Randolph
Taney bitterly, "our leading men of finance are said to have offered
fabulous prices for the plainest berths."

The flight of the homeless had begun.

_Chapter XV_

A RAY OF LIGHT

Only a small Japanese garrison was left at Seattle after the first
transports of troops had turned eastward on the seventh and eighth of
May, and the northern army under Marshal Nogi had, after a few
insignificant skirmishes with small American detachments, taken up its
position in, and to the south of, the Blue Mountains. Then, in the
beginning of June, the first transport-ships arrived from Hawaii,
bringing the reserve corps for the northern army, with orders to occupy
the harbors and coast-towns behind the front and to guard the lines of
communication to the East.

Communication by rail had been stopped everywhere. No American was
allowed to board a train, and only with the greatest difficulty did a
few succeed in securing special permission in very urgent cases. The
stations had one and all been turned into little forts, being occupied
by Japanese detachments who at the same time attended to the Japanese
passenger and freight-service.

In all places occupied by the Japanese the press had been silenced,
except for one paper in each town, which was allowed to continue its
existence because the Japs needed it for the publication of edicts and
proclamations issued to the inhabitants, and for the dissemination of
news from the seat of war, the latter point being considered of great
importance. This entire absence of news from other than Japanese sources
gave rise to thousands of rumors, which seemed to circulate more
rapidly by word of mouth than the former telegraphic dispatches had
through the newspapers.

On the morning of June eighth the news was spread in Tacoma that the
city would that day receive a Japanese garrison, as several
transport-steamers had arrived at Seattle. Up to that time only one
Japanese company had been stationed at Tacoma, and they had occupied the
railroad station and the gas and electric works and intrenched
themselves in the new waterworks outside the town. Through some strange
trick of fortune the gun-depot for the arming of the national guard
which had been removed to Tacoma a year ago and which contained about
five thousand 1903 Springfield rifles had escaped the notice of the
enemy. The guns had been stored provisionally in the cellars of a large
grain elevator and it had been possible