The Huttig news., 1911-02-11

tell you one." he said. That you will not find in the literature of my eoun- 1 try It is story of the secret service, and it came to me through my personal acquaintance with some of the participants"
 "Oh, that will be splendid!" ex- l claimed the woman
 The minister waited for a moment. i He turned his face toward Orme. and l asked politely: You will not mind listening to what l have to say, MT. | Orme?"
 Why. to be sure not replied orme, wondering
 My stories are not always short" continued the minister, "as the others i hold meanings which, in my country, at least, would be perfectly plain" After this odd bit of by-play, he be- gan his narrative:
 There was a man who lived in the city of Takamatsu. on the island of Shikoku. His name was Kimaga, and he was much respected by all who knew him. for he was painstakingly devoted to his aged and mos honor able parents. By trade he was a ma ker of vases-a-what you call him a potter
 One day while Kimaga was walk ing upon the road, he saw before him on the ground a letter. He picked it I'D. Ii was sealed, but he discovered aron the outside curious w.it1ng which he could not make out. In fact, kimaga could not read at aiI. fo was very poorly educate.
 But Kimaga was charm by the grace and beauty of the writing. Though he could not read it. it fas- cinated his eyes. He decided to keep 1t. making no attempt to find the right. iul owner. You must know that in Nippon beauty is worship by the humblest workman
 It happened that the letter had been written by a Chinese spy, and II contained report concerning our notifications. Now there is in Nip pon very secret service It is not responsible to the government. It is VI hobtCS "nO 1OI uid0N d0Q many generation have bound them selves by strong oath to do patriotic service which the government itself might be too embarrassed to under take. If they are oblige to use ex- tfeme measures, and are arrested be- cause Of what they have done they calmly accept the punishment of the law without explaining their actions. Sons of noble houses have been exc cuted for assassinating secret ene- mics of Nippon, and they have met this fate as their oath demanded.
 Members of this secret service knew about this letter of the Chinese spy. They knew, also, that it had been lost, and before long they learned that Kimaga had picked it up. How they learned all this does not matter. But they also knew that the relations between Nippon and China at the time were of such strain that their government not wis.ing to give cause of war, would hesitate to pun ish the Chinese spy.
 In the meantime Kimaga had be- come so enamor of the letter that he could not bear to let it go out of his possession. When he was alone he would feast his eyes upon the beautiful writing. But it was not long before he discovered that men were watching him, a:sc he became filled with fear. Why should he be watched? Had he done guilty thing?
 So greatly did the fear swell in him that he decided to take the letter back to the place where he had found it. and drop it again in the road But when he got to the place and looked for last time at the writing. 1t give him such longing to keep it that he thrust it into his breast again and hurried back to his shop.
 That night a man came to see Kimaga.
 Are you Kimaga, the maker of vases? he said
 "Kimaga. all trembling. replied that he was
 Then said the man. T have come to you with high purpose You have letter which does not belong to you. Give it to me-
 Does it belong to you?' asked kimaga. his desire putting armor on his fear.
 "'ThaSfs not to be Led replied tho man. T am samurai For the glory of Nippon you mus give me the letter,
 But Kimaga did not wish to let the letter go. How do you know that l have ft?' he said. You have not seen it
 It is enough that I know said the man. Three days allow you. If by then the letter has not been placed on the altar of the war-god. in the shrine of Samiya. then you will be as- sassinated.'
 With that the man went away.
 kimaga was now aimos dead with fright. For the first day he did noth- ing but weep. The second day he put on mourning and set his affairs in order. The third day he held the let