t have been
recognized in the case of another country.

"On the one hand, our Government has laid to heart the profound
advice of Herbert Spencer, that whatever is done for Japan should be
done by Japanese.

"On the other hand, our people have characteristic racial features
which make it practically impossible for a Japanese to disguise
himself as a Western European, so as to deceive European eyes.

"It was therefore necessary to provide an excuse for distributing
Japanese agents over the West without the true reason of their
presence being known.

"I solved this problem by founding the Imperial Bank of Japan."

"But, surely!" I exclaimed, "the Imperial Bank of Japan is a _bona
fide_ concern? Its shares are regularly quoted on the stock
exchanges. It negotiates loans, and carries on the ordinary business
of a bank?"

"Certainly. Why not? You forget that Japan is not a rich country.
What we lack in gold, we are obliged to make up in ingenuity and
devotion. Thanks to this idea of mine, the secret service of Japan
pays for itself, and even earns a small profit."

It gave me something like a cold shock to comprehend the character of
this people whom the Russians had so recklessly provoked to draw the
sword.

I thought of the intelligence departments of some Western Powers, of
the rank corruption that reigned on the Neva, where every secret had
its price; of the insane conceit of Berlin, which had forgotten
nothing and learned nothing since the days of Moltke; of the
luxurious laziness of Pall Mall, where superannuated soldiers dozed
in front of their dusty pigeon-holes after apoplectic lunches, and
exercised their wits chiefly in framing evasive answers suited to the
intelligence of the House of Commons.

And beside these pictures I placed this of the prosperous commercial
house, founded by the man before me, a man whose salary would
probably be sniffed at by a deputy-assistant controller in the
British War Office.

A bank, paying its way, and adding to the revenues of Japan, and yet
every member of its staff a tireless spy, ready to go anywhere and
risk everything on behalf of his native country!

Mr. Katahashi seemed to ignore the effect produced on my mind by his
modest explanation.

"I have told you this," he resumed, "because if I can succeed in
satisfying you that we are both working for the same ends, or at
least against the same enemy, I hope it will be agreeable to you to
co-operate with me."

I