“You will come to-morrow, will you not, Tetsutaisho?” said she, with pleading, wistful eyes, as he was about to leave her on a warm, inviting night in June.

“Yes, Takara,” answered he, softly and earnestly. “I will come over, and together we will watch the second sailing of Perry’s fleet, the departure of the first man who ever dared profane our soil. I understand the arrant braggart has finally wrung from the shogun certain privileges that are not less dangerous than disgraceful. As he came, he will go out: booming his noisy guns. It will be a showy thing, and possibly worth our seeing. I shall certainly come, my lady, especially that it pleases you to have me. And now, good-night, and pleasant dreams.”

Upon the following day Tetsutaisho once more wandered over to the council and for a time hopelessly endeavoured to share in the tumult occasioned by the second appearance of the American fleet. He was deeply impressed with the importance of the proceedings, but diplomacy was not his business, nor was it in keeping with his ideas of national honour, much less official dignity or personal heroism. To him Ikamon’s subtle harangue had been quite as much a bore as was the commodore’s demand a bold and hollow bluff. Had he had his way he would have invited the meddlesome foreigner to come ashore and inspect the samurai before undertaking to establish in their midst any sort of commercial theft. But Tetsutaisho’s voice as yet had no weight in the chamber, and he knew it and was satisfied. Withdrawing presently, he returned homeward and prepared himself for a more pleasing diversion.

Toward evening the weather grew warm and inviting, and Tetsutaisho strolled over to Takara’s house early, where they loitered on the veranda and supped long at their tea. There was that stillness in the air that begets confidence, and the moon rose clear and bright. He sat smoking and dreaming, and she chatted away or toyed with the tiny cup in front. He had finished his pipe, then he said:

“Shall we stroll over to the arbour vine, Takara? The woods are inviting, and there we can get a glimpse of the ‘Yankee’ as he hurls our foam at his back. Come, my lady, shall I assist you to rise?”

Takara drooped her eyes and blushed, and he did not resist the temptation, but sat at her side and took her willing hand in his. She leaned forward, and looking into his upturned face revealed the answer. Nothing could stay or mar that pleasure. They sat there enrapt with the joy of all time: only the stars gave witness, and when they had awakened there was no need for a scene in the moonlight, for a crossing of the ways, for a going into the halo of life; they had sooner found their affinity, and all the glories of heaven and earth could not transport them more, and when they went out into the dawn it was to revel in thoughts sweeter than dreamland had ever revealed. A beautiful sunburst beamed from her heart, and her eyes shone with a love that welcomes the true; that fades and shuns at the false. The fleet had long passed out, the moon had risen high, and God had again proven the wisdom of all things when those two returned and parted for the night.

As Tetsutaisho hastened along the gravelled pathway toward his home his step was less firm and his purpose more uncertain than when he came. His course had led him over the firmer hold and into the boundless sea of uncertainty. What was once a passion was now fast becoming a desire, and he knew no such thought as halt. Whither he did not know, perhaps he did not care, for to him the world was but a reality: its pleasures were its eternity. And not until he approached his own house did he think of Nehachibana, and of how she had made his home worth the while; of her waiting and watching and praying for his return; of the boundless joy that filled her heart at the first sound of his footsteps, and then he said to himself:

“These wise old fathers of my country have fitted well the act and made certain their provision for such as she and I. The law makes marriage tolerable and it makes love enjoyable. A thousand dry draughts to you! May the laws live long, and love die never! O Jurokin; O Benten; hear me!”