THE LADY 
 
 AND 
 
 SADA SAN 
 
 A SEQUEL TO THE LADV 
 OF THE DECORATION 
 
 
 
 FRANCES LITTLE 
 
GIFT OF 
 
 Estate of Florence Walnjs 
 Far auhai* _^__ 
 
The 
 Lady and Sada San 
 

 
 Beautiful even in her pallor 
 
The 
 Lady and Sada San 
 
 A Sequel to 
 The Lady of the Decoration 
 
 By 
 
 Frances Little 
 
 New York 
 
 The Century Co, 
 
 1912 
 
Copyright, 1912, by 
 THE CENTURY Co. 
 
 Published, October, 
 
TO 
 ELLEN CHURCHILL SEMPLE 
 
 AND 
 CHARLOTTE SMITH 
 
 MY FELLOW WANDERERS THROUGH THE ORIENT 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
llti 
 
 The Lady and 
 Sada San 
 
 ON THE HIGH SEAS. June, 1911. 
 Mate: 
 
 You once told me, before you went to 
 Italy, that after having been my inti 
 mate relative all these years, you had 
 drawn a red line through the word sur 
 prise. Restore the abused thing to its 
 own at once. You will need it when the 
 end of this letter is reached. I have 
 left Kentucky after nine years of stay- 
 at-home happiness, and once again I 
 am on my way to Japan this time in 
 wifely disobedience to Jack s wishes. 
 
 What do you think that same Jack 
 has "gone and done"! Of course he 
 3 
 
 M549880 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 is right. That is the provoking part 
 of Jack; it always turns out that he is 
 in the right. Two months ago he went 
 to some place in China which, from its 
 ungodly name, should be in the fur 
 thermost parts of a wilderness. Per 
 haps you have snatched enough time 
 from guarding the kiddies from a pre 
 mature end in Como to read a head 
 line or so in the home papers. If by 
 some wonderful chance, between baby 
 prattle, bumps and measles, they have 
 given you a moment s respite, then you 
 know that the Government has grown 
 decidedly restless for fear the energetic 
 and enterprising bubonic or pneumonic 
 germ might take passage on some of 
 the ships from the Orient. So it is 
 fortifying against invasion. The Gov 
 ernment, knowing Jack s indomitable 
 determination to learn everything 
 knowable about the private life and 
 4 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 character of a given germ, asked him 
 to join several other men it is send 
 ing out to get information, provided of 
 course the germ doesn t get them first. 
 
 Jack read me the official-looking doc 
 ument one night between puffs of his 
 after-dinner pipe. 
 
 Another surprise awaits you. For 
 once in my life I had nothing to say. 
 Possibly it is just as well for the good 
 of the cause that the honorable writer 
 of the letter could not see how my 
 thoughts looked. 
 
 I glanced about our little den, aglow 
 with soft lights; everything in it 
 seemed to smile. Well, as you know it, 
 Mate, I do not believe even you realize 
 the blissfulness of the hours of quiet 
 comradeship we have spent there. 
 With the great know-it-all old world 
 shut out, for joyful years we have 
 dwelt together in a home-made para- 
 5 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 dise. And yet it seemed just then as 
 if I were dwelling in a home-made 
 Other Place. 
 
 The difference in the speed of time 
 depends on whether love is your guest 
 or not. 
 
 The thought of the briefest interrup 
 tion to my content made me feel like 
 cold storage. A break in happiness is 
 sometimes hard to mend. The blossom 
 does not return to the tree after the 
 storm, no matter how beautiful the sun 
 shine ; and the awful fear of the faint 
 est echo of past sorrow made my heart 
 as numb as a snowball. To the old ter 
 ror of loneliness was added fear for 
 Jack s safety. But I did not do what 
 you naturally would prophesy. After 
 seeing the look on Jack s face I 
 changed my mind, and my protest was 
 the silent kind that says so much. It 
 was lost ! Already Jack had gone into 
 6 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 one of his trances, as he does when 
 ever there is a possibility of bearding 
 a brand-new microbe in its den, 
 whether it is in his own country or 
 one beyond the seas. In body he was. 
 in a padded chair with all the comforts; 
 of home and a charming wife within 
 speaking distance. In spirit he was in 
 dust-laden China, joyfully following the 
 trail of the wandering germ. Later on, 
 when Jack came to, we talked it over. 
 I truly remembered your warnings on 
 the danger of impetuosity ; for I choked 
 off every hasty word and gave my con 
 sent for Jack to go. Then I cried half 
 the night because I had. 
 
 We both know that long ago Jack 
 headed for the topmost rung of a very 
 tall scientific ladder. Sometimes my 
 enthusiasm as chief booster and en- 
 courager has failed,^as~lTfrez7 it meant 
 absence and risk. Though I have 
 7 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 known women who specialized in re 
 nunciation, till they were the only 
 happy people in the neighborhood, its 
 charms have never lured me into any 
 violent sacrifice. Here was my chance 
 and I firmly refused to be the millstone 
 to ornament Jack s neck. 
 
 You might know, Mate? I was hop 
 ing all the time that he would find it 
 quite impossible to leave such a nice 
 biddable wife at home. But I learn 
 something new about Jack every day. 
 After rather heated discussion it was 
 decided that I should stay in the little 
 home. That is, the heat and the discus 
 sion was all on my side. The decision 
 lay in the set of Jack s mouth, despite 
 the tenderness in his eyes. He thought 
 the risks of the journey too great for 
 me ; the hardships of the rough life too 
 much. Bear me ! Will men never learn 
 8 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 that hardship and risk are double cous 
 ins to loneliness, and not even related 
 to love by marriage? 
 
 But just as well paint on water as to 
 argue with a scientist when he has 
 reached a conclusion. 
 
 Besides, said Jack, the fatherly Gov 
 ernment has no intention that petti 
 coats, even hobbled ones, should be flit 
 ting around while the habits and the 
 methods of the busy insect were being 
 examined through a microscope or a 
 telescope. The choice of instrument de 
 pending, of course, upon the activity of 
 the bug. 
 
 Black Charity was to be my chief-of- 
 police and comforter-in-general. Par 
 ties house, card and otherwise were 
 to be my diversion, and I was to make 
 any little trips I cared for. Well, 
 that s just what I am doing. Of 
 9 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Bourse, there might be a difference of 
 opinion as to whether a journey from 
 Kentucky to Japan is a little trip. 
 
 I am held by a vague uneasiness to 
 day. Possibly it s because I am not 
 certain as to Jack s attitude, when he 
 learns through my letter, which is sail 
 ing along with me, that I am going to 
 Japan to be as near him as possible. I 
 hope he will appreciate my thoughtful- 
 ness in saving him all the bother of say 
 ing no. Or it might be that my slightly 
 dampened spirits come from the discus 
 sion I am still having with myself 
 whether it s the part of a dutiful wife 
 to present herself a wiggling sacrifice to 
 science, or whether science should at 
 tend to its own business and lead not 
 into temptation the scientifically in 
 clined heads of peaceful households. 
 
 You 11 say the decision of what was 
 best lay with Jack. Honey, there ? s the 
 10 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 error of your mortal mind ! In a ques 
 tion like that my spouse is as one-sided 
 as a Civil War veteran. Say germ-hunt 
 to Jack and it s like dar ^ling a gaudy 
 fly before a hungry carp 
 
 I saw Jack off at the station, and 
 went back to the little house. Charity 
 had sent the cook home and with her 
 own hands served all the beloved dain 
 ties of my long-ago childhood, trying to 
 coax me into forget fulness. As yon 
 remember, Mate, dinner has always 
 been the happiest hour of the day in our 
 small domain. Now? Well, every 
 thing was just the same. The only dif 
 ference was Jack. And the half circle 
 of bare tablecloth opposite me was 
 about as cheerful as a snowy afternoon 
 at the North Pole. I wandered around 
 the house for awhile, but every time I 
 turned a corner there was a memory 
 waiting to greet me. Now the merriest 
 11 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of them seemed to be covered with a 
 chilly shadow, and every one was pale 
 and ghostly. All night I lay awake, 
 playing at the old game of mental soli 
 taire and keeping tryst with the wind 
 which seemed to tap with unseen fingers 
 at my window and sigh, 
 
 "Then let come what come may 
 I shall have had my day." 
 
 Is it possible, Mate, that my glorious 
 day, which I thought had barely tipped 
 the hour of noon, is already lengthen 
 ing into the still shadows of evening! 
 
 It was foolish but, for the small com 
 fort I got out of it, I turned on the 
 light and looked inside my wedding- 
 ring. Time has worn it a bit but the 
 letters which spell "My Lady of the 
 Decoration/ spelled again the old-time 
 thrill into my heart. 
 
 What s the use of tying your heart- 
 12 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 strings around a man, and then have 
 ambition slip the knot and leave you all 
 a-quiver? 
 
 Far be it from me to stand in Jack s 
 way if germ-stalking is necessary to his 
 success. Just the same, I could have 
 spent profitable moments reading the 
 burial service over every microbe, 
 home-grown and foreign. 
 
 Really, Mate, I Ve conscientiously 
 tried every plan Jack proposed and a 
 few of my own. It was no use. That 
 day-after-Christmas feeling promptly 
 suppressed any effort towards content 
 ment. 
 
 At first there was a certain exhilara 
 tion in catching pace with the gay whirl 
 which for so long had been passed by 
 for homier things. You will remember 
 there was a time when the pace of that 
 same whirl was never swift enough for 
 me; but my taste for it now was gone, 
 13 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and it was like trying to do a two-step 
 to a funeral march. For once in my life 
 I knew the real meaning of that poor old 
 worn-to-a-frazzle call of the East, for 
 now the dominant note was the call of 
 love. 
 
 . I heard it above the clink of the tea- 
 *cups. It was in the swish of every silk 
 petticoat. If I went to the theater, 
 -church or concert, the call of that germ- 
 ridden spot of the unholy name beat 
 into my brain with the persistency of a 
 tom-tom on a Chinese holiday. 
 
 Say what you will, Mate, it once took 
 all my courage to leave those I loved 
 best and go to far-away Japan. Now it 
 required more than I could dig up to 
 stay with the best on the other side 
 of the Pacific. 
 
 The struggle was easy and swift. 
 The tom-tom won and I am on my way 
 to be next-door neighbor to Jack. 
 14 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Those whom it concerned here were 
 away from home, so I told no one 
 good-by, thus saving everybody so 
 much wasted advice. If there were a 
 tax on advice the necessities of life 
 would not come so high. Charity fol 
 lowed me to the train, protesting to the 
 last that "Marse Jack gwine doubt her 
 velocity when she tell him de truf bout 
 her lady going a-gaddin off by herse f 
 and payin no mind to her ole mammy s 
 prosterations." I asked her to come 
 with me as maid. She refused; said 
 her church was to have an ice-cream 
 sociable and she had "to fry de fish." 
 
 This letter will find you joyfully busy 
 with the babies and the "only man." 
 Blest woman that you are. 
 
 But I know you. I have a feeling 
 
 that you have a few remarks to make. 
 
 So hurry up. Let us get it off our 
 
 minds. Then I can better tell you what 
 
 15 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I am doing. Something is going to 
 happen. It usually does when I am 
 around. I have been asked to chap- 
 erone a young girl whose face and name 
 spell romance. If I were seeking occu 
 pation here is the opportunity knocking 
 my door into splinters. 
 
 STILL AT SEA. June, 1911. 
 
 Any time you are out of a job and 
 want to overwork all your faculties and 
 a few emotions, try chaperoning a 
 young room-mate answering to the 
 name of Sada San, who is one-half 
 American dash, and the other half the 
 unnamable witchery of a Japanese 
 woman; a girl with the notes of a lark 
 in her voice when she sings to the soft 
 twang of an old guitar. 
 
 If, too, you are seeking to study 
 psychological effect of such a combina 
 tion on people, good, middlin and oth- 
 16 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 erwise, I would suggest a Pacific liner 
 as offering fifty-seven varieties, and 
 then some. 
 
 The last twinge of conscience I had 
 over coming, died a cheerful death. 
 I d do it again. For not only is ro 
 mance surcharging the air, but fate 
 gives promise of weaving an intricate 
 pattern in the story of this maid whose 
 life is just fairly begun and whom the 
 luck of the road has given me as trav 
 eling mate. Now, remembering a few 
 biffs fate has given me, I have no burn 
 ing desire to meddle with her business. 
 Neither am I hungering for responsi 
 bility. But what are you going to say 
 to yourself, when a young girl with a 
 look in her eyes you would wish your 
 daughter to have, unhesitatingly gives 
 you a letter addressed at large to some 
 " Christian Sister "! You read it to 
 find it s from her home pastor, re- 
 17 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 questing just a little companionship for 
 " a tender young soul who is trying her 
 wings for the first time in the big and 
 beautiful world "I I have a very pri 
 vate opinion about reading my title 
 clear to the Christian Sister business, 
 but no woman with a heart as big as a 
 pinch of snuff could resist giving her 
 very best and much more to the slip of 
 a winsome maid, who confidingly asks 
 it especially if the sister has any 
 knowledge of the shadows lurking in the 
 beautiful world. 
 
 Mate, these steamers as they sail 
 from shore to shore are like giant the 
 aters. Every trip is an impromptu 
 drama where comedy, farce, and often 
 startling tragedy offer large speaking 
 parts. The revelation of human na 
 ture in the original package is funny 
 and pathetic. Amusement is always on 
 18 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 tap and life stories are just hanging 
 out of the port-hole waiting to attack 
 your sympathy or tickle your funny 
 bone. But you d have to travel far to 
 find the beginning of a story so heaped 
 up with romantic interest as that of 
 Sada San as she told it to me, one long, 
 lazy afternoon as I lay on the couch in 
 my cabin, thanking my stars I was get 
 ting the best of the bare tablecloth and 
 the empty house at home. 
 
 Some twenty years ago Sada s 
 father, an American, grew tired of the 
 slow life in a slow town and lent ear to 
 the fairy stories told of the Far East, 
 where fortunes were made by looking 
 wise for a few moments every morn 
 ing and devoting the rest of the day to 
 samisens and flutes. He found the 
 glorious country of Japan. The be 
 guiling tea-houses, and softly swinging 
 19 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 sampans were all too distracting. 
 They sang ambition to sleep and the 
 fortune escaped. 
 
 He drifted, and at last sought a mean 
 existence as teacher of English in a 
 school of a remote seaside village. His 
 spirit broke when the message came of 
 the death of the girl in America who 
 was waiting for him. Isolation from 
 his kind and bitter hours left for 
 thought made life alone too ghastly. 
 He tried to make it more endurable by 
 taking the pretty daughter of the head 
 man of the village as his wife. 
 
 My temperature took a tumble when 
 I saw proofs of a hard and fast mar 
 riage ceremony, signed and counter 
 signed by a missionary brother who 
 meant business. 
 
 You say it is a sordid tale ? Mate, I 
 know a certain spot in this Land of 
 Blossoms, where only foreigners are 
 20 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 laid to rest, which bears testimony to a 
 hundred of its kind strange and piti 
 ful destinies begun with high and bril 
 liant hopes in their native land; and 
 when illusions have faded, the end has 
 borne the stamp of tragedy, because 
 suicide proved the open door out of a 
 life of failure and exile. 
 
 Sada s father was saved suicide and 
 long unhappiness by a timely tidal- 
 wave, which swept the village nearly 
 bare, and carried the man and his wife 
 out to sea and to eternity. 
 
 The child was found by Susan West 
 who came from a neighboring town to 
 care for the sick and hungry. Susan 
 was a teacher-missionary. Not much 
 to look at, if her picture told the truth, 
 but from bits of her history that I ve 
 picked up her life was a brighter jewel 
 than most of us will ever find in a 
 heavenly crown. Instead of holding the 
 21 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 unbeliever by the nape of the neck and 
 thrusting a not-understood doctrine 
 down his unwilling throat, she lived the 
 simple creed of loving her neighbor bet 
 ter than herself. And the old pair of 
 goggles she wore made little halos 
 around the least speck of good she 
 found in any transgressor, no matter 
 how warped with evil. 
 
 When she was n t helping some help 
 less sinner to see the rainbow of prom 
 ise at the end of the straight and nar 
 row way, Susan spent her time and all 
 her salary, giving sick babies a fighting 
 chance for life. She took the half- 
 drowned little Sada home with her, and 
 searched for any kinsman left the child. 
 There was only one, her mother s 
 brother. He was very poor and gladly 
 gave his consent that Miss West should 
 keep the child as long as it was a girl ! 
 Susan had taught the man English once 
 22 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 in the long ago and this was his chance 
 to repay her. 
 
 Later on when the teacher found her 
 health failing and headed for home in 
 America, Uncle Mura was still more 
 generous and raised no objections to 
 her taking the baby with her. 
 
 Together they lived in a small West 
 ern town. The missionary reared the 
 child by rule of love only and went on 
 short rations to educate her. Sada s 
 eager mind absorbed everything offered 
 her like a young sponge, and when a 
 few months ago Susanna folded her 
 hands and joined her foremothers, 
 there was let loose on the world this 
 exquisite girl with her solitary legacy 
 of untried ideals and a blind enthusiasm 
 for her mother s people. 
 
 Right here, Mate, was when I had a 
 prolonged attack of cold shivers. Just 
 before Miss West passed along, know- 
 23 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ing that the Valley was near, she wrote 
 to Uncle in Japan and told him that his 
 niece would soon be alone. Can t yon 
 imagine the picture she drew of her 
 foster child who had satisfied every 
 craving of her big mother heart! Fas 
 cinating and charming and so weighted 
 with possibilities, that Mura, who had 
 prospered, leaped for his chance and 
 sent Sada San money for the passage 
 over. 
 
 Not a mite of anxiety shadowed her 
 eyes when she told me that Uncle kept 
 a wonderful tea-house in Kioto. He 
 must be very rich, she thought, because 
 he wrote her of the beautiful things 
 she was to have. About this time the 
 room seemed suffocating. I got up and 
 turned on the electric fan. The only 
 thing required of her, she continued, 
 was to use her voice to entertain Un 
 cle s friends. But she hoped to do 
 24 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 much more. Through Miss West she 
 knew how many of her mother s dear 
 people needed help. How glorious that 
 she was young and strong and could 
 give so much. Susan had also talked 
 to her of the flowers, the lovely scenery, 
 the poetry of the people and their 
 splendid spirit making a dreamland 
 where even man was perfect. How she 
 loved it! How proud she was to feel 
 that in part it was her country. Faith 
 fully would she serve it. Oh, Susanna 
 West ! I d like to shake you till your 
 harp snapped a string. It s like send 
 ing a baby to pick flowers on the edge 
 of a bottomless pit. 
 
 What could I say! The missionary- 
 teacher had told the truth. She simply 
 failed to mention that in the fairy-land 
 there are cherry-blossom lanes down 
 which no human can wander without 
 being torn by the brier patches. 
 25 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 The path usually starts from a won 
 derful tea-house where Uncles have 
 grown rich. Miss West didn t mean 
 to shirk her duty. In most things the 
 begoggled lady was a visionary with a 
 theory that if you don t talk about a 
 thing it does not exist; and like most 
 of her kind she swept the disagreeables 
 into a dust heap and made for the high 
 places where all was lovely. And yet 
 she had toiled with the girl through all 
 the difficulties of the Japanese lan 
 guage; and, to give her a musical edu 
 cation, had pinched to the point of buy 
 ing one hat in eight years ! 
 
 Now it is all done and Sada is 
 launched on the high seas of life with a 
 pleasure-house for a home and an un 
 scrupulous Uncle with unlimited au 
 thority for a chaperon. Shades of 
 Susan! but I am hoping guardian an- 
 26 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 gels are " really truly," even if in 
 visible. 
 
 Good night, Mate. This game of 
 playing tag with jarring thoughts, new 
 and old, has made six extra wrinkles. 
 I ain glad I came and you and Jack will 
 have to be, for to quote Charity, "I se 
 done resoluted on my word of honah" 
 to keep my hands, if possible, on Sada 
 whose eyes are as blue as her hair is 
 black. 
 
 PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 
 Since morning the sea has been a 
 sheet of blue, streaked with the silver 
 of flying fish. That is all the scenery 
 there is ; not a sail nor a bird nor an in 
 sect. Either the unchanging view or 
 something in the air has stimulated 
 everybody into being their nicest. It 
 is surprising how quickly graciousness 
 27 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 possesses some people when there is a 
 witching girl around. Vivacious young 
 men and benevolent officers have sud 
 denly appeared out of nowhere, spick 
 and span in white duck and their win- 
 ningest smiles. Entertainments dove 
 tail till there is barely time for change 
 of costume between acts. 
 
 But let me tell you, Mate, living up 
 to being a mother is no idle pastime, 
 particularly if it means reviving the 
 lost art of managing love-smitten 
 youths and elderly male coquettes. 
 There is a specimen of each opposite 
 Sada and me at table who are so gen 
 erous with their company on deck, be 
 fore and after meals, I have almost run 
 out of excuses and am short on plans 
 to avoid the heavy obligations of their 
 eager attentions. 
 
 The youth is a To-Be-Ruler of many 
 people, a Maharajah of India. But the 
 28 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 name is bigger than the man. Two 
 years ago his father started the boy 
 around the world with a sack full of 
 rubles and a head full of ancient In 
 dian lore. With these assets he paused 
 at Oxford that he might skim through 
 the classics. He had been told this was 
 where all the going-to-be-great men 
 stopped to acquire just the proper tone 
 of superiority so necessary in ruling a 
 country. Of course he picked up a bit 
 on electricity, mechanics, etc. This ac 
 complished to his satisfaction he ran 
 over to America to view the barbari 
 ans god of money and take a glance at 
 their houses which touched the sky. 
 But his whole purpose in living, he told 
 me, was to yield himself to certain med 
 itations, so that in his final reincarna 
 tion, which was only a few centuries 
 off, he would return to the real thing 
 in Buddha. In the meantime he was to 
 29 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 be a lion, a tiger and a little white bird. 
 At present he is plain human, with the 
 world-old malady gnawing at his heart, 
 a pain which threatens to send his 
 cogitations whooping down a thornier 
 and rosier lane than any Buddha ever 
 knew. Besides I am thinking a few 
 worldly vanities have crept in and set 
 him back an eon or so. He wears pur 
 ple socks, pink ties and a dainty watch 
 strapped around his childish wrist. 
 
 When I asked him what impressed 
 him most in America, he promptly an 
 swered with his eyes on Sada, "Them 
 girls. They are rapturous!" 
 
 Farewell Nirvana! With a camp 
 stool in one hand and a rosary in the 
 other, he follows Sada San like the 
 shadow on a sun dial. Wherever she is 
 seated, there is the stool and the royal 
 youth, his mournful eyes feasting on 
 30 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the curves and dimples of her face, her 
 lightest jest far sweeter than any 
 prayer, the beads in his hand forgotten. 
 
 The other would-be swain calls him 
 self a Seeker of Truth. Incidentally 
 he is hunting a wife. His general atti 
 tude is a constant reminder of the un 
 certainty of life. His presence makes 
 you glad that nothing lasts. He says 
 his days are heavy with the problems 
 of the universe, but you can see for 
 yourself that this very commercial 
 traveler carries a light side line in an 
 assortment of flirtations that surely 
 must be like dancing little sunbeams on 
 a life of gloom. 
 
 Goodness knows how much of a nui 
 sance he would be if it were not for 
 a little lady named Dolly, who sits be 
 side him, gray in color, dress and expe 
 rience. At no uncertain age she has 
 31 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 found a belated youthfulness and is 
 starting on the first pleasure trip of her 
 life. 
 
 Coming across the country to San 
 Francisco, her train was wrecked. In 
 the smash-up a rude chair struck her 
 just south of the belt line and she fears 
 brain fever from the blow. The alarm 
 is not general, for though just freed by 
 kind death from an unhappy life sen 
 tence of matrimony she is ready to try 
 another jailer. 
 
 Whether he spied Dolly first and 
 hoped that the gleam from her many 
 jewels would light up the path in his 
 search for Truth and a few other 
 things, or whether the Seeker was 
 sought, I do not know. However the 
 flirtation which seems to have no age 
 limit has flourished like a bamboo tree. 
 For once the man was too earnest. 
 Dolly gave heed and promptly attached 
 32 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 herself with the persistency of a barna 
 cle to a weather-beaten junk. By de 
 vices worthy a finished fisher of men, 
 she holds him to his job of suitor, and 
 if in a moment of abstraction his would- 
 be ardor for Sada grows too percep 
 tible, the little lady reels in a yard or 
 so of line to make sure her prize is still 
 dangling on the hook. 
 
 To-day at tiffin the griefless widow 
 unconsciously scored at the expense of 
 the Seeker, to the delight of the whole 
 table. For Sada s benefit this man 
 quoted a long passage from some Ger 
 man philosopher. At least it sounded 
 like that. It was far above the little 
 gray head he was trying to ignore and 
 so weighty I feared for her mentality. 
 But I did not know Dolly. She rose 
 like a doughnut. Looking like a child 
 who delights in the rhythm of meaning 
 less sounds, she heard him through, 
 33 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 then exclaimed with breathless delight, 
 "Oh, ain t he fluid?" 
 
 The man fled, but not before he had 
 asked Sada for two dances at night. 
 
 It is like a funny little curtain-raiser, 
 with jealousy as a gray-haired Cupid. 
 So far as Sada is concerned, it is ad 
 miration gone to waste. Even if she 
 were not gaily indifferent, she is too 
 absorbed in the happy days she thinks 
 are awaiting her. Poor child! Little 
 she knows of the limited possibilities of 
 a Japanese girPs life; and what the ef 
 fect of the painful restrictions will be 
 on one of her rearing, I dare not think. 
 
 Once she is under the authority of 
 Uncle, the Prince, the Seeker, and all 
 mankind will be swept into oblivion; 
 and, until such time as she can be mar 
 ried profitably and to her master s lik 
 ing, she will know no man. The cruel- 
 est awakening she will face is the atti- 
 34 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 tude of the Orient toward tne innocent 
 offspring in whose veins runs the hlood 
 of two races, separated by differences 
 which never have been and never will 
 be overcome. 
 
 In America the girl s way would not 
 have been so hard because her novel 
 charm would have carried her far. But 
 hear me: in Japan, the very wave in 
 her hair and the color of her eyes will 
 prove a barrier to the highest and best 
 in the land. Even with youth and 
 beauty and intelligence, unqualified 
 recognition for the Eurasian is as rare 
 as a square egg. 
 
 Another thought hits me in the face 
 as if suddenly meeting a cross bumble 
 bee. Will the teachings of the woman, 
 who lived with her head in the clouds, 
 hold hard and fast when Uncle puts on 
 the screws? 
 
 The Seeker says it is the fellow wlio 
 35 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 thinks first that wins. He speaks feel 
 ingly on the subject. Eight now I am 
 going to begin cultivating first thought, 
 and try to be near if danger, whose 
 name is Uncle, threatens the girl who 
 has walked into my affections and made 
 herself at home. 
 
 Later. 
 
 All the very good people are in bed. 
 The very worldly minded and the young 
 are on deck reluctantly finishing the 
 last dance under a canopy of make-be 
 lieve cherry blossoms and wistaria. I 
 am on the deck between, closing this 
 letter to you which I will mail in Yoko 
 hama in a few hours. 
 
 In a way I shall be glad to see a quiet 
 room in a hotel and hie me back to sim 
 ple living, free from the responsibili 
 ties of a temporary parent. I am not 
 promising myself any gay thrills in the 
 36 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 meantime. What s the use, with Jack 
 on the borderland of a sulphurous 
 country and you in the Garden of 
 Eden? His letters and yours will be 
 my greatest excitement. So write and 
 keep on writing and never fear that I 
 will not do the same. You are the 
 safety-valve for my speaking emotions, 
 Mate ; so let that help you bear it. 
 
 Please mark with red ink one small 
 detail of Sada s story. When I was 
 fastening her simple white gown for the 
 dance her chatter was like that of a 
 sunny-hearted child. Indeed, she liked 
 to dance. Susan did not think it harm 
 ful. She said if your heart was right 
 your feet would follow. When Miss 
 West could spare her she always went 
 to parties with Billy, and oh, how he 
 could dance if he was so big and had 
 red hair. 
 
 So! there was a Billy? I looked in 
 37 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 her face for signs. The way was clear 
 but there was a soft little quiver in her 
 voice that caused me carefully to label 
 the unknown William, and lay him on 
 a shelf for future reference. What 
 ever the coming days hold for her, 
 mine has been the privilege of giving 
 the girl three weeks of unclouded hap 
 piness. 
 
 Outside I hear the little Prince pa 
 cing up and down, yielding up his soul 
 to holy meditations. I d be willing to 
 wager my best piece of jade his con 
 templations are something like a cycle 
 from Nirvana, and closer far to a pair 
 of heavily fringed eyes. Poor little 
 imitation Buddha! He is grasping at 
 the moon s reflection on the water. 
 Somewhere near I hear Dolly s soft coo 
 and deep-voiced replies. But unfin 
 ished packing, a bath and coffee are 
 awaiting me. 
 
 38 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Dawn is coming, and already through 
 the port hole I see a dot of earth curled 
 against the horizon. Above floats 
 Fuji, the base wrapped in mists, the 
 peak eternally white, a giant snowdrop 
 swinging in a dome of perfect blue. 
 The vision is a call to prayer, a wooing 
 of the soul to the heights of undimmed 
 splendor. 
 
 After all, Mate, I may give you and 
 Jack a glad surprise and justify Sada 
 handing me that letter addressed to a 
 Christian Sister. 
 
 YOKOHAMA, July, 1911. 
 Now that I am here, I am trying to 
 decide what to do with myself. At 
 home each day was so full of happy 
 things and the happiest of all was lis 
 tening for Jack s merry whistle as he 
 opened the street door every night. At 
 home there are always demands, big 
 39 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and little, popping in on me which I 
 sometimes resent and yet being free 
 from makes me feel as dismal as a long 
 vacant house with the For Eent sign 
 up, looks. In this Lotus land there is 
 no must of any kind for the alien, and 
 the only whistles I hear belong to the 
 fierce little tugs that buzz around in 
 the harbor, in and out among the white 
 sails of the fishing fleet like big black 
 beetles in a field of lilies. But yon 
 must not think life dull for me. Fate 
 and I have cried a truce, and she is 
 showing me a few hands she is dealing 
 other people. But first listen to the 
 tale I have to tell of the bruise she gave 
 my pride this morning, that will show 
 black for many a day. 
 
 I joined a crowd on the water s edge 
 in front of the hotel to watch a funeral 
 procession in boats. Eecently a hun 
 dred and eighty fishermen were sent to 
 40 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the bottom by a big typhoon, and the 
 wives and the sweethearts were being 
 towed out to sea to pay a last tribute 
 to them, by strewing the fatal spot with 
 flowers and paper prayers. White- 
 robed priests stood up in the front of 
 the boats and chanted some mournful 
 ritual, keeping time to the dull thump 
 ing of a drum. The air was heavy with 
 incense. A dreamy melancholy filled 
 the air and I thought how hallowed and 
 beautiful a thing is memory. From 
 out that silent watching crowd came a 
 voice that sent my thoughts flying to 
 starry nights of long ago and my first 
 trip across the Pacific; soft south 
 winds; vows of eternal devotion that 
 kept time with the distant throbbing of 
 a ship s engine. I turned. I was fac 
 ing little Germany and five littler Ger- 
 manys strung out behind. You surely 
 remember him? and how when I 
 41 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 could n t see things his way he swore to 
 a wrecked heart and a never-to-be-for 
 gotten constancy. Mate! There was 
 no more of a flicker of memory in the 
 stare of his round blue eyes than there 
 would have been in a newly baked 
 pretzel. I stood still, waiting for some 
 glimmer of recognition. Instead, he 
 turned to the pincushion on his arm, 
 whom I took to be Ma G., and I heard 
 him say i Herzallorliebsten. I went 
 straight to the hotel and had it trans 
 lated. Thought it had a familiar 
 sound. "Wouldn t it be interesting to 
 know how many "only ones" any 
 man s life history records? To think 
 of my imagining him eating his heart 
 out with hopeless longing in some far 
 away Tibetan Monastery. And here he 
 was, pudgy and content, with his fat 
 little brood waddling along behind him. 
 If our vision could penetrate the fu- 
 42 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ture, verily Eomance would have to 
 close up shop. Oh, no ! I did n t want 
 him to pine entirely away, but he 
 needn t have been in such an ever 
 lasting hurry to get fat and prosperous 
 over it. Would n t Jack howl I 
 
 I took good care to see that he was 
 not stopping at this hotel. Then I went 
 back to my own thoughts of the happy 
 years that had been mine since Little 
 Germany bade me a tearful good-by. 
 
 And, too, I wanted to think out some 
 plan whereby I can keep in touch with 
 Sada and be friendly with her relative. 
 
 Before I left the steamer, I had a 
 surprise in the way of Uncles. Next 
 time I will pause before I prophesy. 
 But if Uncle was a blow to my precon 
 ceived ideas, I will venture Sada star 
 tled a few of his traditions as to nieces. 
 Quarantine inspection was short, and 
 when at last we cast anchor, the harbor 
 43 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 was as blue as if a patch of the summer 
 sky had dropped into it. The thatched 
 roofs shone russet brown against the 
 dark foliage of the hills. The temple 
 roofs curved gracefully above the pink 
 mist of the crepe myrtle. 
 
 Sada was standing by me on the up 
 per deck, fascinated by the picture. 
 As she realized the long dreamed-of 
 fairy-land was unfolding before her, 
 tears of joy filled her eyes and tears of 
 another kind filled mine. 
 
 Sampans, launches and lighters clus 
 tered around the steamer as birds of 
 prey gather to a feast : captains in gilt 
 braid; coolies in blue and white, with 
 their calling-cards stamped in large let 
 ters on their backs, and the story of 
 their trade written around the tail of 
 their coats in fantastic Japanese char 
 acters. Gentlemen in divided skirts 
 and ladies in kimono and clogs swarmed 
 44 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 up the gangway. In the smiling, push 
 ing crowd I looked for the low-browed 
 relative I expected to see. Imagine the 
 shock, Mate, when a man with manners 
 as beautiful as his silk kimono pre 
 sented his card and announced that he 
 was Uncle Mura. I had been pointed 
 out as Sada s friend. A week after 
 wards I could have thought of some 
 thing brilliant to say. Taken un 
 awares, I stammered out a hope that 
 his honorable teeth were well and his 
 health poor. You see I am all right in 
 Japanese if I do the talking. For I 
 know what I want to say and what they 
 ought to say. But when they come at 
 me with a flank movement, as it were, 
 I am lost. Uncle passed over my blun 
 der without a smile and went on to say 
 many remarkable things, if sound 
 means anything. However, trust even 
 a deaf woman to prick up her ears when 
 45 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 a compliment is headed her way, 
 whether it is in Sanskrit or Polynesian. 
 In acknowledgment I stuck to my flag, 
 and the man s command of quaint but 
 correct English convinced me that I 
 would have to specialize in something 
 more than first thought if I was to cope 
 with this tea-house proprietor whose 
 armor is the subtle manners of the 
 courtier. 
 
 Blessed Sada! Only the cocksure- 
 ness of youth made her blind to the 
 check her enthusiasm was meant to re 
 ceive in the first encounter of the new 
 life. She had always met people on 
 equal terms, most men falling easy 
 victims. She was blissfully ignorant 
 that Mura, by directing his conversa 
 tion to me, meant to convey to her 
 that well-bred girls in this enchanted 
 land lowered their eyes and folded 
 their hands when they talked in the 
 46 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 presence of a MAN, if they dared to 
 talk at all. 
 
 Not so this half-child of the West. 
 She fairly palpitated with joy and bab 
 bled away with the freedom of a sunny 
 brook in the shadow of a grim forest. 
 From the man s standpoint, he was not 
 unkind ; unrestraint was to him an in 
 comprehensible factor in a young girl s 
 make-up; and whatever was to follow, 
 the first characters he meant her to 
 learn must spell reverence and repres 
 sion. 
 
 They hurried ashore to catch a train 
 to Kioto. I must look harmless, for I 
 was invited to call. I shall accept, for 
 I have a feeling in spite of manners and 
 silken robes that the day is not distant 
 when the distress signals will be flying. 
 
 I waved good-by to the girl as the 
 little launch made its way to land. She 
 made a trumpet of her hands and called 
 47 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 a merry "sayonara." The master of 
 her future folded his arms and looked 
 out to sea. 
 
 The next day I had a lonely lunch at 
 the hotel. When I saw two lovery 
 young things at the table where Jack 
 and I had our wedding breakfast, so 
 long ago, I made for the other end of 
 the room and persistently turned my 
 back. But I saw out of the corner of 
 my eye they were far away above food, 
 and, Mate, believe me, they did n t even 
 know it was hot, though a rain barrel 
 couldn t have measured the humidity. 
 
 Of course Jack and I were much more 
 sensible, but that whole blessed time is 
 wrapped in rosy mists with streaks of 
 moonlight to the tune of heavenly mu 
 sic, so it s futile to try to recall just 
 what did happen. I ought to have gone 
 to another hotel, but the chain of mem 
 ory was too strong for me. 
 48 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I was hesitating between the luxury 
 of a sentimental spell and a fit of lone 
 liness, when a happy interruption came 
 in a message from Countess Otani, 
 naming the next day at two for 
 luncheon with her at the Arsenal Gar 
 dens at Tokio. How I wished for you, 
 Mate ! It was a fairy-story come true, 
 dragons and all. The Arsenal Garden 
 means just what it says. Only when 
 the dove of peace is on duty are its 
 gates opened, and then to but a few, 
 high in command. For across the 
 white-blossomed hedge that encloses 
 the grounds, armies of men toil cease 
 lessly molding black bullets for pale 
 people and they work so silently that 
 the birds keep house in the long fringed 
 willows and the goldfish splash in the 
 sunned spots of the tiny lake. 
 
 After passing the dragons in the 
 shape of sentries and soldiers, to each 
 49 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of whom I gave a brief life-history, I 
 wisely followed my nose and a guard 
 down the devious path. 
 
 The Countess received her guests in 
 a banquet-hall all ebony and gold, and 
 was not seated permanently on a 
 throne with a diamond crown screwed 
 into her head as we used so fondly to 
 imagine. 
 
 The simplicity of her hospitality was 
 charming. She and most of her ladies- 
 in-waiting had been educated abroad. 
 But despite the lure of the Western 
 freedom, they had returned to their 
 country with their heads level and 
 their traditions intact. But you guess 
 wrong, honey, if you imagine custom 
 and formality of official life have so 
 overcome these high-born ladies as to 
 make them lay figures who dare not 
 raise their eyes except by rule. There 
 were three American guests, and only 
 50 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 by being as nimble as grasshoppers did 
 we hold our own in the table talk which 
 was as exhilarating as a game of snow 
 ball on a frosty day. 
 
 We scampered all around war and 
 settled a few important political ques 
 tions. Poetry, books and the new Cab 
 inet vied with the merriment over com 
 parisons in styles of dress. One de 
 lightful woman told how gloves and 
 shoes had choked her when she first 
 wore them in America. Another gave 
 her experience in getting fatally twisted 
 in her court train when she was making 
 her bow before the German Empress. 
 
 A soft-voiced matron made us laugh 
 over her story of how, when she was 
 a young girl at a mission school, she 
 unintentionally joined in a Christian 
 prayer, and nearly took the skin off 
 her tongue afterwards scrubbing it 
 with strong soap and water to wash 
 51 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 away the stain. There wasn t even a 
 smile as she quietly spoke of the many 
 times later when with that same prayer 
 she had tried to make less hard the 
 after-horrors of war. 
 
 The possibilities of Japanese women 
 are amazing even to one who thinks he 
 knows them. They look as if made for 
 decoration only, and with a flirt of their 
 sleeves they bring ont a surprise that 
 turns your ideas a double somersault. 
 Here they were, laughing and chatting 
 like a bunch of fresh schoolgirls for 
 whom life was one long holiday. Yet 
 ten out of the number had recently 
 packed away their gorgeous clothes, 
 and laid on a high shelf all royal ranks 
 and rights, for a nurse s dress and kit. 
 Apparently delicate and shy they can 
 be, if emergency demands, as grim as 
 war or as tender as heaven. 
 
 It was a blithesome day and if it 
 52 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 had n t been for that "all gone" sort of 
 a feeling, that possesses me when even 
 ing draws near and Jack is far away, 
 content might have marked me as her 
 own. As it was I put off playing a 
 single at dinner as long as possible 
 by calling on a month-old bride whom 
 I had known as a girl. With glee I 
 accepted the offer of an automobile to 
 take me for the visit, and repented later. 
 Two small chauffeurs and a diminutive 
 footman raced me through the narrow, 
 crowded streets, scattering the popu 
 lace to any shelter it could find. The 
 only reason we didn t take the fronts 
 out of the shops is that Japanese shops 
 are frontless. I looked back to see 
 the countless victims of our speed. I 
 saw only a crowd coming from cover, 
 smiling with curiosity and interest. 
 We hit the top of the hill with a flour 
 ish, and when I asked what was the 
 53 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 hurry my attendants looked hurt and 
 reproachfully asked if that was n t the 
 way Americans liked to ride. 
 
 Mate, this is a land of contrasts and 
 contradictions. At the garden all had 
 been life and color. At this home, 
 where the wrinkled old servitor opened 
 the heavily carved gates for me, it was 
 as if I had stepped into a bit of ancient 
 Japan, jealously guarded from any en 
 croachment of new conditions or 
 change of custom. 
 
 Like a curious package, contents un 
 known, I was passed from one auto 
 matic servant to another till I finally 
 reached the Torisliimari or mistress of 
 ceremonies. By clock-work she offered 
 me a seat on the floor, a fan and con 
 gratulations. This last simply because 
 I was me. The house was ancient and 
 beautiful. The room in which I sat had 
 nothing in it but matting as fine as silk, 
 54 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 a rare old vase with two flowers and a 
 leaf in formal arrangement, and an at 
 mosphere of aloofness that lulled mind 
 and body to restful revery. After my 
 capacity for tea and sugared dough was 
 tested, the little serving maid fanning: 
 me, bowing every time I blinked, the 
 paper doors near by divided noiselessly 
 and, framed by the dim light, sat the 
 young bride, quaint and oriental as if 
 she had stepped out of some century- 
 old kakemono. In contrast to my re 
 cent hostesses it was like coming from 
 a garden of brilliant flowers into the 
 soft, quiet shadows of a bamboo grove. 
 No modern touch about this lady. She 
 had been reduced by rule from a romp 
 ing girl to a selfless creature fit for a 
 Japanese gentleman s wife and no ques 
 tions asked. Her hair, her dress, and 
 even her speech were strictly by the 
 laws laid down in a book for the thirty- 
 55 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 iirst day of the first month after mar 
 riage. But I would like to see the con 
 vention with a crust thick enough to en 
 tirely obliterate one woman s interest 
 in another whose clothes and life belong 
 to a distant land. When I told her I 
 liad come to Japan against Jack s 
 wishes and was going to follow him to 
 China if I could, she paled at my rash 
 ness. How could a woman dare dis 
 obey? Would not my husband send me 
 home, take my name off the house regis 
 ter and put somebody in my place! 
 
 Well now, wouldn t you like to see 
 the scientist play any such tricks with 
 me that blessed old Jack who smiles 
 at my follies, asks my advice, and does 
 as he pleases, and for whom there has 
 never been but the one woman in the 
 world! I struggled to make plain to 
 her the attitude of American men and 
 women and the semi-independence of 
 56 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the latter. As well explain theology 
 to a child. To her mind the undevi- 
 ating path of absolute obedience was 
 the only possible way. Anything out 
 side of a complete renunciation of self- 
 interest and thought meant ruin and 
 was not even to be whispered about. I 
 gave it up and came back to her sphere 
 of poetry and mothers-in-law. 
 
 When I said good-by there was a 
 gentle pity in her eyes, for she was cer 
 tain her long-time friend was headed 
 for the highroad of destruction. But 
 instead I turned into the dim solitude 
 of Shiba Park. I had something to< 
 think about. To-day s experiences had 
 painted anew in flaming colors the dif 
 ference in husbands. How prone a 
 woman is, who is free and dearly be 
 loved, to fall into the habit of taking 
 things for granted, forgetting how one 
 drop of the full measure of happiness, 
 57 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 that a good husband gives her, would 
 turn to rosy tints the gray lives of hun 
 dreds of her kind who are wives in 
 name only. Her appreciation may be 
 abundant but it is the silent kind. Her 
 bugaboo is fear of sentiment and when 
 it is too late, she remembers with a 
 heart-break. 
 
 I can think of a thousand things right 
 now I want to say to Jack and while 
 storing them away for some future 
 happy hour, I walked further into the 
 deep shadows of twilight. 
 
 Instantly the spell of the East was 
 over me. Eeal life was not. In the soft 
 green silences of mystery and fancy, I 
 found a seat by an ancient moss-cov 
 ered tomb. Dreamily I watched a 
 great red dragon-fly frivol with the 
 fairy blue wreaths of incense-smoke 
 that hovered above the leaf shadows 
 trembling on the sand. The deep mel- 
 58 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ody of a bell, sifted through a cloud of 
 blossom, caught up my willing soul and 
 floated out to sea and Jack far from 
 this lovely land, where stalks unre 
 strained the ugly skeleton of easy di 
 vorce for men. The subject always 
 irritates me like prickly heat. 
 
 NIKKO, July, 1911. 
 Summer in Japan is no joke, espe 
 cially if you are waiting for letters. I 
 know perfectly well I can t hear from 
 you and Jack for an age, and yet I 
 watch for the postman three times a 
 day, as a hungry man waits for the din 
 ner-bell. 
 
 The days in Yokohama were too 
 much like a continuous Turkish bath, 
 and I fled to Nikko, the ever moist and 
 mossy. Two things you can always ex 
 pect in this village of "roaring, wind 
 swept mountains/ rain and courtesy. 
 
 59 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 One is as inevitable as the other, and 
 both are served in quantities. 
 
 I am staying in a semi-foreign hotel 
 which is tucked away in a pocket in the 
 side of a mountain as comfy as a fat old 
 lady in a big rocker who glories in dis 
 pensing hospitality with both hands. 
 Just let me put my head out of my room 
 door and the hall fairly blossoms with 
 little maids eager to serve. A step 
 toward the entrance brings to life a 
 small army of attendants bending as 
 they come like animated jack-knives on 
 a live wire. One struggles with the 
 mystery of my overshoes, while the 
 Master stands by and begs me to take 
 care of my honorable spirit. As it is 
 the only spirit I possess I heed his ad 
 vice and bring it back to the hotel to 
 find the entire force standing at atten 
 tion, ready to receive me. I pass on 
 to my room with a procession of bear- 
 60 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ers and bearesses strung out behind 
 me like the tail of a kite, anything 
 from a tea-tray to the sugar tongs be- 
 in.ir sufficient excuse for joining the pa 
 rade. 
 
 When dressing for dinner, if I press 
 the button, no less than six little pic 
 ture maids flutter to my door, each beg 
 ging for the honor of fastening me up- 
 the back. How delighted Jack would 
 be to assign them this particular 
 honor for life. Such whispers over 
 the wonders of a foreign-made dress 
 as they struggle with the curious fas 
 tenings! (They should hear my lord s 
 fierce language!) Each one takes a 
 turn till some sort of connection is 
 made between hook and eye. All is so 
 earnestly done I dare not laugh or wig 
 gle with impatience. I may sail into 
 dinner with the upper hook in the lower 
 eye and the middle all askew, but the 
 61 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 service is so graciously given, I would 
 rather have my dress upside down than 
 to grumble. Certainly I pay for it. I 
 tip everything from the proprietor to 
 the water-pitcher. But the sum is so 
 disproportionate to the pleasure and 
 the comfort returned that I smile to 
 think of the triple price I have paid 
 elsewhere and the high-nosed conde 
 scension I got in return for my money. 
 Japanese courtesy may be on the sur 
 face, but the polish does not easily wear 
 off and it soothes the nerves just as the 
 rain cools the air. It goes without say 
 ing that I did not arrive in Nikko with 
 out a variety of experiences along the 
 way. 
 
 Two hours out from Yokohama, the 
 train boy came into the coach, and with 
 a smile as cheerful as if he were say 
 ing, " Happy New Year," announced 
 that there was a washout in front of us 
 62 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and a landslide at the back of us. 
 Would everybody please rest their hon 
 orable bones in the village while a 
 bridge was built and a river filled in. 
 The passengers trailed into a settle 
 ment of straw roofs, bamboo poles and 
 acres of white and yellow lilies. I went 
 to a quaint little inn that was mostly 
 out! built over a fussy brook; and a 
 pine tree grew right out of the side of 
 the house. My room was furnished 
 with four mats and a poem hung on the 
 wall. When the policeman came in to 
 apologize for the rudeness of the storm 
 in delaying me, the boy who brought my 
 bags had to step outside so that the offi 
 cial would have room to bow properly. 
 I ate my supper of fish-omelet and tur 
 nip pickle served in red lacquer bowls, 
 and drank tea out of cups as big as 
 thimbles. Jack says Japanese teacups 
 ought to be forbidden; in a moment of 
 G3 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 forgetfulness they could so easily slip 
 down with the tea. 
 
 It had been many a year since I was 
 so separated from my kind and each 
 hour of isolation makes clearer a thing 
 I Ve never doubted, but sometimes for 
 get, that the happiest woman is she 
 whose every moment is taken up in be 
 ing necessary to somebody ; and to such, 
 unoccupied minutes are like so many 
 drops of lead. That, with a telegram I 
 read telling of the increasing dangers 
 of the plague in Manchuria, threatened 
 to send me headlong into a spell of anx 
 iety and the old terrible loneliness. 
 
 Happily the proprietor and his wife 
 headed it off by asking me if I would be 
 their guest for this evening to see the 
 Bon Matsuri, the beautiful Festival of 
 the Dead. On the thirteenth day of the 
 seventh month, all the departed spirits 
 take a holiday from Nirvana or any 
 64 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 other seaport they happen to be in and 
 come on a visit to their former homes 
 to see how it fares with the living. 
 Poor homesick spirits! Not even 
 Heaven can compensate for the separa 
 tion from beloved country and friends. 
 As we passed along, the streets were 
 alight with burning rushes placed at 
 many doors to guide the spiritual ex 
 cursionists. Inside, the people were 
 praying, shrines were decorated and 
 children in holiday dress merrily 
 romped. Why, Mate, it was worth be 
 ing a ghost just to come back and see 
 how happy everybody was. For on 
 this night of nights, cares and sorrows 
 are doubly locked in a secret place 
 and the key put carefully away. You 
 couldn t find a coolie so heartless as to 
 show a shadow of trouble to his ghostly 
 relatives when they return for so brief 
 a time to hold happy communion with 
 65 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the living. He may be hungry, he may 
 be sick, but there is a brave smile of 
 welcome on his lips for the spirits. 
 
 The crazy old temple at the foot of 
 the mountain, glorified by a thousand 
 lights and fluttering flags, reaped a 
 harvest of rins and sens paid to the 
 priests for paper prayers and bamboo 
 flower-holders with which to decorate 
 the graves. The cemetery was on the 
 side of the hill, and every step of the 
 way somebody stopped at a stone 
 marker to fasten a lantern to a small 
 fishing-pole and pin a prayer near by. 
 This was to guide the spirit to his own 
 particular spot. 
 
 A breeze as soft as a happy sigh came 
 through the pines and gently rocked 
 the lanterns. The dim figures of the 
 worshipers moved swiftly about, as de 
 lighted as children in the shadow-pic 
 tures made by the twinkling lights, 
 66 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 eagerly seeking out remote spots that 
 no grave might be without its welcom 
 ing gleam. A long line of white-robed 
 dancing girls came swaying by with 
 clapping hands to soft-voiced chant 
 ing. 
 
 I, too, though an alien, was moved 
 with the good-will and kindness that 
 sung through the very air and fear 
 lessly I would have decorated any 
 festive ghost that happened along. I 
 looked to see where I might lay the 
 offering I held in my hand. My host 
 ess plucked my sleeve and pointed to 
 a tiny tombstone under a camellia tree. 
 I went closer and read the English in 
 scription, "Dorothy Dale. Aged 2 
 years. " There was a tradition that 
 once in the long ago a missionary and 
 his wife lived in the village. Through 
 an awful epidemic of cholera they stuck 
 to their posts, nursed and cared for the 
 67 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 people. Their only child was the price 
 they paid for their constancy. To each 
 generation the story had been told, and 
 through all the years faithful watch 
 had been kept over the littlo enclosure. 
 Now it was all a -glimmer with lanterns 
 shaped like birds and butterflies. I 
 added my small offering and turned 
 hotelwards reluctantly. 
 
 My ancient host and hostess trotted 
 along near by, eager to share all their 
 pathetic little gaieties with me. Their 
 lives together had about as much real 
 comradeship as a small brown hen and 
 a big gray owl, and they had been mar 
 ried sixty years ! They had toiled and 
 grown old together, but that did not 
 mean that wifey was to walk anywhere 
 but three feet to the rear, nor to speak 
 except when her lord and ruler stopped 
 talking to take a whiff of his pipe. 
 I tried to walk behind with the old lady 
 68 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 but she threatened to stand in one spot 
 for the rest of the night. Then I 
 vainly coaxed her to walk with me at 
 her husband s side. But her face was 
 so full of genuine horror at such dis 
 respect that I desisted. Think, Mate, 
 of trying to puzzle out the make-up of 
 a nation which for the sake of a long- 
 ago kindness will for years keep a 
 strange baby s grave green and yet 
 whose laws will divorce a woman for 
 disobedience to her husband s mother 
 and where the ancient custom of 
 4 * women to heel" still holds good. 
 
 And this is the land where the Seeker 
 came for the truth ! 
 
 Sada thinks it paradise and I, as be 
 fore, am sending to Jack 
 
 A heart of love for thee 
 Blown by the summer breezes 
 Ten thousand miles of sea. 
 
 69 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 July, 1911. 
 Mate: 
 
 There ought to be some kind of cap 
 ital punishment for the woman who 
 has nothing to do but kill time. It s 
 an occupation that puts crimps in the 
 soul and offers the supreme moment in 
 which the devil may work his rabbit 
 foot. No, I cannot settle down or hus 
 tle up to anything until I hear from 
 Jack or you. Very soon I will be re 
 duced to doing the one desperate thing 
 lurking in this corner of the woods, 
 flirting with the solitary male guest, 
 who has a strong halt in his voice 
 and whose knees are not on speaking 
 terms. 
 
 Of course it is raining. If the sun 
 gets gay and tries the bluff of be 
 ing friendly, a heavy giant of a cloud 
 rises promptly up from behind a moun 
 tain and puts him out of business. 
 Still, why moan over the dampness? 
 It makes the hills look like great green 
 70 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 plush sofa-cushions and the avenues 
 like mossy caves. 
 
 I have read till my eyes are crossed 
 and I have written to every human I 
 know. I have watched the giggling lit 
 tle maids patter up to a two-inch 
 shrine and, flinging a word or two to 
 Buddha, use the rest of their time to 
 gossip. And the old lady who washes 
 her vegetables and her clothes in the 
 same baby-lake just outside my win 
 dow amuses me for at least ten min 
 utes. Then, Mate, for real satisfac 
 tion, I must turn to you, whose patience 
 is elastic and enduring. It is one of 
 my big joys that your interest and love 
 are just the same, as in those other 
 days when you packed me off to Japan 
 for the good of my country and my 
 self; and then sent Jack after me. 
 Guess I should have stayed at home, as 
 Jack told me, but I am glad I did not. 
 71 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Though it has poured every minute 
 I have been here, there have been bursts 
 of sunshine inside, if not out. The 
 other day my table boy brought me the 
 menu and asked for an explanation of 
 assorted fruits. I told him very care 
 fully it meant mixed, different kinds. 
 He is a smart lad. He understands my 
 Japanese! He grasped my meaning 
 immediately, and wrote it down in a lit 
 tle book. This morning he came to my 
 room and announced: " Please, Lady, 
 some assorted guests await you in the 
 audience chamber; one Japanese and 
 two American persons. " 
 
 I have had my first letter from Sada 
 too, simply spilling over with youth and 
 enthusiasm. The girl is stark mad 
 over the fairy-landness of it all. Says 
 her rooms are in Uncle s private house, 
 which is in quite a different part of the 
 garden from the tea-house. (Thank 
 72 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the Lord for small mercies !) She says 
 Uncle has given her some beautiful 
 clothes and is so good to her. I dare 
 say. He has taken her to see a lovely 
 old castle and wonderful temple. The 
 streets are all pictures and the scenery 
 is glorious ! That is true, but the girl 
 cannot live off scenery any more than a 
 nightingale can thrive on the scent of 
 roses. What is coming when the gla 
 mour of the scenery wears off and Un 
 cle puts on the pressure of his will? 
 
 I have not dared to give her any sug 
 gestion of warning. She is deadly 
 sure of her duty, so enthralled is she 
 with the thought of service to her 
 mother s people. If I am to help her, 
 the shock of disillusionment must come 
 from some other direction. The dis- 
 illiisioner is seldom forgiven. I do not 
 know what plans are being worked out 
 behind Uncle s lowered eyelids. But I 
 73 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 do know his idea of duty does not in 
 clude keeping such a valuable asset as a 
 bright and beautiful niece hid away for 
 his solitary joy. In fact, he would con 
 sider himself a neglectful and alto 
 gether unkind relative if he did not 
 marry Sada off to the very best ad 
 vantage to himself. In the name of all 
 the Orient, what else is there to do with 
 a girl, and especially one whose blood is 
 tainted with that of the West? 
 
 Well, Mate, my thoughts grew so 
 thick on the subject I nearly suffocated. 
 I went for a walk and ran right into a 
 cavalcade of donkeys, jinrickshas and 
 chairs, headed by the Seeker and Dolly, 
 who has also annexed the little Maha 
 rajah. 
 
 They had been up to Chuzenji and 
 
 Chuzenji I would have you know is 
 
 lovely enough, with its emerald lake and 
 
 rainbow mists, to start a man s tongue 
 
 74 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 to love-making whether he will or not. 
 And so surely as it is raining, some 
 thing has happened. Dolly was as gay 
 as a day-old butterfly and smiled as if 
 a curly-headed Cupid had tickled her 
 with a wing-feather. The Seeker was 
 deadly solemn. Possibly the after 
 math of his impetuosity. 
 
 Oh, well! there is no telling what 
 wonders can be worked by incurable 
 youthfulness and treasures laid up in 
 a trust company. 
 
 The little Prince, with every pocket 
 and his handkerchief full of small im 
 ages of Buddha which he was collect 
 ing, asked at once for Sada. His heart 
 was in his eyes, but there is no use tam 
 pering with a to-be-incarnation by en 
 couraging worldly thoughts. So I said 
 I had not seen her since we landed. 
 They were due on board the Siberia in 
 Yokohama to-night on their way to 
 75 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 China. I waved them good wishes and 
 went on, amused and not a little trou 
 bled. Worried over Sada, hungry for 
 Jack, lonesome for you. I passed one 
 of the gorgeous blue, green and yellow 
 gates, at the entrance of a temple. On 
 one side is carved a distorted figure, 
 that looks like a cross between an ele 
 phant and a buzzard. It is called 
 "Baku, the eater of evil dreams. " My 
 word! but I could furnish him a feast 
 that would give him the fanciest case 
 of indigestion he ever knew ! 
 
 Mate, you would have to see Nikko, 
 with its majestic cryptomarias, shelter 
 ing the red and gold lacquer temples; 
 you would have to feel the mystery of 
 the gray-green avenues, and have its 
 holy silences fall like a benediction 
 upon a restless spirit, to realize what 
 healing for soul and body is in the very 
 76 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 air, to understand why I joyfully loi 
 tered for two hours and came back sane 
 and hungry, but wet as a fish. 
 
 A V rite me about the only man, the 
 kiddies and your own blessed happy 
 self. 
 
 I agree with Charity. Ef you want 
 to spile a valuable wife, tu n her loose 
 in a patch of idlesomeness. " 
 
 STILL AT NIKKO, August, 1911. 
 You beloved girl, I have heard from 
 Jack and my heart is singing a rag 
 time tune of joy and thanksgiving. 
 How he laughed at me for being too 
 foolishly lonesome to stay in America 
 without him. Oh, these men! Does 
 he forget he raged once upon a time, 
 when he was in America without me? 
 As long as I am here though, he wants 
 me to have as good a time as possible. 
 77 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Do anything I want, and blessed 
 trusting man ! buy anything I see that 
 will fit in the little house at home. 
 
 Can you believe it? After a fierce 
 battle the sun won out this morning, 
 and even the blind would know by the 
 dancing feel of the air that it was a 
 glorious day. At eight o clock, when 
 the little maids went up to the shrine, 
 happy as kittens let out for a romp, 
 they forgot even to look Buddha-ward 
 and took up their worship time in play 
 ing tag. The old woman who uses the 
 five-foot lake as the family wash-tub, 
 brought out all her clothes, the grand- 
 baby, and the snub-nosed poodle that 
 wears a red bib, to celebrate the sun 
 shine by a carnival of washing. 
 
 I could not stand four walls a minute 
 longer. I am down in the garden writ 
 ing you, in a tea-house made with three 
 fishing-poles and a bunch of straw. It 
 78 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 is covered with pink morning-glories as 
 big as coffee cups. 
 
 It has been three weeks since my last 
 letter and I know your interest in Jack 
 and germs is almost as great as mine. 
 Jack has been in Peking. He thinks 
 the revolution of the Chinese against 
 the Manchu Government is going to be 
 something far more serious this time 
 than a flutter of fans and a sputter of 
 shooting-crackers. The long-suffering 
 worm with the head of a dragon is go 
 ing to turn, and when it does, there will 
 not be a Manchu left to tell the pig tale. 
 
 Jack is in Mukden now, where he is 
 about to lose his mind with joy over 
 the prospect of looking straight in the 
 eye if it has one this wicked old 
 germ with a new label, and telling it 
 what he thinks. The technical terms 
 he gives are as paralyzing as a Russian 
 name spelled backwards. 
 79 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 In a day s time this fearful thing 
 wipes out entire families and villages. 
 It has simply ravaged northern Man 
 churia and the country about. Jack 
 says so deadly are the effects of these 
 germs in the air that if a man walking 
 along the street happens to breathe in 
 one, he is a corpse on the spot before 
 he is through swallowing. The re 
 mains are gathered up by men wearing 
 shrouds and net masks, and the peace 
 ful Oriental who was not doing a thing 
 but attending strictly to his own busi 
 ness, is soon reduced to ashes. All be 
 cause of a pesky microbe with a surplus 
 of energy. 
 
 You know perfectly well, Mate, Jack 
 does not speak in this frivolous manner 
 of his beloved work. The interpreta 
 tion is wholly mine. But I dare not be 
 serious over it. I must push any 
 80 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 thought of his danger to the further 
 ends of nowhere. 
 
 Jack thinks the native doctors have 
 put up a brave fight, but so far the 
 laugh has been all on the side of the 
 frisky germ. 
 
 It blasts everything it touches and is 
 most fastidious. Nobody can blame it 
 for choosing as its nesting-place the lit 
 tle soft furred Siberian marmots, 
 which the Chinese hunt for their skin. 
 If only the hunters could be given a dip 
 in a sulphur vat before they lay them 
 down to sleep in the unspeakable inns 
 with their spoils wrapped around them, 
 the chance for infection would not be so 
 great. Of course the bare suggestion 
 of a bath might prove more fatal than 
 the plague, for oftener than not the 
 hunters are used only as a method of 
 travel by the merry microbe and are 
 81 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 immune from the effects. Of course 
 Jack has all sorts of theories as to why 
 this is so. But did you ever see a sci 
 entist who didn t have a workable 
 theory for everything from the wrong 
 end of a carpet-tack to the evolution of 
 a June bug! 
 
 From the hunters and their spoils the 
 disease spreads and their path south 
 wards can be traced by desolated vil 
 lages and piles of bones. 
 
 Jack tells me he is garbed in a long 
 white robe effect (I hope he won t grow 
 wings), with a good-sized mosquito net 
 on a frame over his head and face. He 
 works in heavy gloves. Mouth and 
 nose being the favorite point of attack, 
 everybody who ventures out wears over 
 this part of the face a curiously shaped 
 shield, whose firm look says, "No ad 
 mittance here." But all the same, that 
 germ from Siberia is a wily thief and 
 82 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 steals lives by the thousands, in spite 
 of all precautions. 
 
 Jack is as enthusiastic over the fight 
 against the scourge as a college boy 
 over football. His letter has so many 
 big technical words in it, I had to pay 
 excess postage. 
 
 I Ve read his letter twice, but to save 
 me I cannot find any suggestion of the 
 remotest possibility of my coming 
 nearer. Yes, I know I said Japan only. 
 But way down in the cellar of my heart 
 I hoped he would say nearer. 
 
 What a happy day it has been. Here 
 is your letter, just come. The priests 
 up at the temple have asked me to see 
 the ceremony of offering food to the 
 spirits, in the holy of holies. 
 
 There is not time for me to add an 
 other word to this letter. What a dear 
 you are, to love while you lecture me. 
 What you say is all true. A woman s 
 83 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 place is in her home. But just now out 
 of the East, I Ve had a call to play si 
 lent partner to science and while it s 
 a lonesome sport, at least it s far more 
 entertaining than caring for a husband- 
 less house. Anyhow I am sending you 
 a hug and a thousand kisses for the 
 babies. 
 
 SHOJI LAKE, August, 1911. 
 Mate, think of the loveliest landscape 
 picture you ever saw, put me in it and 
 you will know where I am. With some 
 friends from Honolulu and a darling 
 old man observe I say old! from Col 
 orado, we started two days ago, to walk 
 around the base of Fuji. Everything 
 went splendidly till a typhoon hit us 
 amidships and sent us careening, blind, 
 battered and soaked into this red and 
 white refuge of a hotel, that clings to 
 the side of a mountain like a wood- 
 84 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 pecker to a telephone pole. I have seen 
 storms, but the worst I ever saw was a 
 playful summer breeze compared with 
 the magnificent fury of this wind that 
 snapped great trees in two as if they 
 had been young bean-poles, and 
 whipped the usually peaceful lake into 
 raging waves that swept through a 
 gorge and greedily licked up a whole 
 village. 
 
 Our path was high up, but right over 
 the water. Sometimes we were crawl 
 ing on all fours. Mostly we were fly 
 ing just where the wind listed. If a 
 tree got in our way as we flew, so much 
 the worse for us. It is funny now, but 
 it was not at the time! Seriously, I 
 was in immediate peril of being blown 
 to glory via the fierce green foam be 
 low. My Colorado Irishman is not 
 only a darling, but a hero. Once I 
 slipped, and stopped rolling only when 
 85 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 some faithful pines were too stubborn 
 to let go. 
 
 I was many feet below the reach of 
 any arm. In a twinkling, my friend 
 had stripped the kimono off the bag 
 gage coolie s back, and made a lasso 
 with which he pulled me up. Then 
 shocked to a standstill by the shortcom 
 ings of the coolie s birthday suit, he 
 snatched off his coat and gave it to him, 
 with a dollar. Such a procession of 
 bedraggled and exhausted pleasure- 
 seekers as we were, when three men 
 stood behind our hotel door and opened 
 it just wide enough to haul us in. But 
 hot baths and boiling tea revived us and 
 soon we were as merry as any people 
 can be who have just escaped annihila 
 tion. 
 
 The typhoon passed as suddenly as 
 it came, and now the world or at least 
 this part of it is as glowing and beau- 
 86 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 tiful as if freshly tinted by the Master 
 Hand. 
 
 A moment ago I looked up to see my 
 rescuer gazing out of the window. I 
 asked, "How do you feel, Mr. Carson f " 
 His voice trembled when he answered: 
 "Lady, I feel glorified, satisfied and 
 nigh about petrified. Look at that!" 
 
 Below lay Shoji, its. shimmering wa 
 ters rimmed with velvety green. Every 
 raindrop on the pines was a prism ; the 
 mountain a brocade of blossom. To 
 the right Fuji, the graceful, ever lovely 
 Fuji; capricious as a coquette and be 
 witching in her mystery, with a thumb 
 nail moon over her peak, like a silver 
 tiara on the head of a proud beauty; 
 at her base the last fleecy clouds of the 
 day, gathered like worshipers at the 
 feet of some holy saint. 
 
 The man s face shone. For forty 
 years he had worked at harness-mak- 
 87 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ing, always with the vision before him 
 that some day he might take this trip 
 around the world. He has the soul of 
 an artist, which has been half starved in 
 the narrow environment of his small 
 town life. Cannot you imagine the 
 mad revel of his soul in this picture- 
 land? 
 
 He is going to Mukden. Of course 
 I told him all about Jack s work. The 
 old fellow, he must be all of seventy, 
 was thrilled. I am going to give him a 
 letter to Jack. Also to some friends 
 in Peking ; they will be good to him. If 
 anybody deserves a merry-go-round 
 sort of a holiday, he does. Think of 
 sewing on saddles and bridles all these 
 years, when his heart was withering for 
 beauty! 
 
 I am glad of your eager interest in 
 Sada. How like you! Never too ab 
 sorbed in your own life to share other 
 88 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 people s joys and sorrows and festivi 
 ties. 
 
 If your wise bead evolves a plan of 
 action, send by wireless, for if I read 
 arigbt ber message received to-day, tbe 
 time is fast coming wben tbe red ligbts 
 of danger will be flasbing. I will 
 quote: "Last nigbt Uncle asked me to 
 sing to some people wbo were giving a 
 dinner at tbe tea-bouse. I put on my 
 loveliest kimono and a bair-dresser did 
 my bair in tbe old Japanese style and 
 stuck a red rose at tbe side. For tbe 
 first time I went into tbat beautiful, 
 beautiful place my Uncle calls "tbe 
 Flower Blooming " tea-bouse. It was 
 more like a fairy palace. How tbe 
 girls, wbo live tbere, laugbed at my 
 guitar. Tbey bad never seen one be 
 fore. How tbey wbispered over tbe 
 color of my eyes. Said tbey matcbed 
 my kimono, and tbey tittered over my 
 89 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 clumsiness in sitting on the floor. But 
 I forgot everything when the door slid 
 open and I looked into the most won 
 derful dream-garden that ever was, and 
 people everywhere. I finished singing, 
 there was clapping and loud banzais. 
 I looked up and realized there were only 
 men at this dinner and I never saw so 
 many bottles in all my life. I felt very 
 strange and so far away from dear 
 Susan West. After I had sung once 
 more I started back to my home. Uncle 
 met me. I told him I was going to bed. 
 For the first time he was cross and or 
 dered me back to the play place, where 
 I was to stay until he came for me. 
 There never was anything so lovely as 
 the green and pink garden and the lily- 
 shaped lights, and the flowers; and 
 such pretty girls who knew just what to 
 do. But I cannot understand the men 
 who come here. When dear old Billy " 
 90 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Hum heaven she says dear Billy! 
 " talks I know just what he means. 
 But these men use so many words 
 Susan never taught me, and laugh so 
 loud when they say them. 
 
 " There was one man named Hara 
 whose clothes were simply gorgeous. 
 The girls say he is very rich, and a 
 great friend of Uncle s ! He may hare 
 money, but he is not over-burdened 
 with manners. He can out-stare an 
 owl." 
 
 There was more. But that is enough 
 to show me Uncle s hand as plainly as 
 if I were a palmist. If nothing hap 
 pens to prevent, the man promises to 
 do what thousands of his kind have 
 done before: regardless of obstacles 
 and consequences marry the girl off to 
 the highest bidder; rid himself of all 
 responsibility and make a profit at the 
 same time. From his point of view it 
 91 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 is the only thing to do. He would be 
 the most astonished uncle in Mikado- 
 land if anybody suggested to him that 
 Sada had any rights or feelings in the 
 matter. He would tell you that as 
 Sada s only male relative, custom gave 
 him the right to dispose of her as he 
 saw fit, and custom is law and there is 
 nothing back of that! 
 
 So far I have played only a thinking 
 part in the drama. But I will not 
 stand by and see the girl, whose very 
 loneliness is a plea, sacrificed without 
 some kind of a struggle to help her. At 
 the present writing I feel about as ef 
 fective as a February lamb, and every 
 move calls for tact. Wish I had been 
 born with a needle wit instead of a Bo- 
 man nose ! For if Uncle has a glimmer 
 of a suspicion that I would befriend 
 Sada at the cost of his plans, so surely 
 as the river is lost in the sea, Sada 
 92 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 would disappear from my world until 
 it was too late for me to lend a hand. 
 
 Good-by, Mate. At eventide, as of 
 old, look my way and send me strength 
 from your vast store of calm courage 
 and common sense. The odds are 
 against me, but the god of luck has 
 never yet failed to laugh with me. 
 
 September, 1911. 
 
 I am in a monastery, Mate, but only 
 temporarily, thank you. It is a blessing 
 to the cause that Fate did not turn me 
 into a monk or a sister or any of those 
 inconvenient things with a restless re 
 ligion, that wakes you up about 3 A. M. 
 on a wintry dawn to pray shiveringly 
 to a piece of wood, to the tune of a 
 thumping drum. Some morning when 
 the frost was on the cypress that carven 
 image would disappear! 
 
 For one time at least I would have a 
 93 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 nice fire, and my prayers would not be 
 decorated with icicles. 
 
 For two weeks my friends and I have 
 been tramping through picture-book 
 villages and silk-worm country, and 
 over mountain winding ways, sleeping 
 on the floor, sitting on our feet and 
 giving our stomachs surprise parties 
 with hot, cold and lukewarm rice, sea 
 weed and devil-fish. 
 
 It has been one hilarious lark of out 
 door life, with nothing to pin us to 
 earth but the joy of being a part of so 
 beautiful a world. 
 
 The road led us through superb for 
 ests, over the Bridge of Paradise to 
 Koyo San, whose peak is so far above 
 the mist-wreathed valleys that it 
 scrapes the clouds as they float by. 
 But I want to say right here; Kobo 
 Daishi, who founded this monastery in 
 the distant ages and built a temple to 
 94 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 his own virtues, may have been a saint, 
 but he was not much of a gentleman! 
 Else he would not have been so reckless 
 of the legs and necks of the coming 
 generations, as to blaze the trail to his 
 shrine over mountains so steep that our 
 pack-mule coming up could easily have 
 bitten off his own tail if he had so 
 minded. 
 
 Later. 
 
 This afternoon I must hustle down. 
 I suppose the only way to get down is 
 to roll. Well ; anyway I am in a hurry. 
 My mail beat me up the trail and a let 
 ter from Sada San begs me to come to 
 Kioto to see her as soon as I can. She 
 only says she needs help and does not 
 know what to do. And blessed be the 
 telegram that winds up from Hiro 
 shima; the school is in urgent need of 
 an assistant at the Kindergarten and 
 95 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 they ask me to come. The principal, 
 Miss Look, has gone to America on busi 
 ness, for three months. Hooray! 
 Here is my chance to resign from the 
 " Folded Hands Society" and do some 
 thing that is really worth while, as long 
 as I cannot go to my man. How good 
 it will seem once again to be in that 
 dear old mission school, where in the 
 long ago I toiled and laughed and suf 
 fered while I waited for Jack. 
 
 The prospect of being with the girls 
 and the kiddies again makes me want 
 to do a Highland Fling, even if I am in 
 a monastery with a sad-faced young 
 priest serving me tea and mournful 
 sighs between prayers. 
 
 What a flirtatious old world it is after 
 
 all. It smites you and bruises you, 
 
 then binds up the hurts by giving you 
 
 a desire or so of your heart. Just now 
 
 96 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 the desire of my heart is to catch that 
 train for Kioto. 
 
 So here goes a prayer, pinned to a 
 shrine, for a body intact as I tread 
 the path that drops straight down the 
 mountain, through the crimson glory 
 of the maples and the blazing yellow 
 of the gingko tree, to the tiny little sta 
 tion far away that looks like a deco 
 rated hen-coop. 
 
 KIOTO, September, 1911. 
 Dearest Mate: 
 
 I cannot spend a drop of ink in tell 
 ing you how I got here. How the bag 
 gage beast ran away and decorated the 
 mountain shrubbery with my belong 
 ings. And how after all my hurry of 
 dropping down from Koyo San, the 
 brakesman forgot to hook our car to 
 the train and started off on a picnic 
 97 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 while the engine went merrily on and 
 left us out in the rice-fields. Suffice it 
 to say I landed in a whirl that spun me 
 down to Uncle s house and back to the 
 hotel. And by the way my thoughts 
 are going, for all I know I may be 
 booked to spin on through eternity. 
 
 My visit to Sada was so full of things 
 that did not happen. When I reached 
 the house, I sent in my card to Sada. 
 Uncle came gliding in like a soft-footed 
 panther. He did it so quietly that I 
 jumped when I saw him. We took up 
 valuable time repeating polite greet 
 ings, as set down on page ten of the 
 Book of Etiquette, in the chapter on 
 Calls Made by Inconvenient Foreign 
 ers. 
 
 When our countless bows were fin 
 ished, I asked in my coaxingest voice if 
 I might see Sada. Presently she came 
 in, dressed in Japanese clothes and 
 98 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 beautiful even in her pallor. She was 
 changed sad, and a little drooping. 
 The conflict of her ideals of duty to her 
 mother s people and the real facts in 
 the case, had marked her face with 
 something far deeper than girlish in 
 nocence. It was inevitable. But above 
 the evidences of struggle there was a 
 something which said the dead and 
 gone Susan West had left more than a 
 mere memory. Silently I blessed all 
 her kind. 
 
 Sada was unfeignedly glad to see me, 
 and I longed to take her in my arms 
 and kiss her. But such a display 
 would have marked me in Uncle s eyes 
 as a dangerous woman with unsup- 
 pressed emotions, and unfit for com 
 panionship with Sada. I had hoped 
 his Book of Etiquette said, " After this, 
 bow and depart." But my hopes had 
 not a pin-feather to rest on. He stayed 
 99 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 right where he was. All right, old 
 Uncle, thought I, if stay you will, then 
 I shall use all a woman s power to be 
 guile you and a woman s wit to out- 
 trick you, so I can make you show your 
 hand. It is going to be a game with 
 the girl as the prize. It is also going 
 to be like playing leap-frog with a por 
 cupine. He has cunning and authority 
 to back him, and I have only my love 
 for Sada. 
 
 For a time I talked at random, di 
 recting my whole conversation to him 
 as the law demands. By accident, or 
 luck, I learned that the weak point in 
 his armor of polite reserve was color 
 prints. Just talk color prints to a col 
 lector and you can pick his pocket with 
 perfect ease. 
 
 My knowledge of color prints could 
 be written on my thumb nail. But I 
 made a long and dangerous shot, by 
 100 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 looking wise and asking if he thought 
 Matahei compared favorably with 
 Moronobo as painters of the same era. 
 I choked off a gasp when I said it, for 
 I would have you know that for all I 
 knew, Matahei might have lived in the 
 time of Jacob and Eebecca, and Moro 
 nobo a thousand years afterwards. 
 But I guessed right the very first time 
 and Mura San, with a flash of apprecia 
 tion at my interest, said that my 
 learning was remarkable. It was an 
 untruth and he knew that I knew it, 
 but it was courteous and I looked 
 easy. Then he talked long and de 
 lightfully as only lovers of such 
 things can. At least, it would have 
 been delightful had I not been so anx 
 ious to see Sada alone. But it was not 
 to be. At least, not then. But mark 
 one for me, Mate: Uncle was so 
 pleased with my keen and hungry in- 
 101 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 terest in color prints and my desire to 
 see his collection, that he invited me to 
 a feast and a dance at the house the 
 next night. 
 
 The following evening I could have 
 hugged the person, male or otherwise, 
 who called my dear host away for a few 
 minutes just before the feast began. 
 
 Sada told me hurriedly that Uncle 
 had insisted on her singing every night 
 at the tea-house. She had first rebelled, 
 and then flatly refused, for she did not 
 like the girls. She hated what she saw 
 and was afraid of the men. Her mas 
 ter was furiously angry; said he would 
 teach her what obedience meant in this 
 country. He would marry her off 
 right away and be rid of a girl who 
 thought her foreign religion gave her a 
 right to disobey her relatives. She 
 was afraid he would do it, for he had 
 not asked her to go to the tea-house 
 102 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 again. Neither had he permitted her 
 to go out of the house. Once she was 
 sick with fear, for she knew Uncle had 
 been in a long consultation with the rich 
 man Hara and he was in such good 
 humor afterwards. But Hara, she 
 learned, had gone away. 
 
 She would not sing at these dinners 
 again, not if Uncle choked her and what 
 must she do ! I saw the man returning 
 but I quickly whispered, "What about 
 Billy 1" 
 
 Ah, I knew I was right. The rose in 
 her hair was no pinker than her cheeks. 
 If Billy could only have seen her then, 
 I would wager my shoes and shoes are 
 precious in this country that her duty 
 to her mother s people would have to 
 take a back seat. 
 
 Before Uncle reached us I whispered, 
 "Keep Billy in your heart, Sada. 
 Write him. Tell him." And in the 
 103 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 same breath I heartily thanked Uncle 
 for inviting me. 
 
 It was a feast, Mate the most pic 
 turesque, uneatable feast I ever sat on 
 my doubly honorable feet to consume. 
 There were opal-eyed fish with shaded 
 pink scales, served whole; soft brown 
 eels split up the back and laid on a bed 
 of green moss; soups, thin and thick; 
 lotus root and mountain lily, and raw 
 fish. Each course and their name 
 was many was served on a little two- 
 inch-high lacquer table, with every 
 thing to match. Sometimes it was gold 
 lacquer, then again green, once red and 
 another black. But it was all a dream 
 of color that shaded in with the little 
 maids who served it; and they, swift, 
 noiseless and pretty, were trained to 
 graceful perfection. The few furnish 
 ings of the room were priceless. Uncle 
 sat by in his silken robes, gracious and 
 104 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 courteous, surprising me with Iris 
 knowledge of current events. In the 
 guise of host, he is charming. That is, 
 if only he would not always talk with 
 dropped eyelids, giving the impression 
 that he is half dreaming and is only 
 partly conscious of the world and its 
 follies. And all the time I know per 
 fectly well that he sees everything 
 around him and clean on to the city 
 limits. 
 
 Again and again in his talks he re 
 ferred to his color prints and the years 
 of patience required to collect them. 
 Eight then, Mate, I made a vow to 
 study the pesky things as they have 
 seldom been attacked before even 
 though I never had much use for 
 pictures in which you cannot tell the 
 top side from the bottom, without a 
 label. But then, Jack says, my artistic 
 temperament will never keep me awake 
 105 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 at night. Now I decided all at once to 
 make a collection. Heaven knows what 
 I will do with it. But Uncle grew so 
 enthusiastic he included his niece in the 
 conversation, and while his humor was 
 at high tide I coaxed him into a prom 
 ise that Sada might come down to Hiro 
 shima very soon, and help me look for 
 prints. 
 
 Yes, indeed there was a dance after 
 wards, and everything was deadly, 
 hysterically solemn so rigidly proper, 
 so stiffly conventional that it palled. 
 It was the most maleless house of rev 
 elry I ever saw. Why, even the kake 
 mono were pictures of perfect ladies 
 and the gate-man was a withered old 
 woman. 
 
 There was absolutely nothing wrong 
 
 I could name. It was all exquisitely, 
 
 daintily, lawfully Japanese. But I sat 
 
 by my window till early morning. 
 
 106 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 There was a very ghost of a summer 
 moon. Out of the night came the vel 
 vety tones of a mighty bell; the sing 
 song prayers of many priests ; the rip 
 pling laugh of a little child and the 
 tinkling of a samisen. Every sound 
 made for simple joy and peace. But I 
 thought of the girl somewhere beyond 
 the twinkling street lights, who, with 
 mixed races in her blood and a strange 
 religion in her heart, had dreamed 
 dreams of this as a perfect land, and 
 was now paying the price of disillu 
 sionment with bitter tears. 
 
 Eight o clock the next morning. 
 I cabled Jack, "Hiroshima for win 
 ter. " 
 
 He answered, "Thank the Lord you 
 are nailed down at last." 
 
 P. S. I have bought all the books on 
 color prints I could find. 
 107 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 October, 1911. 
 
 Hiroshima! Get up and salute, 
 Mate! Is not that name like the face 
 of an old familiar friend? I have to 
 shake myself to realize that it is not the 
 long ago, but now. A recent picture 
 of Jack and one of you and the babies 
 is about the only touch of the present. 
 Everything is just as it was in the old 
 days, when the difficulties of teaching 
 in a foreign kindergarten in a foreigner 
 language was the least of the battle that 
 faced me. Well, I thought I d finished 
 with battles, but there s a feeling of 
 fight in the air. 
 
 Same little room, in the same old mis 
 sion school. Same wall paper, so blue 
 it turned green. And, Lord love us, 
 from the music-rooms still come the 
 sounds like all the harmonies of a baby 
 organ-factory gone on a strike. 
 
 But bless you, honey, there is an 
 108 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 eternity of difference in having to 
 stand a thing and doing it of your own 
 free will. As Black Charity would re 
 mark, "I don t pay em no mind," and 
 let them wheeze out their mournful 
 complaints to the same old hymns. 
 
 Had you been here the night my 
 dinky little train pulled into the sta 
 tion, you would have guessed that it 
 was a big Fourth of July celebration 
 or the Emperor s birthday. I would 
 not dare guess how many girls there 
 were to meet me. It seemed like half 
 a mile of them lined up on the platform, 
 and each carried a round red lantern. 
 
 Until they had made the proper bow 
 with deadly precision, there was not a 
 smile or a sound. That ceremony over, 
 they charged down upon me in an ava 
 lanche of gaiety. They waved their 
 lanterns, they called banzai, they 
 laughed and sung some of the old time 
 109 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 foolish songs we used to sing. They 
 promptly put to rout all legends of 
 their excessive modesty and shyness. 
 They were just young and girlish. 
 Plain happy. Eager and sweet in their 
 generous welcome. It warmed every 
 fiber of my being. When they thinned 
 out a little, I saw at the other end of 
 the platform a figure flying towards me, 
 with the sleeves of her kimono out 
 stretched like the wings of a gray bird, 
 and a great red rose for a top-knot. It 
 was Miss First Kiver, a little late, but 
 more than happy, as she sobbed out her 
 welcome on the front of my clean shirt 
 waist. 
 
 It was she, you remember, who in all 
 those other years was my faithful sec 
 retary and general comforter. The one 
 who slept across my door when I was ill 
 and who never forgot the hot water bag 
 on a cold night. For years she has 
 110 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 supported a drunken father and a crazy 
 mother; has sent one brother to Amer 
 ica and made a preacher of another. 
 
 Now she is to be married, she told me 
 in a little note she slipped into my hand 
 as we walked up the Street of the Up 
 per Flowing River to the school, adding, 
 "Please guess my heart. " 
 
 And miracle of the East! She has 
 known the man a long time and they 
 are in love! I am so glad I am going 
 to be here for the wedding. It comes 
 off in a few weeks. 
 
 I started work in the kindergarten 
 this morning. It has been said that 
 when the Lord ran out of mothers 
 he made kindergartners. Surely he 
 never did a better job for the kinder 
 gartners. Mate, when I stepped into 
 that room, it was like going into an en 
 chanted garden of morning-glories and 
 dahlias. What a greeting the regiment 
 111 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of young Japlings gave me! I just 
 drank in all the fragrance of joy in the 
 eager comradeship and sweet friendli 
 ness of the small Mikados and Mika- 
 doesses with a keen delight that made 
 the hours spin like minutes. 
 
 And would you believe it? The first 
 sound that greeted my ears after their 
 whole duty had been accomplished in 
 the very formal bow, was "Oh it is 
 the skit ten Sensei (skipping teacher) 
 A skit! A skit! We want to skit!" 
 Of course, they were not the same chil 
 dren by many years. But things die 
 slowly in Hiroshima. Even good repu 
 tations. Everything was pushed aside, 
 and work or no work, teachers and chil 
 dren celebrated by one mad revel of 
 skipping. 
 
 There are many things to do, and get 
 ting into the old harness of steady 
 routine work and living on the tap of 
 112 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 a bell, is not so easy as it sounds, after 
 years of live-as-you-please. But it is 
 good for the constitution and is satis 
 fying to the soul. 
 
 I once asked my friend Carson from 
 Colorado if he could choose but one gift 
 in all the world, what would it be! 
 "The contintment of stidy work," an 
 swered the wise old philosopher from 
 out of the West; and my heart echoes 
 his wisdom. 
 
 Had a big fat letter from Jack, and 
 the reputation he gives those germs he 
 is associating with, is simply disgrace 
 ful. He gives me statistics also. "Wish 
 he wouldn t. It takes so much time 
 and I always have to count on my fin 
 gers. 
 
 He tells me, too, of an English woman 
 
 who has joined the insect expedition. 
 
 Says she is the most brilliant woman 
 
 he ever met. Thanks awfully. And 
 
 113 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 he has to sit up nights studying, to keep 
 up with her. I dare say. 
 
 I 11 wager she 7 s high of color and 
 mighty of muscle and with equal ve 
 hemence says a thing is "strawdn ry" 
 whether it s a dewdrop or a spouting 
 volcano. 
 
 I can t help feeling a little bit envious 
 of her out there with my Jack ! "Well ! 
 I will not get agitated till I have to. 
 
 A note from Sada says Uncle has had 
 another outburst. He still consents 
 for her to come down here. Her beau 
 tiful ideals have been smashed to 
 smithereens, and the fact that nothing 
 has ever been invented that will stick 
 them together, adds no comfort to 
 the situation. Her disappointment is 
 heart-breaking. I cannot make a move 
 till I get her to myself and have a life- 
 and-death talk with her. I am playing 
 for time. 
 
 114 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I wrote her a cheerfully foolish let 
 ter. Told her I was making all kinds 
 of plans for her visit. I also looked up 
 some doubtful dates at least, my text 
 book on color prints said they were 
 doubtful and referred them to Uncle 
 for confirmation, asking that he give in 
 structions to Sada about a certain 
 dealer in Hiroshima who has some 
 pictures so violent, positively I would 
 not hang them in the cow-shed. That 
 is, if I cared for Suky. But it is any 
 thing for conversation now. 
 
 I almost forgot to tell you that we 
 have the same chef as when I was kin 
 dergarten teacher here in the school 
 years ago. He s prosperous as a 
 pawnbroker. He gave me a radiant 
 greeting. "How are you, Tanaka?" 
 quoth I. "All same like damn monkey, 
 Sensei," he replied. But he is unfail 
 ingly cheerful and the cleverest grafter 
 115 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 in the universe, with an artistic temper 
 ament highly developed; he sometimes 
 sends in the unchewable roast smoth 
 ered in cherry blossoms. 
 
 How wise you were, Mate, to choose 
 home and husband instead of a career. 
 I love you for it. 
 
 HIROSHIMA, October, 1911. 
 For springing surprises, all full of 
 kindness and delicate courtesies, Japa 
 nese girls would be difficult to equal. 
 Before a whisper of it reached me, they 
 made arrangements the other day for 
 a re-union of all my graduates of the 
 kindergarten normal class. It is hard 
 to imagine when they found the time 
 for the elaborate decorations they put 
 up in the big kindergarten room, and 
 the hundred and one little things they 
 had done to show their love and warmth 
 of welcome. It was a part of their play 
 116 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 to blindfold me and lead me in. When 
 I opened my eyes, there they stood. 
 Twenty-five happy faces smiling into 
 mine, and twenty babies to match. It 
 was the kiddies that saved the day. I 
 was not a little bewildered, and tears 
 stung my eyes. But with one accord 
 the babies set up a howl at anything so 
 inconceivable as a queer foreign thing 
 with a tan head appearing in their 
 midst. When peace was restored by 
 natural methods, the fun began. 
 
 The girls fairly bombarded me with 
 questions. Could I come to see every 
 one of them I Where was Jack? Could 
 they see his picture? Did he say I 
 could come? How " glad " it was to be 
 together again. Did I remember how 
 we used to play? Then everybody gig 
 gled. One thought had touched them 
 all. Why not play now ! 
 
 The baby question was quickly set- 
 117 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 tied. Soon there was a roaring fire in 
 my study. We raided the classroom 
 for rugs and cushions and with the col 
 lection made down beds in a half ring 
 around the crackling flames. On each 
 we put a baby, feet fireward. We 
 called in the Obasan (old woman) to 
 play nurse, and on the table near we 
 placed a row of bottles marked " First 
 aid to the hungry/ As I closed the 
 door of the emergency nursery, I looked 
 back to see a semi-circle of pink heels 
 waving hilariously. Surely the fire 
 goddess never had lovelier devotees 
 than the Oriental cherubs that lay coo 
 ing and kicking before it that day. 
 
 How we played! In all the flowery 
 kingdom so many foolish people could 
 not have been found in one place. What 
 chaff and banter! What laying aside 
 of cares, responsibilities, and heavy 
 hearts, if there were any, and just being 
 118 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 free and young! For a time at least 
 the years fell away from us and we 
 relived all the games and folk-dances 
 we ever knew. True, time had stiff 
 ened joints and some of the movements 
 were about as graceful as a pair of fire 
 tongs and I may be dismissed for some 
 of the fancy steps I showed the girls, 
 but they were happy, and far more sup 
 ple than when we began. 
 
 When we were breathless we hauled 
 in our old friend the big hibachi, with 
 a peck of glowing charcoal right in the 
 middle. We sat on our folded feet and 
 made a big circle all around, with only 
 the glimmer of the coals for a light. 
 Then we talked. 
 
 Each girl had a story to tell, either of 
 herself or some one we had known to 
 gether. Over many we laughed. For 
 others the tears started. 
 
 Warmed by companionship and 
 119 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 moved by unwonted freedom, how much 
 the usually reserved women revealed 
 of themselves, their lives, their trials 
 and desires! But whatever the story, 
 the dominant note was acceptance of 
 what was, without protest. It may be 
 fatalism, Mate, but it is indisputable 
 that looking finality in the face had 
 brought to all of them a quietness of 
 spirit that no longing for wider fields 
 or personal ambition can disturb. 
 
 None of them had known their hus 
 bands before marriage. Few had ever 
 seen them. Many were compelled to 
 live with the difficulties of an exacting 
 mother-in-law, who had forgotten that 
 she was ever a young wife. 
 
 But above it all there was a cheerful 
 peacefulness ; a willingness of service 
 to the husband and all his demands, a 
 joy in children and home, that was con 
 vincing as to the depth and dignity of 
 120 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 character which can so efface itself for 
 the happiness of others. 
 
 One girl, Miss Deserted Lobster 
 Field, was missing. I asked about her 
 and this is her story. She was quite 
 pretty; when she left school there was 
 no difficulty in marrying her off. Two 
 months afterward the young husband 
 left to serve his time in the army. For 
 some reason the mother-in-law did not 
 "enter into the spirit of the girl," and 
 without consulting those most con 
 cerned, she divorced her son and sent 
 the girl home. When the soldier-hus 
 band returned, a new wife, whom he had 
 never seen, was waiting for him at the 
 cottage door. 
 
 The sent-home wife was terribly in 
 the way in her father s house, for by 
 law she belonged neither there nor in 
 any other place. It is difficult to re 
 marry these offcasts. Something, how- 
 121 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ever, bad to be done. So dear fatber 
 took a stroll out into tbe village, and 
 being sonless adopted a young boy as 
 tbe bead of his bouse. A yoslii tbis boy 
 is called. Fatber married tbe adopted 
 son to tbe soldier s wife tbat was, se 
 curely and permanently. A yosbi bas 
 no voice in any family matter and is 
 powerless to get a divorce. 
 
 Moral: If in Japan you want to 
 make sure of keeping a husband when 
 you get him, take a boy to raise, then 
 marry him. 
 
 But the wedding of weddings is tbe 
 one which took place last summer, by 
 suggestion. Tbe great unseen bas 
 lived in America for two years. The 
 maid makes her home in the school. 
 The groom-to-be wrote to a friend in 
 Hiroshima: "Find me a wife. " Tbe 
 friend wrote back: "Here she is." 
 Miss Chestnut Tree, the maid, fluttered 
 122 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 down to the court-house, had her name 
 put on the house register of the far 
 away groom, did up her hair as a mar 
 ried woman should and went back to> 
 work. 
 
 To-morrow she sails for America, and 
 we are all going down to wave her 
 good-by and good luck. 
 
 She is married all right. There will 
 be no further ceremony. 
 
 I would not dare tell you/ all the 
 stories they told me. For I would 
 never stop writing and you would never 
 stop laughing or crying. 
 
 The end of all things comes some 
 times. The beautiful afternoon ended 
 too soon. But for the v rest of time, this 
 day will be crowned with halos made 
 with the mightiness of the love and the 
 dearness of the girls who were once 
 my students, always my friends. 
 
 It took some time to assort the babies 
 123 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and make sure of tying the right one 
 on the right mother s back. Not by 
 one shaved head could I see the slight 
 est difference in any of them, but 
 mothers have the knack of knowing. 
 
 Out of the big gate they went and 
 down the street all aglow with the early 
 evening lights twinkling in the purple 
 shadows. Their geta click-clacked 
 against the hard street, to the music of 
 their voices as they called back to me, 
 "Oyasumi, Oyasumi, Go kigen yoro 
 shiku" (Honorably rest. Be happy 
 always to yourself). 
 
 My gratitude to this little country is 
 great, Mate. It has given me much. 
 It was here life taught me her sternest 
 lessons. And here I found the heart s- 
 ease of Jack s love. But for nothing 
 am I more thankful than for the love 
 and friendship of the young girl- 
 mothers who were my pupils, but from 
 124 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 whom I have learned more of the sweet 
 ness and patience of life than I could 
 ever teach. 
 
 November, 1911. 
 
 Mate, there is a man in Hiroshima 
 for whom I long and watch as I do for 
 no other inhabitant. It is the postman. 
 You should see him grin as he trots 
 around the corner and finds me waiting 
 at the gate, just as I used to do in the 
 old teaching days. I doubly blest him 
 this morning. Thank you for your let 
 ter. It fairly sings content. Homey- 
 ness is in every pen stroke. 
 
 Please say to your small son David 
 that I will give his love to the "king s 
 little boy" if I see him. My last 
 glimpse of him was in Nikko. Poor 
 little chap. He was permitted to walk 
 for a moment. In that moment he 
 spied a bantam hen, the anxious mother 
 125 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of half a dozen puff-ball chickens. Roy 
 alty knew no denial and went in pur 
 suit. The bantam knew no royalty, 
 pursued also. The four men and six 
 women attendants were in a panic. The 
 baby was rescued from a storm of 
 feathers and taken back to the palace 
 with an extra guard of three policemen. 
 
 I have been very busy, at play and 
 at work. We have just had a wedding 
 tea. My former secretary, Miss First 
 Eiver, as she expressed it, " married 
 with" Mr. East Village. 
 
 The wedding took place at the ugly 
 little mission church, which was trans 
 formed into a beautiful garden, with 
 weeping willows, chrysanthemums, and 
 mountain ferns. Also we had a wed 
 ding-bell. In a wild moment of enthu 
 siasm I proposed it. It is always a 
 guess where your enthusiasm will land 
 you out here. I coaxed a cross old tin- 
 126 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ner to make the frame for me. He ex 
 postulated the while that the thing was 
 impossible, because it had never been 
 done before in this part of the country. 
 It was rather a weird shape, but I left 
 the girls to trim it and went to the 
 church to help decorate. The bell was 
 to follow upon completion. It failed 
 to follow and after waiting an hour or 
 so I sent for it. The girls came carry 
 ing one trimmed bell and one half cov 
 ered. I asked, "Why are you making 
 two wedding-bells ?" My answer was, 
 "Why Sensei ! must not the groom have 
 one for his head too?" 
 
 Everybody wanted to do something 
 for the little maid, for she had so 
 bravely struggled with adversity of 
 fortune and perversity of family. So 
 there were four flower girls, and the 
 music teacher played at the wedding 
 march ! In spite of her efforts, Lohen- 
 127 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 grin seemed suffering as it came from 
 the complaining organ. 
 
 Miss First River was a lovely 
 enough picture, in her bridal robes of 
 crepe, to cause the guests to draw in 
 long breaths of admiration, till the 
 room sounded like the coming of a 
 young cyclone. They were not accus 
 tomed to such prominence given a bride, 
 nor to weddings served in Western 
 style. 
 
 Oh, yes, the groom was there, a sec 
 ondary consideration for the first time 
 in the history of Hiroshima, but so in 
 love he did not seem to mind the ob 
 scurity. 
 
 The ceremony over, the newly-wed 
 seated themselves on a bench facing the 
 guests. An elder of the church arose 
 and with a solemnity befitting a burial, 
 read a sermon on domestic happiness 
 and some forty or fifty congratulatory 
 128 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 telegrams. After an hour or so of this 
 and several speeches, cake was passed 
 around, and it was over. At the maid s 
 request I gave her an American watch 
 with a good engine in it" and my bless 
 ing with much love in it, and went hack 
 to work. Do not for a minute imagine 
 that because I am not a regularly or 
 dained missionary-sister, that I am not 
 working. The fact is, Mate, the mis 
 sionaries are still afflicted with the work 
 habit, and so subtle is its cheerful in 
 fluence, it weaves a spell over all who 
 come near. No matter what your 
 private belief is, you roll up your 
 sleeves and pitch right in when you see 
 them at it, and you put all your heart 
 in it and thank the Lord for the oppor 
 tunity to help. 
 
 The fun begins at 5 :30 in the morn 
 ing, to the merry clang of a brazen bell, 
 and it keeps right on till 6 p. M. For 
 129 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 fear of getting rusty before sunrise, 
 some of the teachers have classes at 
 night. I would rather have rest. I am 
 too tired, then, to think. 
 
 I have put away all my vanity clothes. 
 No need for them in Hiroshima and in 
 an icy room on a winter s morning, I 
 do not stop to think whether my dress 
 has an in-curve or an out-sweep. I fall 
 into the first thing I find and finish but 
 toning it when the family fire in the 
 dining-room is reached. A solitary 
 warming-spot to a big house is one of 
 the luxuries of missionary life. 
 
 In between times I ve been cheering 
 up the home sickest young Swede that 
 ever got loose from his native heath. 
 So firmly did he believe that Japan was 
 a land where necessity for work doth 
 not corrupt nor the thief of pleasure 
 break through and steal, he gave up a 
 130 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 good position at home and signed a 
 three-years contract with an oil firm. 
 Now he is so sorry, all the pink has 
 gone out of his cheeks. Until he grows 
 used to the thought that living where 
 the Sun flag floats is not a continuous 
 holiday, the teachers here at school take 
 turns in making life livable for him. 
 
 His entertainment means tramps of 
 miles into the country, sails on the 
 lovely Ujina Bay and climbs over the 
 mountains. In the afternoon the boy 
 is so in evidence, we almost fall over 
 him if we step. Yesterday in desper 
 ation I tied an apron on him and let 
 him help me make a cake. Even at 
 that, with a dab of chocolate on his 
 cheek and flour on his nose, his summer 
 sky eyes were weepy whenever he spoke 
 of his "Mutter." I have done every 
 thing for him except lend him my shoul- 
 131 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 der to weep on. It may come to that. 
 There is hope, however. One of our 
 teachers is young and pretty. 
 
 Jack, in a much delayed epistle, tells 
 me thrilling and awful things about the 
 plague; says he walks through what 
 was once a prosperous village, and now 
 there is not a live dog to wag a friendly 
 tail. Every house and hovel tenant- 
 less. Often unfinished meals on the 
 table and beds just as the occupants left 
 them. A great pit near by full of ashes 
 and bones tells the story of the plague 
 come to town, leaving silent, empty 
 houses, and the dust-laden winds as the 
 only mourners. 
 
 The native doctors gave a splendid 
 banquet the other night. With the vis 
 iting doctors in full array of evening 
 dress and decorations, Jack says it 
 looked like a big international flag 
 132 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 draped around the table. Everybody 
 made a speech and Jack has not stopped 
 yet shooting off fireworks in honor of 
 that Englishwoman. 
 
 Well, maybe I should have studied 
 science. It is too late now. Besides, I 
 have Uncle on my hands, and I have to 
 commit to memory pages on color 
 printing that run like this: "Fine as 
 a single hair or swelling imperceptibly 
 till it becomes a broken play of light 
 and shade or a mass of solid black, it 
 still flows, unworried and without hesi 
 tation on its appointed course." 
 
 Sada San is coming down next week. 
 I am looking forward to it with great 
 delight and hunting for a plan whereby 
 I can help her. 
 
 Suppose Uncle should give me a glad 
 surprise and come too ! 
 
 133 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 HIROSHIMA. 
 My dear Best Girl: 
 
 If ever a sailor needed a compass, I 
 need the level head that tops your lov 
 ing heart. I am worried hollow-eyed 
 and as useless as a brass turtle. 
 
 It has been days since I heard from 
 Jack. "When he last wrote,, he was go 
 ing to some remote district out from 
 Mukden. I dare not think what might 
 happen to him. Says he must travel 
 to the very source of the trouble. 
 
 If Jack really wanted trouble he 
 could find it nearer home. Is n t it like 
 him, though, with his German educa 
 tion, to hunt a thing to its lair ! I sup 
 pose when next I hear from him, he will 
 have disappeared into some marmot 
 hole at the foot of a tree in a Siberian 
 forest. 
 
 Sada is here. A pale shadow of her 
 former radiant self. She is in deadly 
 134 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 fear of what Uncle has written he ex 
 pects of her when she returns. 
 
 For the first few days of her visit, 
 she was like an escaped prisoner. She 
 played and sang with the girls. The 
 joy of her laughter was contagious. 
 Everybody fell a victim to her gaiety. 
 We have been on picnics up the river 
 in a sampan where we waded and 
 fished, then landed on an island of bam 
 boo and fern and cooked our dinner 
 over a hibachi. We have had concerts, 
 tableaux and charades, here at the 
 school, with a big table for the stage 
 and a silver moon and a green mos 
 quito-net for the scenery. 
 
 In every pastime or pleasure, Sada 
 San has been the moving spirit. Ador 
 ably girlish and winning in her inno 
 cent joy, I grow faint to think of the 
 rude awakening. 
 
 She has talked much of Miss West 
 135 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and their life together; their work and 
 simple pleasures. 
 
 To the older woman she poured out 
 unmeasured affection, fresh and sweet. 
 Susan made a flower garden of the 
 girl s heart, where, if even a tiny weed 
 sprouted it was coaxed into a blossom. 
 But she gave no warning of the savage 
 storms that might come and lay the gar 
 den waste. 
 
 Well, I m holding a prayer-meeting 
 a minute that the rosy ideals of the 
 visionary teacher will hold fast when 
 the wind begins to blow. 
 
 I found Sada one day on the bed, a 
 crumpled heap of woe ; white and shak 
 ing with tearless sobs. Anxious to 
 shield her from the persistent friendli 
 ness of the girls, I persuaded her to 
 come with me to the old Prince s gar 
 den, just back of the school. 
 
 She had heard from Uncle. For the 
 136 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 first time be definitely stated his plans. 
 Hara, the rich man, had sent to him a 
 proposal of marriage for Sada! Of 
 course, said Uncle, such an offer from 
 so prosperous and prominent a man 
 must he accepted without hesitation. 
 It was wonderful luck for any girl, said 
 dear Mura, especially one of her birth. 
 Nothing further would be done until 
 she returned, and he wished that to be 
 at once. 
 
 Not a suggestion of feeling or senti 
 ment; not a word as to Sada s wishes 
 or rights. If these were mentioned to 
 him, he would undoubtedly reply that 
 the rights in the matter were all his. 
 As to feelings, a young girl had no busi 
 ness with such things. His voice would 
 be courteous, his manner of saying it 
 would fairly puncture the air. 
 
 His letter was simply a cold business 
 statement for the sale of the girl. 
 137 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 When I looked at the misery in her 
 young eyes, I could joyfully have 
 throttled him and stamped upon him. 
 I wished for a dentist s grinding ma 
 chine and the chance to bore a nice big 
 hole into each one of his white, even 
 teeth. 
 
 She knows nothing of the man Hara 
 except that he is coarse and drinks 
 heavily. The girls in the tea-house al 
 ways seemed afraid when he came. 
 Vague whispers of his awful life had 
 come to her. What was she to do? 
 She had no money, no place to go, and 
 Uncle was the only relative she had in 
 the world. 
 
 Mate, I heard a missionary speak a 
 profound truth, when he said that no 
 Japanese would ever be worth while 
 till all his relatives were dead. Their 
 power is a chain forged around indi 
 vidual freedom. 
 
 138 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 She had such loving thoughts of 
 Uncle, Sada sobbed, before she came. 
 She longed to make his home happy 
 and be one of his people. She loved 
 the beautiful country of her mother 
 and craved its friendship. 
 
 Miss West had drilled it into her con 
 science that marriage was holy, and im 
 possible without love. (Bless you, 
 Susan!) She wanted to do her duty, 
 but she could not marry this man whom 
 she had never seen but once, and had 
 never spoken to. 
 
 She knew the absolute power the law 
 of the land gave Uncle over her. She 
 knew the uselessness of a Japanese girl 
 struggling against the rigid rules laid 
 down by her elders. She knew resist 
 ance might bring punishment. Well, 
 Mate, I do not care ever to see again 
 such a look as was in Sada s eyes as she 
 turned her set face to me and forced 
 139 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 through her stiff lips a stony, "I 
 won t ! But I thanked God for all the 
 Susan Wests and their teachings. 
 
 In spite of the girl s unhappiness, 
 there was a thrill in the region of my 
 heart. Of her own free will Sada San 
 had decided. Now there was some 
 thing definite to work upon. In the 
 back of my brain a plan was beginning 
 to form. Hope glimmered like a Jack- 
 o -lantern. 
 
 It was late evening. A flaming sun 
 set flushed the sky and bathed the an 
 cient garden of arched bridges and 
 twisted trees in a pinkish haze. The 
 very shadows spelled romance and 
 poetry. It was wise to use the charm 
 of the hour for the beginning of my 
 plan. 
 
 I drew Sada down beside me, as w& 
 sat in a queer little play-house by the 
 garden lake. 
 
 140 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 In olden times it bad been tbe rest 
 place of tbe Prince Asano, wben be was 
 specially moved to write poetry to tbe 
 moon as it floated up, a silver ball in a 
 navy-blue sky over "Three Umbrella 
 Mountain/ Had bis ghost been stroll 
 ing along then, it would have found 
 deeper things than, "in the sadness 
 of the moon night beholds the fading 
 blossom of the heart, " to fill his 
 thoughts. 
 
 I led the girl to tell me much of her 
 life in Nebraska; of her friends and 
 their amusements. Hers had been the 
 usual story of any fresh wholesome 
 girl. The social life in a small town 
 had limited her experiences, but had 
 kept her deliciously naive and sweet. 
 
 For the first time in our talks, she 
 
 avoided Billy s name. I hailed it as a 
 
 beautiful sign. I mentioned William 
 
 myself and delighted in her red- 
 
 141 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 cheeked confusion. I gently asked her 
 to tell me of him. 
 
 She and Billy had gone to school to 
 gether, played together and he always 
 seemed like a big brother to her. Once 
 a boy had called her a half-breed and 
 Billy promptly knocked him down and 
 sat on his head while he manipulated 
 a shingle. 
 
 Another time when they were quite 
 small, the desire of her heart was to 
 ride on the tricycle of a rich little boy 
 who lived across the street. But the 
 pampered youth jeered at her plead 
 ings and exultingly rode up and down 
 before her. Billy saw and bided his 
 time till the small Croesus was alone. 
 He nabbed him, chucked him in a 
 chicken-coop and stood guard for an 
 hour while Sada rode gloriously. 
 
 Through college they were comrades 
 and rivals. Billy had to work his way, 
 142 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 for lie was the poor son of an invalid 
 mother. From college he had gone 
 straight to a firm of rich manufactur 
 ers and was now one of the big buyers. 
 
 He had pleaded with her not to come 
 to Japan. He loved her. He wanted 
 her. When she had persisted, he was 
 furious and they had quarreled. But 
 she had thought she was right, then; 
 she did not know how dear Billy was, 
 how big and splendid. She had writ 
 ten to him but seldom, nothing of her 
 disappointment. Maybe he had mar 
 ried. She could not write now. It 
 would be too much like begging, when 
 she was at bay, for the love she had re 
 fused when all was well. No, she could 
 not tell him. 
 
 We talked long and earnestly in that 
 
 old garden, and the wind that sifted 
 
 through the pine-needles and the waxy 
 
 leaves was as gentle as if the spirit of 
 
 143 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Susan West had come to watch and to 
 bless. 
 
 I gained a half promise from her that 
 she would write to Billy at once, but I 
 did n t stop there. 
 
 Unsuspected by Sada I learned his 
 full address, and Mate, I wrote a letter 
 to the auburn-haired lover in Nebraska, 
 in which I painted a picture that is go 
 ing to cause something to happen, else 
 I am mistaken in my estimate of the 
 spirit of the West in general and Wil 
 liam Weston Milton in particular. 
 
 I told him if he loved the girl to come 
 as fast as steam would bring him ; that 
 I would help him at the risk of any 
 thing, though I have no idea how. I 
 have just returned from a solitary 
 promenade to the post-office through 
 the dark and lonely streets, so that let 
 ter will catch to-morrow s American 
 mail. 
 
 144 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Sada told me that for some reason 
 she had never mentioned Billy s name 
 to Uncle. Now isn t that a full hand 
 nestling up my half-sleeve I Uncle 
 thinks the way clear as an empty race 
 track, and all he has to do is to saunter 
 down the home stretch and gather in 
 the prize-money. 
 
 Any scruple on the girl s part will be 
 relentlessly and carelessly brushed 
 aside as a bothersome insect. If she 
 persists, there is always force. He 
 fears nothing from me. I am a for 
 eigner from his standpoint too 
 crudely frank to be clever. 
 
 He doubtless argues, if he gives it 
 any thought, that if I could I would not 
 dare interfere. And then I am so ab 
 sorbed in color-prints! So I am, and, 
 I pray Heaven, in some way to his un 
 doing. The child has no other friend. 
 Shrinkingly she told me of her one at- 
 145 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 tempt to make friends with some high- 
 class people, and the uncompromising 
 rebuff she had received upon their dis 
 covering she was an Eurasian. The 
 pure aristocrats seldom lower the social 
 bars to those of mixed blood. I won 
 der, Mate, if the ghost of failure, who 
 was her father, could see the inherit 
 ance of inevitable suffering he has left 
 his child, what his message would be to 
 those who would recklessly dare a like 
 marriage! 
 
 Sada goes to Kioto in the morning. 
 She promises not to show resistance, 
 but to keep quiet and alert, writing me 
 at every opportunity. 
 
 I am sure Uncle s delight in securing 
 so rich a prize as Hara will burst forth 
 in a big wedding-feast and many rich 
 clothes for the trousseau. I hope so. 
 Preparation will take time. I would 
 rather gain time than treasure. 
 146 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I put Sada to bed. Tucked her in 
 and cuddled her to sleep as if she had 
 been my own daughter. 
 
 There she lies now. Her face start- 
 lingly white against the mass of black 
 hair. The only sign of her troubled 
 day is a frequent half-sob and the sad 
 ness of her mouth, which is constantly 
 reading the riot act to her laughing 
 eyes in the waking hours. 
 
 Poor girl ! She is only one of many 
 whose hopes wither like rose-leaves in 
 a hot sun when met by authority in the 
 form of tyrannical relatives. 
 
 The arched sky over the mountain of 
 "Two Leaves" is all a-shimmer with 
 the coming day. Thatched roof and 
 bamboo grove are daintily etched 
 against the amber dawn. Lights begin 
 to twinkle and thrifty tradesmen cheer 
 fully call their wares. 
 
 It is a land of peace, a country and 
 147 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 people of wondrous charm; but incom 
 prehensible is the spirit of some of the 
 laws that rule its daughters. 
 
 Mate dear: 
 
 One of my girls, when attacked with 
 the blues, invariably says in her writ 
 ten apology for a poor lesson, "Please 
 excuse my frivolous with your im 
 agination, for my heart is warmly. " 
 So say I. 
 
 I am sending you the crepes and the 
 kimono you asked for. Write for 
 something else. I want an excuse to 
 spend another afternoon in the two-by- 
 four shop, with a play-garden attached, 
 that should be under a glass case in a 
 jewelry store. The proprietor gives 
 me a tea-party and tells me a few of 
 his troubles every time I go to his store. 
 Formerly he kept two shops exclu 
 sively for hair ornaments and ribbons. 
 148 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 He did a thriving trade with school- 
 girls. Recently an order went out 
 from the mighty maker of school laws 
 to the effect that lassies, high and low, 
 must not indulge in such foolish ex 
 travagances as head ornaments. The 
 ribbon market went to smash. The old 
 man could not give his stock away. He 
 stored his goods and went to selling 
 high-priced crepes, which everybody 
 was permitted to wear. Make another 
 request quickly. I would rather shop 
 than think. 
 
 Also, if you need any information as 
 to how to run a cooking-school, I will 
 enclose it with the next package. 
 
 Since the war, scores of Japanese 
 women are wild to learn foreign cook 
 ing. On inquiry as to the reason of 
 such enthusiasm, we found it was be 
 cause their husbands, while away from 
 home, had acquired a taste for Occi- 
 149 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 dental dainties. Now their wives want 
 to know all about them so they can set 
 up opposition in their homes to the 
 many tea-houses which offer European 
 food as an extra attraction. And de 
 pend upon it, if the women start to 
 learn, they stick to it till there is noth 
 ing more to know on the subject. 
 
 I was to furnish the knowledge and 
 the ladies the necessary utensils, but I 
 guess I forgot to mention everything 
 we might need. 
 
 The first thing we tried was biscuit. 
 All went well until the time came for 
 baking. I asked for a pan. A pan? 
 What kind of a pan? Would a wash 
 pan do! No, if it was all the same I 
 would rather have a flat pan with a rim. 
 Certainly ! Here it was with a rim and 
 a handle! A shiny dust-pan greeted 
 my eyes. Well, there was not very 
 150 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 much difference in the taste of the bis 
 cuit. 
 
 The prize accomplishment so far 
 lias been pies. Our skill has not only 
 brought us fame, but the city is 
 in the throes of a pie epidemic. A 
 few days ago when the old Prince 
 of the Ken came to visit his Hiro 
 shima home, the cooking-ladies, af 
 ter a few days consultation, decided 
 that in no better way could royalty be 
 welcomed than by sending him a lemon 
 pie. They sent two creamy affairs 
 elaborately decorated with meringued 
 Fujis. They were the hit of the sea 
 son. The old gentleman wrote a poem 
 about them saying he ate one and was 
 keeping the other to take back to his 
 country home when he returned a 
 month hence. Then he sent us all a 
 present. 
 
 151 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 We have had only one catastrophe. 
 In a moment of reckless adventure my 
 pupils tried a pound cake without a 
 recipe. A pound cake can be nothing 
 else but what it says. That meant a 
 pound of everything and Japanese soda 
 is doubly strong. That was a week 
 ago and we have not been able to stay 
 in the room since. 
 
 Good-by! The tailless pink cat and 
 the purple fish with the pale blue eyes 
 are for the kiddies. 
 
 I am inclosing an original recipe sent 
 in by Miss Turtle Swamp of Clear 
 Water Village : 
 
 Cake. 
 
 1 cup of Desecrated coconut 
 
 5 cup flowers 
 
 1 small spoon and barmilla [vanilla] 
 
 3 eggs skinned and whipped 
 
 1 cup sugar 
 
 Stir and pat in pan to cook. 
 
 152 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 HIROSHIMA, December, 1911. 
 Mate: 
 
 I would be ashamed to tell you how 
 long it is between Jack s letters. He 
 says the activity of the revolutionists 
 in China is seriously interfering with 
 traffic of every kind. All right, let it go 
 at that ! Now he has gone way up north 
 of Harbin. In the name of anything 
 wliy cannot he be satisfied? England 
 is with him. I do not know who also is 
 in the party. Neither do I care. I do 
 not like it a little bit. Jealous? The 
 idea. Just plain furious. I am no 
 more afraid of Jack falling in love with 
 another woman than I am of Saturn 
 making Venus a birthday present of 
 one of his rings. The trouble is she 
 may fall in love with him, and it is al 
 together unnecessary for any other 
 woman to get her feelings disturbed 
 over Jack. 
 
 153 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I fail to see the force of his argu 
 ment that it is not safe nor wise for 
 any woman in that country, and yet for 
 him to show wild enthusiasm over the 
 presence of the Britisher. No, Jack 
 has lost his head over intellect. It may 
 take a good sharp hlow for him to re 
 alize that intellect, pure and simple, is 
 an icy substitute for love. Like most 
 men he is so deadly sure of one, he is 
 taking a holiday with the other. 
 
 Of course you are laughing at me. 
 So would Jack. And both would say it 
 is unworthy. That s just it. It is the 
 measly little unworthies that nag one 
 to desperation. Besides, Mate, I shrink 
 from any more trouble, any more 
 heart-aches as I would from flames. 
 The terror of the by-gone years creeps 
 over me and covers the present like a 
 pall. 
 
 There is only one thing left to do. 
 154 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Work. Work and dig, till there is not 
 an ounce of strength left for worry. I 
 stay in the kindergarten every avail 
 able minute. The unstinted friendship 
 of the kiddies over there, is the heart s- 
 ase for so many of life s hurts. 
 
 There are always the long walks, 
 when healing and uplift of spirit can 
 be found in the beauty of the country. 
 I tramp away all alone. The little 
 Swede begs often to go. At first I 
 rather enjoyed him. But he is growing 
 far too affectionate. I am not equal to 
 caring for two young things; a broken 
 hearted girl and a homesick fat boy are 
 too much for me. He is improving so 
 rapidly I think it better for him to talk 
 love stories and poetry to some one 
 more appreciative. I am not in a very 
 poetical mood. He might just as well 
 talk to the pretty young teacher as 
 to talk about her all the time. 
 155 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 I have scores of friends up and down 
 the many country roads I travel. The 
 boatmen on the silvery river, who al 
 ways wave their head rags in salute, 
 the women hoeing in the fields with 
 babies on their backs, stop long enough 
 to say good day and good luck. The 
 laughing red-cheeked coolie girls pause 
 in their work of driving piles for the 
 new bridge to have a little talk about 
 the wonders of a foreigner s head. 
 With bated breath they watch while I 
 give them proof that my long hatpins 
 do not go straight through my skull. 
 
 The sunny greetings of multitudes 
 of children lift the shadows from the 
 darkest day, and always there is the 
 glorious scenery; the shadowed mys 
 tery of the mountains, a turquoise sky, 
 the blossoms and bamboo. The brood 
 ing spirit of serenity soon envelops me, 
 156 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and in its irresistible charm is found a 
 tender peace. 
 
 On my way home, in the river close 
 to shore, is a crazy little tea-house. It 
 is furnished with three mats and a 
 paper lantern. The pretty hostess, 
 fresh and sweet from her out-of-door 
 life, brings me rice, tea and fresh eel. 
 She serves it with such gracious hos 
 pitality it makes my heart warm. 
 While I eat, she tells me stories of the 
 river life. I am learning about the so 
 cial life of families of fish and their 
 numerous relatives that sport in the 
 "Thing of Substance River"; the 
 habits of the red-headed wild ducks 
 which nest near; of the god and god 
 desses who rule the river life, the 
 pranks they play, the revenge they 
 take. And, too, I am learning a lesson 
 in patience through the lives of the 
 157 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 humble fishermen. In season seven 
 cents a day is the total of their earn 
 ings. At other times, two cents is the 
 limit. On this they manage to live and 
 laugh and raise a family. It is all so 
 simple and childlike, so free from pre 
 tension, hurry and rush. Sometimes I 
 wonder if it is not we, with our myriad 
 interests, who have strayed from the 
 real things of life. 
 
 On my road homeward, too, there is 
 a crudely carved Buddha. He is so al 
 together hideous, they have put him in 
 a cage of wooden slats. On certain 
 days it is quite possible to try your 
 fortune, by buying a paper prayer 
 from the priest at the temple, chewing 
 it up and throwing it through the cage 
 at the image. If it sticks you will be 
 lucky. 
 
 My aim was not straight or luck was 
 against me to-day. My prayers are all 
 158 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 on the floor at the feet of the grinning 
 Buddha. 
 
 Jack is in Siberia and Uncle has 
 Sada. I have not heard from her since 
 she left. I am growing truly anxious. 
 
 January, 1912. 
 
 Dearest Mate: 
 
 At last I have a letter from Jack. 
 Strange to say I am about as full of 
 enthusiasm over the news he gives me 
 as a thorn-tree is of pond-lilies. 
 
 He says he has something like a ton 
 of notes and things on the various 
 stunts of the bubonic germ in Man 
 churia when it is feeling fit and spry. 
 But he is seized with a conviction that 
 he must go somewhere in northwest 
 China where he thinks there is happy 
 hunting-ground of evidence which will 
 verify his report to the Government. 
 159 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Suppose the next thing I hear lie will 
 be chasing around the outer rim of the 
 old world hunting for somebody to 
 verify the Government. 
 
 There is absolutely no use of my try 
 ing to say the name of the place he has 
 started for. Even when written it 
 looks too wicked to pronounce. It is 
 near the Pass that leads into the Gobi 
 Desert. 
 
 Jack wrote me to go to Shanghai and 
 he would join me later. I am writing 
 him that I can t start till the fate of 
 Sada San is settled for better or for 
 worse. 
 
 NARROW, CHINA. February, 1912. 
 Mate: 
 
 News of Jack s desperate illness 
 
 came to me ten days ago and has laid 
 
 waste my heart as the desert wind 
 
 blasts life. I have been flying to him as 
 
 160 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 fast as boat and train and cart will 
 take me. 
 
 The second wire reached me in Pe 
 king last night. Jack has typhus fever 
 and the disease is nearing the crisis. 
 I have read the message over and over, 
 trying to read between the lines some 
 faint glimmer of hope ; but I can get no 
 comfort from the noncommittal words 
 except the fact that Jack is still alive. 
 I am on my way to the terminus of the 
 railroad, from where the message was 
 sent. I came this far by train, only to 
 find all regular traffic stopped by order 
 of the Government. The line may be 
 needed for the escape of the Imperial 
 Family from Peking if the Palace is 
 threatened by the revolutionists. 
 
 Orders had been given that no for 
 eigner should leave the Legation en 
 closure. I bribed the room boy to slip 
 me through the side streets and dark 
 161 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 alleys to an outside station. I must go 
 the rest of the distance by cart when 
 the road is possible, by camel or don 
 key when not. Nothing seems possible 
 now. Everything within sight looks 
 as if it had been dead for centuries, and 
 the people walking around have just 
 forgotten to be buried. 
 
 I am wild with impatience to be gone 
 but neither bribes nor threats will hurry 
 the coolies who take their time harness 
 ing the donkeys and the camels. 
 
 A ring of ossified men, women and 
 children have formed about me, staring 
 with unblinking eyes, till I feel as if I 
 was full of peep holes. It is not life, 
 for neither youth nor love nor sorrow 
 has ever passed this way. The tiniest 
 emotion would shrivel if it dared begin 
 to live. Maybe they are better so. But 
 then, they have never known Jack. 
 
 How true it is that one big heart-ache 
 162 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 withers up all the little ones and the 
 joy of years as well. With this terror 
 upon me, even Sada s desperate trouble 
 has faded and grown pale as the mem 
 ory of a dream. Jack is ill and I must 
 get to him, though my body is racked 
 with the rough travel, and the ancient 
 road holds the end of love and life for 
 me. 
 
 Around the sad old world I am 
 stretching out my arms to you, Mate, 
 for the courage to face whatever comes, 
 and your love which has never failed 
 me. 
 
 KALGAN. 
 
 Such wild unbelievable things have 
 happened ! 
 
 After twenty miles of intolerable 
 shaking on the back of a camel, my bat 
 tered body fell off at the last stopping- 
 place, which happened to be here. 
 There is no hotel. But three blessed 
 163 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 European boys living at this place 
 agents for a big tobacco firm took me 
 into their little home. From that time 
 ten days ago till now, they have 
 served and cared for me as only sons 
 who have not forgotten their mothers 
 could do. 
 
 On that awful night I came, while 
 forcing food on me, they said that Jack 
 had stopped with them on his way out 
 to the desert, where he was to complete 
 his work for the Government. He was 
 to go part of the distance with the Eng 
 lish woman, who, with her camels and 
 her guides, was traveling to the Si 
 berian railroad. The next day they 
 heard the whole caravan had returned. 
 Four days out Jack had been taken ill. 
 The only available shelter was an old 
 monastery about a mile from the vil 
 lage. To this he had been moved. My 
 hosts opened a window and pointed to 
 164 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 a far-away, high-up light. It was like 
 the flicker of a match in a vast cave of 
 darkness. They told me wonderful 
 things of the rooms in the monastery, 
 which were cut in the solid rock of the 
 mountain-side, and the strange dwarf 
 priest who kept it. 
 
 They lied beautifully and cheerfully 
 as to Jack s condition, and all the time 
 in their hearts they knew that he had 
 the barest chance to live through the 
 night. 
 
 The woman doctor had nursed him 
 straight through, permitting no one else 
 near. The dwarf priest brought her 
 supplies. 
 
 Her last message for the day had 
 been, "The crisis will soon be passed/ 
 
 Even now something grips my throat 
 
 when I remember how those dear boys 
 
 worked to divert me, until my strength 
 
 revived. They rigged up a battered 
 
 165 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 steamer-chair with furs and bath 
 robes, put me in it, promising that as 
 soon as I was rested they would see 
 what could be done to get me up to the 
 monastery. But I was not to worry. 
 All of them set about seeing I had no 
 time to think. Each took his turn in 
 telling me marvelous tales of the life in 
 that wild country. One boy brought 
 in the new litter of puppies, begging 
 me to carefully choose a name for each. 
 The two ponies were trotted out and 
 put through their pranks before the 
 door in the half light of a dim lantern. 
 They showed me the treasures of 
 their bachelor life, the family photo 
 graphs and the various little nothings 
 which link isolated lives to home and 
 love. They even assured me they had 
 had tlie table-cloth and napkins washed 
 for my coming. Household interests 
 exhausted, they began to talk of boy- 
 166 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 hood days. Their quiet voices soothed 
 me. From exhaustion I slept. When 
 I woke, my watch said one o clock. 
 The house was heavy with sleeping 
 stillness. 
 
 Through my window, far away the 
 dim light wavered. It seemed to be 
 signaling me. My decision was quick. 
 I would go, and alone. If I called, my 
 hosts would try to dissuade me, and I 
 would not listen. For life or for 
 death, I was going to Jack. The very 
 thought lent me strength and gave my 
 feet cunning stealthiness. A high wall 
 was around the house but, thank 
 Heaven, they had forgotten to lock the 
 gate. 
 
 Soon I was in the deserted, deep- 
 rutted street shut in on either side by 
 mud hovels, low and crouching close 
 together in their pitiful poverty. 
 There was nothing to guide me, save 
 167 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 that distant speck of flame. Further 
 on, I heard the rush of water and made 
 out the dim line of an ancient bridge. 
 Half way across I stumbled. From 
 the heap of rags my foot had struck, 
 came moans, and, by the sound of it, 
 awful curses. It was a handless leper. 
 I saw the stumps as they flew at me. 
 Sick with horror, I fled and found an 
 open place. 
 
 The light still beckoned. The way 
 was heavy with high, drifted sand. 
 The courage of despair goaded me to 
 the utmost effort. Forced to pause 
 for breath, I found and leaned against 
 a post. It was a telegraph pole. In 
 all the blackness and immeasurable 
 loneliness, it was the solitary sign of 
 an inhabited world. And the only 
 sound was the wind, as it sang through 
 the taut wires in the unspeakable sad 
 ness of minor chords. A came] cara- 
 168 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 van came by, soft-footed, silent and in 
 scrutable. I waited till it passed out 
 to the mysteries of the desert beyond 
 the range of hills. 
 
 I began again to climb the path. It 
 was lighter when I crept through a 
 broken wall and found myself in a stone 
 courtyard, with gilded shrines and 
 grinning Buddhas. One image more 
 hideous than the rest, with eyes like 
 glow-worms, untangled its legs and 
 came towards me. I shook with fright. 
 But it was only the dwarf priest a 
 monstrosity of flesh and blood, who 
 kept the temple. I pointed to the light 
 which seemed to be hanging to the side 
 of the rocks above. He slowly shook 
 his head, then rested it on his hands 
 and closed his eyes. I pushed him 
 aside and painfully crawled up the 
 shallow stone stairs, and found a door 
 at the top. I opened it. Lying on a 
 169 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 stone bed was Jack, white and still. 
 A woman leaned over him with her 
 hand on his wrist. Her face was 
 heavily lined with a long life of sor 
 row. On her head was a crown of 
 snow-white hair. She raised her hand 
 for silence. I fell at her feet a shaking 
 lump of misery. 
 
 I could not live through it again, 
 Mate those remaining hours of 
 agony, when every second seemed the 
 last for Jack. But morning dawned, 
 and with the miracle of a new-born day 
 came the magic gift of life. When 
 Jack opened his eyes and feebly 
 stretched out his hand to me, my sing 
 ing heart gave thanks to God. 
 
 And so the crisis was safely passed. 
 And the hateful science I believed was 
 taking Jack from me, in the skilful 
 170 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 hands of a good woman, gave him back 
 to me. 
 
 The one comfort left me in the hu 
 miliation of my petty, unreasoning 
 jealousy yes, I had been jealous 
 was to tell her. 
 
 And she, whose name was Edith 
 Bowden, opened to me the door of her 
 secret garden, wherein lay the sweet 
 and holy memories of her lover, dead 
 in the long ago. 
 
 For forty long and lonesome years 
 she had unfalteringly held before her 
 the vision of her young sweetheart and 
 his work, and through them she had 
 toiled to make real his ideals. 
 
 I take it all back, Mate. A career 
 that makes such women as this is a 
 beautiful and awesome thing. 
 
 In spite of all my pleadings to come 
 with us, Miss Bowden started once 
 again on her lonely way across the 
 171 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 wind-swept plains, back to Europe and 
 her work, leaving me with a never-to- 
 be-forgotten humility of spirit and an 
 homage in my heart that never before 
 have I paid a woman. 
 
 I am too polite to say it, but I have 
 had a taste of the place you spell with 
 four letters. Also of Heaven. Just 
 now, with Jack s thin hand safely in 
 mine, I am hovering around the doors 
 of Paradise in the house of the boys in 
 Kalgan. If you could see the dusty 
 little Chinese-Mongolian village, hang 
 ing on the upper lip of the mouth of 
 the Gobi Desert, you would think it a 
 strange place to find bliss. But joy 
 can beautify sand and Sodom. 
 
 Yesterday my hosts made me take a 
 ride out into the Desert. Oh, Mate, in 
 spots these glittering golden sands are 
 sublime. My heart was so light and 
 the air so rare, it was like flying 
 172 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 through sunlit space on a legless 
 horse. 
 
 Life, or what answers to it, has been 
 going on in the same way since thou 
 sands of years before Pharaoh went 
 on that wild lark to the Eed Sea. 
 Every minute I expected to see Abra 
 ham and Sarah trailing along with their 
 flocks and their families, hunting a 
 place to stake out a claim, and Noah 
 somewhere on a near-by sand-hill, tak 
 ing in tickets for the Ark Museum, 
 while the "two by two s" fed below. 
 I never heard of these friends being in 
 this part of the country, but you can 
 never tell what a wandering spirit will 
 do. 
 
 Jack is getting fat laughing at me. 
 But Jack never was a lady and does 
 not know what havoc imagination and 
 the spell of the East can play with a 
 loving but lonesome wife. And take it 
 173 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 from me, beloved, he never will. Noth 
 ing gained in exposing all your follies. 
 He sends love to you. So do I from 
 the joyful heart of a woman whose 
 most terrible troubles never happened. 
 
 PEKING, February, 1912. 
 Mate: 
 
 I do not know whether I can write 
 you sanely or not. But write you I 
 must. It is my one outlet in these days 
 of anxious waiting. I have just cabled 
 Billy Milton, in Nebraska, to come by 
 the first steamer. I have not an idea 
 what he will do when he gets to Japan, 
 or how I will help him ; but he is my one 
 hope. 
 
 Yesterday, on our arrival here, I 
 found a desperate letter from Sada 
 San, written hurriedly and sent 
 secretly. She finds that the man Kara, 
 whom her uncle has promised she shall 
 174 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 marry, has a wife and three chil 
 dren! 
 
 The man, on the flimsiest pretext, has 
 sent the woman home to clear his es 
 tablishment for the new wife. And, 
 Mate, can you believe it, he has kept 
 the children the youngest a nursing 
 baby, just three months old! 
 
 One of the geisha girls in the tea 
 house slipped in one night and told 
 Sada. She went at once to Uncle and 
 asked him if it was true. He said that 
 it was, and that Sada should consider 
 herself very lucky to be wanted by such 
 a man. Upon Sada telling him she 
 would die before she would marry the 
 man, he laughed at her. Since then she 
 has not been permitted to leave her 
 room. 
 
 The lucky day for marriage has been 
 found and set. Thank goodness, it is 
 seventeen days from now, and if Billy 
 175 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 races across by Vancouver he can make 
 it. In the meantime Nebraska seems a 
 million miles away. I know the heart 
 beats of the fellow who is riding to the 
 place of execution, with a reprieve. 
 But seventeen days is a deadly slow 
 nag. 
 
 I had already told Jack of my anx 
 iety for Sada San and of the fate that 
 was hanging over her, but now that the 
 blow has suddenly fallen I dare not tell 
 him. In a situation like this I know 
 what Jack would want to do; and in 
 his present weakened condition it 
 might be fatal. 
 
 It is useless for me to appeal to any 
 body out here. Those in Japan who 
 would help are powerless. Those who 
 could help would smile serenely and 
 tell me it was the law. And law and 
 custom supersede any lesser question 
 of right or wrong. By it the smallest 
 176 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 act of every inhabitant is regulated, 
 from the quantity of air he breathes to 
 the proper official place for him to die. 
 But, imagine the majesty of any law 
 which makes it a ghastly immorality to 
 mildly sass your mother-in-law, and a 
 right, lawful and moral act for a man, 
 with any trumped-up excuse, to throw 
 his legal wife out of the house, that 
 room may be made for another woman 
 who has appealed to his fancy. 
 
 Japan may not need missionaries, 
 but, by all the Mikados that ever were 
 or will be, her divorce laws need a few 
 revisions more than the nation needs 
 battleships. You might run a country 
 without gunboats, but never without 
 women. 
 
 This case of Hara is neither extreme 
 
 nor unusual. I have been face to face 
 
 in this flowery kingdom with tragedies 
 
 of this kind when a woman was the 
 
 177 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 blameless victim of a man s caprice, 
 and he was upheld by a law that would 
 shame any country the sun shines on. 
 By a single stroke of a pen through her 
 name, on the records at the court 
 house, the woman is divorced some 
 times before she knows it. Then she 
 goes away to hide her disgrace and her 
 broken heart not broken because of 
 her love for the man who has cast her 
 off, but because, from the time she is 
 invited to go home on a visit and her 
 clothes are sent after her, on through 
 life, she is marked. If she has chil 
 dren, the chances are that the husband 
 retains possession of them, and she is 
 seldom, if ever, permitted to see them. 
 I know your words of caution would 
 be, Mate, not to be rash in my condem 
 nations, to remember the defects of my 
 own land. I am neither forgetful nor 
 rash. I do not expect to reform the 
 178 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 country, neither am I arguing. I am 
 simply telling you facts. 
 
 I know, too, that some Fountain 
 Head of knowledge will rise from the 
 back seat and beg to state that the new 
 civil code contains many revisions and 
 regulates divorce. The only trouble 
 with the new civil code is that it keeps 
 on containing the revisions and only in 
 theory do they get beyond the books in 
 which they are written. 
 
 Next to my own, in my affections, 
 stands this sunlit, flower-covered land 
 which has given the world men and 
 women unselfishly brave and noble. 
 But there are a few deformities in the 
 country s law system that need the 
 knife of a skilled surgeon, amputating 
 right up to the last joint ; among these 
 the divorce laws made in ancient times 
 by the gone-to-dust but still sacred and 
 revered ancestors. Who would give a 
 179 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 hang for any old ancestor so cut on the 
 bias? 
 
 I cannot write any more. I am too 
 agitated to be entertaining. 
 
 I wrote Sada a revised version of 
 Blue Beard that would turn that vener 
 able gentleman gray, could he read it. 
 Uncle will be sure to. I dare him to 
 solve, the puzzle of my fancy writing. 
 But I made Sada San know the Prince 
 Eed Head was coming to her rescue, 
 if the engine did not break down. 
 
 Now there is nothing to do but wait 
 and pray there are no weak spots in 
 Billy s backbone. 
 
 Cable just received. William is on 
 the wing! 
 
 PEKING, CHINA, February, 1912. 
 Well, here we still are, my convales 
 cent Jack and I, bottled up in the mid 
 dle of a revolution, and poor, helpless 
 180 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 little Sada San calling to me across the 
 waters. Verily, these are strenuous 
 days for this perplexed woman. 
 
 It is a tremendous sight to look out 
 upon the incomprehensible saffron- 
 hued masses that crowd the streets. I 
 no longer wonder at the color of the 
 Yellow Sea. 
 
 But, Oh, Mate, if I could only make 
 you see the gilded walled city, in which 
 history of the ages is being laid in dust 
 and ashes, while the power that made 
 it is hastening down the back alley to a 
 mountain nunnery for safety! Peking 
 is like a beautiful golden witch clothed 
 in priceless garments of dusty yellow, 
 girded with ropes of pearls. Her eyes 
 are of jade, and so fine is the powdered 
 sand she sifts from her tapering 
 fingers it turns the air to an amber 
 haze; so potent its magic spell, it fas 
 cinates and enthralls, while it repels. 
 181 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 For all the centuries the witch has 
 held the silken threads, which bound her 
 millions of subjects, she has been deaf 
 deaf to the cries of starvation, injus 
 tice and cruelty ; heedless to devastation 
 of life by her servants ; smiling* at piles 
 of headless men; gloating over torture 
 when it filled her treasure-house. 
 
 Ever cruel and heartless, now she is 
 all a-tremble and sick with fear of the 
 increasing power of the mighty young 
 giant Eevolution. She sees from afar 
 her numbered days. She is crying for 
 the mercy she never showed, begging 
 for time she never granted. She is a 
 tottering despot, a dying tyrant, but 
 still a beautiful golden witch. 
 
 We have not been here long but my 
 soul has been sickened by the sights 
 of the pitiless consequences of even the 
 rumors of war all over the country and 
 particularly in Peking. If only the re- 
 182 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 sponsible ones could suffer. But it is 
 the poor, the innocent and the old who 
 pay the price for the greed of the 
 others. In this, how akin the East is 
 to the West ! The night we came there 
 was a run on the banks caused by the 
 report that Peking was to be looted 
 and burned. Crowds of men, women 
 and even children, hollow-eyed and 
 haggard, jammed the streets before the 
 doors of the banks, pleading for their 
 little all. Some of them had as much 
 as two dollars stored away! But it 
 was the twenty dimes that deferred 
 slow starvation. Banks kept open 
 through the night. Officials and clerks- 
 worked to exhaustion, satisfying de 
 mands, hoping to placate the mob 
 and avert the unthinkable results of a 
 riot. Countless soldiers swarmed the 
 streets with fixed bayonets. But the 
 bloodless witch has no claim to one sin- 
 183 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 gle heart-beat of loyalty from the un 
 paid wretches who wear the Imperial 
 uniform; and when by simply tying a 
 white handkerchief on their arms they 
 go over in groups of hundreds to the 
 Eevolutionists, they are only repaying 
 treachery in its own foul coin. 
 
 Though I hate to leave Jack even for 
 an hour, I have to get out each day for 
 some fresh air. To-day it seemed to 
 me, as I walked among the crowds, fan 
 tastic in the flickering flames of bon 
 fires and incandescent light, that life 
 had done its cruel worst to these peo 
 ple had written her bitterest tokens 
 of suffering and woe in the deeply fur 
 rowed faces and sullenly hopeless eyes. 
 
 Earlier in the year thousands of 
 farmers and small tradesmen had come 
 in from the country to escape floods, 
 famine and robber-bands. Hundreds 
 liad sold their children for a dollar or 
 184 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 so and for days lived on barks and 
 leaves, as they staggered toward Pe 
 king for relief. 
 
 Now thousands more are rushing 
 from the city to the hills or to the des 
 ert, fleeing from riot and war, the 
 strong carrying the sick, the young the 
 old each with a little bundle of house 
 hold goods, all camping near the tower 
 ing gates in the great city wall, ready 
 to dash through when the keeper flings 
 them open in the early morning. 
 
 And through it all the merciless exe 
 cution of any suspect or undesirable 
 goes merrily on. Close by my car 
 riage a cart passed. In it were four 
 wretched creatures with hands and feet 
 bound and pigtails tied together. 
 They were on their way to a plot of 
 crimson ground where hundreds part 
 with their heads. By the side of the 
 cart ran a ten-year-old boy, his uplifted 
 185 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 face distorted with agony of grief. 
 One of the prisoners was his father. 
 
 I watched the terrified masses till a 
 man and woman of the respectable 
 farmer class came by, with not enough 
 rags on to hide their half-starved bod 
 ies. Between them they carried on 
 their shoulders a bamboo pole, from 
 which was swung a square of matting. 
 On this, in rags, but clean, lay a mere 
 skeleton of a baby with beseeching eyes 
 turned to its mother ; and from its lips 
 came piteous little whines like a hun 
 ger-tortured kitten. Tears streamed 
 down the woman s cheeks as she 
 crooned and babbled to the child in a 
 language only a tender mother knows, 
 but in her eyes was the look of a soul 
 crucified with helpless suffering. 
 
 I slipped all the money I had into the 
 straw cradle and fled to our room. 
 Jack was asleep. I got into mj bed 
 186 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and covered up my head to shut out the 
 horrors of the multitude that are hurt 
 ing my own heart like an eternal tooth 
 ache. 
 
 But, honey, bury me deep when there 
 isn t a smile lurking around the dark 
 est corner. Neither war nor famine 
 can wholly eliminate the comical. Yes 
 terday afternoon some audacious 
 youngsters asked me to chaperon a 
 tea-party up the river. We went in a 
 gaily decorated house-boat, made tea 
 on a Chinese stove of impossible shape, 
 and ate cakes and sandwiches innumer 
 able. Aglow with youth and its joys, 
 reckless of danger, courting adventure, 
 the promoters of the enterprise failed 
 to remember that we were outside the 
 city walls, that the gates were closed 
 at sunset and nothing but a written or 
 der from an official could open them. 
 We had no such order. When it was 
 187 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 quite dark, we faced entrances doubly 
 locked and barred. The guardian in 
 side might have been dead for all he 
 heeded our importunities and bribes. 
 At night outside the huge pile of brick 
 and stone, inclosing and guarding the 
 city from lawless bandits, life is not 
 worth a whistle. A dismayed little gig 
 gle went round the crowd of late tea 
 revelers as we looked up the twenty- 
 five feet of smooth wall topped by 
 heavy battlements. Just when we had 
 about decided that our only chance was 
 to stand on each other s shoulders and 
 try to hack out footholds with a bread 
 knife, some one suggested that we try 
 the effect of college yells on the gentle 
 men within. Imagine the absurdity of 
 a dozen terrified Americans standing 
 there in the heart of China yelling in 
 unison for Old Eli, and Nassau, and the 
 Harvard Blue! 
 
 188 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 The effect was magical. Curiosity is 
 one of the strongest of Oriental traits, 
 and before long the gates creaked on 
 their hinges and a crowd of slant-eyed, 
 pig-tailed heads peered wonderingly 
 out. The rest was easy, and I heard a 
 great sigh of relief as I marshaled my; 
 little group into safety. 
 
 Jack s many friends here in Peking 
 are determined that I shall have as good 
 a time as possible. "Worried by disor 
 ganized business, harassed with care, 
 they always find opportunity not only 
 to plan for my pleasure but see that I 
 have it, properly attended for of 
 course Jack is not yet able to leave his 
 room. 
 
 Beyond the power of any man is the 
 prophecy of what may happen to offi 
 cial-ridden Peking. The air is sur 
 charged with mutterings. The brutally 
 oppressed people may turn at last, rise, 
 189 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and, in their fury, rend to bits all flesh 
 their skeleton fingers grasp. 
 
 The Legations grouped around the 
 hotel are triply guarded. The shift, 
 shift, shift of soldiers feet as they 
 march the streets rubs my nerves like 
 sandpaper. 
 
 Best and sleep are impossible. We 
 seem constantly on the edge of a preci 
 pice, over which, were we to go, the fate 
 awaiting us would reduce the tortures 
 of Hades to pin-pricks. The Eevolu- 
 tionists have the railroads, the bandits 
 the rivers. Yet, if I don t reach Japan 
 in twelve days now, I will be too late. 
 Poor Sada San ! 
 
 Please say to your small son David 
 that his request to send him an Emper 
 or s crown to wear when he plays king, 
 is not difficult to grant. At the present 
 writing crowns in the Orient are not 
 fashionable. As I look out of my win- 
 190 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 dow, the salmon-pink walls of the For 
 bidden City rise in the dusty distance. 
 Under the flaming yellow roof of the 
 Palace is a frail and frightened little 
 six-year-old boy the ruler of millions 
 who, if he knew and could, would 
 gladly exchange his priceless crown for 
 freedom and a bag of marbles. 
 Good night. 
 
 PEKING, Next day. 
 
 It is Sunday afternoon and pouring 
 rain. Outside it is so drearily mourn 
 ful, I keep my back turned. At least, 
 the dripping wet will secure me a quiet 
 hour or so. 
 
 My Chinese room-boy reasons that 
 only a sure-enough somebody would 
 have so many callers and attend so 
 many functions not knowing that it is 
 only because Jack s wife will never lack 
 where he has friends. Hence the boy 
 191 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 haunts my door ready to serve and reap 
 his reward. But I am sure it was only 
 kindness that prompted him on this 
 dreary day to set the fire in the grate 
 to blazing and arrange the tea-table, 
 the steaming kettle close by, and turn 
 on all the lights. How cozy it is I 
 How homelike! 
 
 Jack grows stronger each day, and 
 crosser, which is a good sign. At last 
 I have told him of Sada San s plight; 
 and he is for starting for Kioto to-mor 
 row to "wipe the floor with Uncle 
 Mura," as he elegantly expresses it. 
 But of course he *s still too weak to 
 even think of such a journey. 
 
 He makes me join in the gaieties 
 that still go on despite the turmoil and 
 unrest. I must tell you of one dinner 
 which, of the many brilliant functions, 
 was certainly unique. 
 
 It was a sumptuous affair given by 
 192 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 one of the Legation officials. I wore 
 my glory dress the color Jack loves 
 best. I went in a carriage guarded on 
 the outside by soldiers. Beside me sat 
 a strapping European with his pockets 
 bulging suspiciously. I was not in the 
 least afraid of the threatening mob 
 which stopped us twice. 
 
 I could almost have welcomed an at 
 tack, just to get behind my big escort 
 and see him clear the way. 
 
 Merciful powers! Hate is a sweet 
 and friendly word for what the masses 
 feel for the foreigners, whom most be 
 lieve to be in league with the Govern 
 ment. 
 
 Happily, nothing more serious hap 
 pened than breaking all the carriage 
 windows; and, in the surprise that 
 awaited me in the drawing-room of the 
 gorgeously appointed mansion, I quite 
 forgot that. 
 
 193 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Who should be almost the first to 
 greet me but Dolly and Mr. Dolly, other 
 wise the Seeker, married and on their 
 honeymoon! She was radiant. And 
 oh, Mate, if you could only see the 
 change in him ! As revolutions seem to 
 be in order, Dolly has worked a prize 
 one on him, I think. He was positively 
 gentle and showed signs of the making 
 of a near gentleman. I was glad to see 
 them, and more than glad to see Dolly s 
 unfeigned happiness. The mournful 
 little prince has gone on his way to 
 lonely, isolated Sikkam to take up his 
 task of endless reincarnation. 
 
 Very soon I found another surprise 
 my friend Mr. Carson of the Kock- 
 ies. It seemed a little incongruous that 
 the simple, unlettered Irishman should 
 have found his way into the brilliant, 
 many-countried company, where were 
 men who made history and held the fate 
 194 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of nations in their hands and built or 
 crumbled empires, and women to match, 
 regally gowned, keen of wit and wis 
 dom. 
 
 But, bless you, he was neither trou 
 bled nor out of place. He was the es 
 sence of democracy and mixed with the 
 guests with the same innocent sim 
 plicity that he would have shown at his 
 village church social. 
 
 He greeted me cordially, asked after 
 Jack and spoke enthusiastically of his 
 work. 
 
 I smiled when I saw that in the curi 
 ous shuffling of cards he had been 
 chosen as the dinner escort of a tall 
 and stately Russian beauty. I watched 
 them walk across the waxen floor and 
 heard him say to her, "Sure if I had 
 time I would telegraph for me roller 
 skates to guide ye safely over the slick- 
 ness of the boards. " Her answering 
 195 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 laugh, sweet and friendly, was reassur 
 ing. 
 
 For a while it was a deadly solemn 
 feast. The difficulty was to find topics 
 of common interest without stumbling 
 upon forbidden subjects. You see, 
 Mate, times are critical; and the only 
 way to keep out of trouble is not to get 
 in by being too wordy. By my side sat 
 a stern-visaged leader of the Eevolu- 
 tion. Across the way, a Manchu 
 Prince. 
 
 Mr. Carson and the beauty were just 
 opposite. I became absorbed in watch 
 ing her exquisite tact in guiding the 
 awkward hands of her partner through 
 the silver puzzle on each side of his 
 plate to the right eating utensils at the 
 proper time. I saw her pleased inter 
 est in all his talk, whether it was crops, 
 cider or pigtails. And for her gentle 
 196 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 courtesy and kindness to my old friend 
 I blessed her and wiped out a big score 
 I had against her country. How glad 
 Eussia will be ! 
 
 But the Irishman was not happy. 
 Course after course had been served. 
 With every rich course came a rare 
 wine. Colorado shook a shaggy gray 
 head at every bottle, though he was 
 choking with thirst. He was a teeto 
 taler. Whenever boy No. 1, who served 
 the wine, approached, he whispered, 
 "Water." It got to be "Water, 
 please, water!" Then threateningly, 
 "Water, blame ye! Fetch me water. " 
 It was vain pleading. At best a China 
 man is no friend to water; and when 
 the word is flung at him with an Emer 
 ald accent it fails to arrive. But ten 
 courses without moisture bred despera 
 tion; and all at once, down the length 
 197 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 of that banquet board, went a hoarsely 
 whispered plea, in the richest imagi 
 nable brogue, 
 
 "Hostess, where s the pump!" 
 
 It was like a sky-rocket scattering 
 showers of sparks on a lowering cloud. 
 In a twinkling the heaviness of the feast 
 was dispersed by shouts of laughter. 
 Everybody found something delightful 
 to tell that was not dangerous. 
 
 We wound up by going to a Chinese 
 theater. When we left, after two hours 
 of death and devastation, the demands 
 of the drama for gore were still so 
 great, assistants had to be called from 
 out the audience to change the scenery 
 and dead men brought to life to go on 
 with the play. 
 
 When I got back Jack was, of course, 
 asleep ; but he had been busy in my ab 
 sence. I found a note on my pin 
 cushion saying he had sent a wire to 
 198 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 meet Billy s steamer on its arrival at 
 Yokohama and that I m to start alone 
 for Japan in a day or two as soon as 
 it seems safe to travel. 
 
 Next day. 
 
 Honey, there is a thrill a minute. I 
 may not live to see the finish, for the 
 soldiers have mutinied and joined the 
 mob, maddened with lust for blood and 
 loot. I must tell you about it while I 
 can ; for it is not every day one has the 
 chance of seeing a fresh and daring 
 young Eepublic sally up to an all-pow 
 erful dynasty, centuries old with 
 tyranny and treasure, and say, "Now, 
 you vamoose the Golden Throne. It 
 matters not where you go, but hustle; 
 and I don t want any back talk while 
 you are doing it." 
 
 If I wasn t so excited I might be 
 nervous. But, Mate, when you see a 
 199 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 cruelly oppressed people winning their 
 freedom with almost nothing to back 
 them but plain grit, you want to sing, 
 dance, pray and shout all at the same 
 time, and there is no mistake about 
 young China having a mortgage on all 
 the surplus nerve of the country. Of 
 course, the mob, awful as it is, is simply 
 an unavoidable attachment of war. 
 
 All day there has been terrible fight 
 ing, and I am told the streets are 
 blocked with headless bodies and plun 
 der that could not be carried off. 
 
 The way the mob and the soldier- 
 bandits got into the city is a story that 
 makes any tale of the Arabian Nights 
 fade away into dull myth. 
 
 Some years ago a Manchu official, 
 high in command, espied a beautiful 
 flower-girl on the street and forthwith 
 attached her as his private property. 
 So great was her fascination, the tables 
 200 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 were turned and he became the slave 
 till be grew tired. He not only scorned 
 ber, but be deserted ber. Tbougb a 
 Mancbu maid, tbe Eevolution played 
 into ber tapering fingers tbe oppor 
 tunity for tbe sweetest revenge tbat 
 ever tempted an almond-eyed beauty. 
 It bad been tbe proud boast of ber offi 
 cer master tbat be could resist any at 
 tacking party and bold tbe City Eoyal 
 for tbe Mancbus. Alas! be reckoned 
 witbout a woman. Sbe knew a man 
 outside tbe city walls a leader of an 
 organization balf soldiery, balf ban 
 dits who tbirsted for tbe cbance to pay 
 off countless scores against officers and 
 private citizens inside. After a vain 
 effort to win back ber lover, tbe flower- 
 girl communicated witb tbe captain of 
 tbe rebel band, wbo bad only been de 
 terred from entering tbe city by a bigb 
 wall twenty feet tbick. Sbe told him to 
 201 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 be ready to come in on a certain night 
 the gates would be open. The night 
 came. She slipped from doorway to 
 doorway through the guarded streets 
 till she reached the appointed place. 
 Even the sentries unconsciously lent a 
 hand to her plan, in leaving their posts 
 and seeking a tea-house fire by which to 
 warm their half-frozen bodies. The 
 one-time jewel of the harem, who had 
 seldom lifted her own teacup, tugged at 
 the mighty gates with her small hands 
 till the bars were raised and in rushed 
 the mob. She raced to her home, 
 decked herself in all the splendid jewels 
 he had given her, stuck red roses in her 
 black hair, and stood on a high roof and 
 jeered her lover as he fled for his life 
 through the narrow streets. 
 
 The city is bright with the fires 
 started by the rabble. The yellow 
 202 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 roofs, the pink walls and the towering- 
 marble pagodas catch the reflection 
 of the flames, making a scene of bar 
 baric splendor that would reduce the 
 burning of Borne to a feeble little bon 
 fire. 
 
 The pitiful, the awful and the very 
 funny are so intermixed, my face is fa 
 tally twisted trying to laugh and cry at 
 the same time. Right across from my 
 window, on the street curbing, a China 
 man is getting a hair-cut. In the midst 
 of all the turmoil, hissing bullets and 
 roaring mobs, he sits with folded hands 
 and closed eyes as calm as a Joss, while 
 a strolling barber manipulates a pair of 
 foreign shears. For him blessed free 
 dom lies not in the change of Monarchy 
 to Republic, but in the shearing close to 
 the scalp the hated badge of bondage 
 his pigtail. 
 
 And, Mate, the first thing the loot- 
 203 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ers do when they enter a house is to 
 snatch down the telephones and take 
 them out to burn; for, as one rakish 
 bandit explained, they were the talking- 
 machines of the foreign devils and, if 
 left, might reveal the names of the loot 
 ers! 
 
 High-born ladies with two-inch feet 
 stumble by, their calcimined faces 
 streaked with tears and fright. Gray- 
 haired old men shiver with terror and 
 try to hide in any small corner. Lost 
 children and deserted ones, frantic with 
 fear, cling to any passer-by, only to be 
 shoved into the street and often tram 
 pled underfoot. And through it all, the 
 mob runs and pitilessly mows down 
 with sword and knife as it goes, and 
 plunders and sacks till there is nothing 
 left. 
 
 As I stood watching only a part of 
 this horror, I heard a long-haired 
 204 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 brother near me say, as he kept well 
 under cover, " Inscrutable Provi 
 dence ! But (my word !) I don t think 
 it fair to lay it all on Providence. 
 
 So far the foreign Legations have 
 been well guarded. But there is no tell 
 ing how long the overworked soldiers 
 can hold out. When they cannot, the 
 Lord help the least one of us. 
 
 Jack s friends are working day and 
 night, guarding their property. 
 
 I guess the Seeker found more of the 
 plain unvarnished Truth in the East 
 than he bargained for. He and Dolly 
 have disappeared from Peking. 
 
 Nobody undresses these nights and 
 few go to bed. Our bodyguard is the 
 room-boy. I asked him which side he 
 was on, and without a change of feature 
 he answered, "Manchu Chinaman. 
 Allee samee bimeby, Missy, I make you 
 tea." I have a suspicion that he sleeps 
 205 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 across our door, for his own or our pro 
 tection, I am not sure which ; but some 
 times, when the terrible howls of fight 
 ers reach me, as I doze in a chair, I 
 turn on the light and sit by my fire to 
 shake off a few shivers, trying to make 
 believe I m home in Kentucky, while 
 Jack sleeps the sleep of the convales 
 cent. Then a soft tap comes at my door 
 and a very gentle voice says, " Missy, 
 I make you tea." Shades of Pekoe! 
 I 11 drown if this keeps up much longer. 
 He comes in, brews the leaves, then 
 drops on his haunches and looks into 
 the fire. Not by the quiver of an eye 
 lash does he give any sign, no matter 
 how close the shots and shouts. In 
 scrutable and immovable, he seems a 
 thing utterly apart from the tremen 
 dous upheaval of his country. And 
 yet, for all anybody knows, he may be 
 206 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 chief plotter of the whole movement. 
 His unmoved serenity is about the most 
 soothing thing in all this Hades. I am 
 not really and truly afraid. Jack is 
 with me, and just over there, above the 
 crimson glare of the burning city, 
 gently but surely float the Stars and 
 Stripes. 
 
 Good night, beloved Mate. I will not 
 believe we are dead till it happens. 
 Besides, I simply could not die till Jack 
 and I have saved Sada San. 
 
 By the way, I start for Japan to 
 morrow. The prayers of the congrega 
 tion are requested! 
 
 KIOTO HOTEL, KIOTO, March, 1912. 
 
 Beloved Mate: 
 
 Rejoice with me! Sing psalms and 
 give thanks. Something has happened. 
 I do not know just what it is, but little 
 207 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 thrills of happiness are playing hop 
 scotch up and down my back, and my 
 head is lighter than usual. 
 
 Be calm and I will tell you about it. 
 
 In the first place, I got here this 
 morning, more dead than alive, after 
 days of travel that are now a mere blur 
 of yelling crowds, rattling trains and 
 heaving seas. A wire from Yokohama 
 was waiting. Billy had beat me here 
 by a few hours. At noon, to-day, a big 
 broad-shouldered youth met me, whom 
 I made no mistake in greeting as Mr. 
 Milton. Billy s eyes are beautifully 
 brown. "William s chin looks as if it 
 was modeled for the purpose of dealing 
 with tea-house Uncles. 
 
 Not far from the station is a black- 
 and-tan temple ancient and restful. 
 To that we strolled and sat on the edge 
 of the Fountain of Purification, which 
 faces the quiet monastery garden, while 
 208 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 we talked things over. That is, Billy 
 did the questioning; I did the talking 
 to the mystic chanting of the priests. 
 
 I quickly related all that I knew of 
 what had happened to Sada, and what 
 was about to happen. There was no 
 reason for me to adorn the story with 
 any fringes for it to be effective. 
 Billy s face was grim. He said little; 
 put a few more questions, then left me 
 saying he would join me at dinner in 
 the hotel. 
 
 I passed -an impatient, tedious after 
 noon. Went shopping, bought things I 
 can never use, wondering all the time 
 what was going to be the outcome. Got 
 a reassuring cable from Jack in answer 
 to mine, saying all was well with him. 
 
 Mr. Milton returned promptly this 
 evening. He ordered dinner, then for 
 got to eat. He did not refer to the 
 afternoon; and long intimacy with sci- 
 209 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 ence has taught me when not to ask 
 questions. There was only a fragment 
 of a plan in my mind ; I had no further 
 communication from Sada, and knew 
 nothing more than that the wedding 
 was only a day off. 
 
 We decided to go to Uncle s house to 
 gether. I was to get in the house and 
 see Sada if possible, taking, as the ex 
 cuse for calling, a print on which, in an 
 absent-minded moment, I had squan 
 dered thirty yen. 
 
 Billy was to stay outside, and, if I 
 could find the faintest reason for so 
 doing, I was to call him in. This was 
 his suggestion. 
 
 I found Uncle scintillating with good 
 humor and hospitality. Evidently his 
 plans were going smoothly; but not 
 once did he refer to them. I asked for 
 Sada. Uncle smiled sweetly and said 
 she was not in. Ananias died for less ! 
 210 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 He was quite capable of locking her up 
 in some very quiet spot. I was exter 
 nally indifferent and internally dis 
 mayed. I showed him my print. At 
 once he was the eager, interested artist 
 and he went into a long history of the 
 picture. 
 
 Though I looked at him and knew he 
 was talking, his words conveyed no 
 meaning. I was faint with despair. 
 It was my last chance. I could have 
 wagered Uncle s best picture that Billy 
 was tearing up gravel outside. I had 
 been in the house an hour, and had ac 
 complished nothing. Surely if I stayed 
 long enough something had to hap 
 pen. 
 
 Suddenly out of my hopelessness 
 came a blessed thought. Uncle had 
 once promised to show me a priceless 
 original of Hokusai. I asked if I might 
 see it then. He was so elated that with- 
 211 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 out calling a servant to do it for him he 
 disappeared into a deep cupboard to 
 find his treasure. 
 
 For a moment, helpless and desper 
 ate, I was swayed with a mad impulse 
 to lock him up in the cupboard; but 
 there was no lock. 
 
 It was so deadly still it hurt. Then, 
 coming from the outside, I heard a low 
 whistle with an unmistakable American 
 twist to it, followed by a soft scraping 
 sound. My heart missed two beats. 
 I did not know what was happening; 
 nor was I sure that Sada was within 
 the house; but something told me that 
 my cue was to keep Uncle busy. I 
 obeyed with a heavy accent. When he 
 appeared with his print, I began to 
 talk. I recklessly repeated pages of 
 text-books, whether they fitted or not; 
 I fired technical terms at him till he was 
 dizzy with mental gymnastics. 
 212 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 He smoothed out his precious picture. 
 I fell upon it. I raved over the 
 straight-front mountains and the mar- 
 celed waves in that foolish old wood 
 cut as I had never gushed over any 
 piece of paper before, and I hope I 
 never will again. Not once did he re 
 linquish his hold of that faded deform 
 ity in art, and neither did I. 
 
 Surely I surprised myself with the 
 new joys I constantly found in the pi 
 geon-toed ladies and slant-eyed war 
 riors. Uncle needed absorption, con 
 centration and occupation. Mine was 
 the privilege to give him what he re 
 quired. 
 
 No further sound from the garden 
 and the silence drilled holes into my 
 nerves. I was so fearful that the man 
 would see my trembling excitement, I 
 soon made my adieux. 
 
 Uncle seemed a little surprised and 
 213 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 graciously mentioned that tea was be 
 ing prepared for me. I never wanted 
 tea less and solitude more. I said I 
 must take the night train for Hiro 
 shima. It was a sudden decision; but 
 to stay would be useless. 
 
 I said, "Sayonara," and smiled my 
 sweetest. I had a feeling I would never 
 see dear Uncle Mura on earth again and 
 doubtless our environment will differ in 
 the Beyond. 
 
 I went to the gate. It faced two 
 streets. Both were empty. Not a sign 
 of Billy nor the jinrickshas in which we 
 had come. I trod on air as I tramped 
 back to the hotel. 
 
 HIKOSHIMA, Five Days Later, 1912. 
 Mate dear: 
 
 I am back in my old quarters safe. 
 Why shouldn t I be! A detective has 
 been my constant companion since I left 
 214 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Kioto, sitting by my berth all night on 
 the train, and following me to the gates 
 of the School! 
 
 I had planned to start back to Pe 
 king as soon as Sada and Billy were 
 clear and away. But this detective 
 business has made me very wary not 
 to say weary and I Ve had to post 
 pone my return to Jack to await the 
 Emperor s pleasure and lest I bring 
 more trouble on Sada s head, by fol 
 lowing too closely on her heels; for I 
 suspect the blessed elopers are them 
 selves on the way to China. 
 
 When I took my walk into the coun 
 try the afternoon after I got here, I saw 
 the detective out of the back of my 
 head, and a merry chase I led him up 
 the steepest paths I knew, down the 
 rocky sides, across the ferry, and into 
 the remote village, where I let him rest 
 his body in the stinging cold while I 
 215 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 made an unexpected call. For once he 
 earned his salary and his supper. 
 
 That night I was in the sitting-room 
 alone. A glass door leads out to an 
 open porch. Conscious of a presence, 
 I looked up to find two penetrating eyes 
 fixed on me. It made me creepy and 
 cold, yet I was amused. I sat long and 
 late, but a quiet shadow near the door 
 told me I was not alone. Even when 
 in bed I could hear soft steps under my 
 window. 
 
 I have just come from an interview 
 that was deliciously illuminating. 
 
 Sada San has disappeared; and, so 
 goes their acute reasoning, as I was the 
 last person in Uncle s house, before 
 her absence was discovered, the logical 
 conclusion is that I have kidnapped 
 her. 
 
 Two hours ago the scared housemaid 
 came to announce that "two Mr. Sol- 
 216 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 diers with swords wanted to speak to 
 me." 
 
 I went at once, to find my guardian 
 angel and the Chief of Police for this 
 district in the waiting-room. We 
 wasted precious minutes making in 
 quiries ahout one another s health, ac 
 centuating every other word with a bow 
 and a loud indrawn breath. We were 
 tuning up for the business in hand. 
 
 The chief began by assuring me that 
 I was a teacher of great learning. I had 
 not heard it but bowed. It was poison 
 to his spirit to question so honorable, 
 august, and altogether wise a person, 
 but I was suspected of a grave offense, 
 and I must answer his questions. 
 
 Where was my home I 
 
 Easy. 
 
 How did I live ? 
 
 Easier. 
 
 Who was my grandfather? 
 217 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 Fortunately I remembered. 
 
 Was I married! 
 
 Muchly. 
 
 Where was my master? 
 
 Did not have any. My husband was 
 in China. 
 
 Was I in Japan by his permission! 
 
 I was. 
 
 Had I been sent home for disobedi 
 ence! Please explain. 
 
 No explanation. I was just here. 
 
 Did I know the penalty for kidnap 
 ing! 
 
 No, color-prints interested me more. 
 
 Had any of my people ever been in 
 the penitentiary! 
 
 No, only the Legislature. 
 
 At this both men looked puzzled. 
 Then the Chief made a discovery. 
 
 "Ah-h," he sighed, "American word 
 for crazysylum ! 
 
 Would Madame positively state that 
 218 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 she knew nothing of the girl s where 
 abouts. Madame positively and truth 
 fully so stated. I did not know. I only 
 knew what I thought; but, Mate, you 
 cannot arrest a man for thinking. 
 After a grilling of an hour or so they 
 left me, looking worried and perplexed. 
 They had never heard of Billy, and I 
 saw no use adding to their troubles. 
 Nobody seems to have noticed him at 
 dinner with me ; and now that I think of 
 it, he had men strange to the hotel pull 
 ing the jinrickshas. 
 
 It was dear of Billy not to implicate 
 me. I am ignorant of what really hap 
 pened, but wherever they are I am sure 
 Sada is in the keeping of an honorable 
 man. 
 
 Last night, after I closed this letter, 
 I had a cable. It said : 
 
 "Married in heaven, 
 
 " BILLY AND SADA." 
 219 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 But the cables must have been 
 crossed, for it was dated Shanghai; or 
 else the operator was so excited over 
 repeating such a message he forgot to 
 put in the period. 
 
 March 15. 
 
 Just received a letter from Billy and 
 Sada. It is a gladsome tale they tell. 
 Young Lochinvar, though pale with 
 envy, would bow to Billy s direct 
 method. I can see you, blessed Mate 
 that you are, smiling delightedly at the 
 grand finale of the true love story I 
 have been writing you these months. 
 Billy says on the night it all happened 
 he tramped up and down, waiting for 
 me to call him, till he wore " gullies in 
 the measly little old cow-path they call 
 a street." 
 
 The passing moments only made him 
 more furious. Finally he decided to 
 220 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 walk right into the house, unannounced, 
 and find Sada if he had to knock Uncle 
 down and make kindling wood of the 
 bamboo doll-house. But as he came 
 into the side garden he saw in the sec 
 ond story a picture silhouetted on the 
 white paper doors. It was Sada and 
 her face was buried in her hands. That 
 settled Billy. He would save Uncle all 
 the worry of an argument by simply re 
 moving the cause. There in the dusk, 
 he whistled the old college call, then 
 swung himself up on a fat stone lantern, 
 and in a few minutes he swung down a 
 suitcase and Sada in American clothes. 
 They caught a train to Kobe, which is 
 only a short distance, and sailed out to 
 the same steamer he had left in Yoko 
 hama and which arrived in Kobe that 
 day. 
 
 Billy says, for a quick and safe wed 
 ding ceremony commend him to an en- 
 221 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 thusiastic, newly-arrived young mis 
 sionary ; and for rapid handling of red 
 tape connected with a license, pin your 
 faith to a fat and jolly American consul. 
 So that was what the blessed rascal was 
 doing all that afternoon he left me in 
 Kioto to myself. Cannot you see suc 
 cess in life branded on William s freck 
 led brow right now ? 
 
 The story soon spread over the ship. 
 Passengers and crew packed the music- 
 room to witness the ceremony, and joy 
 ously drank the health of the lovers at 
 the supper the Captain hastily ordered. 
 Without hindrance, but half delirious 
 with joy, they headed for Shanghai. 
 
 Billy found that he could transact a 
 little business in China for the firm at 
 home and with Western enterprise de 
 cided to make his honeymoon pay for 
 itself. 
 
 And now that my task is finished I 
 222 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 shall follow them as fast as the next 
 steamer can carry me. 
 
 PEKING, APRIL, 1912. 
 
 Back once again, Mate, in the City of 
 Golden Dusts. Glorious spring sun 
 shine, and the whole world wrapped in 
 a tender haze. Everything has little 
 rainbows around it and the very air is 
 studded with jewels. 
 
 Soldiers are still marching; flags are 
 flying; drums are thumping and it is 
 all to the tune of Victory for the Revo 
 lutionists. But best of all Jack is well ! 
 To me Peking is like that first morning 
 of Eve s in the Garden of Eden. 
 
 "What crowded, happy weeks these 
 last have been. Waiting for Jack; 
 amusing him when time hangs heavy 
 even unto reading pages of scientific 
 books with words so big the spine of my 
 tongue is threatened with fracture. 
 223 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 And in between times? Well, I am 
 thanking my stars for the chance to 
 doubly make up for any little tender 
 ness I may have passed by. Put it in 
 your daily thought book, honey, for- 
 evermore I am going to remember that 
 if at the time we d use the strength in 
 doing, that we consume afterwards be 
 ing sorry we didn t do, life would run 
 on an easy trolley. 
 
 Billy and Sada are with us, still with 
 the first glow of the enchanted garden 
 over them. Bless their happy hearts! 
 I am going to give them my collection 
 of color prints to start housekeeping 
 with. How I d love to see Uncle 
 through a telescope. 
 
 To-night we are having our last din 
 ner here. To-morrow the four of us 
 turn our faces toward the most beauti 
 ful spot this side of Heaven, home. 
 The happy runaways to Nebraska, Jack 
 224 
 
The Lady and Sada San 
 
 and I to the little roost we left behind 
 in Kentucky. 
 
 There goes the music for dinner. 
 It s something about "dreamy love." 
 Love is n t a dream, Mate not the kind 
 I know; it s all of life and beyond. 
 
 I know what they are playing! 
 
 Breathe but one breath 
 Rose beauty above 
 And all that was death 
 Grows life, grows love, 
 Grows love! 
 
 THE END 
 
 225 
 
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