appy when New Year
time all finish."

* * * * *

On the night following New Year, snow fell. It continued to fall
all the next morning until Asako's little garden was as white as a
bride-cake. The irregularities of her river-side lawn were smoothed
out under the white carpet. The straw coverings, which a gardener's
foresight had wrapped round the azalea shrubs and the dwarf conifers,
were enfolded in a thick white shroud. Like tufts of foam on a wave,
the snow was tossed on the plumes of the bamboo clump, which hid the
neighbour's dwelling, and made a bird's nest of Asako's tiny domain.

Beyond the brown sluggish river, the roofs and pinnacles of Asakusa
were more fairy-like than a theatre scene. Asako was thinking of that
first snow-white day, which introduced Geoffrey and her to the Embassy
and to Yae Smith.

She shivered. Darkness was falling. A Japanese house is a frail
protection in winter time; and a charcoal fire in a wooden box is poor
company. The maid came in to close the shutters for the night. Where
was Tanaka? He had gone out to a New Year party with relatives. Asako
felt her loneliness all of a sudden; and she was grateful for the
moral comfort of cousin Sadako's sword. She drew it from its sheath
and examined the blade, and the fine work on the hilt, with care and
alarm, like a man fingering a serpent.

No sooner was the house silenced than the wind arose. It smote the
wooden framework with an unexpected buffet almost like an earthquake.
The bamboo grove began to rattle like bones; and the snow slid and
fell from the roof in dull thuds.

There was a sharp rap at the front door. Asako started and thrust the
dagger into the breast of her kimono. She had been lying full length
on a long deckchair. Now she put her feet to the ground. O Hana,
the maid, came in and announced that Ito San had called. Asako,
half-pleased and half-apprehensive, gave instructions for him to be
shown in. She heard a stumbling on the steps of her house; then Ito
lurched into the room. His face was very red, and his voice thick. He
had been paying many New Year calls.

"Happy New Year, Asa San, Happy New Year!" he hiccoughed, grasping her
hand and working it up and down like a pump-handle. "New Year in Japan
very lucky time. All Japanese people say New Year time very lucky.
This New Year very lucky for Ito. No more dirty business, no more
Yoshiwara, no more pimp. I am millionaire, madame. I have