The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-28
ORDF TING-A TALE OF YOKOHAMA LIFE
AND ROMANCE-BY CLEMENT SCOTT

anese boys hustling about the inn bar,
and SO far as they We're concerned we
night have been talking double Dutch. |
OF Chinese, and here to their astonish- |
lnent were an old actor and a middle /
aged critic talking away sixteen to tn
dozen" about English dramatic art Ii !
| tar distant Japan.
| But before 1 left he called me aside
and said, in mysterious stage whis-
| per:
Promise me on your faithful word of
| nOnor that you VIII come up and Sc !
me alone before you sail away from ia i
| pan. But you must come alone. l have ,
| something very important to tell you !
| something that weighs heavily on my |
mind, something that you must know
My schooi-fellow on our way home
| helped TO enlighten me. Old Playfort
| had done what so many Englishmen
! had done in Japan. Possibly for lit
| de bit of money, probably for mere
| companionship, he had gone through a.
| certain form Of marriage with a native
woman. She is was VINO presided over
| his dingy and uncleanly household. She
1t was who passed as his wife. The
children, half Jap and half European.
We're hers.
Ii was the old story; the alliance,
such as it was, had been, so far as
could see, complete failure.
Three distinct cases of mixed Euro
pean and Japanese unions came under
my Immediate notice. In not one OF
them was there any real happiness.
Quite the contrary.
Again and again l went UP to the
shakespeare Inn to see the grand
old man., but always, unfortunately, in
mixed company. Everybody liked him.
from the highest to the lowest. and
the European ladies of the colony were
accustomed, with their husbands and
hr.. hearc IN, eli h. ~. T. Ia
best parlor." and to listen to his stor-
II les and CHEEKY conversation.
On the last day before my ship sailed
from Yokohama to San Francisco, true
, TO my promised called a swift "jinrick-
, sha' and bowled away to the Shakes
, peare Inn" The old gentleman was ov-
enjoyed to see me, and escorted me to
the best parlor, where we could be
: alone and undisturbed. And there and
then he told me the story of his curious
vagabond and wandering life.
, First of all he told me his real name,
| or rather quickly identified it with an
Eng .ish actress who is held in univer-
; sal respect-an old lady now, but one
D who has pursued her honorable and
4 blameless career in London for over
five and thirty-years
1t was a sad story of mans weak
q ness and unfaithfulness. Husband and
: wife had acted together in England
a and full OF love and hope, they had
n parted--years and years ago. From
that hour he had never set eyes upon
: his faithful and devoted wife. It was
9 a painful storx, but he did not finch
4 in the recital of it, He did not spare
q himself or excuse himself but went
: through it all as if he were in torture
n or on the rack. In this case also con
i fession seemed good for the soul
He drifted into American stock com
!. panies, drifted into strange society
a drifted no doubt into careless ways
The wife was steadily working away a
e home; he knew where to find her, ht
n knew what a comfort some ti0ings O
the derelict would be to her. But grad
= ually he forgot to write ior so man!
4 months, soon so many years, that h
became ashamed to do so.
-e And then the iron entered into hi
N soul, and he crowned unpardonabl
l. neglect with the recklessness of despair
: He determined to die TO the world. II
al would lose himself, become another@be
in ing, lead new life. try to forget
l. past that no doubt haunted and tor
* tured him. The old vagabond spiri
IN took firm possession of him. He bough
r an old caravan and a horse, and tramp
ed gipsy-fashion from one sea boar
"a of America to the other, stopping a
A. miners camps and ranches to give re
citations and Shakespeare readings. III
i cooked IOr himself, IenQeU nlInSelI, l1N
~ ed for himself, thought for himsel
al This American Robinson Crusoe ha
a. no Man Friday He was aone. doome
T. to be alone.
Ever and ever he turned farther an
H. farther away from his home. He oil
v not dare look back. He must pass o
nd and on. So as the years went by h
s. found himself in the days of gold an
d. prosperity at San Francisco.
no And so. as the wears rolled Onwart
s. still frightened to go back, he set sa
once more from America, but not, alas
as to seek forgiveness in England, but
r. bury himself still deeper in the dar
u grave of forgetfulness in fslr-distai
he Japan.
of Here he arrived strong, well, ar
NJ hearty; here he tried readings and rec
tations here he helped the Engis
In amateurs with their private theatrical
* here he became character and Bon
dy face, here, unhappily, he plunged in
sh new domestic turmoils. and Involve
ID himself with fresh liabilities and r
nd sponsibilities, and here 1 found him
,e" the Shakespeare Inn at Yokoham
Ter an exile from home after some thir
ia years absence from the dear viii
cliffs of Dover" He concluded this 81
he story with the following words as
lly took my hand, the tears still streamil
cry down his handsome old face:
To- You are going back to great o
CT England, my friend, but 1 shall new
In see it any more. AS l had made n
md bed so / must lie on 1t. My journey
to almost done-I am. as you see. We
18th old man. Here I shall die ere long, a
the here they will bury me when am gon
the away from home, from wife. frc
ag- child; alone amongst strangers, fc
an gotten. as I well deserve to be-"
1 suggested how merciful. how 10
,ng ing how tender. and how forgivi
ept good women are; and prophesied
Cancellation with his neglected wi
lily and a last home in some familiar E
a glish churchyard. Let him turn
ect back on the heathens and come hol
no. to die
all But he was not to be moved from
he resolution.
and Dear friend I shall never go hor
rip nor do / deserve 1t: ] am an outla
lelp an exile, an old derelict, still tossi
of on the troubled sea of life. But l sh
go under and get in no ones way
ak last" And then he came closer a
Is whispered But you must see her.
,me dear old wife, when you get back
-eat England. You must tell her from
-,,, that 7 love her still You must