ere in progress for dinner. The
brazier which had been used for the tea still stood in the middle of the
floor, and all around it were porcelain bowls and lacquer trays, and a
wooden bucket full of steaming rice.

He took refuge on the two-foot balcony and gazed gloomily on the
sprawling stream below. The Westons were probably back in Kioto by this
time, and would be off again in the morning before he could possibly get
there. What headway might not that presumptuous Andy Black make with
Bobby Boynton in forty-eight uninterrupted hours!

His tragic reflections were interrupted by the announcement that dinner
was served. Seated on the floor before a twelve-inch table, with disgust
written on every feature, he drank fish-soup out of a bowl, and tasted
dish after dish as it was borne in and respectfully placed before him.

"Haven't you a fork?" he asked when the chop-sticks were proffered him.

"Forku?" repeated one of the three maidens who knelt before him; then
she joined the other two in a giggling chorus.

There had been moments in the Honorable Percival's life when his dignity
trembled on its pedestal, but never had it swayed so perilously as when
he tried to use chop-sticks for the first time under the fire of those
six mischievous black eyes. It was only by maintaining his haughtiest
manner that he remained master of the situation.

When bedtime came, a new difficulty arose. Sanno's prophecy that
"foreign bedstead probably is not" proved true. A neat pile of quilts
in the middle of the floor was offered as a substitute, and Percival,
after a long argument, stretched himself on the soft heap and courted
oblivion. But the Fates were against him. As if his thoughts were not
sufficient to torment him, hundreds of mosquitos swarmed up from the
stream below, and assailed him so viciously that at midnight he rose
and called loudly for Sanno.

With Sanno came the household, all eager to know what new excitement
the foreign gentleman was creating. When the trouble was explained,
elaborate preparations were set on foot to remedy it. After much
discussion, hooks were driven into the corners of the ceiling, and
a huge net cage, the size of the room, suspended therefrom.

During this performance Percival suffered great embarrassment, owing to
the fact that the pink silk underwear in which he was arrayed was an
object of the liveliest interest to the ladies.

When at last he was left alone, he fell into a troubled sleep.