some time in the second, probably because he was by nature
short-sighted. That is a great advantage for discoverers."

"But what do you mean by the second stage?"

"The stage of Discovery! Have you ever walked about a Japanese city in
the twilight when the evening bell sounds from a hidden temple? Have
you turned into the by-streets and watched the men returning to their
wise little houses and the family groups assembled to meet them and
help them change into their kimonos? Have you heard the splashing
and the chatter of the bath-houses which are the evening clubs of the
common people and the great clearing-houses of gossip? Have you heard
the broken _samisen_ music tracking you down a street of _geisha_
houses? Have you seen the _geisha_ herself in her blue cloak sitting
rigid and expressionless in the rickshaw which is carrying her off to
meet her lover? Have you heard the drums of Priapus beating from the
gay quarters? Have you watched the crowds which gather round a temple
festival, buying queer little plants for their homes and farthing toys
for their children, crowding to the fortune-teller's booth for news of
good luck and bad luck, throwing their penny to the god and clapping
their hands to attract his attention? Have you seen anything of this
without a feeling of deep pleasure and a wonder as to how these people
live and think, what we have got in common with them, and what we have
got to learn from them?"

"I think I know what you mean," said Geoffrey. "It's all very
picturesque, but they always seem to be hiding something."

"Exactly," said his friend, "and every man of intelligence who has to
live in this country thinks that he need only learn their language and
use their customs, and then he will find out what is hidden. That is
what Lafcadio Hearn did; and that is why I wear a kimono. But what did
he find out? A lot of pretty stories, echoes of old civilization and
folk-lore; but of the mind and heart of the Japanese people--the only
coloured people, after all, who have held their heads up against
the white races--little or nothing until he reached the third stage,
Disillusionment. Then he wrote _Japan, an Interpretation_, which is
his best book."

"I haven't read it."

"You ought to. His other things are mere melodies, the kind of stuff
I can play to you by the hour. This is a serious book of history and
political science."

"Sounds a bit dry for me." laughed Geoffrey.

"It is a disillusioned m