h, and Lady Gordon accompanied us, saying
that she had some shopping to do. I left them at the entrance to Sir
Robert's office, and in due time found myself once more in Mr Kuroda's
presence.

It was easy to see that the little man was so busy that he scarcely knew
which way to turn, but he was as smiling and polite as ever, and had
everything ready for me, neatly enclosed in a stout official envelope,
the contents of which he turned out for my inspection. There was my
railway ticket from London to Dover, my steamer ticket from Dover to
Calais, my railway ticket from Calais to Marseilles, _via_ Paris, my
steamer ticket from Marseilles to Yokohama, and my credentials, which
were to be presented to a certain official in Tokio, who would hand me
my commission and give me my final instructions. Everything was cut and
dried, even to a travelling schedule giving me the train and steamer
times of departure and arrival; therefore, having looked them through
and satisfied myself that nothing had been omitted, I returned the
several documents to the envelope, thrust the latter into my pocket, and
bade Mr Kuroda farewell. He replied with hearty good wishes for my
welfare and success, expressed his deep regret that he was not going
with me instead of remaining in London, shook my hand with great fervour
and friendliness, and, as he bowed me out, touched the bell which was
the signal for another visitor to be ushered in.

When Sir Robert came home that night, he brought with him two parcels
wrapped in stout brown paper, one of them being rather long and slim;
but I thought nothing of it, as I knew that it was a custom, when things
were urgently needed, to have them sent to his office, so that they
might be brought home at night in his car. After dinner, however, the
two parcels were produced, opened, and found to contain, the one a
handsome oak case containing a pair of heavy and very business-like Colt
automatic pistols, with all necessary tools, bottle of oil, and one
hundred cartridges; while the other was a beautiful naval sword and
sheath, the blade perfectly plain but of such exquisite temper that, by
exerting my full strength, I was able to bend it until the point met the
hilt. The pistols were a farewell gift to me from dear Lady Gordon,
while the sword was from Sir Robert. The gifts were accompanied by the
heartfelt good wishes of the donors for my welfare, happiness, and
safety in the strenuous times that seemed to