"Progress was forced upon them," said he, and then with a smile, he added: "It would be strange, would it not, if they should outstrip their teachers?"
"It is a thing which has happened before now."
"Napoleon, I have read, once declined to molest the Chinese because he feared to teach them his own great art, and so put the power in their hands which might eventually crush him and his nation." Okiu laughed softly, and his polished nails picked at the edges of the book. "The Corsican, my friend, was not quite so venturesome as your merchants."
"Your history will point out to you the fact that soldiers are seldom so daring as those in quest of trade. In most cases the trader is first upon the ground; and the troops come later."
"In any event," replied Okiu, "your merchants desired the trade which the Dutch possessed, and that desire, in the end, made Japan a nation to be reckoned with. The more imitative the people, say your own philosophers, the greater their future development. And no one," gently, "can say that my countrymen have not kept their eyes open."
Ashton-Kirk smiled.
"It is a way they have," said he. "And people who keep their eyes open learn much."
"But not all," said Okiu. "The eyes will not tell us all." He arose and walked to the window; the starlight was but dim, and there was no moon. "Much as I might desire to see what is passing out there," said he, after a moment, "I cannot do so. And it is so with other desires. Many things which we might wish to know are hidden from us, some in one way, some in another."
Ashton-Kirk said nothing in reply to this; there was a marked pause, then the Japanese went on:
"The other night as I stood here, I saw——" he turned upon the secret agent. "You recall what I told you?"