Amy Ella Blanchard

“ The air was fresh and cool, a great relief after the sultriness of Tokyo, and a warm bath was ready, the water being brought through bamboo pipes. Then there was tea in the little pagoda and afterward all walked over to see how those at the inn were getting along. They were found to be in a state of entire content, in cool, pleasant rooms overlooking a charming garden, a verandah running along in front of their windows giving them a sheltered place to sit if they preferred seclusion.
"We are all going to see the temples the first thing to-morrow," announced Eleanor, "so you must all be ready." ”

“ The long journey from the Sea of Japan to the Inland Sea was over and Nagasaki was reached at last.
"The end of our travels in Japan," sighed Nan. "Won't it be queer to see no more tea-houses, no more rice-fields, no more odd-looking men with mushroom hats and women tipping along on their getas?"
"I shall not miss those things a bit," averred Jack. "It has been mighty interesting to see and I have enjoyed it down to the ground, but me for the old U.S.," she added slangily.
"I shall not be sorry, myself, to get back," Mary Lee agreed with Jack. ”

“ Sannomiya abject?" inquired Eleanor.
"Well, she is a little bit, but I have seen American women with big bullies of husbands quite as much so," Jean replied. "Not that Mr. Sannomiya is a bully, far from it, but I suppose it is the Japanese woman's prerogative to be humble as it is the man's to be lordly. The girls are all trained from the beginning to be meek and gentle, to exercise self-control under all circumstances, to smile and be agreeable no matter how mad they feel inside." ”

“ Nan sighed. "Every moment takes me away from the loveliest dream, the sweetest memories that ever girl had."
Jack standing where the fresh wind blew in her face watched the vessel's prow rush through the blue. On and on and on. "Every minute takes us that much nearer. We're coming, Cart, old boy, we're coming. It won't be long now," so sang her heart.
"Sayonara! Sayonara!" sighed the little Japanese girls by Nan's side.
"Sayonara!" piped up Toku smiling into Nan's face. ”

“ Craig answered. "It is taught as a branch by itself and all girls study it. The few decorations a house possesses must be in harmony with the season. When the cherry blossoms come you will see an entirely different kakemono in the Otamuras' house, an entirely different vase for the flowers and other things will be in keeping."
"It is all very complicated," sighed Nan, "and I am afraid I shall carry away only a very small part of what I ought to find out about these curious people." ”

“ Nan knelt before the little shrine and opened her cage of fireflies. One after another found its freedom, darting out and floating up into the dimness of further distance. They stood watching them glimmering fitfully under the dark trees. "They seem like departing souls, themselves," said Nan. "They make me think of 'Vital spark of heavenly flame.'"
"Then you have found in them a symbol that the Japanese seem not to have discovered. ”

“ Mary Lee said teasingly. "You can't expect a man to stay forever faithful to a girl who behaves as if he were an old shoe to be picked up and cast aside at will."
"You don't mean that," Jack averred. "If you did, I would take the next steamer home and marry him before any of you reached there to stop me. When he gets my letter he will understand, so don't you go trying to stir me up. Where in the world are those two?"
"Oh, never mind them," rejoined Mary Lee. "There are Eleanor and Mr. Montell just ahead and we can get along for a while without Nan." ”

“ The American market calls for so much that is in bad taste that we cannot expect their own not to be vitiated. Vulgar wealth calls for ostentation and why should they retain simplicity? We are a great nation whose success is enviable and why not imitate us in all matters?"
"It is discouraging," sighed Nan, "but I suppose it is the law of compensation. As we acquire some love of the artistic so it is lost by those who supply us with what appeals to a growing taste for the beautiful, and so civilization levels." ”

“ Colonel Craig met them with a tiny gold carp for each girl as a souvenir of the day and on their bill of fare the koi was in evidence, although not alive as he should properly have been in Japanese estimation. The spot the colonel had chosen was close to the river Sumida and near to fields of iris, not yet in their full glory which would be attained in June, still, at this season, one could stand upon the banks and look down upon the flowers already sending up their gay banners.
"Such a flowery, fairy-like land is this," said Nan to Mr. Harding who, as usual, had sought her out. ”

“ Nan rarely discussed Neal Harding and Mary Lee drew her own conclusions.
"I wonder what Carter would say if he saw Jack now," she said after a pause.
"He knows what Jack is," replied Nan, "and moreover I don't know that he has any right to criticize her actions. We only assume that he has any claim. Jack has never said so."
"No, she is a perfect sphinx upon the subject. Sometimes I think she doesn't care a rap for him and again I am convinced that she would never consider any one else."
"She is too young to know her own mind." ”

“ She represents all that is womanly and loving, and is really one of the very choicest of all the deities."
"I am getting bewildered with all these deities and sub-deities," declared Eleanor. "They don't seem very beautiful, only very large and uncouth."
"That is because you have no imagination, my dear," said her brother. "When you have read all the wonderful legends of this land, you may be more interested."
"Oh, dear, I never did care for mythology," returned she. "I would much rather see shops than shrines, and real people than images."
"Philistine of Philistines, isn't she, Miss Nan?" ”

“ If only the twins didn't have to go back to college we could just stay on till we had seen all."
"There is no reason why you shouldn't stay on with Helen and Mary Lee," returned her mother.
Nan shook her head. "No, once having hold of you I realize how valuable you are and I don't feel as if I could let you go back without me."
"Don't let us plan the going back yet a while," interposed Miss Helen. "Just when we are beginning to have a sense of peace and rest we should enjoy it. Let the morrow take thought for itself." ”

“ There was no word of regret at her leaving, no further reference to a future meeting, and so Nan went on to Enoshima with no such anticipation as had filled her on that perfect day at Kamakura.
The way to Kamakura was now enlivened by fields of iris and by the paddy fields of rice, the plants now grown higher. It was all new and enticing to Jack and Jean who were eager for the stop at Kamakura where they had all decided to spend the night. Nan had no desire to visit the temples again and Miss Helen decided to keep her company at the little hotel under the pine trees. ”

“ We have come over to tell you something that will make you turn green with envy."
"Humph!" returned Jo. "As if anybody or anything could make me turn green or any other color from envy. I am the one to be envied."
"She still has it badly," said Nan shaking her head. "What is there in marking towels [Pg 14] to make it such an enviable employment, Mrs. Woods?"
"Because it is being done for the dearest man in the world," replied Jo promptly.
"I wonder if you will still continue to be in this blissful state of idiocy when we get back from Japan," put in Mary Lee. ”

“ Sannomiya, Neal and Mr. Montell, they were able to do their final sightseeing with more ease and celerity than if they had been a party of women alone. Jean and Ko-yeda had many good times together, the tractable little Toku being left in charge of the two Japanese girls who had agreed to see to him during the voyage. Neal and Nan received consideration from every one, and Nan, who had always been the one to take the heavier burdens in traveling, for once in her life threw aside all responsibility and gave up her days to the companionship which grew dearer and dearer as the moments flew. ”

“ What these conclusions were, Mary Lee found out that very evening when Eleanor enticed her off into the garden. "I have tried to pump Neal," she said, "but he is mute as a clam, and I can get nothing from him but that he has no right to poach on another's preserves."
"He knows there is no other and that there is a free way to the preserves," Mary Lee told her.
"What do you mean?" cried Eleanor.
"Jack has taken it upon her contrary little self to inform him that nobody has any claim on Nan." ”

“ This is the temple of Buddha and the gate of the Eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence."
"Could any one feel anything else but reverence?" returned Nan. "And not only reverence but a real awe and certainly a great admiration."
"Shall we go inside?" asked Mr. Montell who had been busy with his camera and who now came up. "You know there is a small opening in the side of the big lotus-blossom on which Buddha is sitting. There is a shrine to Kwannon inside and if you care to climb up a ladder you can go as far as the shoulders and have a peep at the grounds." ”

“ Nan smiled down at her. "Jean, dear, and all of you, I have something to tell you. I would have told you, Mary Lee and Jack, before, but I had a feeling that mother must know first. I am going to marry Neal Harding."
"Maybe you think we are surprised," scoffed Jack. "Why, you old fraud, the fact was written on your face on that very day of our wild trip to Sakusa, wasn't it, Mary Lee?"
"You certainly bore all the hall-marks of an affianced maiden," Mary Lee assured her sister.
"Never mind, Nan," Jean spoke up. "I am surprised, and I am pleased, too. It will be lovely to have a brother." ”

“ I wanted you to know, Nan, because I know Carter writes to you oftener than to any of the others, and I don't want you to tell him things that are simply figments of your brain, as I might give you reason to do sometimes if you didn't know the bona fide truth. You mustn't always trust appearances, you know. They are deceptive. Are you glad, Nan, you old dear?" She looked at her sister mischievously, so that Nan checked her impulse to hug her. ”

“ Nan frowned and shook her head. "You mustn't say that. You are as young as any of us."
"In spirit, maybe," her aunt returned with a smile.
"We certainly shall not expect you to see all the shrines and temples we come upon," Mrs. Craig told them, "for there are too many, and the best way is to select the most famous only to visit."
"We learned to do that way in Europe," said Nan. "One gets mental indigestion by tearing off to see every little thing, and finally one is so mixed up that nothing is remembered correctly." ”

“ We feel that we should be thinking of starting forth again, not because we are tired of this lovely spot, but because there is so much more to see, and one can scarcely expect to come to Japan more than once in a lifetime. You and Mary Lee have made the Craigs a long visit and it is time that should be ended. Now what do you think we should make our next point?"
Nan gave the question due consideration. "We must certainly see Kyoto," she said at last. "It is such a very old city and was the capital before Tokyo became so. I have been told that it is the most interesting city in Japan." ”

“ Nan understood. Who is so alone as in a crowd? Some distance ahead she caught sight, once in a while, of the colonel's soldierly figure towering up above his companions, and once or twice she could see Jack's hat, and her sparkling face turned gaily toward her escort.
"We have gone back to the temple fair at [Pg 236] Tokyo, I hope," said Mr. Harding as Nan grew more and more expansive and chatty.
"We won't talk about goings back," returned she lightly. "It is always better to go ahead. What is done is done. We can control the future somewhat, but we cannot help the past." ”

“ Alongside of these were larger cages, though small enough, of bamboo from whose interiors the strident notes of great green crickets came incessantly.
"Aren't they darling?" cried Jean enthusiastically as Nan came up. "You can get a cricket and a cage for two cents, and for one cent you can buy fifteen fireflies in a cage. Mary Lee and I are getting ever so many."
"What for?" inquired Nan.
"Oh, just to give them their freedom. We hate to see the poor little creatures caged. The cages are so curious that we want those anyhow."
"Have they any religious fitness?" Nan asked Mr. Harding. ”

“ Nan put down the book she was reading; Mary Lee looked up from her embroidery. "You are not going to desert us, Aunt Helen?" said Nan.
"Not unless you girls will join me in my flight."
"But where would you fly?" asked Mary Lee.
"What do you say to Japan?"
"Japan? Oh, Aunt Helen, not really."
"Why not? Every one goes there these days. We could make the trip by way of California, stop off for a few days at Honolulu, and see some of the strange things I have been reading about this winter. I am strongly inclined to make the trip if you two will go with me." ”

“ The little lacquered tables from which the Japanese take their meals, and which you have so often seen, are placed on the altar to hold the food served to the spirits of the departed. In the very poor houses, these offerings of food are sometimes merely wrapped in a leaf and laid on the fresh mats. Wine is not given, neither do they give fish nor meat to the departed friends, but they offer fresh, pure water and give them tea every hour. They serve the meals exactly as they would to living guests, even supplying chop-sticks. ”

“ Now, girls, don't let us waste our time in discussing centipedes and tarantula, for we must make the most of our time. I have ordered a carriage for a drive to the Pali, which, I am told, is the favorite one. We can take the shore line next, Waikiki, it is called, and then we can see the surf-riding and all that."
"Such lovely, queer names," commented Nan.
"Such queer looking people," said Mary Lee as they started forth, looking eagerly to the left and right that they might observe anything worth their while.
"Why do those women all wear those awful Mother Hubbard looking frocks?" said Nan. ”

“ They left the shining sands, where many little children were picking up the beautiful shells which lay in great numbers about them, and followed the rest of the party to the spot where the jinrikishas were waiting, but they walked so slowly that they were the last to arrive.
"It is much too beautiful to leave," explained Nan. "Couldn't we come and stay a little while at either Kamakura or Enoshima, Aunt Helen? There must be somewhere we could be comfortable." ”

“ You see we are rather in the dark ourselves and cannot swear to anything. Nan is expansive enough about some things, but she is the most elusive person when it comes to an affair of the heart. I have been puzzled a score of times myself about her. She gets very high-flown romantic ideas about sacrifice and all that kind of thing, and if she took it into her head that Jack must be interested in Neal she would go the whole length. I know she did have some such fancy a while ago, but I said enough to disabuse her mind of it, I thought."
"Well, I must talk to Neal," decided Eleanor. ”