Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-02-17

position. He was either preSumptu-
u 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 a blessing
1t is; how it ennobles a mans sur
roundings, however, strange, prosaic
Or uninviting, and what a 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 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 iI
New York in the factory of a rela
tive engaged there in the manufacture
of caps. He undertook to teach Hardy
Russian, and he found the latter {
most assiduous pupil, devoting al
many as four hours a day to the sub
ject.
Hardy had not been long in Stry
etensk before he received a lettel
from Mrs. Johnny Folkstone, the Bos
ton society leader, calling him +;
naughty boy for running away to thu
ends of the earth and deserving all hi
friends, and assuring him that societ!
would not have been able to do with
out him, money or no money, had h
seen fit to remain.
Another letter, received not loni
after his arrival in Stryetensk, CAV
him more pleasure.
1t was written on the daintiest ant
lightest of Japanese paper, in yer.
small and exquisitely-formed script
AS Hardy picked this letter up from
his writing table, there was somethinI
about it that suggested femininity
even before he opened it.
"a woman, eh?" he muttered, ian,
in Japan. / wonder who are in Japal
this summer? Perhaps the Castle
tons"
He held the envelope closer to hi
eyes to examine the script to see
he could guess at the writer's identity
when the problem was solved. A fair
and elusive perfume arose to his MOI
trils, so faint as to be almost impel
ceptible, yet imperishable as tn
memory of a kiss, and the image c
Aisome took shape again in his min
-Aisome, as she had stood that nigh
on the wharf at Hakodate, biddin
him good-by, dainty as a moon-flowel
exquisite as a Queen of Fairyland.
Yokohama, August 16, 1909.
You will perhaps be surprised at heal
ing from me, but you will not accuse m
of forwardness, I am sure, when yo
learn my reason for addressing you 1
this manner. Some time ago the estin
> able Mr.. Sano did me the honor of desil
ing to marry me. Soon after your dc
! parture for H~akodate, he again offere
me his hand, and when I made it plat
to him that l should never consent, h
became very angry and accused me--ho'
shall l express myself?-of having becom
infatuated with the American, meanin
you. In his jealous rage he revealed tn
fact that he had given secret orders [
the captain of the Shikoku Maru to hav
you disposed OF. "You will never" he e,
claimed, crashing his teeth like a vol
"behold your beloved American again.
, You can imagine that this confession di
not advance Mr.. Sane to any great e,
: tent in my esteem. Though I did not b.
: tray myself to him, I was nearly frant
concerning you. 1 went to the higher al
, thorities, told them frankly of Sano's pr,
! posal to me, and Of his plot against yol
life. / disclaimed any interest in yo1
further than the fact that you were inn,
! cent, and that you were a well-know
American, and that 1t would not be wis
! at this time to excite American hostilit,
!, or to involve Japan in complications wit
r that country. Sano, being summone
denied the plot, denied that he had evt
Q sought my hand, or that he had any fee
/ ing for me except admiration for my ia
ents. The authorities were rather amuse
| over the affair and seemed to think tn;
I bore Sano some private grudge, whic
" + was trying to pay off. / was reduced
9 despair, hardly knowing what course
4 pursue next, when the news arrived tn;
the Shikoku Maru had been wrecked al
that you were taken off and carried
y Vladivostok by a Russian merchal
steamer. 1 take it for granted that yc
are safely in Stryetensk ere this and a
: deeply immersed in your new dutie
+. Sano, by the way, is so bitter against n
I now and so intent on my ruin that
have applied for service in Manchuria,
/ task for which / am fitted by my tho
ough knowledge of the Chinese languag
= So you see into what trouble you ha7
got me by calling me your Queen
Fairyland' and your Little Lilac Bio
g som" Are not women silly?
: / am firmly convinced that this susce
tibility to flattery renders them unfit,
Q for all serious work In the world.
Il But I could not rest without letting VI
1 know that ! did not deceive YOU, and tn
u din 5uOL llc lIthIllSIO GItdluTG W
Q must have thought me, il you gained al
e inkling of the designs upon you. I su
a pose you have entirely forgotten yot
Japanese friends ere this, and that y,
: have become an enthusiastic admirer
s the beauty of the Russian ladies. Sti
If you should ever think Of me again,
should hate to nave any unpleasant II
: preston associated with the memory
: one whom you once thought OF as
h Lilac Blossom and a Queen Of Fair
+ land" Am / not silly2
, Your friend,
AISOME MOSURO.
He gained from the letter that Ais
me was a most feminine woman, d
9 spite her calling, but the idea new
. occurred to him that she was in 10
with him.