Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-01

effort to disguise his feelings toward his visitor The
very act of taking his cushion near the tokononrl
showed that. The host is expected to him
self to that low platform of the tokonoma than
his guest. 1t from the tokonoma that the seats of
honor always arranged the nearer to it, the
honorable and farther from It, the less. OF his
Lortshp had not the slightest intention of taking the
visitor as guest business or otherwise. He was an
intruder, that all, an nsolent, despcable loathe-
intruder, who had forced his Objectionable pres
upon his Ior1ship With Lord .\saka it SIM
ply putting his philosophy to heroic test His Lord
ships attitude therefore, was as old fashioned as the
historic castle h had lost, quite out OF tune with these
days of equality.
THE moment he was ,1sfcrcl into the roon1 Natazo
bowed his greeting in the poltest manner he knew.
In return. he noted that he received slight nod from
his Lordship The merchant was not surprised When
he started for the conference the Rice Market Shotgun
determined with all the stubornness of his fighting
nature that he would maintain his dignity perfect
equal with Lord Asaka. Indeed, he felt he had the adj
vantage his side: the millionaire the creditor;
he the position of debating terms In every bat
tlefield the tells 1t this particular
sion and AIatazo, half consciously and half
sciOusy had to admit that there something superior
in the whom he dictate his will and that
too in the most delicate negotiation that could be
For what was Matazo there, face to face with Lord
Asaka? Why, his sons marriage with the nobeman's
daughter nothing ess Was the millionaire sane?
Perfectly! Did he actually dream he had a chance,
tually think he could do it? Absolutely!
He had paced through more than ten mdnights per
ecng his plan of attack He was face to face with the
straght-line impatience, and without ceremony, the
millionaire hurled the bomb straight at his Lorlship.
The bomb in the shape of a sheet of paper
cred with writing which Aatazo took out carefully from
the breast folds of his kimono He snoothed it out
before his Lordship saying:
This | beg your Lordship to degn to cast your
gust eyes through
Ndnda? IA WHAT The contract? The mortgage
bond?" said Lord Asaka, who had been called
upon in all his born days to distinguish business CON
tract from piece of waste paper. Il know what is.
Why should read it?'
For fraction of second Matazo did not say word.
He held his head erect His eyes looked straight into
those of his Lorship, evenly, steadily True, his eyes
trife larger, rounder, and feverish than
they had been the Rice Exchange floor that fate
full day when the Chinese japanese War broke out.
Today, moreover, they had in them touch of some
thing beyond all adlectives something that had never
been there before His heavy, rugged features twched
his lips also At last the millionaire mastered himself
to say:
NO, your Lordshp,. no. No contract. Deign to
augustly 1t ls-it is"
THE strangeness of Matazo's voice. the singular
tiona tension under which he was labOrlng,
evident They made their impression upon Lord Asaka
Puzzled not little, therefore, his Lordshp glanced at
the open sheet of paper and then, with that indifferent
casual gesture of a we'll bred gentleman examining
curious bit of manuscript he picked up the closely
written sheet He looked at it as if he were more an
xious to protect his from sort of pollution than
to read what the tiny characters said He saw in
vague way that it had title. He did not read it he
not interested Somewhere the middle of the
sheet sentence caught his eyes. He read it twice
before he could grasp the meaning of it; then he read
again After that he returned to the title and
read the whole thing through carefully.
An old Samurai like Lord Asaka
pected to show his emotion in his face betray it
through the lines of his pO1Se Lord ASakaS features
however, did change he read the document. When
he last laid it down the and turned Matazo
his face almost stormy the millionare's
and ou-' his Lordshp almost Kissed from be-
his stiffened lips at the rice merchant. His fine
eyes were blazing like those Of tigress about to leap
upon thief of her baby cubs. $50 you-you-
3rd