Evening star., 1928-10-21
Continued from Fifth Page.)

strolling up and down the deck, stretch
ing cramped muscles and feeling the
ennu which the long ocean voyage
always brings. We encountered the Mat
sudalraS. nodded to the Ambassador
and was about to pass on when Dan
suddenly graSped my arm and wheeled
me round to be presented to Mrs. Mat
sudaira and her daughters.
we were just looking for some worthy
bridge opponents" ananiased Dan.
Would you like it?" They would That
is, the women would: Mr.. Matsudaira
pleaded to be excused. They proved to
be serious minded bridge players. but of
the two, Setsuko seemed the more con-
scientious. And as she concentrated on
the game was afraid rather took ad-
vantage of the opportunity to study this
demure little princess -be-as why
should not, she being the figure that
is f1uttering the heart of all Japan?
SetSuko San, as the Japanese know
her, is typical of her doll-like, flowery-
hammered. unobtrusive countrywomen.
She is quiet, almost to taciturnity; she
seldom speaks unless in answer to q
question. Though the average height of
Japanese women is around five feet. and
SetSuko cannot be more than an inch
taller than this, she manages to wear
EuroUean clothes with grace, chic,
That is the despair of most small women.
But while she wore her foreign clothes
abroad the Shinyo Maru. they did not
rob her of that fragile delicacy, that ap-
pealing feminiSm, that dulcet, fragrant
charm that exudeS from the kimonoed
figures of Japanese ladies.
X X 4
ATE that night-the last before we
reached Yokohama-Izawa appeared
with a warning full of sinister meaning
for me. Loyal chap, he had come round
to inform us that the officers and the
stewards department were to conduct a
thorough search of the entire ship be-
tween and 3 o'clock that morning. 1t
would never do. he pointed out, for me
to be found in stateroom assigned to
only one passenger. The reason for the
search? Rumor had got about that
on board. It was feared that an at
tempt might be made to assassinate
SetSuko.
What was to do? Where could I
stay and not be discovered-and pos
Sibly accused of such a hideouS motive?
Dan and and IZawa thought. And
thought some more Finally we
thought of the shower room-a place
they would surely overlook. So it was
there / spent the night and actually
slept till an hour before dawn, when
fortunately awoke in time to avoid the
bath steward and regain the safety of
Dams cabin. Had / indeed been the
supposed asSissin, the vigilance of the
ships officers would not have stayed my
hand. I lay all night within knife
throwing distance of the Precious Per-
Sonage.
We docked at Yokohama at 8 O'Clock
that morning. Waving flags, beating
quaint drums and maintaining O. cheer
ing that reached the ship as one tre-
mendouS blend of tone, hundreds of
Japanese crowded the pier. Beyond,
stretching into the haZy morning as far
as one could see. upturned faces smiled
their welcome through driving sheets of
rain and made one forget its drearinesS.
AS was thrilling to this display Of
Japanese sentiment, Dan came up and
showed me his passport which had been
stamped by the Japanese customs au-
thoritieS, and also landing pass, SIM
ilarly stamped. Without these it would
be impossible to enter the country.
Black failure smirked at me, grinned
at me evilly. Visions of Japanese jails
flooded my imagination. Newspaper
headlines glared at me: "Stowaway Ar
rested on Shinyo Maru; Jailed" Humili-
alton, publicity, defeat. And the heart
breaking thing about it was that I could
almost reach out my hand and touch
Japan.
"Well, It's been ripping adventure.
at any rate, Dan," said. But neither
of us smiled.
y n
A ND then something happened.
Something very definitely happened
in the arrival of Charles Williamson. an
English gentleman, who represented a
Yokohama paper. His "Cheerio!" was