“No, no, a liddle boy,” growled Juji.
“It’s about a little woman,” said Mr. Kurukawa, “and she was called ‘The Widow of Sanyo.’”
X
THIS is the story the Japanese father told, in English, for his own children understood the language better than they spoke it.
“You must know, children, that all loyal Japanese love and reverence Ten-shi-sama (the Mikado). No true Japanese would hesitate to give his life for the father of us all. That is why our boys go to war with faces shining like the sun. That is why we bid them go, and do not weep because we love them. We are proud and glad to give them for such service.”
“Father,” put in little Iris very gently, “we are glad to give our Gozo, are we not?”
He hesitated a moment, and then said, simply: