The evening world. Newspaper, September 26, 1922, Page 24

‘ t we — prayers to the temples of these yellow devils, I myself have seen her clap her hands—so!—and pray. She ts THE CHARACTERS IN THE STORY. THE HONORABLE GEOFFREY BARRINGTON, son of Lord Brandan, a Captain in the British Army, resigns his commission when he weds 4ASAKO FUJINAMI, heiress, daughter of Japanese parents, who are dead, Her saints have left her, “brought up and educated in French convent schools and introduced to bew!tched London society by Titine wo@ a Breton peasant girl. LADY EVERINGTON, a brilliant matchmaker, who did not foresee the result She belleved tmpheity in the powers of the bringing together of *he two. At the reception toasts are drunk to the! °f [Leblthinn She had long ago de- closer union of Britain and Japan, but both British and Japanese diplomats “ited that the gods of the Japanese in the distinguished coipany evade the suggestion that the couple visit %4 the korrigans of Vithata bak Japan, as appears to be their desire. Some of the receptic.a guests frankly “® intimately bites P he hat question the wisdom of the marriage and doubt the possibility of a happy served Asako are ‘* Ore. iia Leah life for the pair, Lady Everington, in her anxiety for the young Captain, "@s® and would have remained wit who has been her special protege, interviews her unt!! death. She was desper- COUNT SAITO, the Japanese Ambassador, who tells her the Fujinamis belong “tly faithful. But she could not to the nouveaux riches ot Japan, but gives little information of their origin flow her mistress to the Fujinam! or the source of their wealth. A visit to his wife's guardians, the Muratas, Pouse and risk her soul's salvation. a Japanese family living in Paris, and a sojourn among the cosmopolitans Monsicur le capitaine go hebehor dl one of Deauville sharpen the desire to see Japan. Aboard the ship they meet ™@’ame very, vee unhappy. Every VISCOUNT KAMIMURA, returning home to wed a bride chosen by his family, ™8ht she ery. Why be monsieyr whom he has never seen, A stop at Nagasaki is the first sight of real *t@y ®way 5° long time? . Japan. A part of the revelation is the Chonkina, or Geisha dance, seen by “It was sil a fortnight,” expos- Barrington in company with two English acquaintances. Barrington is tulated Geoffrey, shocked by the performance. He is disturbed to learn from the talk of For the firat Par Ing it Americans and Englishmen that marriages with Japanese women are not Ms." sald Tithe judicially, was too “Every Aivoribiy’ tegitded night madame cry; and then she eect ; to monsleur and say, ‘Come Barringtons, follows Wite to monsieur an TANAKA, a nondescript Japanese, attaches himself to, the g backs Mousieurcwrite audi wie) INGE them everywhere and accompanies them to Tokyo, where Geoffrey meets Fi REGGIE FORSYTH, Attache of the British Embassy, musical and romantic, ¥¢ Then madame break her heart ‘ y, It is bec shaking off old attachments in Paris for a new one in Japan, the novelty 29¢ #ay. bare hag aE ae woman that he stay away so long !' She s > to T + and YAE SMITH, daughter of a .apanese mother and an English father. Bar- ina pi i a ae pe rington meets Miss’ Smith, who st..okes and languishes in Forsyth’s apart- ane se web : mee ial ikaasaey ren ments at the Embassy. warrington, from a talk with Benes ‘Yom; Tankia hae go: NS, ‘vil iti s , learns of Yae's : prev ah: : LADY CYNTHIA CAIRNS, -vife of the British Ambassador T UHLN co: Gaon many—some fatal—love affairs and of the Embassy's disapproval of For- syth’s engagement to the young woman. ITO, lawyer for the Fujinami estate, who has made regular remittances to Mrs. Barrington, arranges for her and her husband to meet the Fu- jinamis of Tokyo. The entertainments fail to impress Barrington, to whom Japanese family customs -eem odd and contradictory. A family business conference discloses the fact that the Fujinami income is derived from the Geisha house privileges in Tokyo and elsewhere. At the same conference Asako's marriage to Barrington is discussed, the decision being that she should be married to a Japanese, the matter of divorce being easy. Under the tutelage of her cousin, ASAKO, Barrington’s bride, begins to learn something of Japanese family cue toms and hear about her father and mother, the one a poet, the other a delicate, clinging little woman, who died when Asako was born. Barrington and Yae Smith are Forsyth's guests at Kamakura. They leave a dance to watch the Japanese peasants on the beach. Yae flirts with Geoffrey, who carries her back to Forsyth’s house in his arms. They have been seen by Tanaka. Asako learns from her cousin that childlessness is cause for divorce in Japan. She spends much time in the Fujinami household. Forsyth surprises Geoffrey and Yae Smith in his own rooms. Geoffrey declares his innocence; the girl accuses him, and in a violent tirade gives Barrington his first knowledge of the source of his wife's income. CHAPTER XX. The Kimono. Na wo to wa wo Hito 20 saku naru. Ide, wagimi! Hito no naka-goto Kiki-kosu na yume! + it 4s other people who have separated still more she cry and cry, This of human sympathy tn his trouble. By sheer bad luck he had forfeited Reggie's friendship. But he could Still depend upon his wife's love. So he ran up the stairs at the Im- peria! Hotel longing yor Asako's wel- come, though he dreaded the obliga- ton to break the bad news apa allay He threw open the door. The room ene Wy tc. was empty. He looked for cloaks Do not dream of listening and hats and curlos, for luggage, for To the between-words of people! any sign of her presence. Thefe was FTER a ghastly nothing to indicate that the room night of sleep- was hers. lessness at Nik- Sick with apprehension, he re- ko, GeoffreyBar- rington reached Tokio in time for lunch. His thoughts were confused and discordant. “T feel as it I had been drunk for a week," he turned to the corridor. boy san near at hand, “Okusan go away," said the boy san, “No cons back, I think." Where has she gone?" Geoffrey. The boy san, with the. tnfuriatiny Japanese grin, shook his head. “Iam yery sorry for you," he said. morn “To-day There was a asked very early Tanaka came yery early plenty people back with Mademoiselle Smith and se | Kept on saying come, Tanaka San and two Japanese mademoiseile fa couaine.’ ‘They all to himself. In- girls, Very plenty talk. Okusnn cry talk a long time with madame in doed, he felt a fume of unreality over tedrs. Ail nice kimono take away bedroom, But they send me away. all: his actions. very quick." “Then m re call me. She cry One thing was certain, Financially “way oy sanaka, where is het” end cry, ‘Titine, she say, ‘I go away. Beres.® ruined man. “The thousands 4c, away with Okusan,"’ the boy Monslour do not love me now. 1 go a year which yesterday morning had been practically his, the ease and comfort which had seemed so secure, were lost more hopelessly than if his hank had fa‘led. Even the cash in his pocket he touched with the great- est disgust, as if thos» identical bills to the Japanes th ngs, Titine.' never, devil’ house. Pack all my I say, ‘No, madame, I never go to that house of How madame tell the good confessor? How can.madame go to the Holy Mass? Will madame srinned again, “I am very sorry Geoffrey slammed the door in face of his tormentor. into a chair and blankly. the He staggercd collapsed, What could have happened? ean staring Slowly his ideas returned. Tanaka! ané coins had been paid across the He had scen the little beast In Yae's people who pray to stone bedsts? brothel counter as the price for a Motor car at Chuzenji, He must wait for monsieur!' I say, ‘What man’s dirty pleasures and a girl's have come spying after his master Tanaka say, it is les, all the time shame and disease, He imagined that ®# he had done fifty times before. He jjes, What Mademoisel'e Smith say the Nikko hotclkecper looked at his "4 that half-caste devil had raced a1] ies." But madame say, ‘No come motes suspiciously as though they him back to Tokio, had got in ahead with me, Titi i But | say again, were endorsed with the seal of the of him, and had told a pack of lies ‘Never!’ And madame go away, cry- bia leave her husband and go to these COPYRIGHT, Tto, the lawyer. To his surprise and disgust, his wife was dressed in the Japanese kimono and obi which had once been so pleasing to his eyes. Har change of nationality seemed to be already complete, This was an Asako whom he had never known before. Her eyes were Mnged with weeping and her face was thin and haggard. But her expression had a new look of resolution, She was no longer a child, a doll. In the space of a few hours she had grown to be a woman. They were all standing. Sadako and the lawyer had formed up behiad the runaway as though to give hex ‘moral support “Asako,"" sald Geoffrey sternly, “what does this mean?"* The presence of the two Japanese exasperated him. His manner was tactless and unfortunate. His tall sta- ture in the dainty room looked coarse and brutal. Sadako and Ito were star Ing at his offending boots with an ex- pression of 1 denly ter horror, Geoffrey sud- remembered that he ought to taken them off. ‘Oh, damn," he thought. * Geoffrey," sald his wife, come back. I am sorry. cided to stay here."* “Why?! asked Geoffrey brusquely “Because I know that you do not love me. I think you never loved any- thing except my money The hideous irony of this statement “T can't I have de- made poor Geoffrey gasp. He gripped the wooden framework of the so as to steady himself “Good God!" “Your money! Do you know where it comes from ?"* Asako stared at him, more and more bewildered room “Send these people out of the room and I'll tell you," said Geoffrey “I would rather they stayed," his wife answered, It had been arranged beforehand that if Geoffrey to be left alone with him led, Asako was not She had been made to believe that she was In danger of physical violence. terribly frightened. “Very well," Geoffrey blundered on, “every penny you have is made out of prostitution, out of the sale of women to men. You saw the Yoshiwara, you She was Yoshiwara. to Asako, She must have believed ing all the time: and sixteen rickshaw Saw the poor women imprisoned there, Geoffrey was ruined, He was ‘em, sines she had gone away. Gut all full of baggage. Oh, monsicur te YOU pene ee arnaeD Lead henceforth dependent on what his Where had she gone to? The boy san capitaine, what shall I do?" and say, ‘I want that girl,’ and she Drain could earn and on what his Mad said “two Japanese girls.” She “I'm sure I don't know," sald the has to give herself up to be kissed father would allow him, five hundrea ™USt have gone to the Fujinami helpless Geoffrey and puiled about by him, even if she ounde a year at the outside, If he MOUSE: end to her horribly unclean «seng me back to France, mon- hates him and loathes him. Well, all had been alone in the world tt would SoUsins: sieur, This country is full of devils, ae ree Heian eectere) ne Mot have mattered much; but Asako, He must find her at once. He must devils and lies." belongs to thee Fujinami and to you poor little Asako, the innocent cause Pen her eyes to the truth, He must Ho left her sobbing in the hall uf That is why they are ¢o rich, Of this disaster, she was ruined too, bring her back. He must take her the hotel with a cluster of boy sans that is why we have been so rich. If he who loved her riches, her jew- ®W#y from Japan—forever, watching her. elry, her pretty things, she would Barrington was crossing the hall of — Geottrey took a taxi to the Fusinami have to sell them all. She would have the hotel muttering to himself, seeing jouse, No one answered his ringing to-follow him into poverty, she, who Pothing, hearing nothing, when he pu: he thought that he could hear fad no experience of its meaning, felt @ hand laid on his arm. It was yoices inside the building. So he This was his punishment, perhaps, Titine, Asako's French maid for, having steadily pursued the idea strode in, unannounced, and with } “Monsieur te et, capitaine,”’ an uns farich marriage. Bat what had “madame est partic. It tm against Japanese efiau Asako done to deserve it? Thank fault, monsieur le capitaine. 1 Ak * God, his marriage had at least not madame, do not fe 8 iw ‘ heen a loveless one. steur, But inadame is bewitched, > « ved on mer occasions . Geottrey felt ited fom need who is done catholique, she says we were in Er flogged for this, serve us right, too. money is bad; and, if we are worse than criminals; of us can ever be one in the fac e could and imprise nd a keep tt ar we i neither ah der cousin Sadako was with Ler and centrate thelr attention exclusively on THE EVENING WORLD, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1922, John Pari Illustrated By Wwill.B. Johnstone. \is2e. BY GON! AND LIVERIGHT, the cards tn thelr own hands, obliv- tous to what their partners or oppo- nents may hold. Asako remaining silent, Mr. Ito began to speak. His voice seemed more squeaky than ever. “Capt. Barrington,” he said, “Tam very sorry for you. But you see now true condition of things. You must remember you are English gentleman. Mrs. Barrington wishes not to return to you. She has been told that you make misconduct with Miss Smith at Kamakura, and again at Chuzenji, Miss Smith herself says so. Mrs. Barrington thinks this story must be true; or Miss Smith do not tell so bad story about herself. We think she ts quite right"— ‘Shut up!" thundered Geoffrey. ‘phis is a matter for me and my wife alone 4 ©, leave us. My wife has heard one side of a story which is unfair and untrue, She must hear f.om me what really happened.”’ “I think, some other day, Yt would be better," Cousin Sadako intervened. Mrs. Barrington cannot She is too unhappy.’* quite true, Agakn stood ee a dummy, nelther seeing nor hearing app ly, neither asouung aor contradicting. How powerful {8 the influence of clothes! If Asako had been dressed in her Paris coat and skirt, her husband would have crossed the few mats which separated them, and would have carried her off willy- nilly, But In her kimono did she whe belong to him? Or was she a Japanese again, a Fujinami? She seemed to have been transformed by some enchunter’s spell; as Titine had said, she was bewitched. “Asako, do you mean this?” The big man’s voice was harsh with grief. “Do you mean that I am to go with- out Asako still showed no sign of com- prehension. Answer me, my darling; do you t me to go?" ; Her head moved tn assent, and he: lips answered ‘'Yes,”* ‘That whisper made such a wrench at her husband's heart that his grip tightened on the frail shofi, and with a nervous spasm he sent it clatter- ing out of {ts socket flat upon the floor of the room, like a screen blown down by the wind. Ito dashed for- urd to help Geoffrey replace the damage. Wher. they turned round again, the two women had disap- peare “Captain Barrington,"’ said Ito, "I think you had better go away. You make bad thing worse." Geoffrey frowned at the little crea- ture, He would have liked to have crushed him underfoot like a cock- roach. But as that was impossible, nothing remained for him to do but to depart, leaving the track of his dirty boots on the shining corridor. His last glimpse of his cousins’ home was of two little serving-maids scutter- ing up with dusters to remove the difilement. Asako had fainted. ‘As Reggie had said in Chuzenji, “What actually happens does not matter: it is the thought of what might have happened, which sticks." If Reggie's tolerant and experienced mind could not rid itself of the pice ture conjured up by the possibility of his friend’s treachery and his mis- 3 lightness, how ‘could Asako, nt and untried, hope to escar insistent obmess usband » focling that r lever » bev She did not realize t i pat ex which runs its appointed aft s.- course of torment and despair, which at length after a given term abates, and then disappears altogether, leav- ing the sufferer weak but whole again. ‘The second attack of the malady finds {ts victtm familar with the syrhptdms, resigned to a short period of misery and confident of recovery. A broken heart like a broken horse ts of great service to its owner. But Asako was like one stricken with an unknown disease. Its vio- lence appalled her, and in her uncer- tainty she prayed for death. More- over, she was surrounded by coun- sellors who traded on her little “ith, who kept on reminding her that she was a Japanese, that she was among her father’s people who loved her and understood her, that foreigners were notoriously treacherous to women, that they were blue-eyed and cruel- hearted, that they thought only of money and material things. Let her stay in Japan, let her make her home there. There she would always be a personage, a member of the family, Among those big, bold-voiced foreign women, she was overshadowed and out of place. If her husband left her for a half-caste, what chance had she of keeping him when once he got back among the women of his own race? Mixed marriages, in fact, were a mis- take, an offence against nature, Even if he wished to be faithful to her, he could not really care for her as he could for an Englishwoman. As soon es Geoffrey Barrington had left the house, Mr. Ito went tn search of the head of the Fujinam!, whom he found at work on the latest Iter- ary production of his tame students, ‘The Pinegrove by the Seashore. Mr. Fujinami Gentaro put his writing-box uside with a leisurely ges- “BECAUSE | KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT LOVE ME, | THINK YOU NEVER LOVED ANYTHING EX- CEPT MY MONEY." ture, for a Japanese gentleman of culture must never be in a hurry. “Indeed, it has been so noisy, com- position has become impossible,’’ he complained; ‘‘has that foreigner come to the house?” He used the uncomplimentary word “ketojin which may be literally translated ‘hairy rascal.'’ It is a survival from the time of Perry's black ships and the early days of foreign intercourse, when “‘Expel the Barburians!"" was a watchword in the country. Modern Japanese assure their foreign friends that it has fallen altogether into disuse; but such is not the case. It ts a word loaded with all the hatred, envy and contempt against foreigners of all nationalities, which still pervade considerable sections of the Japanese public. “This Barrington,” answered the lawyer, “is indeed a rough fellow, even for a foreigner. He came into the house with his boots on, unin- vited. He shouted like a coolle, and he broke the shoji. His behavior was ike that of Susa-no-O in the cham- bers of the Sun-Goddess. Perhaps he had been drinking whiskey-soda: “A disgusting thing, !s it not?'’ said the master. ‘‘At this time I am writing an {mportant chapter on the clear mirror of the soul It is troublesome to be interrupted by these quarreis of women and savages. You will have Kelichi and Goro post- ed at the door of the house. They are to refuse entrance to all foreign- ers. It must not be allowed to turr our vashiki into a battlefield.” Mr, Fujinami’s mediations that morning had been most bitter. His literary preoccupation was only & sham. There was a tempest in the political world of Japan. The Gov- ernment was tottering under the rev- elations of a corruption in high places more blatant than usual. With the fail of the Cabinet, the the Pujinamt had lavished te he Me privile noney. ‘True, ad not ye nami temilla thither at full speed to secure the new Tobita brothel concessions as & fait Fut despatciied 4 y vickshaw, should take place. The head of the house of Fujinamt, therefore, being a monarch tn a small way, had much to think of besides “the quarrels of women and savages.” Moreover, he was not quite sure of his ground with regard to Asako. To take a wife from her husband against his will, seems to the Japanese mind So flagrantly illegal a proceeding; and old Mr. Fujinami Gennosuke had warned his trreligious son most gravely against the danger of tamper- ing with the testament of Asako's father, and of provoking thereby a visitation of his “rough spirit.” CHAPTER XxXI, Sayonara (Goodby) Tomo nt narite Onaft minato wo Teuru fune no Yaku-ye mo shirazu Kogt-wakart-nurut Those ships which left The same harbour Side by Side Towards an unknown destination Have rowed away from one another! had become a -EGGIE FORSYTH, R in Chuzenji, Prey to a most crushing reac- tion. At the time of trial he had been calm and clear sighted. For a mo- ment he had experienced a sensation of relief at shaking off the shackles which Yae's fascination had fastened upon him. He had been aware ull along that she was moraily worthley He was glad to have the matter In- contestably proved. But his paradise, though an artificial one, Mad been Paradise all the same. It had nour- ished him with visions and musi Now, he had no companion except his own Irrepressible spirit fibing at als heart's infirmity. He came to the re- luctant conclusion that he must tuke Yae back again. But she must never come uguin to him on the same terma. He would take her for what she really was, a unique and charming fille-de- Jote, and he knew that she would be glad to return. Without something, somebody, some woman to interest bim, he could not face another year in this barren land. Then what about Geoffrey, his friend who had betrayed him? No, he could not regard him in such a tragic light. He was angry with Geoffrey, but not indignant. He was angry with him for being a blunderer, an elephant, for being so dasily amenable to Lady Cyn- thia's intrigues, for being so good- natured, stupid and gullible. He ar- gued that if Geoffrey had been a wick- ed seducer, a bold Don Juan, he would have excused him and would have felt more sympathy for him. He would have thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with him to a discussion of Yae's psychology. But what did an oaf like Geoffrey understand about that bun- dle of nerves and Instincts, partly primitive and partly artificial, bred out of an abnormal cross between East and West, and doomed from concep- ton to a life astray between light and darkness? He had been disillusioned about his old friend, and he wished never to see him again, “What frauds these noble natures are!’ he said to himself, “these Old Honests, these sterling souls! And as an excuse he tells me, ‘Nothing ac- tually happened!’ Disgusting! TP) nlay with Mght loves in t To ki and embrace and ref The virtue of our days is mostly impotence! Lust and passion and love and marriage! Why do our dull insular minds mix up these four entirely separate notions? And how can we jump with such goat-like agility from one circle of thought into another without ever noticing the change in the landscape?” He strolled over to the piano to put these ideas into music. Lady Cynthia had decided that it would be bad for him to stop in Chuzenifi. Mountain scenery ts de- moralizing for a nature so Byronto. He was forthwith dispatched to Tokio to represent his Embassy at a Hequiem Mass to be celebrated for the souls of an Austrian Archduke and his wife, who had recently been assassinated by a Serbian fanatic somewhere in Boenia. Reggie was furious at having to undertake this mission, For the mountains were soothing to him, and he was not yet ready for encounters. When he ar- rived in Tokio, he was in a very bad temper. Asako had heard from Tanaka that Reggie Forsyth was expected at the Embassy. That useful tntelligence- ofMcer had been posted by the Fujinami to keep watch on the Em bassy compound, and to report any movements of importance; for the conspirators were not entirely at ease as to the legality of abducting the wife of a British subject, and keep- ing her against her husband's de- mands. Asako had received that day ea pathetic letter from Geoffrey, giv- ing detail for detail his account of his dealings with Yae Smith, begging ber to understand and believe him, and to forgive him for the crime which he had never committed. In spite of her cousin's incredulity, Asako's resolution was shaken by this appeal. At last, now that she had lost her husband, she was be- ginning to realize how very much she loved him. Reggie Forsyth would be a more or less impartial witness, late that evening, In a hooded she crossed the short dis- tance which Jed to the Embassy, Mr, Forsyth had just arrived Mr. Forsyth wes very disr hear Mrs. Barrington announced. It wae just the kind of meeting which would exasperate and unnerve him, remaining portal, accompli before the inevitable change Her appearance was against hen She wore a Japanese kimono, ume pleasantly reminiscent of Yae. hair was disordered and looking. Her eyes were red weeping. “Let me say at once," observed Reggie, as he offered her a chair, “that [am in no way responsible for your husband's shortcomings. I bave too many of my own.” Asako could never understand Reg- gie when he talked in that sarcastic tone. “I want to know exactly happened,” she begged. one else who can tell mi “Your husband says that nothing — actually happened," replied Reggie brutally. The girl realized that this state- ment was far from being the vindlea- tion of Geoffrey which she had be- gun to hope for. “But what did you actually see?’ she asked. “I saw Miss Smith with your hus- band, As it was in my houre, they might have asked my leave first.'* Asako shivered. “But do you think Geoffrey had been—love making to Miss Smith?" “I don't know," sald Reggie wearfly. “From what I heard, I think Miss Smith was doing most of the love -making to Geoffrey; but he did not seem to object to tha process." Asako's yearnings for proof of ber husband's tnnocence were crushed. “What shall T do?’ she pleaded, “I'm sure I don't know.” This ecerrs to Reggie was becoming positively silly. “Take him back to England aa soon as possible, I should think." “But would he fall in love with women in England?"’ “Posstbly."’ “Then what am I to do?” “Grin and bear it. That's what we I have to do.” ‘Oh, Mr. Forsyth,"* Asako implored, “you know my husband so well. De you think he ts @ bad man?" “No, not worse than the rest of us,"" answered Reggie, who felt quite maddened by this talk. “He ts a bit of a fool, and a good deal of a blua- derer."* “But do you think Geoffrey was to blame for what happened?" “I have told you, my dear Mrz. Barrington, that your husband as- sured me that nothing actually hap- pened, I am quite sure this ts true, for your husband ts @ very honor- able man—in detatis."” “You mean,” sald Asako, gulping out the words, “that Miss Smith was not actually Geoffrey's — mistress; they did not—sin together."* = Asako did not know how intimate were the relations between Reggie end Yae. She did not understand therefore how cruelly her words lanced him. But, more than the shafts of memory {t was the tmbect! ity of the whole scene which almost made the young man scream. “Exactly,” he answered. “Then, do you think I ought to for- give Geoffrey?" This was too much. to his feet. “My dear lady, what 1 have no @ Reggie leaped that ts really » question for yourself and yourself alone. Personally, I do not at pres- ent feel like forgiving anybody. Least of all, can I forgive fools. Geoffrey Barrington ts a fool. He was a foo! to marry, a fool to marry you, a fool to come to Japan when everybody warned him not to, a fool to talk to Yae when everybody told him that she was a dangerous woman. No, personally, at present I cannot for- give Geoffrey Barrington. But it in very late and I am very tired, and I'm sure you are, too. I would advise you to go home to your erring hus band; and to-morrow morning we shall all be thinking more clearly. Ax the French say, L’oreiller raccom- mode tout.’? Asako still made no movement. “Wel, dear lady, if you wish to wait longer, you will excuse me, if, In- stead of talking rot, I play to you. It is more soothing to the nerves.'* He sat down at the piano and struck up the Merry Widow chorus: “I'll go off to Maxim's; I've done with lovers’ dream The girls will laugh and greet me, they will not trick and cheat me; Lolo, Dodo, Joujou, Cloclo, Margot, Frou-frou, I'm going off to Maxim's, and you may go to""—— The pianist swung ‘around on his stool; his visitor had gona, “Thank God," he sighed; and with. in a quarter of an hour he was asleep. He awoke in the small hours with that sick restless feeling on his chest, which he described as a conviction of sin, ‘Good God!" he said aloud; “what @ cad I've been!"* He realized that an unspotied and gentle creature had paid him the greatest of all compliments by coming to him for advice tn the extremity of her soul's misery, He had recetved” her with silly badinage and cheap cynicism, At breakfast he learned that things were much more serious than he had imagined, that Asako had actually left her husband and was living with her Japanese cousins, What he had thought to be a lover's quarrel, he Now recognized to be the shipwreck of two lives. With a kindly word he might have prevented this disaster. He drove straight to the Fujinami mansion, ot the risk of being late for H He found two wsied at the gata, who stopped his rickshaw, and, ine forming him that none of the Fujina- mi family were at home, seemed pree pared to resist his entry with foros, {Continued To-Morrew.. *