Takasaki bowed. “May we talk?” he asked as Ethel picked up a textbook.
“Surely. Tell me of your impressions of the mobilization of our fleet in Hampton Roads.”
“Grand, majestic,” replied Takasaki. “Such a harbor! I see you there for a glimpse at the hotel?” The last was unmistakably an interrogation.
“Yes. My cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ogden, Professor Norcross, Mr. Barclay and I made up a party and went down to Old Point Comfort. I have an idea,” Ethel examined her pencil with care, “that Mr. Barclay must have spent much time in Japan.”
“So?” was Takasaki’s only comment.
“Have you ever met him in the East?” asked Ethel, choosing directness as the only method of getting an answer from the Japanese.
Takasaki pondered her question. “I think not,” he answered. “Mr. James Patterson, yes; he came with a party from your Congress.”
“Mr. Patterson, oh, yes, he is very much interested in the Eastern question,” Ethel pulled herself up short; Jim Patterson’s interest in the Japanese was far from complimentary, and his endeavors had been to assist legislation for their exclusion from the country. To discuss him and his opinions would be in the present company a ticklish subject. “Well, what did you think of our battleships?” she queried, anxious to get away from dangerous ground.
“Wonderful,” the Japanese raised his hands in a characteristic gesture. “You say Mr. Barclay travel much in Nippon?”
“Well, I believe so,” Ethel gathered up her belongings preparatory to leaving. “But he has never told me much about his travels. It just occurred to me that perhaps you had met him before coming to Washington.”