"Some of our common soldiers, never having seen a foreigner before, are not able to distinguish between you and Russians. We wish to provide against accidents." And he laughed.
An incident on the way here, yesterday afternoon, made this sound plausible. I was riding alone, and hearing a noise behind me I turned in my saddle, to see a Japanese slipping upon me with his bayonet half-drawn from his scabbard. I stopped Fuji and said: "Nan desuka?" (What is it?) and he, too, stopped, and turned back. Whether this was a case in point or whether he was drunk and showing off before his companions, or whether my Tokio accent paralyzed him, I don't know, but later, the men who broke away from our guards and got among the soldiers, testified that they received nothing but courtesy, kindness, and childlike curiosity from the Japanese Tommy always.
"You saw Nanshan?" asked the bearded one.
"No," I said. "We want to see fighting, not battle-fields." He laughed again.
"You have had a very hard time, but I think the fight at Liao-Yang will recompense you."
"Have you heard anything from Port Arthur?"
"We heard the guns as we came by and it was very exasperating." He laughed again.
"We do not think much about Port Arthur. That is only a question of time. Liao-Yang will be decisive. The sooner the Russians give up at Port Arthur, the better it will be for them."
"But they not only lose their own ships, but free the Japanese fleet for operations elsewhere."