6
CHAPTER I.
An Adventure in Photography.
Frederick Court land Hardy, ex
incnibor of Mrs. Johnny Folkstone's
smart set of Boston, ex-cotillion lead
er, yachtsman and clubman, was on his
way to Russia to take charge of one
of the American Trading Company's
stores at Stryetensk. He had lost
his money and his fair-weather
friends, and had been jilted by a girl
who, as it proved, was not the ideal
of nobility and womanly grace he had
supposed her to be. Though plucky,
he was, to use an expression more
forceful than elegant, "sore." Had
ho but known it, the escape from the
girl was a bit of good luck sufficient
to compensate him for the loss of his
I wealth; for no woman who deserts a
man at the first blast of misfortune is
(good to tie to for a lifetime. He did
not realize this, for it is hard to be
philosophical when a man has Just
lost his girl, his friends and his
money.
He received his appointment to Si
beria through a friend of his father's,
old Frederick Emery, who had gone
out to that country some years before
and cnme back to Boston on a visit,
rich and eloquent of the resources and
possibilities of that great empire so
little known and understood by Amer
icans.
The series of adventures that
caused the ex-cotillion leader to forget
his troubles began at Yokohama, and
dated with his first meeting with
Stapieton Neville in the dining room
of the Grand hotel. The two men
were seated together at a small table,
and the American was gazing dreamily
over the room, most probably thinking
of the girl who dropped him when he
lost his money.
"It's a jolly gay scene, isn't it?" re
marked his vis-a-vis, smiling pleasant
ly. lie was a florid blonde man, with
the peachy complexion of a Swede,
rather thick lips and nostrils, a
square chin, the bluest of blue eyes
and white even teeth like those of a
young dog. His expansive shirtbosom,
for he was in evening dress, dis
played to the best advantage his depth
of chest.
"These people seem to be all Amer
icans," remarked Hardy. They looked
like Americans, and the accent of
those passing by, or sitting near
enough to be heard, was unmistak
able.
"Yes," replied the other, "1 suppose
they are, nearly ail of thein. The
show places of Japan are thronged
with your countrymen at this season,
and they make fashionable resorts of
them. 1 have been staying here for
several months, and I do believe I'm
about the only Englishman here. Per
mit me to introduce myself"—and he
produced a card, bearing the name
"Stapieton Neville, Travelers' club,
London."
"My countrymen," replied Hardy, of
fering his own card, "have a way of
taking America with them wherever
they go. They travel to the ends of
the earth to get out of their own
land and then they so thoroughly
Americanize their favorite foreign re
sorts that they might quite as well
have stayed at home."
"When do you leave?" asked Ne
ville.
"The day after to-morrow," replied
Hardy. "I am on my way to Russia
on business, and I am supposed to get
there with as little delay as possible,"
"But there is no boat starting for
a week. You can't very well leave for
Vladivostok day after to-morrow."
Hardy smiled.
"You forget our American enter
prise," he replied. "I have learned
that a small boat leaves Hakodate in
three days, crossing the Japan sea,
and that by taking the train north
ward through the island, I shall ar
rive at Aomori, near the northern end
of Nippon, in time to connect with
this boat. I have already had the
agent here telegraph for passage for
me. I shall thus save a week's time,
and shall be able to see, from the car
window, the interior of Japan—that
portion of the country which our
friends in the dining room there get
little idea of."
"By Jove! Do you know that would
jolly well fit In with iny plans, if you
wouldn't object to a traveling com
panion and there should be room for
me, also?"
"I'd be delighted," replied Hardy;
"'charmed, 1 assure you, to have you
■come along. Traveling alone is a
bore. Shall you be going through to
Aomori?"
"Farther than that. I, too, am go
ing to Russia, through to Moscow, and
from there back to England."
"Why, then," exclaimed Hardj', "1
shall have you as far as my destina
tion, Stryetensk!"
"Exactly so. And, as we are leaving
the town so soon, what do you say to
our prowling about to-morrow, to give
you an idea of the bally place, and to
taking it in in the evening in a jin
rlklsha? It's very picturesque, both
by night and by day, and you'll not
find me a poor guide, as I have
knocked around considerably since I
have been here."
The American fell in with this plan
gratefully, and thought himself in
luck that he was about to have
for a guide an Anglo-Saxon who knew
the principal places of interest, and
possessed a slight command of the
language. Neville, he learned, had
been in the country over three
months.
They were out early the next morn
ing and spent the entire day tramping
about the fascinating streets of the
Japanese city.
"Did you bring your camera with
you?" Neville asked Hardy, as the
latter appeared on the veranda of the
hotel, where he found his new-made
friend waiting. "There's a deal to
photograph and these people are cer
tainly picturesque, even if they aren't
much else."
"Will they allow one to take pho
tographs?" asked Hardy.
"Oh, certainly. There are no re
strictions, whatever. Their civilization
is imitative, you know —copied mostly
after the English and American. They
Produced a Card Bearing the Name.
allow perfect freedom in such mat
ters, simply because the Anglo-Saxons
do. They are a nation of monkeys."
Hardy went back after his kodak.
The two men, as they walked away
from the front steps of the Grand ho
tel, presented, in their physical ap
pearance, as great a contrast as pos
sible: Neville, tall, large-boned, florid,
blue-eyed, thick-lipped; Hardy of me
dium size, dark, slender, well-knit, and
so erect that he seemed to be slightly
taller than he really was. His suit of
dark gray fitted him with that unob
trusive elegance that proclaims the
most expensive American tailors,
while his gold-rimmed pince-nez add
ed intellectual distinction to a high
bred, somewhat ascetic countenance.
In the afternoon they walked down
toward the sea-shore, the Englishman
still acting as guide.
"That would make a fine view," sug
gested Neville, "those houses along
the beach, that bit of sea, and the
hills yonder."
"That is so," assented Hardy. "I be
lieve I'll take it. If I'm not careful,
I shall get all my films covered with
babies." He opened his camera and
rolled out the bellows. Then he
strolled back and forth for several mo
ments, gazing into the finder, as he
tried to decide on the composition of
the view that he would take. He
pressed the bulb and was closing the
instrument when a Japanese in Euro
pean dress stepped up to him and
laid a detaining hand upon his arm.
"You must give me that camera,
sir," said the Japanese quietly, in per
fect English. Hardy looked about In
amazement. Naturally his first
thought was that he was being
robbed.
"Don't try anything of that kind
here, my man,"he replied, "or I'll
give you into the hands of the police."
The threat was suggested by the
presence of two police officers who
were standing near, evidently watch
ing the scene. The Japanese now
called to them in his own tongue and
they approached.
"I am an officer of the law," he
said, "and you will be taken into cus
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1910
tody if you resist. I beg that you will
not compel me to have the camera ta
ken from you forcibly." Hardy rarely
allowed himself to exhibit excitement.
"Better hand it to him," advised
Neville. "He is evidently laboring un
der some mistake, which the authori
ties will be jolly well anxious to rec
tify when they find it out."
Hardy handed over his camera.
"I'll go with you to the police sta
tion," he said to the officer.
"Do not put yourself to the trouble,"
said the Japanese, "the police will
know where to find you when they
want you. The instrument will be re
turned to you, when we are through
with it, at the Grand hotel."
"Well, I call that cool!" said Hardy,
as he stood watching the three men,
who were walking off with his cam
era. "I'll have that Instrument back
if I have to stay here a month and
make an international affair of it. I
wonder what they wanted of it. What
do you think?"
"I haven't the least idea," replied
Neville. "Probably they have heard
that some other country prohibits ta
king photographs. As I told you, they
are a nation of monkeys."
Mr. Hardy found his camera on his
return to the hotel, with a note stating
that the films would be returned to
him in the morning, developed. The
Incident, which had been conducted in
a masterful manner, threw a new
light on Japan. It led him to believe
that this was something more than a
comic opera country, and that the in
habitants were not all babies.
CHAPTER 11.
Searched by the Police.
"The Anglo-Saxons are the only peo
ple who have any idea of personal lib
erty," remarked Hardy, as the two
men stood on the steps of the hotel,
waiting for their jinrikisha to arrive.
"Fancy the authorities in New York
or London taking away your camera
and developing the films, just to see
what pictures you have taken! Well,
I got my camera back all right, and
I'm going to consider myself in luck
because I get my films developed free
of charge. I wonder if there's any
thing else this obliging people would
like to do for me before I go away?"
At this moment the jinrikisha came
up and the newly-made friends start
ed out for their night expedition about
the streets of Yokohama —such an ex
cursion as only Pierre Lot! or Lafca
dio Hearn could describe adequately.
An American's chief sensation on first
getting into a jinrikisha is loss of
dignity. There you sit, perched in a
narrow trim baby carriage, driving a
bare-legged little man with an invert
ed fish-basket on his head.
They trotted from place to place till
midnight or after, HUrdy enjoying
himself hugely. lie took away with
him a confused memory of dark, nar
row streets swarming with Japanese,
mostly babies; of occasional low build
ings where something seemed to be
going on inside; of steep acclivities at
which it was necessary to get out and
walk; and of steep declivities where
the man-horse leaned back at an an
gle of 45 degrees and the muscles on
his legs stood out in knots.
"I say," cried Hardy to Neville, "if
this thing ever gets away from him
I'll be in a pretty pickle."
"You'd travel to the bottom jolly
fast!" laughed Neville, who did not
seem to be the least bit nervous.
There were innumerable paper lan
terns, of course, and one quarter of
the town was lighted as if for a lawn
party
They were sitting on the floor in
the back room of a tea-house, listen
ing to the music furnished by three
geishas, when they were arrested.
Hardy had felt It a privilege togo
into this place, because his compan
ion assured him that it was the real
thing, and not ono of those resorts
that are run for foreigners. This state
ment. was borne out by the fact that
the dozen or more patrons whom they
found there were natives, with the ex
ception of one, a little foreigner who
spoke bad English, and who, as Hardy
remembered afterward, sat offensively
close to him. This man had a pro
fuse, shapeless beard and bad teeth
and persisted in drawing Hardy and
Neville into conversation. The
American took a dislike to him from
the first.
"Don't resist, don't resist," whis
pered Neville, as four policemen
stepped up to them. "It won't do
you the least good in the worlo, don't
you know. They've made some bloom
ing mistake, and when they find out
what it is they'll do everything in
their power to make amends."
"I haven't the least idea in the
world of resisting," replied Hardy
good-naturedly; "this is really inter
esting. Whom do they take us for, I
wonder?"
They were escorted to a cab and
whirled off to a large modern-appear
ing building of stone, whose front
was lighted by an electric globe. They
"I Am an Officer of the Law."
walked up a broad flight of stairs and
entered a room, in the center of which
a middle-aged Japanese, in the uni
form of a general in the army, sat at
a table writing. He was a corpulent
man, in whose shrewd eyes and stern
features European training contended
with Mongol cunning. He spoke for
a very few moments in a low tone
with a subordinate, and, evidently as
a result of this conference, Neville
was led from the room. He returned
after about 20 minutes and Hardy
glanced at him curiously. If anything
unpleasant had been done to him, it
did not show in his face—a fact which
the American attributed to the oth
er's British imperturbability.
Hardy himself was now led away.
He was taken into a room about ten
feet square, with bare floors and not
an article of furnitme. lie found him
self alone with two Japanese, one of
whom addressed him immediately in
a language that he did not under
stand.
"I can not speak Japanese," here
plied; "if you wish to talk with me,
you will have to find some one who
can speak English."
"I was not talking Japanese to you,
as I think you know," replied his in
quisitor, in absolutely perfect English.
"You are too modest as to your really
remarkable linguistic acquirements.
But if it suits you to speak English at
the present moment, I shall be most
happy to oblige you. I am sorry to
inform you that you must submit to
being searched."
"Now, really, wouldn't that be car
rying matters too far?" asked Ilardy.
"I had intended to take this thing
good naturedly, as it interests me;
but searching me —1 really think 1
shall enter a protest against that. I
am an American citizen, you know,
and if any Indignities are offered me,
I shall not fail to demand redress."
"Unfortunately, we have nothing to
do with that feature of the case," re
plied the Japanese. "We are under
orders, and we trust you will not put
us to the disagreeable necessity of
using force."
"Well, go ahead," said Hardy cheer
ily, "and if you find anything out of
the ordinary, I'll eat it." '
They stepped briskly up to him and
began to run their hands rapidly and
deftly over his clothing and through
his pockets. As they worked, he
talked.
"If this had happened in Russia,
now, where every man is suspected
of being an anarchist or a spy, I
shouldn't have wondered at it. But
we Americans have begun to look on
you Japanese as civilized people. We
call you the Yank, —hello, what's
that?"
They had taken from his overcoat
pocket a bundle of papers, which they
opened under the electric bulb hang
ing from a wire in the middle of the
room and began to examine. Hardy
stepped forward briskly, out of curi
osity, but one of them threw out an
arm as rigid as a bar of steel and
pushed him back as easily as if he
were a child. As nearly as he could
tell from the distance maintained, the
paper seemed to bo covered with
drawings and plans of some kind.
"I never saw tlyit before!" he ex
claimed, much wondering. They went
out together and left him in the mid
dle of the room. Having nothing bet
ter to do, he lighted a cigarette and
attempted to study it all out, standing
there with his hands in his pockets.
"I only hope they don't keep this
farce up till I miss my train," he
mused; "I have bought my ticket."
He was not kept waiting long. The
general himself came into see him.
"Of what am I accused?" asked Har
dy, "and why am 1 subjected to these
indignities?"
The general also spoke English. He
had shrewd, fearless, penetrating
eyes, and an absolutely dispassionate,
businesslike air.
"You can not brazen the matter,"
he replied. "The papers found on your
person leave little doubt as to the
nature of your mission in this coun
try."
"I should like to see those papers,"
said Hardy. "I can not imagine what
they are, that you should be interest
ed in them. I didn't know that I had
any papers in my overcoat pocket."
The general smiled.
"We shall be under the necessity of
detaining you," he said, "and of ex
amining you more at our leisure."
Me pushed a button in the wall. Two
soldiers entered. "You will go with
these men."
"But you are making some great
mistake, that will get you all into trou
ble. I am a well-known American cit
izen, now on my way to Russia. I ar
rived only this morning, direct from
my country. I demand to be taken be
fore the American consul—or, better,
I will send for him."
"You say you arrived this morn
ing?" asked the general. Hardy's
earnestness was so great that it was
almost convincing. Besides, the Jap
anese had no desire to alienate Amer
ican sympathy.
"Come out into my office and wait
a while," he said; "I will telephone to
your consul."
Hardy found Neville still waiting in
the office, smoking a cigar and ap
pearing quite cheerful, under the cir
cumstances.
"Oh, this is good of you to wait for
me," said the American, sitting down.
"Couldn't help it, my dear fellow,"
replied Neville. "They haven't let me
go yet."
"But what do they suspect me of?
What have I—what have we done?
Have you any idea what those papers
were that they found in my overcoat
pocket?"
"Not the least in the world, but I
suspect. You see, these people are
simply spoiling for a fight with Rus
sia. They talk and think of nothing
else. Japan is a volcano of war, ready
to erupt at any moment. Consequent
ly, they are suspicious of foreigners.
They probably take you for a French
man or a Russian —a spy, in fact."
Neville spoke quite loud, so that it
was possible for any of the officials
standing near to hear him. Hardy
admired his imperturbability. The
consul soon arrived, a forceful man
who understood his business. Hardy
produced his passport, a card, and sev
eral letters.
"I am on my way to Russia," he
said, "to take a place with the Ameri
can Trading Company at Stryetensk.
I have bought my ticket, and must get
off in the morning."
The consul led him to one side.
"Those papers found on you are
plans and specifications of the fortifi
cations here," he whispered. "The au
thorities were rendered suspicious of
you to-day through finding you in the
act of photographing the harbor de
fenses. They have developed your
films and they find a very good pic
ture of the forts and the approach to
them by sea."
Hardy laughed.
"I do seem to be a deep and dark
villain, don't I? Yet, I assure you I
was only taking an Innocent view of
the town."
"But how did you come by the plans
and drawings?"
"I haven't the least idea in the
world. I didn't even know there were
any fortifications here."
"I believe you," said the consul.
"Somebody, hard-pressed by the po
lice, must have unloaded on you.
What do you know about this—what's
his name, who is with you? Where
have you been?"
"This man with me? Why, he's Ne
ville, an Englishman. Everybody
knows him and all about him. He's a
gentleman. We've been taking in tha
sights together in a jin—by Jove, I
have it. In that place where we were
arrested there was a most offensive
chap who insisted on rubbing up
against me. His face was covered
with whiskers. He was a Russian, ol
course. He's the man!"
The consul held a long conference
with the general and the latter held
one with his subordinates. As a re
sult, the two men were allowed togo,
the Japanese so overwhelming them
with courtesy on their departure that
Hardy, on the whole, was rather
pleased than otherwise at his stranga
adventure.
"The bewhiskered gentleirmn at th«
cafe chantant, or whatever you call it,
was the man who put the papers in
my pocket," laughed Hardy to Neville,
as he bade him good night at the
Grand. "But why doesn't he disguise
himself? Anybody would know that
lie was a Russian with those whiskers.
If there ever was a man who looked
the part, he's the one."
"Perhaps the whiskers wer» artV
ficial," suggested Neville.
"Perhaps they were," mused Hardy.
And that, too, seemed probable.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
The Difference.
"In novels, the father is alwayi
wanting the son to carry on tha old
family business."
"What of that?"
"In real life when a boy wants to
leam his afther's business, tho oH
gentler«an usually threatens to breni#
his neck."