The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-03-08

| ne dullllIdl Was COuSulIluS oil al
manac when the aide reentered. Here
is telegram" he said. ''Put it on the
wire at once. 1t must arrive before US. +"
"Excellency," said the aide, 1.-THE
train is not possible. The service to
Yokohama ceased at six o'clock. The
rains-there is Washout."
His chief pondered swiftly. ut
must be left to others, then. Call up
the emergency long distance for Yoko-
hama and give me clear wire at once
to the governors residence. I must
make the Geographic instructions
fuller" He bent over the desk.
Trepidation was on the aides face
when he returned this time.
"Excellency, the accident to the line
was the failure of the bridge over
the Rokuga-gawa. 1t carried both the
telegraph and telephone conduits. No
wire will be working before noon to-
morrow"
The admiral half rose. He stretched
out his hand, then drew it back.
''The wireless!" exclaimed the am
bassador.
The aides troubled voice replied.
Whatever the necessity he knew that
it was a crucial one.
"The mast was displaced by to-
days earthquake" he said. "The sys-
TEN is temporarily useless"
There was moment of blank sill;
ence. The admiral sat staring straight
before him. The only sign of agita-
ton was his labored breathing.
"Can horse get through"
The other shook his head. "Not un-
der three hours. 1t would have to be
by detour-and there are no relays"
"A motor carr"
Impossible" exclaimed the am
bassador. "By the long road and in
better weather my Mercedes can not
do it under eighty minutes"
The admiral lifted himself from his
chair. His eyes were bloodshot and
on his forehead tiny veins had sprung
out in branching clusters of purple.
"In the name of Shaka! Yokohama
harbor but a handful of miles away,
and cut off utterly? 1t must be reached
tell you! 1t must be reached" His
voice was low pitched, but terrible in
it's intensity. "Drive to the Naval
college and ask for twenty cadets-its
swiftest runners-to be sent after you
to Shimbashi. A locomotive can take
them as far as the river. If there are
no sampun, they can swim. Make de-
mand in my authority. Not minute is
to be LOST He put what he had been
writing into the aides hand. Read
this in the carriage. 1t will serve as
instruction"
The aide thrust the paper into his
breast and vanished. The admiral
looked about him through stiffened,
half closed eyelids. Then, under the
I
the very soul of that overwhelming
certainty of the peril awaiting the red
dawn on that bungalow roof above the
Yokohama anchorage-the racial i'm
passivity, the restraint and repression
of emotion that long generations of
ingram habit have made second nature
to the Japanese, suddenly crumbled.
He struck his hand hard against the
desk.
HAS not Japan toiled and borne
enough, that this shame must come to
herr" His deep voice shook. Your
Excellency-Mr. Daunt-in all this
land where heroism is hackneyed and
sacrifice fetish, there is no prince
or coolie who, to turn aside this peril,
would not give his body to the torture.
Yet must we sit here helpless as
Darumas. If man but had wings!"
Daunt stiffened. He felt his heart
beat to his temples. He started to his
feet with an exclamation.
But man has wings!' he cried.
What of the long hours of toll and
experiment, the gray mornings on
Aoyama parade ground when his Gid
err had carried him circling above the
tree tops? Could he do it? With no
other word he darted to the hall. They
heard his flying feet on the gravel
and a quick command to betto. The
wind tossed back the word into the
strained quiet.
"Aoyama!" exclaimed the ambassa-
dor, as the hoof beats, dashed to. an
anguish of speed, died into silence.
His Glider!"
A sudden hope flashed into the ad
miral's face.
"The gods of Nippon aid him!" he
said.