The Glenwood post., 1924-05-08

sOAS0 AVVHs III uOISSle18 little Jerks, the
tnnkeeper lifted bit Of the paper and
pesred out. returning, with q xrunt, to
light the lamp again.
The crazy white" he snarlsd. "I
have heard Of him in the next village.
He wanders from place to place. Let
him drink Of the river"
open. 1t II q guest that desires to
enter" The Japanese was as fluent
as the innkeeper's own; a. fluent, and
more academic. The tone was of deep
timbre. akin to that of Kayama's, only
quicker In emphasis and a trihs more
curt.
Another Instant of rapping, then a
fist ripped through the paper-thin
panel and man stepped, lurching, in
to the room. The host stolidly replaced
the torn panel by sliding another into
Its place. To the white man who had
entered he paid no attention at all.
In fluent Japanese. drawing In his
breath with polite hiss, the white
man requested a drink Of purple
brandy. Requested again. Itoia did
not answer. feeling that grunt and
shrug Of shoulders was answer enough.
The newcomer approached the table,
copper coins In hand. He encountered
the emerging ne-san, stumbled over
her and against Itoia. The host
whirled and showed him away so that
he sprawled upon the table, knocking
over precious glass contents. A
push-a shout-the room became a
whirl Of arms and legs, of flying kimo-
nos,
A narrow space beawsen the panels
showed that Kayama was surveying
the scene.
Here was excitementl Not to bs
ing to be feared from this drunken,
,red-lidded-eyed white man, who wore
frayed pair of trousers under a ki-
mono that crept with vermin. In
deed, as one bandit Whispered to his
fellow. the seiyo-jin (foreigner) was a
brown as themselves!
But not until (by accident having
tripped, as he said afterward) the inn
keeper was forced to his back did as
sistance come. One of the outlaws
staggered to his feet. visions Of free
rice wine giving him courage, and his
eating-knif made circles about the
| milling pair.
The same impetus stirred the entire
room, and in a split-second the In
truder was buried under an arm-wav-
ing, snarling sousing heap. each
shouting valiantly to the others.
When the muddle of bodies slowly
detached from the PROSTATE whites,
Kayama-San ventured into the room.
The host was offering libation to the
rescuers mot that he had needed help,
but for their good wilD, who wera
loud in explanation, detailed, ~ to
their particular part in the fighting.
The room was quickly righted. The
table was up-ended. Two or three
helped the host to roll the inert figure
| to a dark corner. The lamp, e1tin-
guished in the scuffle. was lighted
again, and as Kayama, curious, bent
to examine the white man 1t hared
starlike for an instant. For long
enough to make Kaynma bend closer
and humble unbellevably to himself.
The light was poor; he stoopsd
lower. There was a cut above one eye,
where the outlaws knife had touched.
The face was tanned, a creamy brown,
sun-clear 1t might have been, with
the exception of the bushy eyebrows.
Kayama's own. That the others had
not seen the resemblance-more, the
striking similarity, only the darkness
and the excitement had prevented.
Kayama scratched his head, then
rolled the unconscious man over on his
face. Then he grinned.
"Is 1t permitted he asked the host,
ito take this to an inner room" he
stirred the body with toe.
"WhyT The most had ideas for i'm
mediate disposal Of the white man to
some distant street. Questions might
be asked.
"Why? For money" He pattsd
Itoia's arm confidentially. "For money
and no talk"
The host shrugged his shoulders.
"For Ave yen, l agree"
Kayama's eyes lit with the Joy e6
bargaining Two"
"Four."
Finally they agreed upon three yen,
twenty sen, 1toia nutterinS that In
the old days, when a gentleman had
something to be done, he did not
haggle like 4 shopkeeper from the chi
nese quarter.
Kayana dragged and showed the n
ert form of the white man along q
labyrinthine corridor. Finally hs
dropped the lax figure upon 4 diagy
mottled brownish-yellow mating that
had once been a pure chrome. He
knelt beside him. immobile - q
temple Unexpectedly sobsr-his
bloodless skin pale as the vsllum sf
the kakemono In the sacred corner,
his watchful eyes. intensely bright In
their deep sockets, showing something
of the excitement under which hs was
laboring.
Al he watched thoughts scuddSd
through his brain. It could be done
It would need care but II was
possible. He remembered the dosp
tones Of the fellows voice. Like his