CHAPTER IX
HOW long June slept there he did not know, but he was awakened bysomeone shaking his arm and holding a paper lantern close to his face.When he got his eyes open he found that it was a jinrikisha man and thathe was talking to him in Japanese.
"Where's Seki?" June asked, looking about him in bewilderment.
The man shook his head and continued to talk excitedly in Japanese.
"I want to go to Monsieur Carre's," said June very loud as if that wouldhelp the man to understand.
"Wakarimasen," said the man.
"Monsieur Carre!" shouted June, and again the man shook his head andsaid, "Wakarimasen."
Over and over June repeated "Monsieur Carre," and pointed down themoonlit road. Finally in desperation he scrambled from his perch andseizing a stick thrust it under his arm like a crutch, then he humpedhis shoulders, drew down his brows, and limped along saying with agroan, "Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" as he had heard Monsieur say it.
In an instant the man clapped his hands and laughed. "Hai, Hai," he saidand when the jinrikisha was wheeled about and June was invited to getin, you may be sure he lost no time in doing so. He even forgot to givea good-by look to Jizo, who sat smiling out into the moonlight with thelittle pebbles on his head.
It was a wonderful ride, through the soft shiny darkness, with only thepitter patter of the kurumaya's sandals to break the silence. June,curled up on the seat, was not thinking of poor Seki San and her anxietyconcerning him, neither was he thinking of the mother and father whowould soon be coming to him over the sea, nor of Monsieur with the guardat his door. He was wondering if the stars were the moon's children, andwho woke the sun up in the morning.
And all the time a light at the foot of the hill was getting closer andcloser, and before he knew it, they had stopped at the little brownhouse where the windows peeped through the vines.
A voice spoke sharply in the darkness and before June could get down aman in uniform with a star on his breast, stopped him. The jinrikishaman seemed to be explaining and the soldier to be asking questions, andwhile they talked June sat very still with his heart beating furiouslyagainst the long envelope in his blouse.
He was just as frightened as he had been back in the woods when thehob-goblins were after him, only it was different. Then he cried and ranaway, now he was not thinking of himself at all, but of Monsieur whomight have to go to prison and die if he should fail to get the papersto him.
After what seemed to him hours of time, the guard evidently came to theconclusion that a sleepy little boy who had lost his way could do noharm, so he lifted him down and took him up the path.
June was too full of anxiety even to glance at the goldfish as he passedthem. He walked straight up the path and into the room where Monsieurlay. On the bed was an old man who looked as if he might have beenMonsieur's father; his body seemed to have shrunk to half its size andhis face was old and white and drawn. Only the eyes made June know thatit was Monsieur himself, and the fierce startled look in them recalledthe day he had stumbled over him in the Daimyo's garden.
"I was coming to see you and I got lost," began June, but Monsieur heldup a warning hand.
"The guard will inform me in Japanese," he said so coldly that Junewondered if he were angry with him.
After a great deal of talk, the guard went away leaving June sittinghalf asleep on the floor with his head against the bed. In an instantMonsieur was leaning over him shaking his shoulder.
"Tell me!" he demanded, "tell me quickly why did you come?"
June rubbed his eyes and yawned; at first he could not remember, then itbegan to come back:
"I made the 's's' the wrong way," he murmured, "and when I tried to fixthem I spoiled your letter."
"Yes, yes," cried Monsieur, now out of bed and on his knees before thechild, "and you tore it up, you destroyed it?"
June shook his head wearily, "It is inside here, but I can't undo thebuttons."
Monsieur's hands, bandaged though they were, found the packet and drewit eagerly forth. "Thank God! thank God!" he whispered, pressing theunbroken seal again and again to his lips.
"Did I save your life?" asked June making a mighty effort to rousehimself, and enjoy his reward.
"Not my life, boy; that did not matter; it is my honor you have saved,my honor." And Monsieur lay back upon the bed and sobbed like a littlechild.
"He's coming!" warned June, and Monsieur had only sufficient time towipe away the tears from his withered old cheeks before the guardreturned with the jinrikisha man.
After a consultation in Japanese, Monsieur said to June, "I have toldthe man how to take you home. They will be very anxious about you. Youmust start at once."
"I'm hungry," said June, "I'd like some of those little crackers thatyou gave me before."
The guard, obligingly following directions, produced a paper bag fromthe table drawer.
"I wish they were animal crackers," said June, "I like to eat theelephant first, then he gets hungry and I have to eat the bear, then thebear gets hungry and I have to eat the pig, and the pig gets hungry andI have to eat the rabbit until there aren't any left in the bag."
"You have not spoken to any one about the letter?" whispered Monsieur ashe pretended to kiss June good-by.
"'Course not!" declared June indignantly. "It's a secret!" Then as ifremembering a lost opportunity he added: "Oh! you couldn't tell me astory, could you? Just a teeny weeny one?"
"Not to-night," said Monsieur laughing, "why, it is eleven o'clock now.But to-morrow, next day, always when you come, the stories are waiting,all that my brain and heart can hold."
And with this promise June was bound to be content.
It was hard to believe that the way back was as long as the way he hadcome, for before he knew it the wall beside the moat appeared by theroadside, then the parade grounds dim and shadowy in the moonlight, thenthe crowded streets of the town. He did not know that he was the chiefcause of the commotion, that for two hours parties of searchers had beenhurrying along every road leading out of town, that people were tellingwhere they had seen him last, and that anxious groups were looking overthe low wall into the black waters of the moat.
He only knew that from the moment he reached town a crowd followed hisjinrikisha, that his kurumaya could scarcely push his way through thequestioning throng, and that at last they stopped and a shout went up,the crowd parted, and through the opening dashed Seki San, her hairhanging limply about her face, her eyes full of joy, and her armsout-stretched.
"Oh! My little boy darling!" she cried. "You have given me manytroubles. Where you been, where did you go?"
But June attempted no explanation; the papers were safe with Monsieurand he was safe with Seki San, and whether or not he had done right wastoo big a problem to wrestle with.
After Seki had fed him and bathed him, and kissed his many bruises tomake them well, he put his arms about her and gave her a long, hard hug.
"I am awful sorry I had to run away," he said and Seki's English was notgood enough to understand just what he meant.
"Long after he was asleep she sat beside him."]
Long after he was asleep she sat beside him on the floor, crying softlyinto her sleeve, and holding fast to his hand while she gave thanks notonly to her new Christian God but to some of the heathen ones as wellfor sending him back to her.
CHAPTER X
LATE in the summer, when the tiny maple leaves were turning blood-redand the white lotus was filling every pond and moat, June and Seki Sanjourneyed back to Yokohama. They were going to meet the big steamer thatwas on its way from China to America, and June was to join his motherand father and go back with them to California. He was so happy over theprospect that he could not sit still a minute, but kept hopping from oneside of the car to the other and asking Seki more questions than shecould possibly answer.
"Do you s'pose my mother'll know me now I've got so fat? Has my fathergrown any since I saw
him? Will he carry a sword? What do you s'posethey will bring me?" and so on until there were scarcely any questionsleft to be asked.
"One more day," said Seki San sadly, "and Seki will have no more littleboy to hold her sleeves behind and tease and tickle her under her necks.She will have a very, very lonely heart."
June's merriment ceased for a moment and he looked serious. The factthat Seki could not go back with him had been a misfortune that he hadnot yet faced.
"I'm going to get my father to come back for you next year," he said atlast, "you and Tomi and Toro, and your mamma with the black teeth too.We will have a little Japanese house on the ranch, and Toro can ride mypony."
But Seki shook her head and wiped her eyes.
"You will go back to your dear, affectionate home," she said, "and bebig mans when I see you once more. But I will hear your lovingest littleboy voice down in my heart alway!"
* * * * *
It was a happy meeting the next day on the steamer when June actuallysaw his mother, and clung about her neck as if he would never let goagain. Then he had to be taken up on the shelter deck and introduced toa strange, pale man reclining in a steamer chair, who they said was hisfather. At first it was a dreadful disappointment, and he submitted tobeing kissed with an effort. But when the man lifted one eyebrow andpuckered his mouth into a funny shape, and said, "Why, Mr. Skeezicks,you haven't forgotten your old Pard?" a dark spot seemed suddenly to goout of June's mind and in its place was a memory of the jolliest,funniest playfellow he had ever had in his life. With a rush he was inhis lap. "You used to tell me about the Indians," he cried accusingly,"I remember now. What became of Tiger Tooth and the little white child?"
"We will have just fourteen days to tell stories," said Captain Royston."I shall probably be a dumb man by the time we land in San Francisco.You must sit down here now and tell this little mother of yours thestory of your life. Where did you get these red cheeks and fat legs?"
And with Seki San sitting on the floor at their feet, and with afrequent hug from mother and many a laugh from father, the story of thesummer was told.
When the last launch brought the passengers out from the shore, whoshould come aboard but Monsieur Carre. He was regularly engaged inGovernment service at Tokyo now, and when he saw in the paper thatMaster Robert Rogers Royston, Junior, would join his parents and sailfor America on the S. S. _Mongolia_, he made the short trip to Yokohamato say good-by.
He was so dressed up that June scarcely recognized him. His whitemustache was waxed until it stood out very straight, and his hair wasparted all the way down the back. He still carried a heavy cane andlimped when he walked, but his hands, though knotted and gnarled, werefree from bandages.
Captain and Mrs. Royston welcomed him cordially as a friend of June'sand even Seki San, who still looked upon him with suspicion, wasdiscreetly silent.
"Are you going back to France?" asked June.
"Next year," answered Monsieur. "I will have made sufficient money to gohome, and then! Ah, Mon Dieu! I will never leave it again."
"I will write you a letter," said June, adding slyly, "I'll be sure tomake the 's's' turn the right way."
Monsieur put his finger on his lips and June nodded understandingly.
"What secret have you there?" asked Captain Royston.
Monsieur put his hand on June's head, and looking straight in theCaptain's eyes, he said:
"Your boy will make a fine soldier; he has courage and honor, and he cankeep a secret. I congratulate you!"
Just then a gong sounded and the first officer ordered everybody who wasgoing ashore to hurry. There was general bustle and confusion, June hada vague impression of Monsieur kissing him on both cheeks, anddisappearing down the rope ladder, of Seki San kneeling before him whilehe clung to her neck and begged her not to leave him, then he wassitting on the railing, with Father's arm about him, and Mother holdingone hand while with the other he waved good-by to the friends below.
"June waved good-by to the friends below."]
The little launch grew strangely blurred as it danced away over thewater. June did not see the crowd on the deck, nor the pilot at thewheel, nor even the white and orange flag that floated from the mast. Hewas watching the pink rose in Seki's hair growing fainter and fainter inthe distance.
"And now," said Father, with decision, "I think it's about time to getbusy with the Indians."
Transcriber Notes
Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of thespeakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break upparagraphs and so that they are next the text they illustrate. Thus thepage number of the illustration might not match the page number in theList of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be thesame in the List of Illustrations and in the book.
Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not correctedunless otherwise noted below:
On page 90, "chlidren" was replaced with "children".
On page 116, a comma was placed after "with suspicion".
On page 116, the single quotation mark after "leave it again." wasreplaced with a double quotation mark.
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