhaustible patience to 
 overcome them. Sometimes they take a form so prepos- 
 terous as to place them outside the category of- serious 
 demonstrations, and to render them conspicuous mainly 
 as examples of ludicrous and fantastic spite. The latter, 
 it may be fairly admitted, are often none the less vexa- 
 tious for having about them a flavor of unconscious gro- 
 tesqueness. It has been the fortune of the writer of 
 these pages to undergo almost every variety of annoy- 
 ance, in the course of his attempts to represent the 
 veritable conditions of Japanese life and society, and he is 
 by no means sure that the strongest combinations of official 
 and mercantile hostility are n.ot more easily confronted than 
 the subtler and craftier operations of a class whose capacity 
 for warfare is as yet imperfectly appreciated. The ability 
 of this class to conduct an aggressive campaign upon lines 
 peculiar to itself, and to make its remarkable strategy 
 effective, in unexpected ways, has been signally illustrated 
 in connection with the simple and unpretending work of 
 fiction now laid before the public. 
 
 Nothing was farther from the author's purpose than to 
 offer, in " Yone Santo," a p lemical treatise under the dis- 
 guise of romance. The leading motive was to set forth the 
 character and personality of a Japanese girl of the present 
 day, and to exhibit the social and moral conditions by which 
 she is surrounded, in case she undertakes to participate in 
 the rapid intellectual development of her people. Girls 
 thus inspired are not uncommon objects of interest in the 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 277 
 
 newly awakened empire. Only those who know the diffi- 
 culties of their position can understand how truly and 
 nobly they merit the sympathy, respect and encouragement 
 of mankind. In existing circumstances they are almost in- 
 variably thrown into contact with one or another of the 
 missionary systems that have been planted in the far East. 
 To exclude missionaries from the career of the Japanese 
 girl student would be to disregard an influence from which, 
 in the large cities, she rarely escapes, at this period of the 
 nation's advancement. In the tale just concluded, the 
 heroine is temporarily subjected to the control of American 
 protestant teachers, with results that fail to be deeply inju- 
 rious only because she is protected from evil by the lofti- 
 ness and purity of her nature. The missionary episodes, 
 however, are merely incidental to the narrative. No theo- 
 logical topics are introduced or discussed, at any point. 
 The religious aspect of the relations between pupils and 
 instructors is lightly touched, if at all. It scarcely needs to 
 be said that the persons represented are wholly imaginary. 
 Nothing approaching an actual portraiture has been 
 attempted. 
 
 The story originally appeared in a magazine which is 
 held to represent the largest liberality of thought and free- 
 dom of expression. The opening chapters were printed in 
 January, 1888. In March, three months later, the proprie- 
 tors of the periodical signified their desire to undertake the 
 publication of the completed work, after its termination as 
 a serial. This arrangement was not in accordance with the 
 author's first intention, but he was naturally gratified at the 
 apparent mark of confidence and approval, and he cordially 
 assented. If any incident of the transaction merits atten- 
 tion, it is that the proposal to issue the book proceeded 
 from the distinguished firm of publishers, and was neither 
 solicited nor looked for by the author. A contract in the 
 usual form was signed, the requisite business preliminaries 
 were adjusted, and the labor of preparation went forward 
 
2;S YONE SANTO: 
 
 undisturbed until the end of May, when indications of dis- 
 quietude and doubt began to be visible. The missionary 
 body had declared its dissatisfaction with the novel, and its 
 discontent with all parties concerned in the production. 
 Signs of displeasure had, indeed, been manifest from the 
 beginning, in communications which, if they should ever 
 see the light, would leave little room for debate as to the 
 absurdity and audacity of missionary pretensions. But for 
 their earnestness and intensity of tone, they might have 
 been mistaken for elaborate caricatures of the overstrained 
 and artificial diction affected by all grades of fanatical 
 extremists. Simultaneously, a flood of denunciation and 
 invective, mostly anonymous, was let loose upon the author. 
 In language implying a closer familiarity with the vitu- 
 perative rhetoric of melodrama, or the realistic phraseology 
 of modern French literature, than is commonly credited to 
 professors of religion, the delineator of Eastern mission- 
 ary methods was menaced with judgments as wildly fero- 
 cious as the nightmare ecstasies of Dante's visions. Nor 
 was he to escape punishment of corresponding severity 
 during his earthly span. His name was to be made execra- 
 ble, and his reputation blasted, by the organs of the church, 
 in appropriate chastisement for his impiety, and as a salu- 
 tary warning to all who should contemplate following in his 
 footsteps. 
 
 That these extravagant vaporings could be solidified into 
 tangible substance seemed repugnant to common sense. 
 Nevertheless, their effect upon the publishers in question 
 was practical and decisive. The angry protests presently 
 began to be charged with a threatening significance that 
 could not be overlooked by business experience, and con- 
 sultations were held by the members of the firm, to consider 
 what steps should be taken to appease the dangerous ran- 
 cor of the missionary defenders. The process of intimida- 
 tion by personal assault upon the author had been inaugu- 
 rated in a leading New York newspaper, and the outlook 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 279 
 
 was evidently more disagreeable than could have been 
 imagined when the proposal to issue the volume was ten- 
 dered. But the problem of reconciling these suddenly 
 awakened anxieties with the stipulations of a legal contract 
 was an awkward one to solve. The situation was not 
 without embarrassment to men of honor and integrity. 
 The articles of agreement, drawn by themselves, at their 
 own request, had been exchanged a month before, and their 
 good faith was pledged for the fulfilment thereof. On the 
 other hand, it could not be expedient for them to incur the 
 lasting resentment of one of the most potent and far- 
 reaching of American corporations. By repudiating the 
 compact outright, they might win the favor of the organiza- 
 tion, but this was a measure which no amount of deliber- 
 ation could place in an attractive light. The claims of a 
 single inconspicuous author might, indeed, be dismissed 
 without compunction; but the character of the house for rig- 
 orously honest dealing could not be so lightly tossed aside. 
 After a careful examination of the various aspects of the 
 case, it was, however, decided that the weaker should go to 
 the wall. Having adopted this conclusion, the pub- 
 lishers notified the author that, while they were not opposed 
 to the condemnation of " individual missionaries," they 
 were reluctant to become the medium for an attack upon 
 " the whole class;" and they urged a revision to the extent 
 of removing that objection. The proposition was received 
 with a surprise that will be comprehended when it is 
 remembered that the story has nothing to do with the 
 "whole class" of missionaries, its field being confined to a 
 limited district in one of the smallest of Oriental countries, 
 and its incidents including the actions of only a minority 
 of the religious delegates there settled. But the author 
 was keenly sensible of the courtesy shown him by the pub- 
 lishers, up to this time, and would have made any reasona- 
 ble sacrifice to arrive at a satisfactory accommodation. He 
 pointed out the absence of allusions to missionaries in any 
 
280 YONE SANTO: 
 
 part of the world, except a section of Japan, and drew 
 attention to the facts that no representatives of the Roman 
 Catholic, Greek, or English churches were spoken of; that 
 the branch of medical missionaries was especially exempted 
 from criticism; and that the alleged " whole class " conse- 
 quently narrowed itself to a minute group stationed at a 
 particular spot during a brief specified time. He suggested 
 that the attempt to identify this contracted circle with the 
 entire body might be the device of parties whose interest 
 or inclination it was to make the vast system responsible 
 for all conceivable irregularities of each separate member. 
 Still, since he had not designed to open the missionary 
 question in a broad or general sense, he professed his will- 
 ingness to alter or expunge any portion of the book that 
 could be interpreted as an assault upon the " whole class " 
 or any subdivision of the " whole class," outside of the ter- 
 ritory of Japan. 
 
 The correspondence which ensued showed the mistake 
 into which he had fallen. It was no longer possible to sup- 
 pose that anything in the shape of a compromise was 
 really desired. What the publishers aimed at was to rid 
 themselves of the requirement to 'produce the volume upon 
 any conditions. They reiterated the groundless allegation 
 that the whole missionary body was assailed, omitting, 
 however, to offer anything resembling a specification, and 
 proceeded to formulate demands which could not for a 
 moment be admitted to consideration, and probably were 
 not intended to be. There was no escape from the convic- 
 tion that they had succumbed to a pressure which, over- 
 stepping the boundaries of remonstrance, had finally hard- 
 ened itself into virtual prohibition. The American mis- 
 sionaries had resolved that the story should not be circulated 
 in book form, if they could prevent it. The Boston pub- 
 lishers saw no course open to them but to submit, even at 
 the cost of disavowing the document by which they were 
 bound. That they hesitated before committing themselves 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 281 
 
 to this determination is not to be wondered at. It is an 
 ugly thing to break a contract, even when there is no like- 
 lihood of being held to legal account for the violation of 
 faith; and it can scarcely have been with enviable feelings 
 that these gentlemen brought the negotiations to a close by 
 informing the author, in plain and unmistakable terms, 
 that it would not be to his " interest " for them to pro- 
 duce the book. In the face of this announcement, fur- 
 ther persistence would have been a waste of time and 
 energy. The duplicate articles of agreement were annulled, 
 the publishers' copy receiving, at their hands, a culminating 
 embellishment in the sardonic inscription " cancelled by 
 mutual consent; " than which nothing could more neatly 
 and harmoniously crown the now completed structure of 
 evasion and pretence. 
 
 The importance of these details would be infinitesimal if 
 their personal bearing alone were to be considered. It is 
 possible, however, that, as a disclosure of extraordinary 
 authority assumed and exerted by a combination of perse- 
 vering men, the recital may receive attention from those 
 who cherish the illusion that impediments to absolute free- 
 dom of speech do not exist in this part of the world. The 
 missionary body certainly found means to impose their will 
 upon one great publishing firm, and there are reasons for 
 believing that their censorial decree would have been 
 operative upon others, and the extinction of the novel 
 secured, but for the intercession of friends who brought it 
 to the notice of a house in whose transactions the words 
 " liberality," " courage " and " independence " have a defi- 
 nite meaning. Far be it from the author to assert that 
 there are not many of the kind; but circumstances which 
 need not be obtruded on the public disabled him from 
 making search for them, and he is gratefully conscious that 
 to the impulse of fair play, aroused in the first instance by 
 the demonstrations of the missionary fraternity, he owes 
 the rescue of his book, by Messrs. Belford, Clarke & Co., 
 
282 YONE SANTO: 
 
 from the oblivion to which the members of that fraternity, 
 and their instruments, would have condemned it. 
 
 A word upon the general subject of missionary move- 
 ments in Japan may not be out of place. Political danger 
 from this source has not yet been seriously apprehended by 
 those who are watchful for the empire's future welfare, 
 although the proceedings of the Greek Church have at 
 times excited anxiety, that establishment constituting a 
 strong element of Russian domination. The evils intro- 
 duced by the religious colonists, especially those from 
 America, are rather of a social character. If the operations 
 of these emissaries were not restricted to a very limited 
 class, and if they were not largely counteracted by the 
 acuteness of those to whom they are applied, the effect 
 would often be deplorable. As it is, the influence is so 
 narrowly exerted that only a fragment of the population can 
 be affected by it. After laboring a score of years, with 
 every advantage and facility accorded them, the Americans 
 can point to but a few thousand proselytes, even according 
 to their own reckoning, the accuracy of which is not satis- 
 factorily established.* It is a fact of no little significance 
 that the adherents of the Roman and Greek Churches out- 
 number the disciples of Protestantism to an extent indicat- 
 ing great inferiority of system on the part of the propagand- 
 ists of the latter creed. If the financial agents of the 
 several United States Boards could be persuaded to publish 
 the authentic and certified cost of conversion, per head, the 
 disclosure would be so startling as probably to completely 
 revolutionize the existing organizations, at least so far as 
 
 * It is difficult to discover, from the various reports of American 
 missionary bodies, the precise number of converts claimed by them. 
 However liberally calculated, the total cannot be considered to exceed 
 five or six thousand, basing the computation upon their own records. 
 Mr. W. E. Griffis has, indeed, given a somewhat higher estimate; but 
 this gentleman's recent publications have so discredited him as an 
 authority upon current Japanese political and social questions, that no 
 unsupported assertion of his can be safely accepted. 
 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAA r . 283 
 
 Japan is concerned. But this they will never do. They 
 know too well that such a revelation would shatter the 
 foundations of their comfortable fabric, and put an end to 
 the blind credulity by which they have so long profited. 
 
 Without discussing the methods of administration in 
 other parts of the world, it is undeniable that in Japan a 
 complete indifference to the needs of the situation is dis- 
 played. That the average native standard of intelligence 
 is higher than that of the religious teachers sent from this 
 country, few will dispute, except, perhaps, the delegates 
 themselves. It is the grossest of absurdities to deal with a ^ 
 sagacious, quick-witted and keenly perceptive people as if 
 they were a race of sodden barbarians. Men and women 
 are deputed to the wide-awake eastern extremity of Asia 
 whose more appropriate field would be the interior of 
 Africa, if, indeed, they could be useful anywhere. Un- 
 doubtedly there are exceptions, but the majority are in 
 no reasonable sense qualified for the delicate task of 
 engrafting the civilization of the West upon the ancient 
 Oriental stock. Such is the clumsiness and ineptitude of 
 their processes that they would be rejected altogether, 
 were it not that a certain number of the Japanese youth, 
 hungry for knowledge, can find no opportunities of study 
 but those offered in the foreign seminaries. The minds of 
 many of these are subjected to courses of training more 
 or less baneful, according to their faculty of discrimination 
 and resistance. As applied to girls, these courses are fre- 
 quently calculated to uproot the principles upon which 
 their moral security depends, without providing any trust- 
 worthy substitute. The neophytes are expected to accept, 
 with humility and thankfulness, the utterly false theory 
 that they are born with inordinate propensities to vice, 
 which can be eradicated only by an unconditional adop- 
 tion of the Christian faith; and a distinguishing feature of 
 the Christian faith, as inculcated by American professors, 
 is its fanatical enmity to the domestic sentiment and con- 
 
284 YONE SANTO: 
 
 viction of the land. Devotion to parents and reverence for 
 ancestors are the foundations upon which Japanese morality 
 has always rested. To weaken them is to deprive society 
 of its only sure safeguards. Yet it is the business of mis- 
 sionaries to declare the worthlessness of family ties, as 
 compared with the obligations of the new religion, and to 
 consign to spiritual perdition all who have lived in the 
 past. The same authority that commissions them to con- 
 fer grace upon the few who submit to their teaching also 
 requires them to proclaim unqualified damnation to the 
 countless dead. 
 
 The Japanese rulers are well aware that the assumption 
 of Christianity, as a state religion, would smooth away 
 many of their international complications. It is a scandal 
 to the enlightenment of the nineteenth century that the rec- 
 ognition of a nation's inherent rights should be more or 
 less dependent upon a mere formal declaration of faith, but 
 such is the fact, and the imperial government is in duty 
 bound to take advantage of it. At any time we may expect 
 to hear that Japan has become a Christian country, pre- 
 cisely as she has adopted the Gregorian calendar and other 
 western institutions, in order to facilitate her admission to 
 the circle of independent sovereign states. Do the mission- 
 aries regard this prospect with satisfaction ? By no means. 
 Perpetual paganism is preferable, in their estimation, to 
 any form of Christianity not prescribed and regulated by 
 their body. No church is worth a farthing that is not 
 . built upon their particular fragment of rock, and fash- 
 ioned according to their models. Let the whole forty 
 millions of people worship false gods, or no gods at all, 
 to all eternity, they say, rather than embrace an " infe- 
 rior " type of theology. Inferior to what ? The leaders 
 of Japanese intelligence will be slow to admit that 
 any variety of creed can be inferior, for their pur- 
 pose, to one which repudiates what is best in their 
 social system, and affords encouragement to that which 
 
A CHILD OF JAPAN. 285 
 
 most disfigures it; which commands its subscribers 
 to renounce the tender and sacred bonds of kindred and 
 ancestry, and to accept as an infallible guide a book that n 
 sanctions and glorifies vices which the native morality is 
 doing its best to eradicate.* When the government decides 
 upon this important step, it may be trusted to devise some 
 simple and rational scheme, congenial to the instincts of 
 the populace, consistent with its needs, unsullied by obso- 
 lete superstitions, free from the degrading contaminations 
 of the Old Testament, and based upon a higher and purer 
 humanity than that which the brotherhood of American 
 missionaries looks to as the source of its official inspiration. 
 
 * In a pamphlet recently issued by the American Board of Commis- 
 sioners for Foreign Missions it is stated that the whole of the Old 
 Testament has been printed in a dialect familiar to Japanese scholars, 
 and that two-thirds of the same compilation are circulated in the lan- 
 guage of the common people, 
 
 . 
 
BELFORD'S 
 MHGHZINE. 
 
 DONN PIATT, EDITOR. 
 
 Washington, D. C. July 16, 1888. 
 
 We have examined BELFORDS MAGAZINE; find that in its 
 political tone and contents it is distinctly and thoroughly demo- 
 cratic; of high literary merit, and we take pleasure in commending 
 it to all who want a fair, able and fearless exponent of sound 
 principles, combined with the literature of a first-class Magazine. 
 
 ^DON M. DICKINSON, P. M. Genl. 
 
 A. E. STEVENSON, 1st Asst. P. M. G. 
 ELI SAULSBURY, U. S. S. 
 
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 JOHN E. HUTTON, M. C. 
 H W. RUSK, M. C. 
 THOMAS E. POWELL 
 
 BELFORD'S MONTHLY is a first-class medium for advertising, 
 as the publishers guarantee a bona-fide circulation of at least 70,000 
 copies per month. 
 
 Prices, $2.50 a year, or 25 cents per number. 
 
 BELFORD, CLARKE & CO., Publishers 
 
 CHICAGO. NEW YORK. SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 A. H. GARLAND, Attorney General. 
 JOHN M. BLACK, Com. of Pensions. 
 D. W. VOORHEES, U. S. S. 
 JAMES B. BECK, U. S. S. 
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 JOHN W. DANIEL, U. S. S 
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 JAS. Z. GEORGE, U. S. S. 
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 HENRY GEORGE. 
 

 
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