The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1910-06-10

DuTlUR Ills IlTDL udJ III IhC IO"h ~
put up at the Darnivostock hotel, but
found the lodging so abominable, the
fare so execrable and the service so
insolent that he was glad to engage
an old peasant woman Of all work and
begin housekeeping in some unoccu-
pied rooms of the Trading Company's
store.
Besides this old woman, his only
companion was young Russian clerk,
who spoke little bad English, which
he practiced on Hardy with such per-
sistence that he became nuisance,
entertaining him with such re-
marks as:
Good morning, Mr.. Hardy. The
barn of my store is not so large as the
barn of my uncle. Have you seen the
barn of my uncle?" or, Good evening,
Mr.. Hardy Do you think the black
horse is as good as the white horse
Neither the one nor the other Is so
good as the horse of my aunt"
This interesting person was pos
sessed of the skin of baby, pink
cheeks, very thick, red lips, blue eyes
and tin-foil hair. His name was Vasili
Ogorodnikoff. He imagined himself
great merchant, and his manner to-
ward Hardy oscillated between super
ciliousness and the other extreme OF
sudden servility when reminded of his
position. He was either presumptu-
GUS or groveling. 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 it ennobles a mans sur
roundings, however, strange, prosa1c
or uninviting, and what royal pana-
cea it is for blues, inconsistencies, love-
sickness, 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 it. He there
fore looked about for 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
well, 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 a
many as four hours a 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 a
naughty boy for running away to the
ends of the earth and deserving 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 long
after his arrival in Stryetensk, gave
him more pleasure.
1t was written on the daintiest and
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 muttered, "and
in Japan. l wonder who are in Japan
this summer? Perhaps the Castle
tons"
He held the envelope closer to his
eyes to examine the script to see il
he could guess at the writer's identity
when the problem was solved. A faint
and elusive perfume arose to his nos
trils, so faint as to be almost imper.
ceptible, yet imperishable as the
memory of a kiss, and the image OF
AisOme took shape again in his mind
-Aisome, as she had stood that night
on the wharf at Hakodate, bidding
him good-by, dainty as n moon flower
exquisite as a Queen of Fairy-land.
Yokohama, August 16. 1903.
You will perhaps be surprised at hear
ing from me. but you will not accuse me
| of foEwardness. l am sure. when you
learn my reason for addressing you in
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 Hakodate. he again offered
me his hand. and when I made it plain
| to him that ] should never consent, he
became very angry and accused mellow
shall I express myself?-of having become
/ infatuated with the American, meaning
you. In his jealous rage he revealed the
fact that he had given secret orders to
/ the captain of the Shikoku Maru to have
you disposed of. you will never" he ex-
claimed. crashing his teeth like a wolf,
| behold your beloved American again. %
/ You can imagine that this confession did
not advance Mr.. Sano to any great ex-
tent i'm my esteem. Though did not be-
tray myself to him, was nearly frantic
| concerning you. I went to the higher au-
| thorities, told them frankly OF Sano's pro-
I nnqa1 70 and NJ his nlof AGAINST r-ortr