The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-09-03

On the day Of his departure Nagoya
was walking. as was his won't, In the lit
tie garden behind the house. A sudden
turn in the path disclosed Regina sway
| ing idly in hammock She wore dress
Of fleecy whiteness. A dainty cap rested
on her shining black curls, her dark eyes
gazed dreamily up through the branches
to the blue Of the summer sky. AS
Nagoya approached she turned. looking
at him half regretfully, half eagerly.
Don't rise" said the lad, gently. II
have come for one last word-a farewell.
Soon Nagoya leaves you. All, my land
of the rising sun will be the land OF the
setting sun without you, my Regina.
One token l leave you, the seed Of our
royal flower, the chrysanthemum. Tell
no one gave it, for it is of chrysanthe-
NUNS the queen, and he who gives the
seed to foreigner is under death penal
ty. Give to it your dear name, Regina
queen. As its flowers bud and blossom,
remember, so will Nagoya's love for you
bloom, growing, growing forever And
now farewell, my Regina, my queen"
Placing the packet in her hand, he
turned away. That night he left
America, never to return.
When the next year the seeds were
planted. and gorgeous pink flower
reared its head into the sunlight, Regina
gave 1t her name. Soon the Regina
chrysanthemum, the most beautiful ever
known to the horticultural world, was
the wonder of the season. Visitors came
from great distances to see the lovely
blossoms. But Regina never forgot the
secret significance of the flowers as they
budded and blossomed, and, thinking of
the Japanese boys pathetic farewell,
would whisper with a sigh: Poor
Nagoya"
Seven years later Regina married
But in her new happiness she did not
forget her old friend When she
changed her reign from her fathers
home to her husbands she would have
no other name for her new home than
Chrysanthemum Lodge. One of the first
stories that she told her little son, John
Ambrose, was of the young Japanese
who had played with her when she was
little girl; and no story-book fairyland
pleased him half so well as his mothers
descriptions of Nagoya's home. that
queer, delightful. fantastic country on
the other side of the world.
1t was day early during the recent
war between Japan and China In his
private Office the Japanese sicgoon. or
minister of war, sat closeted with an Of
fetal who was the bearer Of petition
for pardon from prisoner lately con-
demned to death, The offender was a
United States naval cadet accused of se-
cretly aiding the Chinese forces, and ap-
pealing now to the siogoon as the one
person whose intercession could save his
life. Already, however, the impassive-
featured minister of war had practically
dismissed the case, when, as a matter of
form, he tore open the envelope sent him
by the prisoner. A sudden spasm of
pain crossed the siogoon's face, as from
the inner wrappings of soft tissue paper
there fell faded photograph of lovely
little girl and few scattering chrysan-
themum seeds. Very reverently, and
all unmindful of the establishment of the
official, the great man bent and pressed
the little card to his lips Then, as he
read upon the back the words in which
Regina introduced her son to her old
friend and playmate, he turned to his
visitor:
"Yarmatto. draw up an order for the
immediate release of John Ambrose, an
American prisoner sentenced to death.
on charge Of having given aid to the
Chinese; see that it is put into effect at
once, and that the prisoner is brought
to me-"
Five minutes later Nagoya turned to
his work, wearing the same austere
mask as before. Five hours later he
was reading, with perfectly controlled
features, the cabled message of heartfelt
gratitude from John Ambrose's mother,
at last relieved from the awful suspense
Of her sons long silence. while John AM
brose himself stood by, his ardent thank
fulness shining in the dark eyes SO like
Regina's.
But neither John Ambrose nor Regina
herself will ever guess that for many
days the picture and packet of chrys-
anthemum seeds lay close to the great
mans heart-the patient heart in which,
as the boy Nagoya had foretold, his love
for Regina had ''bloomed, growing,
growing forever"
And so it was that the tiny seeds sown
so many years before in an American
garden bore their perfect flower in the
land of the rising sun.