The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-28

'You might occupy your time more
,rofitably," said /. why don't you try /,
o learn little japanese? You would I
ind the country much more interesting
f you understood the language"
TT won't take me long to pick it up
once I'm there" she replied. II can
earn language easily enough if I can
hear people talking it, but I hate to
study it out Of book"
I thought / had made my opportunity
then, and was on the point of asking her I
about the wonderful Japanese word. /
when / saw one of the stewards standing i
outside the chartroom, well within ear
shot of us; and, although ! was half
to pay any heed to the purser's /
caution. thought I would wait to put
my question until we were quite alone. /
l knew, too, that it would be long
story, if she told me anything at all, and
didn't want to stay on deck until q
o'clock in the morning, even for the sake
of, scandalizing the missionaries wives.
So, after I had let her talk about moth
ing at all for a little while, I went be-
low, leaving her alone in her chair with
the moonlight shining full on her yellow
hair, and the Japanese boy standing near,
like little wooden soldier on sentry
duty.
The pleasures of life are not so hot or
SO frequent that one can afford to treat
lightly the promise of their coming, and
/ prepared myself to hear the story
which / knew Ysonde Potwin had to tell
as thoughtfully as an epicure prepares
himself for a feast. For a whole day l
let her severely alone. knowing that her
theory of life was one of oscillation, and
that she would be the more friendly and
confidential the day after my abstention.
And when the time came, and our chairs
extended themselves side by side in a re-
mote corner of the deck, asked her, d.
rect enough, why all the Japanese on
board made so much fuss about her.
| ooh, 1 can't tell you THAR she ex-
claimed. Its a secret, and you know
women love secrets!''
Eyes, they love secrets as much as
they love their rings I replied. "But if
you keep your diamonds shut up in a lit
tie tin box at your bankers, you get no
| joy out of them; and if you don't tell
your secrets, you might as well not have
any
ooh, it wouldn't make you like me any
better if / told you.'' she said.
81 don't believe the secret is as black
as that" 1 replied. You know / told
you, long ago. that 1 was too lazy to
lose my heart to you as those other fell
lows do, and you said we would be frank
and loyal shipmates. And if you have
secrets from me, l shall hide all sorts OF
Thrilling and tremulous mysteries from
you, and see what a loss that would be
all around"
'Wen,' said she, II suppose 1 must
tell you. 1t would be rather relief tc
tell somebody, and no one knows ahou
it, not even my maid. I'll tell you al
about it: but Ii 1 find you don't like ms
any more, and neglect me the rest of the
, voyage as you did yesterday. it will b.
real mean of YOU"
Playing with the rings on her sof
white fingers. and looking out over thu
silvered waves of the summer sea, sh'
told me the story of Temehichi.
"Once upon time. to begin with.
+, was divorced. I told you that before
And Mr.. Potwin went off to Europe o
somewhere; and that's the end of him
) And 1 couldn't go to Europe any
, where, because it was in May, and ha'
given the lawyers nearly all my money
and / wasn't going to have any more til
October. So took a little fiat in Sal
Francisco, and 1 lived there alone witt
:. old Della, who is here with me now, an
whom am going to send back to Ameri
4 ca soon as we get to Japan, AM
who has been with me ever since I wa
a little girl, and who is the dearest oil
4 woman in the world, only that she viii
2 drink too much, sometimes; and whel
I she drinks too much she keens all nigh
: because her friends in Ireland are dead
homework and to cook my breakfast i
{. the morning. / always used to go on
S for lunch and for dinner, it was s
n much brighter and gayer in the restaur
:. ants than being alone at home. Deli
: and the Irish girl quarrelled about HON
Rule, and I got a Swedish girl. Sh
d stamped about like cart-horse, an
d broke everything she touched, and
Y couldn't have her any more. So I though
1 I'd try a japanese boy. You know W
e have great many Japanese and Chimes
re boys for servants in San Francisco, nor
d Chinese than Japanese, but this was
Japanese boy. They're always Gale
Il boys, but they're grown up, you know
er He was very quiet and very quick, an
IF got his work done in no time at all; an
/ he used to sit in the little kitchen an
% write letters all day; and he was Away
l. out at night, nearly. 1t didn't make an
al difference to me, as long as his work Wa
1T done; but Della used to hear him CON
in in at o'clock in the morning. She to
at him once that If he didn't sleep more he
re be sick and die: and he told her poop
st had different ways of sleeping, and tn;
t. he slept while he was cleaning up II
ae fiat. He made beautiful buckwhe;
cakes and he didn't care cent if / ha
- my breakfast one morning at o'clot
r. and the next morning at IL; he new
=. complained the least little bit, and ever.
= thing was as nice as could be. And OIL
NJ afternoon Charley Hart came to take n
,a down to the Maison Richie for Dime
an You know the Maison Richie Is one of Il
or French restaurants in San Francisc
&c and Charley Hart was a great friend
1s mine. He is in the insurance bushes
10 and he plays the banjo splendidly, al
in he belongs to one of the clubs, and
az is a great society man. Well, it w
g raining so hard that I thought it wou
orc be fun to send messenger boy out al
no have something brought in from a re
IN taurant, and nave our dinner there.
81 told Temehichi-Temehichi was t
"a Japanese boys name-to call distri
I'd messenger and order enough for two. T
n mehichi asked me what time | wanted
va and I told him in about an hour Y
n had a lovely dinner, and I found out al
a erwards that instead of havings thin
no from a restaurant Temehichi had coo
q ed it all himself. He was the handle
ed human being 1 ever saw; he could ju
do anything; so after that, when / W
alone, / often used to have my meals
=. - the fiat instead of going out; and eve
- !, one who came to see me said there new
~ was such boy as Temehichi. You Sc
/ have a lot of gentlemen friends in S;
~ ~ Francisco. They used to be Mr.. Potwir
friends, but they all took my side abo
- the divorce, and they used to come