Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-04-15

to accept and profit thereby, and SO
make Nippon great"
"Yet if the government should de-
eide on war 2" the stranger ques-
toned.
Gall Alp crooncd little Shima from
beyond them. She began to sway her
self to and fro.
"See! said Shikoku; "she remem-
bers the brother. She fears for war.
There are many who do so. The gods
will destroy those who seek to shed
more blood"
He rose and stood almost erect, his
grizzled face thrown into highlights
by the flame from the furnace. He
stretched out an arm and swept it to
the south and east. "a curse will fall
upon them-persons of selfish pur-
pose who seek to shed the blood of
their fellows, to satify their selfish
preed. Our young men have left the
TEMPLES. Their little bells toll in vain.
Our people heed not the call, but the
gods are not dead. They are watch
ing. Woe to Nippon unless her peo-
pie heed the call in time! We have
grown a headstrong race, pulled up
in our passing pride. Stranger I,
Shihoku, tell you there will be no
war" He ceased, and, squatting
down, reached for another cigarette.
Yet while he had spoken it had
seemed to the other that his voice was
the voice of prophet. His heart
throbbed at the mans words, and
after he had fallen silent he sat for
some time without speaking; then:
"The gods send you are right" he
said.
Shikoku nodded and rose stifhy.
"Come. he invited. 81 am an old
man and grow weary. Shall we
rest? 2"
"By your courtesy, yes," accepted
the other, and followed his host.
Shikoku led him to floored cham
ber in the hut, spread mat on the
floor, and laid down the wooden head
rest.
at is my sons room," he said soft
ly. "The Gods send you dreams Of
comfort" He bowed and retreated,
sliding the screens across the open
side.
The stranger stretched out on the
mat but he did not sleep. Lying
alone in the dark he fell into a train
of thought. The talk with the char
coal burner had both moved and re-
assured him.
The man had talked to him from
an open soul. He had-not suspected.
OF so much Gafford felt sure. More
than that, he had told him what he
wanted to know, which was beyond
doubt that he was headed for the
right place.
In the dives of Kobe, as a strange
coolie, he had picked up stray BIS
Of gossip during long day after
he had landed from the yacht. That
landing had been far down the road
stead in the dead of night. From
the spot where the launch of the
Nantucket had left him he had
reached the city on foot.
He had money, and he spent it
with discretion. More than once he
blessed White Kate's sacrifice.
Drink loosened tongues, and he had
learned, as he hoped, that there was
a place somewhere back of beyond
where a new town had been estab-
lished. He had also gathered that
=. spur of railroad had been run into
the hills to the place.
Ii his suspicious were correct he
felt certain that something of the
sort would have been done in order
to transport material and supplies.
AS a result he felt certain that he
was on the track of what he sought.
OF Oshitu or his captive he heard no
word, and did not inquire.
Something told him that he would
find them at the birthplace of the
blue bombs. That night he slipped
away and set out. He might have
followed the railroad, but elected
not to, for the simple reason that he
deemed it better to walk openly
along the road, in the part of a
coolie, going somewhere or any
ing found him trudging along a ris-
laK hifis. course toward the blue OF the
During the greater Fart of that
day he lay concealed and drowsed
free from notice. At night he went
forward again. By the next morn
the open. The sight os Shima at
her weaving had tempted him to
prove again his disguise, and seek
enough removed from the outer
WOIlu VI CllicS W, do uc ilOpeup Dt
safe. Fortune had favored him
again. In the morning he would go
forward, follow the railroad as a
guide, and so come to the place he
sought.
Gafford thanked his God that he
was possessed of the physique to go
with his part, and an excellent COM
mand of Japanese. Again in the
dark he seemed to hear Shiela Nc
Rae's voice in the garden of the
Nippon: "Is it possible that you
were sent to your country's aid
years ago that you might be pre-
pared ?"
The thought invoked another.
Shikoku had said: "The gods will
destroy those who seek to shed more
blood" He recalled the .rapt ex-
preston of the mans face as he had
spoken-the strange force of his
words.
He quivered with a odd, nervous
tremor as he lay on his mat in the
room of the charcoal-burner's son.
IlryI- =