The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-22
them and put them in a pretty

house in Yeddo every morning. / knew he was
| pleased with my checkers, because he used to
look over the bamboo picket which inclosed our
yard.
| waited for the boy. aud when he passed
beckoned to him. and handed him in straw
| basket the two little chickens making signs to
him that he might keep them never saw
boy delighted / couldn't talk Japanese, but
the boy knew some few words of English, and he
said: Thank you, thank YOU"
| Next day, as the boy passed by our house, he
| had, too. basket in his hand. thought he
| intended only to return it. He made sign for
| me to come, and opening the basket there was
beautiful little Japanese puppy, black and white.
Father, who knows about such things. thinks
that from these Japanese dogs the breed OF st
Charles spaniels take their origin. The real
japanese pet dog has good shape and nice
broad head the only thing that is against him
| is his hair, which is rather stiff and harsh
was delighted with the dog, and l thanked the
| boy, and we shook hands After that he and l
We're fast friends.
Oh, the things that boy could do! Perhaps,
for my age. was better educated than he was,
| though | dare say III his kind of book learning
! ne was very proficient; bat where he passed
me was in drawing. He was not to b, ought
| up as an artist, but as a merchan, &e his
father You had only to give that boy cake OF
| India ink and paint brush and he would make
| pictures for you all day 1 never anything
done as quickly with paint brush He would
make what thought four five black
INES and splotch of ink here and there, just as
| rapidly as possible, and then he would show the
| paper to me, and l could not make out any
| thing. He would laugh and then join the lines
| together with rapid strokes of brush and then,
| as If by magic, there would be a funny old
woman. or hawk, or horse, fishing boat
| He would look pleased at my amazement Once
L gave him lead pencil and he was delighted
| with 1t; but he made me understand that 1t was
easier for him to make his pictures at once
without drawing any outlines.
When | asked father to explain to me how the
Japanese were such good artists he said he
| thouGhtlt came about in this way that their
characters In writing were so difficult to execute
that they had at an early age to learn how to use
| their paint brushes skillfuy Mother, who
paints herself. did not agree with my father,
| because, as she remarked, Chinese was hard to
| write, but the Chinese were not born artists as
/ were the Japanese"
The japanese boy and became very intimate.
| don't think ever came across a nicer, more
| straightforward fellow than Sekizawa. By and
| by picked up, from playing with him, num-
Der of Japanese words | was only year in
Japan, and had [ stayed there longer dare say
| should have learnt to speak it. l am not
| ashamed to say that Sekizawa learned English
| from me much more rapidly than did Japanese
| from him. taught him the alphabet, and all
| the Sounds but the r / thought he never could
pronounce. Here is an En- glish alphabet SekZa-
| wa make and see how beautifullyit is done and
| my informant showed me all the letters neatly
painted on strip of heavy white paper.
We were inseparable. Whenever SekiZawa
| had anything nice to eat he used TO save me
some of it. | don't think there is anything nicer
than the cakes they make in Japan. No
confectioner in the United States could equal
them. He the most generous boy / ever
saw, and if | would have let him, he would have
given me half of all his things. He was not
quite rs tall as was One day he came to
house with bundle under his arm, and he
opened it with a laugh and showed me a suit of
his clothes, and intmated that was to put them
on. We went up into our room, and he helped
me to dress, and when we went into the garden
mother came out and wondered where was, or
how two Jap boys were in her garden. They
were mighty comfortable clothes, rather baggy
but leaving all your limbs free. l tried suit of
my clothes on SeklZawa, but he did not like
them, and he made signs to me, that if he had
to run, or climb trees he would be certain to
tear them SekiZawa had lots of pets, mostly
birds. Some of these were very well trained.
There We're couple of birds something like our
English sparrows, that would come to him out of
their cages and perch each one of them, on his
ears, and it was the funniest thing to see him
coming to pay me visit with these ornaments
on his ears He could toss them up into the
air, and they would fly into a cherry tree, but at
word from him they would come back and
perch on his ears again.
never saw a boy SO sorry when l told him [
was going home. think it was all he could do
to stop crying. Father had given me a silver
watch, and had asked him if might present it
to Sekizawa, so father bought another watch
and told me | should give it to my Japanese
playmate. He wild with delight. In return
he gave me all those queer little figures in ivory
you have seen in my mothers cabinet. But what
prize most is this picture He must have
taken great deal Of trouble with it. Those
Japanese characters on the left hand side mean
Offering of Friendship" That figure is meant
for himself; the other he painted for
me. It's wonderful likeness of Sex
looks SO very much like me. That's the watch
| am giving him. That is plain enough, and
there are the Bantam chickens and the sketch
of the back of our house with the trees is just
like it. That little figure of the fat man in the
background, with big sack on his shoulders,
indicates the god of good fortune That is to
bring good luck. That is his name there
He very modest and shy about giving it to
me- You see | couldn't draw him anything be-
cause never could draw at ALL OF course |
have a good many friends in Brooklyn, some of
them nice, but know / never had any
body | liked much Sekizawa. Come
here, Jap-Jap," and my young friend whistled,
and | heard dog come bouncing down the
stairs.
That's Jap, the little dog Sekzawa gave me-
He is very affectionate, and full of sense. He
must be four years old now, but is full Of
play as ever. l sent him to the dog show last
year. and he took prize. There is a Japanese
friend of fathers who comes here and then,
and Jap seems to know him. and makes dread
full fuss over him, because he is a countryman
of his, / suppose. Jap is down on cats. fancy
he learnt that from American dogs. Oh, no. l
haven't forgotten SekiZaWa, though am sorry to
say almost all the Japanese | knew | have
forgotten. knew Sekizawa has learnt English,
for he sent me letter last year. and dozen
beautiful white silk handkerchiefs. The letter
very we'll written, and there was not
single mistake in the spelling. Sekzawa is
clerk now in the branch house father established
in Japan. l send him books and pictures
When | am eighteen, father says l stand q good
chance Of going to Japan. | have written that
to Sekzawa, and he says that he will be so glad
| to me. He is going to be married sometime
| this fall; and am saving up my money to make
| his bride handsome present"
The Bishop Must Swear.
| General Grants remarkable abstinence from
profanity under all circumstances leads a CORE
| spondent of the Troy Times to record an anec-
&C nd cnrrnHuhat