The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-12-02
The Sacrifice of O'7eru San.
A Tragedy Of the Japanese War.

a geisha is to be judged by popularity.
| Daintily she took the little China cups
which were offered her. modestly she
! pressed them TO her lips, just tasting
the contents. Then they pleaded with
her TO dance again All smiles she re-
tired to the stage, and gave a repre-
9cntaticn in graceful movements of
some old ballad Of love and war, such
as young Toxic adored.
Then, bowling low, she puassed again
l. behind the screen And as the sound
Of applause died in her ears, SO did
the smile of happiness from her face
Hastily she changed her kimono, and
called for the iinrilltsha which was
waiting for her in the courtyard.
1t was bitter night for poor Teru
San; she was going now to meet her
lover for the last time-for Tanaka, a
lieutenant in the imperial guards, was
also leaving in the morning to meet
the Russians.
Such was the history of Teru San.
When she had come to her resolution
to find the money with which her
lover was to be educated, she had gone
straightway and sold herself-as many
hundreds Of other Japanese girls have
done in similar circumstances to the
master Of some tea-house. The house
which she had selected had been
owned by man who, long trained IN
the art, had seen the commercial value
of the dainty little lass who falter-
ing had offered herself to sign the
indentures. He had paid a sufficient
sum in cash to insure the first years
fees of Tanakas education; the sue
csssful Teru Sans outside earnings
had supplied the rest.
Thus supported, her lover had passed
from one grade to another, until now
he was a dashing subaltern in the
guards. All that the young couple
were waiting for was the day when
the tea-hOuse ransom should be paid
in full and Teru San free of her
strange obligations. We of the west
cannot understand this; in the east it
is different.
The leading company had been lying
under the cover of a sand-dune since
daybreak. The men were becoming
restless; behind them they could hear
the even rhythm of the three bat
teries of artillery which were en-
deavoring to silence the Russian guns
On the far side of the river, and ever
and anon some projectile would whis-
tie above their heads, or, burying it.
self in front of them, would throw
great showers of sand into their
ranks.
The men were getting restless be-
cause they were waiting to fulfill their
orders. These orders were engraven
in each mans heart-for such is the
system of the Japanese: when posi-
BILE each man in the army, from the
general of division to the humblest
stretcher bearer, knows exactly what
Is to be expected of him during the
ensuing day, as far as the general
staff can calculate the function of any
particular unit.
This regiment of the Guards had
orders to lie under cover as near as
possible to the foot of the bridge
which the sappers were constructing,
and as soon as the structure was wor-
thy to push across it and turn the
Russians from their positions on the
far side of the river. From o'clock
in the morning they had been lying
there, and it was now past midday
and yet the bridge was not complete.
Tanaka had crept UP to his cap
tain's side, and together they had
crawled to the top of the sand-dune
and watched the progress which the
sappers were making. 1t seemed now
that almost the last pontoon had been
aoated down. The little engineers
were working like demons on the
brideg-head, ard as they worked the
water all round the pontoon seemed !
alive with bursting shells. Time af-
ter time the men working on the haw- |
sers were swept away, and as the cord |
passed from their lifeless grasp there |
were other willing hands ready to
take it,
There was no time to care for dead I
or wounded, there was no room for !
either on the pontoons, man down |
was man lost, and it served the in
terests of the state better to push his
body into the boiling stream rather
hamper the bridge-way with doctors