Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-24

l4ezGSAl and the meeting willow and wistaria.
Cold still, and deep were its waters
At night 1t seemed grewsome and uncanny, per
haps because of the tragedy of its history, which
every Catzu courtier knew. Even in the bright
sunlight its beauty was seductively sad, for its
dark waters were covered with white lotus, min
gled with red and purple, with golden hearts,
whose little cups each held one drop Of dew--a
glistenng tear
Wandering dcjectedly along the banks of the
old moat Keiki vainly sought in his mind for
some clue to the phenominal change in his dear
one Though at times her eyes seemed drowned
IN tears OF tenderness, more often they were
coldly CLASSY, Her conversation, too was spas
modic, devoid Of all endearment, and of q sort
alien to lovers. When he had first her
after the illness which had kept her from his
sight for some days, he had lost all self-control
in the joy of beholding her In ar
dent imagination he revived the memory Of those
treanl-,ays Oh the little rock island Of the twen-
ty geishas, but though she appeared to have re-
covered her health, she no longer accompanied
him upon such excursions. Indeed, she was
rarely seen in the Catzu palace, except on the
formal occasions of the guestroom. Keiki had
been forced to content himself with those early
morning meetings at her easement, so brief, SO
unsatisfactory. For she no longer murmured shy
words of love and happiness. She talked, in
stead, of ridiculous matters, the politics of the
countryl
Nevertheless, through her apparent sympathy
for this cause close to the heart of the young
man, she had revivifed those thrills of patriot
ism which, for the nonce, he had pushed aside to
devote all his heart and mind to the sweeter em-
ployment of loving.
In moment of enthusiasm, only two days be-
fore, he had confded to her the far-reaching
plans of the Mori princes for their country. She
had begged him with tears in her eyes to tell
her of them then, before he had half finished
she had entreated him wildly to tell her no
more, and the next instant, piteously, trembling
ly, begged him to continue. And then as he
went on she had dropped her head upon her
arms and buried her face from his sight Her
emotion had thrilled him. AT the moment he
could have fallen on his knees, beseeching her to
do somthing to hasten their marriage so that he
might return to Choshui to do his part In this
noble cause. Before he could speak, however,
she had raised her face and gazed for a moment
upon him with such expression of penetrat-
ing agony and appeal that he had sprung towards
her. hastily crying out her name, "Wistaria!
NVistarial"
A moment later she was gone. The following
morning he had waited in vain in the garden
beneath her easement Over and over again he
had tapped upon her shutters and called her
name but there was response. He had met
with the same experience this morning. Keiki
was very miserable. Since the change in her
seemed inexplicable, his confidence was shaken
but in her love. He began to torture his mind
with the possibility that she might not love
him, that she had been but girl, after all, who
hattered by his manner of wooing her, had
thought she returned his affection. His faith
in her purity of soul was so perfect that no
slightest thought of any designs upon his politi-
cal schemes ever occurred to him in connection
with Wistaria.
Thus unhappy worried, and very much in love,
Keiki walked moodily along the bank of the old
castle moat, his old assurance and egotism COM
pletely gone from him.
Suddenly as he strolled along something struck
him sharply on the temple. STOPPING, he raised
from the ground what seemed to be soft peb-
BILE. Examining it more closely, however he
perceived it to be lady's fine paper handker-
chief rolled into little ball Half wonderingly,
half idly Keiki undid it. A faint, familiar per-
fume exuded from it as he shook it out. In an
instant he was pressing it rapturously to his
face. It was from Wistaria Tenderly turning
it about and enjoying its sweetness, he found
as he was smoothing it out little word in the
centre:
60"
The lover became pale as death. He read it
again, then repeated it aloud-"Go!" Its mean
ing was plain He did not doubt for an instant
from whom it came. That one little word from
her explained everything-the change in her, her
realization that she did not love him, and this
silent means of telling him the truth. He crum-
bled the handkerchief in his hand. A moment
later he was pacing--almost unning-up and
down along the bank of the silent, mocking
moat He could not think He could only feel
Then he threw himself prone upon the ground,
his face buried in the long grasses. He was
srnothering and choking back the hoarse, terrible
sobs of man--one who had been trained in the
inhexble school of the samurai,
The day passed over his head. The sky, rud
dy with the setting sun, paled gradually, until
it seemed as though a veil were drawn softly
across it, Still KeilSi gave himself up to his
despair. For him it seemed that the sun had
gone out, life had ceased.
AS the shadows continued to spread their bat
like wings over the heavens darkening. darken
ing the skies, until only an impenetrable vault
of darkness dotted with myriad magic lights
was above and about him, he still lay there
rustic disturbed the grass. Possibly a hare
running by. Keibi needed it not Something
was stirring, moving near him. Mechanically
duly, lie listened. Some one had lost his way
among the willows and with his hands was feel
ing his way From his own despair Keiki was
recalled by the sudden acute knowledge of pos
sible danger to this person who had evidently
lost his way One false step towards the boggy
grass and beyond was the treacherous moat
whose water-Aowers and reeds hid its dark sur
face Suddenly he sprang to his feet and called
out hoarsey:
"Who is the honorable one?"
He fancied he heard cry. He ran towards it,
then stopped short. He had come upon her
there in the willows. Her kimono shone out
startlingly white with a stray moon-beam upon
e. but her gown was not less white than her
face which stared into the darkness like that of
a statue
Slowly he went to her as though drawn by
subtle, compelling hands. Close to her. almost
touching her; he did not speak, because he could
not Bitter words had sprung to his lips only
M die before birth He perceived that she was