The Wilmington morning star., 1943-09-12

story OIL MS many duVelItul eS
unlocking safes around the
earth and under the sea.
CHAPTER XI
An old safe in my window with
an ingenious combination lock
drew a Japanese student into my
shop one afternoon in 1925. Mr.
Kato. who was taking post
graduate course at Columbia. told
me that he. was studying bank
vault designing and that his faith
er was connected with the Impe-
rial Bank of Japan. The son ex
pected to return and take up his
fathers business.
Kato told me that some safes
and vaults in Tokyo which had
been damaged by the earthquake
two years earlier were still locked.
SO, when Kato returned to Japan
at the end Of the year, I went with
him.
In the three weeks that I spent
IN Tokyo, | opened about 20 safes
ana, after repairing few Of them
myself saw that capable Japan
csc mechanics could finish them.
During my stay, Kato gave a
dinner for me, inviting American
engineers and those of his friends
who had been educated in the
United States. Although ] felt that
my legs were paralyzed from sit
ting tallorWise on the floor and
wondered if l would ever be able
to walk again, was interested in
the banker on my right.
Toward the end of the evening.
ne SAID to me. Mr.. Courtney. I
know l can trust your discretion.
nave safe for which I do not
have the combination. and l need
its contents. Will you open it for
> me?"
! Several days later I dined with
the banker ard. after dinner. was
taken to a small. decidedly fem
mime, richly furnished room. Nov
ing carved jade screen. he
showed me an American safe of
good make. model about IS
years old.
'This.' he said. ''is my wife S
/ safe. When l gave it to her. I told
her the combination and deliber-
5 ately kept no record Of it myself
because | wanted her to feel that
the contents of it were hers and
) could not be touched by anyone.
not even me
His wife, he told me. was a
| very beautiful woman. She loved
Jewels. and he enjoyed giving
, them to her because he consid-
cred them good investment.
!, A year earlier, the wife had
died in an automobile accident.
Now the banker wanted to convert
the jewels into securities and get
his affairs in order for nephew
who had no interest in gems.
| worked at the safe door an
hour.
Opening the door. I stood back
and waited for my host to look
at the contents. On a shelf was
a package of letters with Ameri-
can postmarks put addressed in
bold, precise Japanese brush
strokes. and carved rose carne-
han Jewel case. Gently the bank
er lifted out the letters. yellowed
envelopes with faint and mustv
perfume.
4 wrote them to her on nv
flrst trip to the United States aft
er we were married." He put the
jewel case on a low table be-
tween US.
DO you like gems, Mr.. Court
ney?' he asked. "1hese are some
of the finest in Japan" Pushing
the box toward me, he opened the
lid. The box was full of pretty
little dried red berries that looked
as if they might have come from
q holly tree! I glanced at my host,
embarrassed, not knowing what to
say. His face was paper-White and
his eyes dazed.
Slowly he tipped the box and
poured out the red berries, letting
them spill on the floor. In the
bottom was a thin, folded bit of
paper, woman's letter paper
with spray of pink blossoms
across the top. He spread out the
paper and as he looked at the deli
cate characters, the color came
back to his face.
Japanese politics are too in
volved for me to tell you the de-
tails the banker said, but I'd
like you to know what splendid
thing my wife did. Three years
ago my business was on the verge
OF collapse. One of our directors,
to whom we had lent an lmpru-
dent amount Of money ON the
stock of his large and flourishing
investment business. became in
volved in a political scandal, the
kind that ruins the confidence OF
investors, which was likely to
make his stock practically worth
less. If we called our loans, he
would surely be ruined and could
mot pay anything. If we carried