| Show r rw Ai uo + aIJA + tir ftil r 1W L GI012CI I COPYRIGHT 190G 7He 0 08 S L L C CHAPTER L I tar n I An Adventure In Photography Frederick Courtland Hardy ox member of Mrs Johnny Folksfonos mart sot of Boston oxcotlllton lead yachtsman and clubman was on his er I to Russia to take charge of one waq WII nf the American Trading Companys at Stryotonsk Ho had lost stores fairweather hs money and his fairweather friends and had been Jilted by a girl who as It proved was not the Ideal of nobility and womanly graco ho had supposed her to be Though plucky ho was to use an expression more forceful than elegant sore Had he but known It the escape from the irfrl was a bit of good luck sufficient to componsato him for the loss of his wealth for no woman who deserts a man at the first blast of misfortune Is good to tlo to for a lifetime lie did not realize tills for It Is hard to bu i l teal when a man has lust nBlll1 n I lost his girl his friends and bin money He received his appointment to Siberia Si-beria through a friend of his fathers old Frederick Emery who had gone out to that country some years before md came back to Boston on a visit rich and eloquent of the resources and possibilities of that great empire so little known and understood by Americans Amer-icans The series of adventures that caused tho ex cotillion leader to forget his troubles began at Yokohama and dated with his flit meeting with Stapleton Nevlllo In the dining room of tho Grand hotel The two men were seated together at a small table md tho American was gazing dreamily over the room most probably thinking of tho girl who dropped him when he lost his money Its a jolly gay scene isnt It remarked re-marked his visavis smiling pleasant Iy Ho 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 whlto even teeth like those of a young dog Ills expansive shlrtbosom for ho was In evening dress displayed dis-played to the best advantage his depth of chest These people seem to bo all AmerIcans Amer-Icans remarked Hardy They looked like Americans find the accent of those passing by or silting near enough to be heard was unmistakable unmistak-able Yes replied the other I suppose they are nearly all of them The show places of Japan are thronged with your countrymen at this season and they make fashionable resorts of them I kayo been staying hero for several months and I do believe Im about the only Englishman here Permit Per-mit me to introduco myselfand ho produced a card bearing the name Stapleton Neville Travelers club London MY countrymen replied Hardy offering of-fering his own card have a way of taking America with them wherever they go They travel to tho ends of the earth to got out of their own land and then they so thoroughly I Americanize their favorite foreign retorts re-torts that they might quite as well have stayed at homo 1 When do you leave asked Neville Ne-ville The day after tomorrow replied Hardy i am on my way to Russia on business and I am supposed to get t there with as little delay as possible t Hut there Is no boat starting for week You cant very well leave for 1 Vladivostok day after tomorrow Hardy smiled You forget our American enterprise enter-Prise ho replied I have learned r that a small boat leaves Hakodate In three days crossing tho Japan sea and that by taking tho train northward north-ward through tho Island I shall ar I five at Aornorl near tho northern end of Nippon In time to connect with Y his boat I have already had tho Beat hero telegraph for passage fore for-e I shall thus save a weeks time and shall be able to tho see from car I window tho Interior of Japanthat Portion of tho country which our friends UM In tho dining room there get JI wle idea of 1 C i illly Jovo Do you know that would lolly 1 well fit In with my plans If you 0111 < lnt object to n traveling com vanion and there should be room force for-ce also Id ho delighted replied Hardy H warmed I assure you to have you tbl Como along Traveling alone Is a bore Shall you be going through to Iomorl 1 farUllt than that I too am go log I to Russia IInll rng through to Moscow am from m JLtllcro back to England tlWhy > then claimed Hardy I hatl al1lmvo wi Imvo you dcstlna r as far as my Lion Slryctensltl < < lIsle I ti Exactly so And na wo are leaving 7 town + no scan what do you say tf I our I prowling about tomorrow to give iivi r an ld < > a nr tho bally place and tc rinE It 111 I In tho evening In a Jin trsha 7 > Its b 8 very Picturesque boll br i i tM night awl by day nllli youll not t nth mo a poor guido as I have Icel tracked round considerably slnco vv od I been hero i cr The tr American fell in with this plar iod patefuliY and thought himself Ii rU 100 a luck < that hn was about to have p 1 V a guide on rgIoSa ° who know the nrlnnl i principal places of Interest I and possessed a slight command of the language i Nevlllo 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 ot the Japanese city DId you bring your camora with you Novllle asked Hardy ns the latter appeared on the veranda of the I hotel where he found his newmade friend waiting Theres a deal to Photograph and these people ° are cer talnly picturesque even If they arent much else Will they allow one to take pho tograplts asked Hardy Oh certainly There are no re strict ons whatever Their civilization Is imitative you knowcopied mostly I after the English and American They tody if you resist 1 bog that you will not compel mo to have tho camera taken ta-ken from you forcibly Hardy rarely allowed himself to exhibit excitement I Hotter hand It to him advised Neville lie Is evidently laboring under un-der some mistake which tho authorities authori-ties will bo Jolly well anxious to recur rec-ur when they find It out Hardy handed over his camera Ill go with you to tho police station sta-tion he said to the officer Do not put yourself to the trouble said the Japanese tho police will know where to find you when they want you Tho Instrument will be returned re-turned to you when wo are through with it at tho Grand hotel Well I call that cool said Hardy as he stood watching the three men who were walking oft with his camera cam-era Ill have that Instrument back If I have to stay hero a month and make an International affair of it I T bi A Th N a A 1 r < ipi 4 r4 1 t I t l 111 nr I h Y I r 1 I F p Produced a Card Bearing the Name allow perfect freedom In such matters mat-ters simply because tho AngloSaxons do They are a nation of monkeys I Hardy went back after his kodak The two men as they walked away Grand ho from the front steps of the tel presented In their physical appearance ap-pearance as great a contrast as possible pos-sible Neville tall largoboned lurid thicklipped Hardy of medium blue eyed Ulick up dium size dark slender wellku and 30 erect that ho seemed to be slightly of was His suit taller than ho really filled him with that unob dark gray tutslvfl elegance that proclaims tho American tailors most expensive while his gold rhnnned pluce 107 added add-ed Intellectual distinction to a highbred high-bred somewhat ascetic countenance they walked down In the afternoon toward tho seashore the Englishman still acting ns guide That would make a fine view suggested Nevlllo thobo houses along Bested and the the beach that bit of sea hlllf yonder assented Hardy I be That Is ID It Im not ruroCul lIovo t Ill all it films coverod with I shall get all my nml lib 5 Ho opened his camera Then he rolled nut the hollows buck und forth Cor seel1I1 mo strolled fin for ho meals gazing lato i t the fl 11I10 1 as composition or tried to deride on the Ho take would that ho limo vltw the the bulb allli was closing I pressed III European I 11I8tlIII1ont when a JallllteSO Ilsh to him amid dress stepped up pelln hand upon his arm detaining lalll a ralllPla that me You must give quietly In pr tilt Japanese air said looltrd about In Hardy hlt feet English his filSI t NaturallY amazlmont being ho was thought was that robbed of that kind nnthlns Dont try rOllIell or Ill ho more aim mall hands of t I Ie 101 I co give you Into the lIuggested h them woo m Tho thrift otllcers who two iollco I i IIr05enco standing of near evillently watch woro Japanese now the lIe < no Tao lug tongue and his own In called to them they aiuroace officer of the aw ho h I nm all Into cus taken be said and sail will wonder what they wanted of It What do you think I havent the least Idea replied Neville Probably thoy havo heard that some other country piohtblta taking 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 dims would be returned to him In the morning developed Tho Incident which had been conducted In a masterful manner throw a now light on Japan It led him to believe that this was something more than a comic opera country and that the inhabitants In-habitants were not all babies CHAPTER 11 Searched by the Police The AngloSaxons are the only pee plo who have any Idea of personal liberty 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 Now York or London taking away your camera and developing the films Just to see what pictures you have taken Well I got m > camera back all right and Im going to consider myself In luck because I get my films developed free of charge I wonder If theres anything any-thing else this obliging people would like to do for mo before I go away 7 At this moment tho jinrikisha rum up and the jiowlymnde friend sorted utout ed out for their night expedition tho streets of Yokohama such an excursion ex-cursion as only Iiciro Loll or Lafca dio Henrn could describe adequately An Americans chief sensation on first jinrikisha Is loss of getting Into a dimity oulsit In a dignity There you sit perched carriage driving a narrow trim baby barelegged little man with an Inverted Invert-ed lullbasket on his head They trotted from place to place till midnight or after Hardy enjoying himself after took away with memory of dark nar confused him a streets swarming with Japanese mostly row babies of occasional low buildings build-Ings where something seemed to bo of steep acclivities at going on inside which It was necessary to got out and walk and of steep declivities where the man horso leaned back at an angle an-gle of 45 degrees and tho muscles on his legs stood out In knots I nay cried Hardy to Novllle If this thing ever gets away from him Ill be In a pretty pickle Youd travel to the bottom Jolly fast laughed Nnvllle who did not scorn to bo the least bit nervous Them were Innumerable paper lanterns lan-terns of course and one quarter of tho town was lighted as if for a lawn party Thoy were sitting on the floor in the back room of a teahouse listening listen-ing to tho music furnished by three geishas whon thoy woro arrested Hardy had felt It a privilege to go Into this place because his companion compan-ion assured him that It was the real thing and not one of those resorts that are run for foreigners This statement state-ment was borno out by the fact that tho dozen or more patrons whom they found there were natives with tho ex coptlon of one a little foreigner who spoke bad English and who as Hardy remembered afterward sat offensively close to him This man had a profuse pro-fuse shapeless beard and bad teeth and persisted In drawing Hardy and Neville Into conversation Tho American took a dislike to him from the first Dont resist dont resist whispered whis-pered Neville as four policemen stepped up to them It wont do you the least good In the world dont you know Theyve made somo bloomIng bloom-Ing mistake and when they llnd out I what It Is theyll do everything In their power to make amends I havent the least Idea In the world of resisting replied Hardy goodnaturedly this Is really interesting Inter-esting Whom do they tako us for I wonder Thoy were escorted to u cab and whirled off to a large modernappear ing building of stone whoso front was lighted by an electric globe They 1 cs ti d 1 = z4 IH A VI P I 1 k J I r J l I Am an Officer of the Law walked up a broad flight of stairs and entered a room In the center of which q middleaged Japanese In the uniform uni-form of a general In the army sat at a table writing Ho 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 one with a subordinate and evidently asa as-a result of this conference Neville was led from tho room Ho returned after about 20 minutes and Hardy glanced at him curiously If anything unpleasant had been dona to him It did not show In his facea fact Which the American attributed to the others oth-ers 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 furniture Ho found him self alone with two Japanese one of whom addressed him Immediately Inn In-n language that bo did not understand under-stand I can not speak Japanese ho re plied If you wish to talk with mo you will havo to find come one who can speak English I was not talking Japanese to you as I think you know replied his inquisitor In-quisitor In absolutely perfect English You are too modest as to your really remarkable linguistic acquirements Hut If It suits you to speak English at tho present moment I shall bo most happy to oblige you I am sorry to Inform you that you must submit to being searched Now really wouldnt that bo carrying car-rying matters too far asked Hardy I bad Intended to tako this thing good naturedly as It Interests mo but searching ru eI really think I shall enter a protest against that I know am an American clUzon you and If any Indignities are offered mo I shall not fall to demand redress I Unfortunately we have nothing to do with that feature of Uio case replied re-plied the Japanese Wo are under orders and we trust you will not put us to the disagreeable necessity of using force Well go ahead said Hardy cheerily cheer-ily and If you find anything out of tho ordinary Ill eat It They stopped briskly up to him and began to run their bands rapidly and deftly over his clothing and through his pockets As they worked ho talked If this had happened In Russia now where every man is suspected of being an anarchist or n spy I shouldnt have wondered at it Hut wo Americans havo begun to look on you Japanese as civilized people Wo call you the Yank hollo whats thatThey They had taken from bis overcoat pocket a bundle of papers which thoy opened under the electric bulb hanging hang-ing from a wire In the middle of the room and began to examine Hardy stepped forward briskly out of curiosity curi-osity but one of them throw out an arm as rigid as a bar of steel and I pushed him back as easily as If bo were a child As nearly as he could tell from the distance maintained tho paper seemed to bo covered with drawings and plans of somo kind I never saw that before heex claimed much wondering They went out together and left him In tbo middle mid-dle of time rpom Having nothing better bet-ter to do he lighted a cigarette and attempted to study It all out standing there with his hands in his pockots I only hope they dont keep this farce up till I miss my train ho mUlled I have bought my ticket Ho was not kept waiting long Tho general himself canio In to see him Of what am I accused asked Hardy Har-dy and why am I subjected to these Indignities The general also spoko English He had shrewd fearless penetrating eyes and an absolutely dispassionate businesslike air You can not brazen tho matter ho replied The papers found on your person leave little doubt as to tho a naturo of your mission In this country coun-try I should like to BOO those papers Tjj r said Hardy I can not imagine what they are that you should be Interested Interest-ed in thorn I didnt know that I halt i any papers In my overcoat pocket Tho to general smiled Wo shall be under time necessity or detaining you ho said and of examining ex-amining you more at our leisure Ho pushed a button in the wall Two I soldiers entered You will go with t these men h 1 But you nro making some great mistake that will got you all Into troll blo I am n wellknown American citizen r cit-izen now on my way to Russia I nr rived only this morning direct from ° my country I demand to bo taken before be-fore the American consulor better t I will send for him 1 I You say you arrived this morning i I morn-ing asked the general Hardys < 1 earnestness was ao groat that it was almost convincing Besides tho Jar anomie bad no desire to alienate American k Amer-ican sympathy Como out into my office and wait a whllo ho said I will telephone iff your consul t Hardy found Novlllo still waiting in tho oinco smoking n cigar and ap d pcurlns quite cheerful under the dir + cumstahcos t Oh this la good of you to wait for < mo said tho American sitting down i r Couldnt help it my dear fellow j replied Novlllo Thoy havent let ma < go yet 1 But what do they suspect me oft 4 What have Iwbal have wo donoT Havo you any Idea what thoso papers wore that thoy found In my overcoat pocket Not time least In the world but I suspect You see these people or t simply spoiling Ipr a fight with Russia x Rus-sia They talk and think of nothing else Japan Is a volcano of war ready to erupt at any moment Consequently Consequent-ly they are auspicious of foreigner < They probably tako you for a Frenchman f French-man or a Russian a spy In fact J Nuvlllo apoko qutb loud so that It f was possible for any of tho officials standing near to hear him Hardy f admired his imperturbability Tim I consul soon arrived a forceful man who understood his business Hardy 1 produced his passport a card and several sev-eral letters y I am on my way to Russia 1 4 Q said to take n place with the American r Ameri-can Trading Company at Stryetousk I have bought my ticket and must get off In tho morning Tho consul led him to one slfle a Those papers found on you arc r plans and specifications of file fortifications xir fortifi-cations hero ho whispered Tho authorities t au-thorities woro rendered suspicious of you today through finding you In tfca fact f-act of photographing the harbor defenses de-fenses They have developed your i films and they find n very good picture pic-ture of time forts and tho approach to t them by sea Hardy laughed I do seem to be a deep and dark + villain dont I Yet I assure you I 3 wan only taking an innocent view ot 1 the town But bow dill you come by thin plan m and drawings v I havent tho least idea In the 1 world I didnt oven know there worar any fortification hero I believe you said the consul + Somebody hardpressed by the police po-lice must have unloaded on you w What do you know about this whats x r his name who Is with you Whoro havo you boon This man with me1 Why hon Ne > vlllo an Englishman Everybody knows him and all about him Hes BJ gentleman Weve been taking In tho sight together In a jlnby Jove E have It In that place whero wo were arrested there was a most offensive chap who Insisted on rubbing ujr against me Ills taco was covered with whiskers Ho was a Russian ofJ course Hes the manl I The consul bold a long conference with the general and the latter holds c jo with his subordinates As a result re-sult the two men were allowed to go > tho Japanese so overwhelming them with courtesy on their departure tbut Hardy on the whole was rather pleased than otherwise at his strnnKu adventure Tho bowhlskored gentleman at rite s cafo chantant or whatever you call 1C n was the man who put the papers IUt my pocket laughed Hardy to NtvIIIev as ho bado him good night nt the t Grand But why doesnt ho dlsgufst himself Anybody would know that ho was a Russian with thoso whiskers If there over was a man who lookcdC the part hes tho one Perhaps the whiskers were nrtM llcial suggested Novlllo Perhaps they were mused Hardy And that too scorned probable TO BE CONTINUED |
