those big,
bold-voiced foreign women, she was overshadowed and out of place. If
her husband left her for a half-caste, what chance had she of keeping
him when once he got back among the women of his own race? Mixed
marriages, in fact, were a mistake, an offence against nature. Even if
he wished to be faithful to her, he could not really care for her as
he could for an Englishwoman.

* * * * *

As soon as Geoffrey Barrington had left the house, Mr. Ito went in
search of the head of the Fujinami, whom he found at work on the
latest literary production of his tame students, _The Pinegrove by the
Sea-shore_.

Mr. Fujinami Gentaro put his writing-box aside with a leisurely
gesture, for a Japanese gentleman of culture must never be in a hurry.

"Indeed, it has been so noisy, composition has become impossible," he
complained; "has that foreigner come, to the house?"

He used the uncomplimentary word "_ket[=o]jin_" which may be literally
translated "hairy rascal". It is a survival from the time of Perry's
black ships and the early days of foreign intercourse, when "Expel the
Barbarians!" was a watchword in the country. Modern Japanese assure
their foreign friends that it has fallen altogether into disuse; but
such is not the case. It is a word loaded with all the hatred, envy
and contempt against foreigners of all nationalities, which still
pervade considerable sections of the Japanese public.

"This Barrington," answered the lawyer, "is indeed a rough fellow,
even for a foreigner. He came into the house with his boots on,
uninvited. He shouted like a coolie, and he broke the _shoji_.
His behaviour was like that of Susa-no-O in the chambers of the
Sun-Goddess. Perhaps he had been drinking whisky-sodas."

"A disgusting thing, is it not?" said the master. "At this time I am
writing an important chapter on the clear mirror of the soul. It is
troublesome to be interrupted by these quarrels of women and savages.
You will have Keiichi and Gor[=o] posted at the door of the house. They
are to refuse entrance to all foreigners. It must not be allowed to
turn our _yashiki_ into a battlefield."

Mr. Fujinami's meditations that morning had been most bitter. His
literary preoccupation was only a sham. There was a tempest in the
political world of Japan. The Government was tottering under the
revelations of a corruption in high places more blatant than usual.
With the fall of the Cabinet, the bribes