THE SATURDAY EVENING POST July 10,1915

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Published Weekly

The Curtis Publishing Company Independence Square Philadelphia

London: 6,Henrietta Street Covent Garden,W.C.

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Volume 1&8

HILE the white men of

Europe are destroying them-

selves and disintegrating their

territory, the yellow men of maaan i . . —_ Japan are planning to extend their in- fluence, increase their power, and con- solidate their fellows of blood and race and color.

That, in a sentence, is the explana- tion in broad terms of the demands made on China by Japan on January eighteenth last, discussed until May first, and then brought to the conclusion of their first phase by the refusal of China to accede to the stipulations which are the crux of the whole matter, the vital points in the comprehensive scheme of Japan to assume a virtual protectorate over China, and mold China into such an object of offense or defense as Japan's imperialistic desires may dictate.

Whatever may happen in the future, there are at this time several points that are clearly established. And, regardless of the future event, an explanation of both the aims and the results of the first phase of the situation ought to prove

teresting to the United States, which,

aving voluntarily assumed a sort of ruardianship of China, by virtue of the Hay open-door and territorial integrity policies, and by the Root-Takahira agreement, has at least a sentimental interest in the East, to say nothing of a certain commercial interest, and a pros- pective and potential commercial inter- est as great as the United States cares to make it, for the trade possibilities are boundless.

It may be that present conditions will be better understood in the United States if the preceding events, and the reasons for them, are set down in order and explained by a man on the ground. This article is written with that end in view, not asa prophecy in any form but as arecord, and certain deductions there- from, based on knowledge obtained by first-hand investigations by the writer during three months in Japan and China while the negotiations were in progress.

Certain propositions are too clear to admit of any dispute. The first and most important one is that, so far as Japan is concerned, she has seized this time, when the European Powers are engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle for existence, to begin the work for which she thinks herself the anointed Power—the consolidation of the yellow races. Who knows what grand ideas the Japanese may have? Fears of this program have been outlined many times in Western discussions and predictions concerning the Yellow Peril. The Japanese do not cali it that, naturally. Several of the leading Japanese statesmen, including Count Okuma, explained Japan’s position to me—for publication in the United States, of course—as that of mediator between the West and the East. It is more than that. Japan does not desire to be mediator between the West and the East. Japan wants to be the East.

The first step consists in the acquirement of the power of directing China. The demands made on China by Japan were the overture for that ambitious program. The time for presenting them was opportune. Great Britain, Germany, Russia, the three Powers most vitally concerned in the fate of China, were at war. Moreover, Yuan Shi Kai, the present President of China, was making such progress with the nationalization of China, and with the organization of that vast, inchoate mass of territory and people into a tangible something and the arousing of a sense of patriotism, that Japan saw clearly that, given a few more years, the Chinese would have a real government and the affair would be far more difficult. Hence, this was the time. Europe, Japan thought, would not or could not interfere, and China was not yet in a position to make an effectual protest. So far as the United States was concerned, Japan held to the view that the United States would not go to war with Japan over the integrity of China, and it is quite likely that Japan held the right idea. The Japanese have no very high opinion of the United States The Japanese are intensely jealous of the United States. The Japanese realize that

BY FU SHENG, THENTSIN

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

Founded A’D' 1728 Sy Benj. Franklin Guana

PHILADELPHIA, JULY 10, 1915

ING THE

By SAMUEL G. BLYTHE

Entered at the Philadelphia Post- Office as Second-Class Matter

Entered as Sec ond Class Matter at the

Number 2

DOOR

as at present constituted, Japar cann }

do much more than dislike us, which she

: does. But with China as a res

e the

naatiiataliia’ ime would come when Jap: might get on terms of equality, and then Japan

has her own plans for procedure. But

Japan intends to consolidate the East be- fore she attempts anything else

At this distance—I am writing in Peking the public sentiment in my own country I do not know whether the people con-

there is no way for me to gauge

sider the saving of China of supreme importance. I know these two thing however: First, the Japanese will protest that they have none but the best inter ests of China at heart; but that talk is for consumptien in the United States, and in Great Britain and elsewhere. If Japan finally gets her program throug! time will prove the correctness of the statement that China will cease to b an independent country and become a fief of Japan. The Japanese do not stop when they have started. They have a big hold on China now. If they can increase it, as they hope to increase there will be a repetition of the Korean episode in some terms or other. China will cease to be China, but will become Sino-Japan, or

a Br ot

a) 4

Japar Sino, which de cribes it more accurately The second fact is, that if J ipan get this hold on China the policy of the oper door in China and the preservation of the territorial integrity of China, a originally proposed by John Hay wi cease. Thedoor will be open just so far a Japan chooses to open it. The territorial integrity of China will be why not, since it will be Jz tory in effect? Japan certainly w divide China among the other | once Japan has China in her clutch Japan can preserve the territorial integ rity of China by taking all that territory to herself. The preservation of the ir dependence of China is quite another matter. The excuse of Japan is the excuse of necessity. She is at the limit of her own a progressive nation. She must expand or she Here in China is a< yuntry, « lose ly related by racial ties, of ye llow men as the Japanese are yellow men; of the East, eastern; near at hand geographically; notoriou

reserved, an ‘

ipanese terri

ili not

owers

Yuan Shi Kai, the President of China, Was Making Such Progress That, Given a Few More Years, the Chinese Would Have a Real Government

mysical and commercial expansion. one is hy l | 1 exy SI must decay

inefficient in managing her own affairs; just now in the great throes of making a repul where for fifty centuries there was an absolutism. What fairer field could there be f In China thers potent tial military material greater t}

deeds of high Japanese emprise? Everything is propitious. wealth beyond the dreams of any dreamer, and poter the world has ever known. Japan can secure an outlet for her crowded and hungry peoy place them in a land where, in one part or another, anything can grow that is growr this world for the utilitarian purpose of man; derive great profits from the ensuing tr gain new and controlled markets. agriculture, in minerals and in industrial pursuits that shall bring the rest of the world t Japan for products and wares; supply her own, wants; get money with which to pa

her staggering debt; and, most important of all, obtain, for military purposes, millions ar

She can pile up wealth; develop vast potentialiti

millions of men who, once trained, make excellent soldiers and brave fighting met

No wonder Japan has dreamed and planned for this since the days when she felt | own prowess after the Japanese-Russian War, and because of the indiscriminate pra showered on her and the consequent self-complacency praise fosteré The spirit of nationality, of exaggerated patriotism, is strongin Japan. It is her religi« as well as her politics. Here, in China, patriotism in a my-country sense was unkn until a few years ago, and the passivity of the Chinese has allowed all sorts of liberties to be taken with their nation by the grasping outside world. Any given number of militant Japan knows this. The plum is there. It is rich and ripe and juicy. Japan, watching that plum mature, cams the conclusion that she was

and conceit tha

Japanese can dominate three times as many passive Chinese

strong enough to pick it and fo enjoy it, and that wa

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

reason for the Japanese demands and the Japanese assault on the very foundations of Chinese independence. Japan needed China. Japan felt that this war came opportunely to engage the attention of the rest of the world while she picked the plum. That was a miscalculation, to some extent. What the sober second thought of Japan decided upon is another question. The intoxicated first thought was to grab China under cover of this world war, and having grabbed her to trust in possession to hold her there when the other Powers, their own troubles composed, came to examine into the proceeding.

One point that should be held clearly in mind by the

eader is that this is no sudden determination on the part f Japan, this seizing of China, but is the result of a long- conceived and carefully worked-out plan. Ever since the close of the Japanese-Russian War this idea has been Japan’s, and incredible work has been done to make it succeasful. The country has been canvassed from end to end by Japanese spies disguised as students and patent- medicine vendors, and in other itinerant manners. The only business directory of China is a Japanese business directory, of several large volumes, compiled by Japanese students who penetrated tothe smallest villages in this vast country. Every military condition has been canvassed. Many local Chinese troubles have been fomented. Japanese have been sent to every part. Great barracks have been erected. Many soldiers have been placed in advantageous posi- At Hankow, for example, there is a tremendous Japanese military establishment. The country has been planned and mapped and plotted. The strategic points have been marked out.

The advantages in South Manchuria and in Shan-tung have been pressed. The Japanese had their groundwork all laid when they made their descent on China on January eighteenth.

tions.

Japan’s Military Missionaries in China

QUOTE a literal translation of an official document

which is in the hands of the Chinese. It is headed Memoranda Embodying Reports of the Three Officers Sent on a Secret Mission to China, and is as follows:

“ Vice Minister Oshima, Departmental Chief Fukuda and Chief Inspector Kamibara proceeded to South, North and Middle China for a thorough investigation of local condi- tions, and have now returned to Japan in succession.

“Oshima and Fukuda went together to Tsingtau, Tien- tsin and Peking, but Oshima’s special field of investigation was Middle China, while Fukuda’s mission was South China. Kamibara’s duty was the investigation of North China, the reconstruction of the forts in Tsingtau, its general defenses and other important matters.

“The object of these investigations was the solution of the present negotiations between Japan and China. Although the date of departure of the three above- mentioned officers from Japan was different, yet the deci- sion of the Grand Council in regard to their mission was made at the same meeting. The said officers also returned

July 10, 1915

at different dates. The reports of their mission are as follows:

“Oshima reported thus: ‘Tientsin is the most important Japanese commercial center. After the Boxer trouble Japa- nese troops were stationed there. If these troops were strengthened by reénforce- ments and brought into communication with those stationed inside and outside of Shan-hai-kuan, they will be much more able to help the troops in Tsi-nan and Tsingtau. We wil! thus hold the very life of Peking in our hands and do what we like. More troops may be dispatched from Tsingtau in the future and brought into communication with our troops in Peking. All Central China will then be within our grasp.’

“Fukuda reported thus: ‘The posses- sion of each and every strategic position below Hankow, Kiu-kiang and Ta-tung should be the object of Japan’s aim. For our military strength in the Yangtze Valley we should station many regiments in such a way that they shall be in direct communication with each other in order to give adequate mutual support. In Hankow we already have an ample force sufficient for any emergency in the Yangtze. If we can still further station troops in other important points along the river our strength would be even greater. When I was in Hankow I discussed with our general officer in command of the troops there as to such a division of the Yangtze Vailey into military districts. The result of that discussion will be mapped out at another time.’

“Kamibara reported thus: ‘Referring to Dalny, Port Arthur and the Kwang- tung Peninsula, when I was in South Manchuria I saw a vast region with a sparse population. South Manchuria is a splendid battlefield. If Japan desires

predominated. Then, as Japan viewed it, the European War gave promise of continuing indefi- nitely. This pre- vented reprisal from Germany and kept England and Russia reasonably busy looking after their own warlike affairs. The plans prepared for years, the ambitions nursed, the great scheme of consoli- dating the yellow men, had by this European catastro- phe been brought to a place of be- ginning. It was Japan’s move to exalt herself, and she moved rapidly.

After the fall of Tsingtau, Minis- ter Hioki, who rep- resented Japan in China, was called to Tokio. He went into consultation with Baron Kato, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and was told what the plans were. Kato had previ- ouslysubmitted the proposed demands to the Genre, or Elder Statesmen,

to expand her influence in Mongolia and iii Wen neighboring regions there is no stepping

stone to that goal other than South Manchuria. The Mongolians know only the rites of Buddhism. They have long ago lost all political thoughts and aspirations. Japan should send numerous agents there to befriend them and gradually win them over to our side. Our bands of patent- medicine peddlers should be increased immediately so that they may at once survey the main routes and important tribal districts and complete the work by the autumn of this year at the latest.

““*Tn consecutive order the minor districts can be sur- veyed, and in case we have to resort to military force in the future we shall proceed from South Manchuria to Mon-

golia, certainly a short cut which can be relied upon for success.’”’

—F

died

The document then goes into the activities of the Japanese General Staff, especially in getting names of Japanese officers who have a knowledge of foreign languages, and tells of the inquiries about the number of Japanese commissioned officers who can speak Chinese. Each division was instructed to report the names of such officers. The plan to send additional troops to China is also referred to. When I was in Japan, in February and March, Japan began sending additional troops to China. The official story was that these troops were sent to relieve garrison forces that were to be returned to Japan. However, there was a strict censorship on the publica- tion of even this news. I saw a regiment go away in Kobe one day and was told that it was the fourth that had embarked from that port. Japan may have brought back the garrisoned troops thus relieved, but nobody in China believes she has. The general belief is that Japan has more than doubled her forces in China since the beginning of the year.

These reports I have quoted were not made after January eighteenth, but before that date. They are direct quotations of official documents, obtained by the Chinese in Japan. They show that Japan is not working on sud- den impulse. Japan had her plans all made, and merely waited, with true Oriental patience, for the psychological moment. The situation was made to order for Japan, as it came out. Europe went savagely to war. Japan was an ally of Great Britain. Germany had a con- cession at Tsingtau. Japan, as Great Brit- ain’s ally, took Tsingtau, and thus cleared

Lt Yuan+Hung, Vice President of the Chinese Repubdlic

out the Germans. That gave Japan a mort- gage on Shan-tung, where the Germans had

«Chi, Chinese Minister of Finance

for their approval. Hioki was given a written list of the demands, was told to prepare these demands in Chinese, to return to Peking and present them in person to President Yuan Shi Kai.

Hioki went to the presidential residence in Pekin on the night of January eighteenth, and presented his demands In presenting them he made a truculent speech to Yuan Shi Kai, insisting on immediate reply to the demands, and insisting further on positive secrecy about them. Hioki threatened dire things if the full text of the demands, or any intimation of them, was made public. In that case Japan would take summary vengeance on China. Japan wanted the negotiations to be conducted in the dark, and Japan would punish China if any news of what Japan demanded, until after Japan had it, became public.

Putting the Screws on China

UAN SHI KAI summoned his ministers and close

advisers. He had made no reply to Hioki save that his country would consider the matter. Presently it began to leak out that Japan had made a set of sweeping and drastic demands on China. Japan met this with the statement that she had requested eleven items from China, and gave asum- mary of those items. Meanwhile, the full Japanese demands became known to a few men, and were telegraphed to England and America. This literal translation of the demands, so astounding in their character, was so at vari- ance with the official Japanese statement about them that there was a disposition, both in America and in Great Britain, to discredit the Chinese version. Neither the United States nor England would believe at first that the little paragon of nations, Japan, would do so monstrous a thing to her big but helpless neighbor, China, to which country she was bound by ties of blood, and from which nation she had obtained not only her language, but her religion and her art, and many other phases of her earlier civilization. We were incredulous. So was England.

However, by dint of persistent pounding both the United States and England were convinced that this was exactly what Japan had done. Then Japan saw that she had overplayed her hand. She made haste to explain that what she meant when she said she had made only eleven demands instead of twenty-one was that the ten she had casually neglected to mention were of minor importance and requests orly—the ten that were vital and that had occasioned so much astonishment and indignation in other countries. And Japan pressed them all.

While the sense of these demands eventually was made public in various ways, in order that the record may be complete and a full understanding of Japan’s intentions may be had, I herewith present a full, official verified translation of the identical note served on President

Yuan Shi Kai by } eighteenth last.

hinese Government hs

ri es the ( + , , . i + . a x vhatsoe joyed by Germany Province t whet! Treaty or in any anner, (1 A Shall give her lull assent thereto. AR Ell ( ese Government agrees that within the Province of Shan- neal ol be oon 2 territory or island or land of any or nature shall be ceded or leased to any third Power. ARTICLE I e Chinese nent nts to Japan building a railway from r Lungchau to join the T an-Kiao-chau Railway. ARTICLE IV The Chinese Government agrees that for the sake of trade and for esidence of foreigners certain important places shall be speedily the Pr e of Shan-tung as treaty ports, such necessary to be jointly decided upon by the two Governments by separate ment

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, since the

ion enjoyed by J

ia, agree to the

These demands, regardless of the out- yme, show what Japan originally

nment agrees that when the Japanese Govern-

finister Hioki on the night of January

had in mind:

ment being and of further 1 the two neigh-

ment for the transfer

GROUP II

always acknowledged the specially favorable

Manchuria and Eastern Inner

apan in South

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

following Articles

Liang Shih-«Yi, the Brains of China

The two contracting Pe lly agree that the term of lease a) Whenever permission is granted to the subject of a third ver t of Port Arthur and Dalny and the term of lease of the South Manchuria °" d a railway or make a loan with a third Power for the purpose Antung-Mukden Railw ays shall be extended to the period of ninety- building a railway in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia > years b) Whenever a to be uje with a third Power pledg 7 ARTICLE IT the local taxes of Manel a and Kastern Inner Mo Japanese subjects in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia in security cting buildings for the pu anufacture or for farm- : ART EVI shall have the right to le: juired. The Chinese Government agrees that if the Chinese Governme

pening ai mine

ich mining places to

med |

in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia

Government agrees that in respect of the two following

| before action shall be taken:

. last for ninety-nine year

bn jointly decided upon by the two Government

ARTICLE V

The Japanese Government and the 1 the Har ehpir

Japanese financiers ¢ g Com with each other at p

of the two nations shall be ad

erein below the Japanese Government's consent

in South Manchuria or Eastern Inner M instructors for pont cal, financial or hiects chall he vel in South Manchur ay ' a mi na avei in Souto Mane nhurla hall first be con ulted inner Mongolia and to ¢ age In business and ir ire ARTICLE VII vy kind whatsoever. —, The Chinese Government agrees that the contr TK : d , , , the Kirin—Changchau Ra hall be handed The Chinese Government agrees to grant Japanese subjects the right (1 ,.ernment to take effect on the signing of thi

par

a employs

hinese Government

vy have close relat

military purposes the

siring that the common int » the following Artick

hall employ improving the China shall pure i war I 4 nt b 4 ApPaNnese ateria China agrees t ecting Wu~ ng ‘a nang a ii w (? A agrees t ky ur D 4 al first co ted China agree

Continued on Page 32

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The Chinese National Council of State

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

iook through some old copies

of La Nouvelle Mode that lay ma little table by the window; but he was, in fact, looking at the girl.

Madame Bousset was in humble

iarters on a little street behind the Galeries Lafayette. One went into 1 dilapidated court and up a great When one arrived there a sort of entresol, where Mon- sieur Bousset sat behind a rather high and Madame Bousset, who reminded one of a sleek, nimble black kitten, received visitors and led the way into her salon, from which a door tiny fitting room.

It was through this doorway that the Russian was looking at the girl. He was watching her with his lips parted and his body quite motionless. He had never seen anything so allur- ing. She was on her knees, her mouth full of pins, fitting the skirt of the Princess Neuva'’s gown over a wire The Princess Neuva was a beauty in London, where she always spent the season; but here in Paris, beside this little modiste, she would seem stiff and awkward. There was something so preéminently lovable, something and warm and alluring about the girl, that it got into Major Lykoff’s blood.

Besides, there was an atmosphere of deviltry in Paris. Even under the shadow of the great German advance it remained. The Slav lost his re- He abandoned himself to what is commonly called “life.”

The picture framed in the doorway elaborated itself with an enticing detail. The girl’s eyes were big and colored like an Italian sky. Her hair was heavy and yellow, as the autumn corn is after frost. There were masses of it, and it seemed to have the weight as well as the color of Then there were little splashes of freckles, and the exquisite mouth, full of pins, and the supple body.

Major Lykoff had never seen a woman like this; but somewhere in one of Maupassant’s stories he had read the description of her. He could not remember the story, but he knew her from it. Maupassant distinguished her from every other woman by that exactness which Flaubert so laboriously taught him.

The major had promised to marry the Princess Neuva and he intended to do it when he got back from the wars. She was counted a beauty in Petrograd and the English country houses, but on no day had she ever moved him like this. Besides, a sort of intent in chance happenings had thrown this lark in his way. Why not have a fling? All things were fair in love and war, and this was both.

As an aide to the Grand Duke he had come with the Russian Expeditionary Force to Paris. The Grand Duke would be here two days with the French War Office. Then he would go out to the front; but he had until to-morrow on his hands in Paris. Besides, it was the Princess Neuva’s fault that he even came to see this girl. If she had not written Madame Bousset to find him at the Grand Duke’s hotel and have him see that her gowns got across to London, he would have gone off to the wars loving one woman only, like 2 virtuous knight of romance. But here came Madame Bousset and this vision, to search him out at the hotel and say that the Princess Neuva had written that Major Lykoff—and so en—would see that the gowns she had ordered got over to London.

To persons like the Princess Neuva, he thought, this war was a sort of tiresome affair at the ends of the earth, and in no sense to be permitted to disturb the season’s gayeties.

Finally the Russian rose and went to the door of the sitting room:

“Mademoiselle,” he said, “I am quite alone in Paris.”

“Yes, monsieur,” she replied.

She spoke with a soft, adorable lisp. because of the pins in her mouth.

“IT have until to-morrow here,” he continued.

“Yes, monsieur.”’

She did not look up; and Major Lykoff thought that if he should put out his arm he could get a handful of sunlight out of her hair.

It was no wonder that Maupassant was able to describe a woman like this so that the picture remained in the mem- ory, though the story round it faded out. He was sorry

[ico Russian was pretending to

many steps.

Was

aesk;

opened into the

model,

3x0 soft

traint tt

gold

Perhaps it was

“Paris and London are Open to Everybody.

TLLVUSTRATEDO Br

Everything That Goes on in Them

the story was gone; there might be a suggestion in it as to how one should go about such a conquest. At any rate one should not stand on ceremony with a little modiste in Paris.

The major leaned against the doorpost and fingered his mustache. “We are Allies, you know,” he said, “‘and we ought to know each other better.”

“Yes, monsieur.”

She took a pin out of her mouth and put it into the cloth over the wire model.

“Since I came to fight for your country,” he continued, don’t you think you ought to be nice to me?”

She looked up at that, and he saw the glory of her eyes and the exquisite beauty of her mouth.

“T would be nice to anyone who fought for my coun- try,” she said. She lisped the final word.

The Russian moved through the doorway. Things were going well, even though he could not remember Maupassant’s story; and the next moment they advanced beyond all hope.

The girl began on the skirt, putting in the pins.

*““What would you like me to do, monsieur?”

Major Lykoff hesitated. How far could he go at a first flight? he wondered. A conventional opening was always safe at chess or any other game.

““Suppose we go to the theater, to begin with,” he said. “T think the Vaudeville is open.”

“‘T will ask Madame Bousset,” replied the girl.

Then she got up and went past him into the entresol; and there was a faint perfume as of some forest wild flower in her wonderful hair.

In a moment Madame Bousset appeared, always sleek like a black kitten, looking as though she would purr if one stroked her. Shé seemed to take it for granted that Major Lykoff did not speak French; so she merely smiled and made a little gesture like a kitten putting up its shoulders.

“Madame Bousset says I may go if monsieur wishes,” the girl explained.

“Now that will be jolly!” said the major. “‘ Where shall I come for you?”

The girl spoke to Madame Bousset.

“T wili meet you at the entrance, monsieur.”” Then she added: “‘ But you may take me home afterward, if you will be so kind.”

The Russian felt a warm glow descend over him.

He went down the long, dark stone stairway with the iron rail, and through the unkept courtyard into the nar- row street. His campaign had opened brilliantly. He said the girl’s name over, trying to pronounce it as she did—‘“‘ Marta Deschamp.”

July 10, 1915

By MELVILLE DAVISSON POST

CLARENCE FP. UNDERWOOD

Only one doubt assailed him Madame Bousset, like all shopkeepers in Paris, would be practical. She would wish to please her customers therefore the girl would go with him because Madame Bousset thought it advisable; but against that he set the moment when the girl had looked up at him and made her patriotic promise.

Jove! She was a beauty! And getting into these games was always the difficult thing. He had mastered that in half an hour and he had until to-morrow.

The evening was overcast and Paris was half closed up. The motor busses were all gone, and for once he saw how attractive the Avenue de l’Opéra was. He turned down the Rue de la Paix into the Place de la Concorde. Everywhere he seemed to see Paris naked and always he realized how beautiful it was. It would be a beastly shame for the Germans to foul it up.

He saw the Grand Duke at the hotel and got permission to go his way, pro- vided he appeared at headquarters in the field by noon the next day.

Toward evening it began to rain. There were no taxicabs in Paris; but the French War Office had provided motors for the Russian aides, and Major Lykoff impressed the one assigned to him.

He waited some time at the en- trance to the Vaudeville. The rain fell steadily and the crowd that en tered seemed depressed. They wer mostly women, with now and then a boy or an old man. Nothing he had seen had impressed him so much with the fact that the men of France were at the front. Even the presence of women everywhere at the business of the city had not so forcibly expressed it.

Presently he saw the girl running in from the shelter of an umbrella. She had come up the Boulevard des Italiens with Monsieur and Madame Bousset.

There was a mist of rain on her hair that sparkled like diamond dust. Her costume amazed him. She wore an exquisite evening dress; and she had spoiled it with thread gloves. But for the thread gloves no woman in any Russian drawing-room could have equaled her. She had no jewels, of course; but she did not seem to need them.

It was wonderful how these girls from nowhere could pick up the manners of a lady. To be sure, there was always some little thing that annulled the part, like the white thread gloves.

As they entered the theater and were well down the aisle Major Lykoff noticed that the whole house was applauding. The curtain was not yet up and he did not understand it. To be sure, the woman beside him was a stunning beauty; but that was hardly sufficient to account for this demonstration in a Paris theater. He did not understand it until they were seated. Then the girl said to him with a rather curious smile:

“Are you very proud?”

“Proud of you!” replied the major.

“Oh, no,”’ she seid; “proud of the appreciation of Paris for an Aliy. That was for you—for the Russians.”

Then he realized how easily a Russian was to be dis- tinguished in this company of women and old men. Of course all Paris knew that the Grand Duke and his staff were in the city. Every one of them would be conspicuous

It was a fine night for Major Lykoff—the applause of a whole theater, and such a dream of a girl almost in his hand!

The play was an episode in the Franco-Prussian War, adapted from a familiar story. Two citizens, during the siege of Paris, had gotten permission to go out of the city to fish. They had been captured by a detachment of Ger- mans; and, because they would not reveal the watchword by which they could reénter Paris, the Germans had shot them down and thrown their bodies into the Seine. It was a singularly depressing play, and hardly the sort of thing a Slav would have selected in order to fire patriotic sentiment.

Major Lykoff was surprised to find that Marta Deschamp had no sympathy for these two unfortunate persons. She talked very well about it, as