The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-02-24


Gus or groveiing. 1t was impossible
to treat him as an equal.
And here, from the very start,
Hardy got his first taste of hard work,
and came to realize what blessing
it is; how 1t ennobles a mans SvE-
however, strange, prosalc
or uninviting, and what royal pana-
cea it is for blues, inconsistencies, love-
or any species Of fostering
discomfort. In addition to the daily
business of the store, it was necessary
for him to take stock, familiarize him
self with the details of the trade, get
what idea he could of the accounts,
study the commercial possibilities OF
the region. He saw Immediately, that
if he did not wish to continue at the
mercy of Vasili, he must learn the
Russian language as soon as possible;
this, indeed, must be his first object.
He must swallow Russian in great
gulps and must digest 1t. He there
fore looked about for a teacher. The
only available person he could find
was a Russian Jew, who, despite his
youth, wore a great bale Of bushy red
whiskers, falling to the fourth button
of his shabby waistcoat.
Mordecai Baruch knew English very
we'll, as he had spent several years in
New York in the factory Of rela
tive engaged there In the manufacture
of caps. He undertook to teach Hardy
Russian, and he found the latter g
most assiduous pupil, devoting as
many as four hours day to the sub
jeCt.
Hardy had not been long in Stry
etensk before he received a letter
from Mrs. Johnny Folkstone, the Bos
ton society leader, calling him g
naughty boy for running away to the
ends of the earth and deserting all his
friends, and assuring him that society
would not have been able to do with
out him, money or no money, had he
seen fit to remain.
Another letter, received not Ions
after his arrival in Stryetensk, gave
him more pleasure.
1t was written on the daintiest ant
lightest of Japanese paper, in very
small and exquisitely-formed script
AS Hardy picked this letter up from
his writing table, there was something
about it that suggested femininity
even before he opened it.
"a woman, eh?" he riuttered, \"anC
in Japan. | wonder whN are in Japa1
this summer? Perhaps the Castle
tons"
He held the envelope closer to hi
eyes to examine the script to see i
he could guess at the writer's identity
when the problem was Solved. A fain
and elusive perfume arase to his nos
trils, so faint as to be almost imper
ceptible, yet imperisaable as tht
memory of a kiss, and the image O
Aisome took shape again in his mint
-Aisome, as she had STOOD that nigh
on the wharf at HakGdate, biddin,
him good-by, dainty as 4 moon-flower
exquisite as Queen OF Fairy-land.
Yokohama, august 16, 1903
You will perhaps be SURPRISED at hear
ing from me, but you will not accuse MI
of forwardness, 1 am sure, when yol
learn my reason for addressing you II
this manner. Some time ago the estim
able Mr.. Sano did me the honor of desir
ing to marry me. Soon after your de
parture for Hak"date, he again Offered
me his hand, and when I made it plail
to him that I should never consent, h
became very angry and accused me-hov
shall l express myaelf?-of having becom
infatuated with tNe American, meaning
you In his jealous rage he revealed tn
fact that he had given secret orders t.
the captain Of the Shikoku Maru to hav
you disposed of. You will nfver," he eX
claimed, gnashing his teeth ike a wolf
"behold your beloved AmertE:an again.
You can imagine that this confession di
not advance Mr.. Sano to anT great ex
tent in my esteem Though ! lid not be
tray myself to him, was ne[rly franti
concerning you. 1 went to the. higher au
thorities, told them frankly of Eano's pro
posal to me- and of his plot against you
life. I disclaimed any interest in yoU
further than the fact that you Tere limo
cent, and that you were a Well-know
American, and that It would n&t be wis
at this time to excite Americas hostility
or to involve Japan 'n complications wit
that country. Sano, being Summoned
denied the plot, denied that he lad eve
sought my hand, or that he had any fee
ing for me except admiration foJ my ta
ents. The authorities were rather amuse
over the affair and seemed to thiak tha
1 bore Sano some private grudge- whic
was trying to pay off 1 was redrced
| hardly LOopiKlr what cor I
pursue next, when the news arrives the
the Shikoku Maru had been wrecked an
| that you were taken Off and carried
| VIadivostok by a Russian mer%har
steamer. l take it for granted thai. yo
are safely in Stryetensk ere this ant al
! deeply immersed in ycnr new dutie
Sano, by the way, Is so Bitter against m
! now and so intent on my ruin that
have applied for service IN Manchuria,
task for which 1 am fitted by my thol
ough knowledge of the Chinese languag
So you see into what trouble you hay
got me by calling me your Queen
FairyIand' and your Little Lilac Bio
SON." Are not women sillyr
I am firmly convinced that this suscel
tibility to flattery renders them unfitte
for all serious work in the World.
But l could not rest without letting yc
know that did not deceive you, and tn;
| am not the treacherous creature yc
must have thought me, If you gained ar
inkling of the designs upon You. L SUI
pose you have entirely forgotten yol
Japanese friends ere this, and that W
have become an enthusiastic admirer
the beauty of the Russian ladies'. Sti
if you should ever think Of me again,
should hate to have any unpleS SAINT ir
preston associated with the memory
one whom you once thought nf as
: Lilac Blossom" and "Queen OF Fair
land" Am l not silly?
Your friend.
AISoME MoSORo
He gained from the letter that Ais
me was a most feminine woman, q
spite her calling, but the idea lev
occurred to him that she was in 10
with him.