der blue just
matched the fresh larkspur used for table decorations. With the bringing
in of each dish prepared by the new cooks the little party grew gayer
and friendlier. The quaint old dining-room had never witnessed
festivities like these. In the long ago it served as the audience
chamber of a Daimyo's 'Besso' or play place. It was here that the feudal
lord had held council of war and state. The walls had never before
echoed the laughter of joyous youth. Now even the grotesque figures on
the carved beams seemed to awaken from a long sleep and give back smile
for smile.

Pine Tree and Maple Leaf, gay in holiday dress, usually so precise and
formal, fluttered about like distracted butterflies as they served the
dinner, often stopping to hide their faces in the long sleeves when Zura
honored them with side remarks for, of course, she was the source of all
the merriment, the life of the party. She also reduced Jane to a state
of helpless laughter. I felt the years dropping away from me, and the
face of the boy whom I had learned to love was less strained and
brighter than I had ever seen it. He said little at first, but his eyes
smiled, and he listened eagerly to all Zura's chatter and seemed to be
hearing once again of joys dreamed of and a world lost to him.

I knew myself growing happier every minute. The after-dinner coffee was
not necessary to make, somewhere near my heart, little thrills jump up
and down, like corn in a hot popper. I was getting what my soul
craved--companionship, contact with life, and a glimpse into the doings
of youth's magic years.

We soon returned to the living-room. Page prepared to smoke, and we
settled down to a friendly, intimate time.

The talk turned to school. Jane had been telling of a Japanese woman,
who, handicapped by the loss of an arm, and no longer being useful in
field work, trudged every morning eight miles to school where she could
learn sewing so as to help husband and babies.

"Well!" remarked Zura doubtingly. "I can't sew with two hands, and my
tongue thrown in. I do not see how she manipulates anything so contrary
as a needle, single-fisted."

"Oh! my dear," said Jane, "you can believe with one hand just as hard
as you can with two. It's hoping with all your might, while one is
doing, that makes our dreams come true. I'm afraid you never really
loved school."

"Oh, yes, I did in spots," she said. "Especially if there were a fight
on--I mean--a contest. I could b