“Well, let me see. I do not know whether Americans would regard her as the highest type of beauty, but to the Japanese mind she would have been considered peerless. Her hair was so black and shiny it was like lacquer. Sometimes when her maid would take it down it fell to her knees in a perfect glory of ebony. Her eyes were of the same color, almost pure black, and they were very long and poetic looking, the thick lashes veiling them. Her brows were perfectly formed, a slim, silky black line above the eyes. Her nose was thin and very delicate. Her mouth was small, the lower lip a trifle pointed, curling up just the least bit at the corners. The lips were red as blood. The shape of her face was oval, though her chin was delicately pointed. And she had tiny pink ears, as pretty as a baby’s, and small, exquisite hands.”
“Kiyo,” said Mrs. Kurukawa, gently, “who is this Japanese Venus?” She smiled.
“The Widow of Sanyo,” he replied as gently. “This is as she appeared when she looked at her own image in the mirror.
“Well, it was on that very day that Japan proclaimed war against China, and the country was pulsing with fever. Haru, as her name was, had spent many wretched hours in her chamber. Her despair and impatience at being unable to serve the Mikado and her country, was breaking her heart. What could she do, a helpless maiden? All the employment left to women she scorned. She wanted to do something more than a mere woman could accomplish. Her soul was the soul of a man, not a maiden’s. All day she prayed, and all night, and then she looked into her mirror and saw that lovely face! Suddenly the face changed, became curiously illuminated. A great idea had come to her. It was this:
“The gods had given her marvellous beauty. What man could resist her? She would wed a man, bear him children, and give them all to the Mikado.
“That was her first thought.
“But the war would be over by the time her children were grown—and they might not be men!
“No, that would never do!
“A better way presented itself to her. She sprang wildly to her feet, and wildly she clapped her hands, so!”
He illustrated her action, and the children did likewise, as they moved nearer their father to hear, their eyes wide with excitement.