n chalets dwarfed to utter
insignificance by the huge wooded mountain dome of Nantai San which
rose behind it. On the left the forest was supreme already, except
where in small clearings five or six houses, tenanted by foreign
diplomats, stood out above the lake. A little farther on a Buddhist
temple slumbered above a flight of broad stone steps. The sacred
buildings were freshly lacquered, and red as a new toy. In front, on
the slope of golden sand, its base bathed by the tiny waves, stood
the _torii_, the wooden archway which is Japan's universal religious
symbol. Its message is that of the Wicket Gate in the Pilgrim's
Progress. Wherever it is to be seen--and it is to be seen
everywhere--it stands for the entering in of the Way, whether that way
be "_Shinto_" (The Way of the Gods), or "_Butsudo_" (The Way of the
Buddhas), or "_Bushido_" (The Way of the Warriors).

There was plenty of breeze. The boat shot down the length of the
lake at a delicious speed. The two voyagers reached at last a little
harbour, Sh[=o]bu-ga-Hama--The Beach of the Lilies--a muddy shore with
slimy rocks, a few brown cottages and a saw-mill.

"Let's go and see the waterfall," suggested Yae, "it's only a few
minutes."

They walked together up a steep winding lane. The fresh air and the
birch trees, the sight of real Alderney cows grazing on patches
of real grass, the distant rumble of the cataract brought back to
Geoffrey a feeling of strength and well-being to which he had for
weeks been a stranger.

If only the real Asako had been with him instead of this enigmatic and
disquieting image of her!

The Japanese, who have an innate love for natural beauty, never
fail to mark an exceptional view with a little bench or shelter for
travelers, whence they can obtain the best perspective. If sight-seers
frequent the spot in any number, there will be an old dame _en
guerite_ with her picture post-cards and her Ebisu Beer, her
"Champagne Cider," her _sembei_ (round and salted biscuits) and her
tale of the local legend.

"_Irrasshai! Irrasshai_;" she pipes. "Come, come, please rest a
little!"

But the cascade above Sh[=o]bu-ga-Hama is only one among the thousand
lesser waterfalls of this mountain country. It is honoured merely by
an unsteady bench under a broken roof, and by a rope knotted round the
trunk of a tall tree in mid-stream to indicate that the locality is
an abode of spirits, and to warn passers-by against inconsiderately
offending th