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 The Academic Phrasebank is a
general resource for academic
writers. It makes explicit the more
common phraseological ‘nuts and
bolts’ of academic writing.

Academic
Phrasebank
A compendium of commonly
used phrasal elements in
academic English in PDF format
2021 enhanced edition
Personal Copy

Dr John Morley
 Navigable PDF version

3rd Edition

©2021 The University of Manchester

The enhanced PDF version of Academic Phrasebank is for the sole use of the individual who has downloaded it from
www.phrasebankresearch.net. Distribution of the enhanced PDF version of Academic Phrasebank by electronic (e.g. via
email, web download) or any other means is strictly prohibited and constitutes copyright infringement.

The enhanced version of Academic Phrasebank is only available on this website: http://www.phrasebankresearch.net as a
PDF file or on the Kindle store (search “Academic Phrasebank” in your regional Kindle store). If you see this enhanced
version of Academic Phrasebank made available anywhere else, please contact [email protected]
immediately.
 Preface

The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource for academic writers. It aims to provide the
phraseological ‘nuts and bolts’ of academic writing organised according to the main sections of a
research paper or dissertation. Other phrases are listed under the more general communicative
functions of academic writing.

The resource was designed primarily for academic and scientific writers who are non-native speakers
of English. However, native writers may still find much of the material helpful. In fact, recent data
suggest that the majority of users are native speakers of English.

The phrases, and the headings under which they are listed, can be used simply to assist you in
thinking about the content and organisation of your own writing, or the phrases can be incorporated
into your writing where this is appropriate. In most cases, a certain amount of creativity and
adaptation will be necessary when a phrase is used.

The Academic Phrasebank is not discipline specific. Nevertheless, it should be particularly useful for
writers who need to report their empirical studies. The phrases are content neutral and generic in
nature; in using them, therefore, you are not stealing other people's ideas and this does not
constitute plagiarism.

Most of the phrases in this compendium have been organised according to the main sections of a
research report. However, it is an over-simplification to associate the phrases only with the section in
which they have been placed here. In reality, for example, many of phrases used for referring to
other studies may be found throughout a research report.

In the current PDF version, additional material, which is not phraseological, has been included at the
end of the document. These additional sections should be helpful to you as a writer.

Dr John Morley, 2021

2|Page
Contents

About Academic Phrasebank ……………………………………………..……..….................. 4

Major Sections
Introducing Work ……………………………………………..……….................... 7
Reviewing the Literature ……………………………………………..…………................. 32
Describing Methods ……………………………………………..……….................... 47
Reporting Results ……………………………………………..……….................... 57
Discussing Findings ……………………………………………..……….................... 65
Writing Conclusions ……………………………………………..……….................... 73

General Functions
Being Cautious ……………………………………………..……….................... 84
Being Critical ……………………………………………..……….................... 88
Classifying and Listing ……………………………………………..……….................... 99
Comparing and Contrasting ……………………………………………..……….................... 102
Defining Terms ……………………………………..………..……….................. 106
Describing Trends ………………………………………..……..……….................. 111
Describing Quantities …………………………………………..…..……….................. 113
Explaining Causality ……………………………………………....……….................. 115
Giving Examples as Support ……………………………………………….……….................. 119
Signalling Transition ……………………………………………..…..…….................. 121
Indicating Shared Knowledge ……………………………………………..……..….................. 125
Writing about the Past ……………………………………………..……..….................. 127
Writing Abstracts ……………………………………………..……….................... 129
Writing Acknowledgements ……………………………………………..……….................... 132

Notes on Academic Writing

Academic Style ……………………………………..………..……….................. 135
Style in Presentations ………………………………………..……..……….................. 138
British and US Spelling …………………………………………..…..……….................. 141
Punctuation ……………………………………………....……….................. 142
Using Articles ……………………………………………….……….................. 143
Sentence Structure ……………………………………………..…..…….................. 145
Paragraph Structure ……………………………………………..……..….................. 147
Tips on the Writing Process ……………………………………………..……….................... 148

Useful Lists
Connecting Words ……………………………………………..……….................... 151
Commonly Confused Words ……………………………………………..……….................... 152
Commonly Used Verbs ……………………………………………..……….................... 154

3|Page
About Academic Phrasebank

Theoretical Influences
The Academic Phrasebank largely draws on an approach to analysing academic texts originally
pioneered by John Swales in the 1980s. Utilising a genre analysis approach to identify rhetorical
patterns in the introductions to research articles, Swales defined a ‘move’ as a section of text that
serves a specific communicative function (Swales, 1981,1990). This unit of rhetorical analysis is used
as one of the main organising sub-categories of the Academic Phrasebank. Swales not only identified
commonly used moves in article introductions, but he was interested in showing the kind of language
which was used to achieve the communicative purpose of each move. Much of this language was
phraseological in nature.

The resource also draws upon psycholinguistic insights into how language is learnt and produced. It is
now accepted that much of the language we use is phraseological; that it is acquired, stored and
retrieved as pre-formulated constructions (Bolinger, 1976; Pawley and Syder, 1983). These insights
began to be supported empirically in the 1990s as computer technology permitted the identification
of recurrent phraseological patterns in very large corpora of spoken and written English using
specialised software (e.g. Sinclair, 1991). Phrasebank recognises that there is an important
phraseological dimension to academic language and attempts to make examples of this explicit.

Sources of the phrases

The vast majority of phrases in this resource have been taken from authentic academic sources. The
original corpus from which the phrases were ‘harvested’ consisted of 100 postgraduate dissertations
completed at the University of Manchester. However, phrases from academic articles drawn from a
broad spectrum of disciplines have also been, and continue to be, incorporated. In most cases, the
phrases have been simplified and where necessary they have been ‘sifted’ from their particularised
academic content. Where content words have been included for exemplificatory purposes, these are
substitutions of the original words. In selecting a phrase for inclusion into the Academic Phrasebank,
the following questions are asked:

• does it serve a useful communicative purpose in academic text?

• does it contain collocational and/or formulaic elements?
• are the content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) generic in nature?
• does the combination ‘sound natural' to a native speaker or writer of English?

When is it acceptable to reuse phrases in academic writing?

In a recent study (Davis and Morley, 2015), 45 academics from two British universities were surveyed
to determine whether reusing phrases was a legitimate activity for academic writers, and if so, what
kind of phrases could be reused. From the survey and later from in-depth interviews, the following
characteristics for acceptability emerged. A reused phrase:

• should not have a unique or original construction;

• should not express a clear point of view of another writer;
• depending on the phrase, may be up to nine words in length; beyond this 'acceptability'
declines;
• may contain up to four generic content words (nouns, verbs or adjectives which are not
bound to a specific topic).

Some of the entries in the Academic Phrasebank, contain specific content words which have been
included for illustrative purposes. These words should be substituted when the phrases are used. In
the phrases below, for example, the content words in bold should be substituted:

4|Page
 • X is a major public health problem, and the cause of ...
• X is the leading cause of death in western-industrialised countries.

The many thousands of disciplinary-specific phrases which can be found in academic communication
comprise a separate category of phrases. These tend to be shorter than the generic phrases listed in
Academic Phrasebank, and typically consist of noun phrases or combinations of these. Acceptability
for reusing these is determined by the extent to which they are commonly used and understood by
members of a particular academic community.

Further work
Development of the website content is ongoing. In addition, research is currently being carried out
on the ways in which experienced and less-experienced writers make use of the Academic
Phrasebank. Another project is seeking to find out more about ways in which teachers of English for
academic purposes make use of this resource.

References and related reading

• Bolinger, D. (1976) ‘Meaning and memory’. Forum Linguisticum, 1, pp. 1–14.

• Cowie, A. (1992) ‘Multiword lexical units and communicative language teaching’ in
Vocabulary and applied linguistics, Arnaud, P. and Béjoint, H. (eds). London: MacMillan.
• Davis, M., and Morley, J. (2015) ‘Phrasal intertextuality: The responses of academics from
different disciplines to students’ re-use of phrases’. Journal Second Language Writing 28 (2),
pp. 20-35.
• Davis, M. and Morley, J. (2018) in. ‘Writing with sources: how much can be copied?’ in
Student Plagiarism in Higher Education, edited by Diane Pecorari and Philip Shaw. Oxford:
Routledge.
• Davis, M. and Morley, J. (2018) ‘Facilitating learning about academic phraseology: teaching
activities for student writers’, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. Special
Edition, pp 1- 17. ISSN: 1759-667X
• Hopkins, A. and Dudley-Evans, A. (1988). ‘A genre-based investigations of the discussions
sections in articles and dissertation’. English for Specific Purposes, 7(2), pp.113-122.
• Pawley, A., and Syder, F.H. (1983). ‘Two puzzles for linguistic theory: nativelike selection and
nativelike fluency’. In: Richards, J.C. and Schmidt, R.W. (Eds.), Language and communication,
pp. 191-226. Longman: New York.
• Sinclair, J. (1991) Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Swales, J. (1981). Aspects of article introductions (Aston ESP Research Report No. 1).
Birmingham: Language Studies Unit: University of Aston.
• Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• Wood, D. (2015) The fundamentals of formulaic language. London: Bloomsbury.
• Wray, A., and Perkins, M. (2000). ‘The functions of formulaic language: an integrated model’.
Language and Communication, 20, pp.1-28.

5|Page
Major Sections

6|Page
Introducing Work

There are many ways to introduce an academic essay or short paper. Most academic writers,
however, appear to do one or more of the following in their introductions:

• establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic

• indicate an issue, problem, or controversy in the field of study
• define the topic or key terms
• state the purpose of the essay or piece of writing
• provide an overview of the coverage and/or structure of the writing

Slightly less complex introductions may simply inform the reader: what the topic is, why it is
important, and how the writing is organised. In very short assignments, it is not uncommon for a
writer to commence simply by stating the purpose of their writing and by indicating how it is
organised.

Introductions to research dissertations and theses tend to be relatively short compared to the
other sections of the text but quite complex in terms of their functional elements. Some of the
more common elements include:

• establishing the context, background and/or importance of the topic

• giving a brief review of the relevant academic literature
• identifying a problem, controversy or a knowledge gap in the field of study
• stating the aim(s) of the research and the research questions or hypotheses
• providing a synopsis of the research design and method(s)
• explaining the significance or value of the study
• defining certain key terms
• providing an overview of the dissertation or report structure

Examples of phrases which are commonly employed to realise these and other functions are
listed under the headings on the following pages of this section. Note that there may be a certain
amount of overlap between some of the categories under which the phrases are listed. Also, the
order in which the different categories of phrases are shown reflects a typical order but this is far
from fixed or rigid, and not all the elements are present in all introductions.

A number of analysts have identified common patterns in the introductions of research articles.
One of the best known is the CARS model (create a research space) first described by John Swales
(1990) 1. This model, which utilises an ecological metaphor, has, in its simplest form, three
elements or moves:

• Establishing the territory (establishing importance of the topic, reviewing previous work)
• Identifying a niche (indicating a gap in knowledge)
• Occupying the niche (listing purpose of new research, listing questions, stating value,
indicating structure of writing)

1
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

7|Page
Establishing the importance of the topic for the discipline
A key aspect of X is …
X is of interest because …
X is a classic problem in …
X is a central concept in …
A primary concern of X is …
X is a dominant feature of …
X is a fundamental property of …
Xs are the most widely investigated …
Studies on X represent a growing field.
X is an increasingly important area in...
The concepts of X and Y are central to …
X is at the heart of our understanding of …
X is attracting considerable critical attention.
Central to the theory of X is the Y hypothesis.
X has been shown to occur in many different …
Investigating X is a continuing concern within …
X is a major area of interest within the field of …
X has been studied by many researchers using …
X has been the subject of many classic studies in …
X has been instrumental in our understanding of …
The theory of X provides a useful account of how …
X has been an important concept in the study of the …
Central to the entire discipline of X is the concept of …
One of the most significant current discussions in X is …
X has been the subject of much systematic investigation.
The issue of X has received considerable critical attention.
Understanding the complexity of X is vitally important if …
X has long been a question of great interest in a wide range of fields.
The role of X in Y has received increased attention across a number of disciplines in recent years.

Establishing the importance of the topic for the discipline: time frame given
X was one of the most popular Ys during …
Recent years have seen renewed interest in …
Traditionally, Xs have subscribed to the belief that …
Recent trends in X have led to a proliferation of studies that ...
Recent years have witnessed a growing academic interest in …
The nature of X has been the subject of several recent papers.
Over the past century, there has been a dramatic increase in …
X proved an important literary genre in the early Y community.
X has received considerable scholarly attention in recent years …
In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in ...
Recently, considerable literature has grown up around the theme of …
Recent developments in the field of X have led to a renewed interest in …
The past thirty years have seen increasingly rapid advances in the field of …
In the last few decades, there has been a surge of interest in the effects of …
For more than a century, scientists have been interested in the existence of …
The most significant recent developments in this direction have been those of …
The discovery of X in 2016 has triggered a huge amount of innovative scientific inquiry.
During the last decade, the link between X and Y has been at the centre of much attention.

8|Page
 growing interest in …
renewed interest in …
a surge of interest in …
increasing interest in …
Recently,
extensive research on …
More recently, there has been
increased emphasis on …
In recent years,
growing recognition of the vital links between …
a growing number of publications focusing on …
a greater focus placed upon X within the Y literature.
world-wide recognition of the problems associated with …

studied widely
studied extensively the 1960s.
X has been an object of research since it was discovered in 1998.
studied using light-microscopy the early years of this century.
attracting considerable interest

Establishing the importance of the topic for the world or society

X is widespread in …
X is fundamental to …
X is the primary means of …
X is a major contributor to …
X is an important aspect of …
X is frequently prescribed for …
The importance of X is indisputable.
X is one of the key components of Y.
Xs are among the most widely used …
X is fast becoming a key instrument in ...
X is the most widely distributed species of …
Xs have emerged as powerful platforms for …
Xs are one of the most widely used groups of …
Xs are essential for a wide range of technologies.
Xs are the most potent anti-inflammatory agents known.
There is evidence that X plays a crucial role in regulating …
In the history of X, Y has been thought of as a key factor in …
X is a common condition which has considerable impact on …
In the new global economy, X has become a central issue for ...
Determining the impacts of X on Y is important for the future of …
Evidence suggests that X is among the most important factors for …
X is important for a wide range of scientific and industrial processes.
X is an important component in the X system, and plays a key role in ...
There is a growing body of literature that recognises the importance of …
Xs were the most serious and widespread popular disturbances to occur in …

9|Page
 ensuring …
reducing …
fostering …
combating …
key
preventing …
vital
determining …
major
protecting against …
crucial
plays a addressing the issue of …
pivotal
X can play a role in
central
may play a the repair of …
essential
the life cycle of …
important
the treatment of …
significant
the regulation of …
fundamental
the transmission of …
the maintenance of …
the development of …
the pathogenesis of …

part of …
issue in …
driver of …
factor in …
aspect of …
feature of …
element of …
X is a key
strategy for …
indicator of …
ingredient in …
component of …
mechanism for …
determinant of …
characteristic of …

Establishing the importance of the topic for the world or society: time frame given
X has been an established practice since …
One of the most important events of the 1970s was …
Recent developments in X have heightened the need for …
The last two decades have seen a growing trend towards …
Recent trends in X have led to a proliferation of studies that ...
Over the past century, there has been a dramatic increase in …
The past decade has seen the rapid development of X in many …
X has experienced unprecedented growth over the past 100 years.

10 | P a g e
Establishing the importance of the topic as a problem to be addressed
X is a key issue in …
X is a leading cause of …
X is a major problem in …
Of particular concern is …
One of the main obstacles …
One of the greatest challenges …
X is the leading cause of death in …
A key issue is the safe disposal of …
The main disadvantage of X is that …
X is associated with increased risk of …
X impacts negatively upon a range of …
X is a common disorder characterised by …
It is now well established that X can impair …
X has led to the decline in the population of …
X is a growing public health concern worldwide.
The main challenge faced by many researchers is the …
X is one of the most frequently stated problems with …
Lack of X has existed as a health problem for many years.
X is a major environmental problem, and the main cause of …
Xs are one of the most rapidly declining groups of insects in ...
Exposure to X has been shown to be related to adverse effects in …
There is increasing concern that some Xs are being disadvantaged …
There is an urgent need to address the safety problems caused by …
The prevalence of X is increasing at an alarming rate in all age groups.
Questions have been raised about the safety of the prolonged use of …
Despite its safety and efficacy, X suffers from several major drawbacks:
Along with this growth in X, however, there is increasing concern over …
X is increasingly recognised as a serious, worldwide public health concern.
Despite its long clinical success, X is associated with a number of problems.
X and its consequences are an important, but understudied, cause for concern.

X may cause …
X is limited by …
X suffers from …
X is too expensive to be used for …
X has accentuated the problem of …
the performance of X is limited by …
X could be a contributing factor to …
the synthesis of X remains a major challenge.
(However,) X can be extremely harmful to human beings.
research has consistently shown that X lacks …
the determination of X is technically challenging.
a major problem with this kind of application is …
current methods of X have proven to be unreliable.
these rapid changes are having a serious effect on …
X can be adversely affected under certain conditions.
accounting for these varying experiences is problematic .
observations have indicated a serious decline in the population of …

11 | P a g e
Referring to previous work to establish what is already known
Recent evidence suggests that …
Extensive research has shown that …
Research in this area has shown that …
Studies of X show the importance of …
It has previously been observed that …
Several attempts have been made to …
Data from several studies suggest that …
Previous research has established that …
Recent work by historians has established that …
Previous research comparing X and Y has found …
The existing body of research on X suggests that …
There is a growing body of literature that recognises …
Several theories on the origin of X have been proposed.
Existing research recognises the critical role played by …
It is now well established from a variety of studies, that …
A growing body of published work provides evidence of …
Recently investigators have examined the effects of X on Y.
Surveys such as that conducted by Smith (1988) have shown that …
Evidence from a number of experimental studies has established that …
Factors found to be influencing X have been explored in several studies.
A number of cross-sectional studies suggest an association between X and Y…
Studies over the past two decades have provided important information on …
A considerable amount of literature has been published on X. These studies …
In the past two decades, a number of researchers have sought to determine …
In previous studies of X, different variables have been found to be related to ...
The first serious discussions and analyses of X emerged during the 1970s with …
There have been a number of longitudinal studies involving X that have reported …
Xs were reported in the first studies of Y (e.g., Smith, 1977; Smith and Jones, 1977).
What we know about X is largely based upon empirical studies that investigate how …
Smith (1984: 217) shows how, in the past, research into X was mainly concerned with …
Results from earlier studies demonstrate a strong and consistent association between …
There are a large number of published studies (e.g., Smith, 2001; Jones, 2005) that describe …

noted that …
found that …
shown that …
argued that …
reported that …
assumed that …
It has been observed that …
proposed that …
estimated that …
suggested that …
established that …
demonstrated that ….
conclusively shown that …

12 | P a g e
 found …
linked …
reported …
Recent studies have
shown that …
Previous research has
documented …
demonstrated …
established that …

found …
reported …
identified ….
shown that …
Several studies
have attempted to …
A number of researchers
demonstrated that …
investigated whether …
found an association between …
explored risk factors associated with …

accounts by …
observations of …
laboratory studies.
outdated studies …
historical data from …
epidemiological studies.
brief biographical details.
comes from cross-sectional studies of …
we know about X
What is (largely) based on studies of people living in ...
is known about X
is (largely) derived from case studies undertaken in …
contemporary textual sources.
small-scale experiments with …
research using laboratory animals.
research undertaken in major cities.
a few primary sources from the time.
studies conducted in populations of X.
observations using various animal models.

13 | P a g e
Identifying a controversy within the field of study
A much-debated question is whether …
Debate has long prevailed as to whether …
The precise effect of X is a much-debated topic.
One major issue in early X research concerned ...
To date there has been little agreement on what ...
The issue has grown in importance in light of recent ...
There has been disagreement on the criteria for defining X.
One observer has already drawn attention to the paradox in ...
Questions have been raised about the use of animal subjects in ...
In the literature on X, the importance of Y has been hotly debated ...
In many Xs, a debate is taking place between Ys and Zs concerning ...
Debate continues about the best strategies for the management of ...
This concept has recently been challenged by X studies demonstrating ...
There has been much disagreement between historians on the subject of …
The debate about X has gained fresh prominence with many arguing that ...
Scholars have long debated the impact of X on the creation and diffusion of …
More recently, literature has emerged that offers contradictory findings about ...
One of the most significant current discussions in legal and moral philosophy is ...
The relationship between X and Y has attracted conflicting interpretations from …
One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field for many years concerns ...
The controversy about scientific evidence for X has raged unabated for over a century.
The issue of X has been a controversial and much disputed subject within the field of ...
Several divergent accounts of X have been proposed, creating numerous controversies.
The causes of X have been the subject of intense debate within the scientific community.
In the literature on X, the relative importance of Y has been subject to considerable discussion.

why …
what …
how to …
whether …
how much …
the role of …
the origin of …
So far on
there has been little agreement the nature of …
To date about
the definition of …
what constitutes ...
the characteristics of …
the precise nature of …
how best to measure …
how to conduct research on …
the important question of why …

14 | P a g e
Noting the lack of or paucity of previous research
No previous study has investigated X.
The use of X has not been investigated.
There is little published information on …
The role of X remains largely unexamined.
There is very little published research on …
There has been no detailed investigation of …
There has been little quantitative analysis of ...
Data about the efficacy and safety of X are limited.
Up to now, far too little attention has been paid to ...
A search of the literature revealed few studies which …
The impact of X on Y is understudied, particularly for …
So far, however, there has been little discussion about ...
In addition, no research has been found that surveyed ...
Surprisingly, the effects of X have not been closely examined.
Surprisingly, X is seldom studied, and it is unclear to what extent …
In contrast to X, there is much less information about effects of …
X has hitherto received scant attention by scholars of the Y period.
A systematic understanding of how X contributes to Y is still lacking.
While X is a growing field (Smith, 2015), publications on Y remain few.
Relatively little research has been carried out on X, and even less on Y.
Despite the importance of X, there remains a paucity of evidence on …
There have been no controlled studies which compare differences in ...
The issue of X has attracted very little attention from the scholarly community.
To date, the problem of X has received scant attention in the research literature.
To date, no large-scale studies have been performed to investigate the prevalence of ….
Although studies have recognised X, research has yet to systematically investigate the effect of …

closely
formally
empirically studied.
To date,
X has (still) not (yet) been extensively examined.
Surprisingly,
scientifically investigated.
systematically
comprehensively

investigating …
of studies
describing how …
of well-controlled studies
that seek to identify …
current
relative in the field of …
lack of empirical research
There is a general focusing specifically on …
paucity of high-quality research
notable on the current prevalence of …
surprising
specifically relating to …
of scientific literature
on the experiences of …
of evidence-based literature
describing the impact of …

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Gwendolen Todd," he began, directly, reading again and again. A
hand fell gently on his shoulder. "Is there to be an answer, Pierre?"

Pierre shook his head.

"You will retain the enclosed letter?"

Pierre nodded.

The count went tip-toeing to the door, and returned to Tsuna the
pretentious chit-book. Pierre was apparently fixed in an attitude of
melancholy.

"Can these letters have told you anything worse?" questioned the
gentle voice.

"Yes," said Pierre, dully. "It is worse. She is to be married next

Wednesday,—and with her own consent. She wishes it. Next
Wednesday."

Ronsard did not answer. He was trying to look sad.

"Wednesday, I tell you," repeated Pierre, now lifting bloodshot

eyes. "Next Wednesday! Five days! This is Friday, is it not? Yes." He
stopped now to count the days on shaking fingers. "Five more days
and she will be his wife. That woman I love,—that pure flower to
whom even my honorable devotion seemed desecration! She will lie
in that old man's arms,—she will be his wife! God! God! Man!" he
screamed, striking the table with one frantic fist, and then rising to
hurl himself in torment about the room, "don't stand there screwing
into my brain with your fishy eyes! Have you ever known love—do
you understand jealousy—have you heard of—hell?"

"At your age I knew all three," said Ronsard, calmly. "I went
through all, and I live, I eat, I intrigue, I am happy. So shall it be
with you, madman!"
 Pierre threw back his head in a rude clamor, meant for laughter.
He was passing near Ronsard at the instant. The elder man reached
out and caught his wrist. "Now, Pierre Le Beau, stand still and hear
what I have to say!"

At the tone of command, rather than the physical detention,

Pierre stood still, wondering.

"This is the best thing that could possibly happen to you. Yes, be
quiet. You shall listen. I've endured sufficient childish railing for one
day! It is infinitely the best thing for you—for your mother—for me—
for France! I have a diplomatic secret to whisper. That old man
Haganè—for once in his life a fool—may be sent at any moment to
review the campaign in Manchuria. He and his generals may be
great, but Kuropatkin is greater. Do you know what that may mean
to you? Ah, I thought so; at the hope of some personal reward you
flicker back to sanity. What are the honor and glory of France to
such effete sensualists as you? Bah,—it sickens me! And yet, since
some day you may become men, you must be dealt with. Haganè, in
his supreme self-confidence, urged on, doubtless, by Onda, dares
marry this young girl, though he knows her to be in love with you!
Will you destroy her love, fool, by smothering it in her contempt?
Haganè goes to Manchuria. His young wife mourns,—hélas! I see
her weeping in his absence. There are secrets spoken in the nuptial
chamber,—documents left in charge of the pretty chatelaine. Pierre,
Pierre, celestial revenge hangs like ripe fruit to your hand, let her
marry Haganè,—let her love you! Do not revile or scorn her. Wait—
wait!"

His eyes, twinkling like those of a snake, crawled up Pierre's face

to his shrinking gaze. His fat hand still clutched with a grasp that
burned. Pierre tried to draw away. Again the repulsion, the
fascination in this man battled for his reason. "Wait!" whispered
Ronsard once again, and turned.
 Pierre felt himself released. He stood motionless. His wrist stung
as if a sea nettle had lashed it. He looked helplessly around as
though searching for something he could not recall. His eyes fell on
Yuki's letter. He staggered toward it, snatched it from the floor,
pressed it against parched lips, and then, falling on his knees beside
the chair, burst into a passion of grief.

"Come," whispered Ronsard to the cat. "Come, chérie. We will

leave poor Pierre awhile. It is more delicate, n'est-ce pas?"
 CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was inevitable that a lady of Mrs. Todd's social and confidential
temperament should already have acquired an inseparable friend.
Mrs. Todd had a perpetual thirst for what she called "sympathetic
comprehension," by which she meant, in reality, abject flattery. Her
husband sometimes treated her deepest emotions with levity.
Gwendolen often turned to her complaints a bright indifference more
irritating than the husband's soothing smile.

The present incumbent was a Mrs. Stunt, resident in Tsukiji,

Tokio, wife of an American merchant who had lived in Japan for
nearly twenty years. Naturally, Mrs. Stunt knew everything. She was
a little woman, with white hair brushed high from a smooth, pink
forehead. Her face was round and youthful. Although not an
Englishwoman she exuded odors of pink soap. Her eyes were blue,
bright, and hard as glass. Her reputation was that of a model wife
and mother, a pattern housekeeper, and an exemplary member of
the church. People hastened to speak well of her; they raised loud
voices in her praise, yet every one knew that Mrs. Stunt, when
mounted upon the perfectly kept bicycle she affected, was a
wheeled and leaking reservoir of scandal.

To the new-comer, or the casual observer, she appeared the very

incarnation of trustful candor, speaking of her domestic affairs and
those of her neighbors with a simplicity and directness that startled
while they convinced. Mrs. Stunt, however, had her secrets. One of
these, unshared even by the conjugal ear of timid Mr. Stunt, was her
connection,—virtually that of foreign editor,—with a Tokio
newspaper, called, of course in Japanese terms, "The Hawk's Eye."
In addition to voluminous printed sheets of hurrying ideographs this
journal dispensed each day a page of excellent English, and for
weekly supplement issued a pamphlet entirely in the borrowed
tongue. Mrs. Stunt was never seen to enter the shabby gates of the
"Hawk's Eye" building. She turned her face away even in passing the
place. She often denounced newspaper women, and, more than
once in the company of a friend who tingled or wept under the lash
of a personal item, joined in indignation against the cowardly villain,
and wondered aloud, "Who on earth that man could be!"

The very brief notice of Lord Haganè's coming marriage, tucked

away in important Japanese papers like a small spark in a chimney,
might have been altogether overlooked, for news of war came in
daily, and political excerpts from European papers took much space.
But "The Hawk's Eye" found that smouldering spark, the mysterious
breath of the foreign editor blew it into new heat, piling tinder of
comment high about it, fanned it with the wind of gentle persistency,
and lo, the social world of Tokio leaped into flames!

Long since, the demure little lady,—having in mind spring clothes

for four lanky daughters,—had extracted from her new intimate,
saleable particulars concerning Pierre's betrothal, Onda's
persecution, and now Yuki's forced acceptance of Prince Haganè.
"Nonsense, my dear," had Mrs. Stunt retorted to this concluding bit
of romanticism. "Japanese girls don't give a fig who they marry! For
a catch like old Haganè your Yuki would have thrown over a dozen
spry young Frenchmen, blue eyes and all."

From the first instant of meeting Mrs. Stunt and Gwendolen had
been inimical. To herself Gwendolen had called the little lady a
"bargain-counter snob." In return Mrs. Stunt, keenly aware of the
impression she had produced and resentful of it as people usually
are of truth, began assorting items for the coming Saturday "Hawk's
Eye." Gwendolen's affair with Dodge, their quarrel, his immediate
transfer of outward devotion to the shrine of Carmen Gil y Niestra,
and Gwendolen's irritability ever since the disagreement, were as
bill-boards to the mental gaze of Mrs. Stunt. Kindly injudicious Mrs.
Todd did not betray her daughter. There was no need for it. When
she wept above a "Hawk's Eye" paragraph that called her idol a "raw
Western heiress, who naturally cultivated her acquaintance with
ploughs and harrows," it was the part of Mrs. Stunt to comfort her.
That small lady, sitting near some more generous and less judicious
female friend, her eyes drooping tenderly over a "pinafore for Nan,"
or a knitted sock for "Baby Tom," absorbed scandal as a sponge
absorbs warm water.

Yet let us be just. Too much may have been ascribed to Mrs.
Stunt. Perhaps even without her thrifty and unfriendly zeal the
marriage of so great a lord as Haganè must inevitably have filled the
papers and overflowed in irresponsible wide tides of talk. Yet
scarcely without her would Pierre's hinted personality have been so
openly involved, his parentage stated, and his future course of
action philosophized about. The story in its parent "Hawk's Eye" was
given with a wealth of imaginative detail possible only to the born
"society reporter." In substance it was as follows: Miss Onda had
come from America with the Todds. With their approbation she had
been openly betrothed, in Washington, to a young Frenchman of
pleasing appearance and high connections. (Here a secret marriage,
twisted about an interrogation mark, found place.) When asked for
his blessing the Japanese father, hitherto unsuspicious of French
designs, fell into a fit, out of which three eminent physicians were
required to haul him. Yuki was forbidden to hold communication with
her lover. The next step was to adorn her in sacrificial and becoming
robes and offer her in marriage,—or anything else,—to a certain
powerful nobleman, whose third wife,—or was it really his sixth?—
had recently, by a fortuitous occurrence, been "returned." Touched
by the sorrow of his faithful knight, and influenced perhaps by the
lackadaisical beauty of the girl, the nobleman agreed to take her on
trial, even going through the form of a legal marriage, that the
aspirations of the French lover might be the more certainly
destroyed. Pierre, who read and brooded morbidly on these things,
was neither soothed nor ennobled thereby. But what of it? Mrs.
Stunt's four lanky daughters each had a new spring dress with hats
to match!
 Japanese of the better class, brushing aside like gnats these
stinging personalities, approved openly of the father's conduct and
of Yuki's swift acquiescence. It was the only thing conceivable. Their
only blame for Yuki was that she had listened to a foreigner without
first obtaining her father's approbation, an encouragement that
might now urge him to be troublesome. They felt indignant that the
rejected one should continue to repine for what a Japanese prince
had deigned to accept. Old samurai blood grew warm. The daughter
of Onda Tetsujo marry a Frenchman with a Russian mother! The
very gods held their Asiatic noses.

English and American men took, for the most part, the Japanese
view. Many Europeans, on the contrary, said openly that they hoped
Le Beau would yet "get even" with old Haganè for stealing his
sweetheart. With few exceptions, indeed, all women sympathized
with Pierre. Pierre was the beau ideal of a despairing lover. His
sensitive, beautiful face took on with ease the lines of sleepless grief.
His blue eyes, at a moment's warning, could darken from melancholy
to tragic anguish. He could sigh in such a manner that his quivering
listeners, should Donne happen to be familiar, might have quoted,
"When thou so sighest thou sighest not wind, thou sighest my soul
away." Pierre's sorrow was genuine enough, but he liked witnesses
to his grief. Needless to say that Mrs. Todd and her satellite Stunt
were among Pierre's most vociferous supporters. Gwendolen fought
many a battle for her school-friend, but the bitterest were pitched
under her own roof.

"Now, my very dear Miss Todd," expostulated the "Hawk's Eye,"

"do you not consider at all the misery of Monsheer Le Beau? Miss
Onda is to be a princess, happy, courted, with a position in the
highest circles. Life can offer her no more. On the other hand look at
the jilted lover. I never saw a face that expressed such patient grief.
When he turns to me those slow, beautiful blue eyes I'll declare I
feel as if I'd like to kill that girl for making him suffer."
 "Pooh!" said Gwendolen, rudely; "and when he slowly turns them
round to me I want to open my parasol and say 'Shoo!' thinking it a
cow. I like Pierre well enough. A good deal better than you, I think,
if the truth were known, but he is among men what Chopin is
among musicians. He enjoys his sufferings and makes music out of
them. Of course you wouldn't understand that." Rudely she wheeled
and walked away, Mrs. Stunt following with venomous eyes.

Gwendolen scarcely recognized herself during these days of trial.

She, the joyous one, the sun-maid, now wished to quarrel with the
whole world. Of course Dodge's defection, and the ridiculous
paragraphs appearing in "The Hawk's Eye," had nothing to do with
her nervous condition. The causes were obvious,—Yuki's hurried
marriage and Pierre's mischievous pose of despair.

Meanwhile the absurdities of gossip increased. Once, stung

beyond endurance, the girl threw herself into her father's arms.
"Dad, how shall I endure these spreading slanders about my friend?
Is there nothing we can do,—nobody to shoot, or challenge, or
anything like that?"

"Go fire at those sparrows on the lawn."

"Don't joke. I can't stand it. Oh, father, you don't know what
awful things they whisper. They stop when I come near, saying it is
because 'I'm not yet married.' Now just think of the pitchy subtlety
of that. Why should people talk so?"

Todd held her close. "My little girl," he began, "wherever lonely,
sour-hearted women—or men—congregate, there will the cancer-
growth of scandal spread. They are the disseminators of half our
domestic tragedies. It is a disease like other foul things,—cancer
itself, leprosy, diphtheria,—though not so fatal, for the thing they
tackle is a man's soul and character, immortal essences, never to be
truly tarnished but from within. As I figure it out, scandal is a good
deal like fungus. It may be planted anywhere, but it sticks and
thrives only where it finds a rotten spot."
 "Oh, you help me, dad,—you do help me. Of course these rumors
cannot hurt the white heart of my darling,—but she must not hear
them. One question more, daddy—"

Todd stopped her. "It is mail-morning, and that means a busy

one. You've had a sermon long enough for one day. Come to think of
it, why does Dodge get out of the way when you appear? What have
you been doing to my secretary?"

Gwendolen gave a small gasp and vanished. Todd looked after

her. "I thought that would send her flying." He turned to his desk.
His face was very tender. "Poor little one," he murmured, "she's up
against her first experiences all in a bunch. God help her! Things
hurt worse when we are young. But all will come right, with His
help. I know my child was made for happiness. She has the hall-
mark of it under her skin. But Yuki—poor little Yuki—!" He shook his
head, seated himself, and soon became lost in the voluminous
foreign mail.

Yuki, pale, white, and docile, moved like a determined ghost

through vistas of gray hours. In that quiet household came no hint
of scandal, and for Yuki's part, had she heard, she would not have
greatly cared. The first brief chapter of her life was gone, shut
down, like a book, and in its pages was the living flower of her love.
She did not suffer now. She felt a dull gladness that she was
inevitably committed to her duty. Temptation and further striving had
vanished from her days. Except for the sorrow of that dear one there
would be no regret. What anguish came personally, through remorse
for her broken faith, she would be glad to bear. She had, through
faithlessness, won the level of a higher faith. Let her wounds gape
and her heart's blood fall like rain! She wished to feel more sorrow
than she felt, but nothing came very clearly in these days of
preparation. More than once she thought, with a tiny pang of
apprehension, "If I have lost the power to feel pain, then are
sacrifice and duty alike robbed of their essential oil."

Now, in place of averted faces and blank eyes, those of the Onda
household fawned about her. Onda made grim overtures. The
giggling of Maru San ceased only with her slumber—that, too, was
audible—while old Suzumè, darting about the rooms like a gray
ferret, babbled out the many titles that her nursling soon would
wear, and made coarse jests and prophecies about the future.

Iriya alone moved in the silence of her daughter's spirit. The two
women grew very close, though no spoken word was used to show
it.

Wednesday, the marriage day, arrived softly. Yuki neither dreaded

nor welcomed it. She had not seen Prince Haganè since the night he
took her answer. Quite a number of her parents' relatives, some
from distant provinces, came in and gathered in the house to bid the
bride farewell, to throw, laughingly, the dried peas after her, to
sweep the abandoned dwelling to its farthest corner, and light a
bonfire at the gate when she passed through.

Yuki, in her white bridal robes and concealing veil of white silk,
thin in texture but stiffened in a way that brought it into angular
folds about her shoulders, stepped alone into a new jinrikisha.
Tetsujo and Iriya, in a double vehicle, followed. These three alone
went to Tabata, where they met a corresponding party of the same
small number, Prince Haganè, his nearest male relative, the old Duke
Shirota, and young Princess Sada-ko, the old duke's granddaughter.

Haganè was unmistakably preoccupied. His thoughts did not

attach themselves with ease to things or persons. He had an air of
relief when the short ceremony came to an end. Yuki now changed
her white robe for a dark-hued silk, superb in texture, the gift,
according to Japanese etiquette, of her husband. A hairdresser was
in readiness to change forever the wide loops of a girl's coiffure into
the more elaborate structure of a young matron. The Princess Sada-
ko fluttered near, talking prettily and congratulating herself on the
acquisition of a new relative. Yuki scarcely heard her. She felt almost
nothing. As the last touch came, the thrusting-in of a great tortoise-
shell pin, she shuddered very slightly, thinking of that ivory one
broken with Pierre Le Beau on the moonlit prow of a ship.

With a great clattering and stamping the Haganè coach of

ceremony drew up to the entrance-door. Magnificent gray horses in
new trappings snorted impatience to be off. Haganè stepped in
without a word to Yuki, who, at a nudge from the little princess,
meekly followed. The domestic retinue fell on its knees in the
doorway and along the pebbled drive. Haganè gave the order,
"Shimbashi," waved a hand abstractedly, and the equipage dashed
away.

The short railway journey was made practically in silence. Haganè

said once, as if by way of explanation, "Important and somewhat
alarming news has come by secret wire to-day. It is necessary for
me to ponder over it."

"Honorably do not concern your august mind with a person so

insignificant," said Yuki. Far from resenting his silence, the girl was
thankful to be left to herself. She watched the scenes outside with
eyes at first vague and unintelligent, but which soon gained a soft,
increasing brightness. Earth was waking from its long sleep. Yuki felt
what many of her own and other races have in such crises felt,—a
gratitude to nature that human grief is given no part in it. The grass
still is busy, small waxen blossoms lift the leaves of a fallen year, no
matter what men may suffer. In moments of keen personal
bereavement, when the soul is dazed and blinded by the wonder of
its agony, a certain resentment comes. Like the Ayrshire poet we cry,
"How can ye be so fresh and fair?" But such grief was not yet Yuki's.
Her emotion still partook more of bewilderment than loss. Pierre was
not dead. He might yet be happy, happier than with her. This
thought brought no personal sting. Hers was not a nature for
jealousy.
 Because of her marriage, through this stern, grave man who sat
beside her, she was to be given her opportunity for loyal service.
Mistrust of self, apprehensions that mocked and taunted her, a
certain shrinking from responsibilities so thickly heaped, rushed
inevitably to her mind. On the other hand she had for guidance his
great spirit of untarnished patriotism; she had vindicated to her
parents all filial obligation, and springtime peeped at her from
among the hills.

She saw that a thousand nameless, beloved little flowers traced

with bright enamelling the leaden dykes of fields. Seedling rice
brimmed with gold-green, small, separate pools. Straw-shod farmers
trampled, one by one, the rotting stubs of last year's crop into the
slime of fields to be new-planted. On low-thatched huts the old
leaves of the roof-lilies fed a springing growth. Everywhere decay
passed visibly into re-birth. So, thought little Yuki, "The very sorrow
I have endured shall feed my new resolves."

At the small Kamakura station jinrikishas were awaiting them,

accompanied by two persons, an old man and a comely woman of
the peasant class, whom Yuki rightly took for family servants. They
prostrated themselves upon the cement floor in an excess of
demonstration, whispering old-fashioned phrases of congratulation
and of welcome. Haganè came back for an instant to things around
him.

"These are my faithful servants, Bunshichi and his daughter. I do

not now recall her name," said he to Yuki, with his kind smile. "They
form our entire domestic retinue at Kamakura, for it is here that I
come only when in need of true repose and relaxation."

"Hai! hai! Danna-San," cried the servants in polite corroboration,

and began a new series of deep bows.

"Hai!" murmured Yuki, as if in echo of their subservience. The

woman, for an instant, met her young mistress's eyes. There was
something in the look of wonder, of great kindness, and then,—or so
it seemed to Yuki,—of compassion.

Haganè entered his kuruma and started off. Yuki and the two
servants followed. And so, on this fair March day, the little Princess
Haganè approached the first of her many new homes.
 CHAPTER TWENTY
The Haganè villa at Kamakura possessed its own green niche cut
deep into encroaching hills, its own curved scimitar of gray sea-
beach, its individual rocks, its blue ocean, and bluer sky. A fence of
dead bamboo branches, set up on end like fagots, barred out spying
curiosity. The house faced directly to the sand. On the three
remaining sides the hill-slopes made retreating walls. Upon them
grew spindling, wind-tossed pines and loops of wild white clematis
and of rose.

Through the big, fragrant rooms of the villa all day the sea-winds
passed, stirring the few kakemono, and making flowers in bronze
vases nod like those more securely rooted on the hills. No attempt
had been made at an ornamental garden, except for a few great,
gray stones spread with a lichen sparkling from its diet of salty dew,
three curious small pines, and spaces of white sand. The placing of
these trees and stones hinted of more organic beauty than all the
convolutions of the average Occidental millionnaire's park. It is only
fair to add that the millionnaire would not agree to this.

The first two hours after arrival were devoted by Prince Haganè to
the writing of telegrams and letters. These were sent off by
messengers as soon as finished. The statesman strode out alone to
the shore and walked there, his head bent in meditation, until
telegraphic answers began to arrive. These apparently bore
reassuring news. He sought out Yuki, his sleeves quite stiff with
crumpled missives, and told her that already he had arranged his
affairs so that he could have two days to belong to himself alone.
"Unless some unforeseen matter of gravest importance should
transpire," he added, "I shall not be disturbed. I shall give orders to
Bunshichi to bring me no letters that do not bear the Imperial seal.
And now, my child," here he seated himself near her, "I may be
permitted to recall the fact that I have a wife."

For two days Yuki was seldom out of his sight. The shrinking,
delicate, humble, exquisite thing, now so entirely his own, fed his
stern eyes and heart with ever-deepening satisfaction. Her pallor, her
reticence, even the strained smile which she sometimes turned to
meet his words, were all as best he liked to have them. An arrogant,
self-assertive bride is, to the Japanese, an inhuman monster.

On the third morning Bunshichi brought him with his breakfast

the accumulated mail of the two days. At sight of the great heap he
sent a quizzical glance to Yuki. "It appears, small sweet one," he
remarked, "that I am to have no more hours of happy indolence."

Before the first ten were read Yuki knew herself forgotten. Her
bruised soul stirred within her like a wounded thing recalled to
animation. She started violently at his next loud words. "I take the
earliest train to Tokio. Have my kuruma waiting." His voice was that
of a master, not a lover.

Yuki rose swiftly. At the kitchen-step she paused, threw back her
head, and took in a few long, long breaths. The servants below
waited, open-mouthed, for her orders. Meta's kind voice recalled her.

"What do you wish, August Mistress?"

"Oh, yes, Meta—I was thinking—I forgot. The master takes the
next train to Tokio. When does that train start?"

Meta's eye consulted the Waterbury clock. "In twenty minutes,

Mistress. Perhaps the Illustrious One will not wish to hasten so
swiftly."

"Yes, yes, he desires to go at once. Go quickly, Bunshichi, call a

kuruma with two runners. Our master is a heavy man."
 Her commission filled, Yuki returned slowly to the room where her
husband still sat reading letters. On the way a thought smote her.
"Your Highness, the train in twenty minutes honorably departs. Your
kuruma will be in readiness. Was it your august intention that I
should accompany you?"

Haganè looked up at her in a sort of half-recognition.

"You? Accompany? No, of course not. I would not have the time
to give you. In a few days more, perhaps. Put those scattered letters
and papers into a leathern portfolio. Bunshichi will know what else I
need. How fortunate that a train goes so soon!"

Between this and the starting moment he had for her neither look
nor word. Just as he stepped, however, into the vehicle, he turned
as with sudden, loving remembrance, and leaning far down to her
said, "These days have been as the heavenly island of Horai set in a
sea of raging politics. You are a docile and obedient wife. So shall I
inform your father."

When he had really gone, and even the heavy clink of jinrikisha
wheels on sand was no longer audible, Yuki lifted her head, brushed
back the low fall of hair from her forehead, stared at the quiet sea
for a moment, and then turned and walked back slowly into the
house. For a few moments she wavered, pausing now, now walking
swiftly, now looking about as for something she had lost. In such
broken, indeterminate angles of advance she reached a little
chamber quite remote from the rest, a closet darkened by nearness
of a rising cliff. Here she stopped short. A physical shudder ran
through the length of her. She moaned, bit her lips back into silence,
pressed suddenly white hands upon her vacant eyes, and then,
failing all at once, fell to the matting, and lay, face down, along its
pallid surface. At last—at last—for a few hours at least this tortured
smile, this self-inflicted strain could be shaken off and she, like a
driven beast of burden, could lie still, to die, to moan, or slowly to
gather back what remained of endurance. Her thoughts buzzed
confusedly like a great swarm of bees whose nest has been taken.

Through the sweet spring day she lay prone, inanimate, stirring
only at a passing sting of consciousness. "My country—my Emperor!"
once she moaned aloud. "O Kwannon the Merciful! O my Christian
God!—must I live, can I endure it? Already I am cowed and broken.
Shall I ever again look a flower in the face?"

More than once the kind-hearted maid-servant knelt beside her,

urging food and drink, or a walk into the reviving air. Yuki seemed
not to hear. After one such unsuccessful excursion, Meta returned to
the kitchen, shaking her head. "They have married that beautiful
young maiden to our august yet somewhat ancient master, and her
heart's love dies within her for another. Oh, I know well enough!"
she cried, with a touch of defiance, as her father lifted bleared,
protesting eyes; "so was I bartered to the wicked man who beat me
and drove me forth. I may be of low estate, but I know a woman's
heart."

"Then you know the seat of folly," grumbled the old man. "When
your husband drove you out, I suppose he had reason; I received
you, didn't I?—I allow you still to call me father—"

"Yes, and do all your work and mine too for it," muttered the
woman.

"As for our young mistress," went on the old man, ignoring this
last impertinence, "all know her for the most fortunate young
woman in this empire and, therefore, in the world. Is she not
lawfully married to the richest and most powerful of lords, to Prince
Haganè?"

Meta seated herself on a low bench and began to clean the fish
for dinner. "Yes, father," she answered at length, "and this newly
snared fish whose honorable insides I am preparing to remove is to
be eaten by that same rich and powerful lord. Does that make the
knife in its belly less sharp?"

The round sun was bisected by a western hill-top pine when Meta
knelt again beside her mistress. "August Lady, you must listen. A
telegram has arrived."

Yuki sat up instantly. She had begun to tremble. Her hair, now
disordered, fell about an ashen face. "Has my master come?" she
cried, a wild look flashing into her eyes, but lapsing almost
immediately into dulness. She put up both hands and spread wide
the night-black wings of her hair. Meta drew down one little hand
and thrust the telegram between its fingers. "Oh, a telegram," said
Yuki, embarrassed.

"Why did you not mention—perhaps Lord Haganè will not come
back to-night." She read the few words carefully. Again that faint,
sickening throb of relief passed over her. She lifted her head and
met the woman's eyes as she said, trying to seem calm and
unconcerned, "It is true,—our master cannot come to-night. He bids
me remain until further message."

Meta bowed. "Condescend to receive my condolence, noble

Mistress. You will be honorably lonely, I fear. But such is always the
fate of one married to a great statesman like our lord."

"Yes," said Yuki, eagerly, "and, Meta, I wish last of all things to
become an obstacle in his illustrious path."

"Mistress," said the servant, in her honest way, with a smile like
sunshine dawning upon the broad, fresh-colored face, "all day you
have eaten nothing. May I not prepare a little meal to tempt your
appetite?"

"You are kind to me, Meta," said the young wife. She put a hand
out to the servant's arm. For some reason known only to women,
the eyes of both flooded with tears.
 "Yes," said Yuki, her own smile dawning, "prepare me the little
dinner. I will try very hard to eat. Indeed I think even now I am
becoming quite ravenous!"

Meta, laughing outright, hurried back to the kitchen. She was a

good cook, and she knew it. In this same villa-kitchen she had
served marvellous dishes to prime ministers and princes, but never
before had she worked with a heart so full of love and tender
compassion. Never was a meal more daintily served. Slices of tai
from the salt waves, embellished with grated daikon and small
foreign radishes; lily-bulbs dug from the hills around them and boiled
with sugar and wine into balls of crumbling sweetness; lotos roots
from the temple pond, sliced thin and served with vinegar, ginger-
root and shoyu, salad of yellow chrysanthemums, pickles of coleus,
cucumber and egg-plant, the whitest of rice, and tea picked but the
week before by the dew-wet hands of little maids at Uji. Yuki was
literally betrayed into enjoyment. As she ate, Meta and the old man
peeped in at her through the shoji, nudging each other joyously at
each new mouthful.

Later in the evening, when lamps were lighted, and the shoji all
drawn close, the two servants, with that delicate familiarity, that
respectful presumption of which they have made an art, found
pretext to enter. At first there was but the usual salutation, and the
expressions of gratitude that she had condescended to partake of
such badly prepared food. One question led to another. In a few
moments the three were chatting and laughing like schoolgirls, the
old man bearing, in his double superiorities of age and sex, the
greater share of the conversation. Yuki soon found that he had a
single theme,—the perfections of Prince Haganè. More from
kindness of heart than interest, she encouraged him in these
reminiscences; but in a very short time she was listening as
Desdemona to her Moor. The tales indeed were marvellous. Once, at
the age of six, or so said Bunshichi, the little Sanètomo had gone at
night alone to a distant graveyard to bring home, as proof of his
courage, the severed head of a criminal that day executed. At eight
he had slain with his own hand a monstrous mountain-cat, terror of
a cringing village. But the story which most impressed the listener
was that of a poor leper, a beggar already eaten away beyond hope
of relief, who, having asked alms by the roadway, was questioned,
the young prince fixing thoughtful eyes upon him, "You ask for
money to buy food, is that the best gift I could offer you?"

"Nay, Master," answered the thing who once was man, "there is a
better."

"Name it," said Haganè.

"Death," sobbed the beggar.

"So think I," cried the boy, and, without further speech, sent his
short sword to the leper's heart.

Meta always shuddered at this tale; but Yuki raised her head with
so still and white a look that the old man felt uneasy, and began to
explain at length. "It was really the best gift, Mistress, and after it
our princeling had him buried, and many, many prayers said for the
rest of his soul. He even caused search to be made for his family."

"Do you think I wish excuse for it?" said Yuki, with her strange
smile. "I know not which most I envy, the beggar or Prince Haganè."

The next day, fair and sweet and practically windless, except in
gusts of "pine-wind" from the shore, deepened the balm of her
preceding hours. Wild pinks sprang up like a fairy people on the hills.
Crows perched and chattered in the garden pines. Little red crabs
came out, and all day long drew marvellous maps upon the sand;
and the swinging censers of hillside roses burned a little timid
incense to the sun. All the forenoon Yuki busied herself about the
house. A long letter was written to Iriya filled with descriptions of
the day. Frequent excursions to the kitchen kept Meta and old
Bunshichi in a condition of expectant smiles. In the afternoon a
sudden thought came, bearing to the girl's mind a hint of wonder at
her own insensibility. "Why, the Great Buddha is here, not a mile
away from me, and not once have I remembered. I will go to him!"

Meta heard the stirring, and peeped. "Our mistress goes for a
walk," she told her father. "Even now she lifts her adzuma-coat. I
will get her geta (clogs). Nothing could be better for her than a walk.
It is the good food that gives her strength."

"These young things beat their wings like the cliff-birds when the
cage first snaps, but soon they come to reason and docility,"
chuckled the old man over his pipe.

"I go to the Great Buddha, Meta San," said Yuki.

"Will you not take an umbrella—not even a foreign bat-umbrella—

to protect your illustrious head?"

"On these short days the sun sinks very early. See, already he
becomes entangled, like a boy's red kite, in the branches of those
tall hill pines. I need no covering."

"Should the august master deign to arrive before your divine

reappearance—" suggested Meta, with deference and a deep bow.

Yuki's face changed utterly. "I—I—did not think of him," she

stammered. "I will not be long absent, and, Meta, should he come,
send quickly a runner and a kuruma for me. Do you think he will be
angry, Meta, that I went?"

"Nay, little Mistress, he would wish it. There is no kinder man alive
than Prince Haganè."

"I suppose he must be very kind," murmured Yuki, and went with
downcast looks into the street. The sense of childish anticipation, of
vivid expectancy were gone. Meta, in her effort to be dutiful, had
clamped more tightly the manacles her mistress had just begun to
endure. Why should she wish to go? What matter that the Buddha
waited? It was not for her; she could but drag before it Haganè's
obedient wife, a cowed white ghost of duty. She moved forward
mechanically. Her head sank still further forward, as if the great
black orchid of her hair grew heavier. At every step the lacquered
bars of her high clogs went deep into sand, so that it was
increasingly hard to walk. A group of children, passing, looked up
into the pretty lady's face for a smile, then hurried by in a small
panic of fear. It is a strange woman who does not smile at children
in Japan.

Now she crossed at right angles the one street of the village, a
rough and stony thoroughfare lined with opened booths. The street
terminates abruptly at the foot of a hill whereon stands an ancient
and famous temple of Kwannon the Merciful. Within a hundred yards
of this hill an abrupt turn to the right leads into a country of
unfenced fields of egg-plant, peanuts, and sweet potatoes; then
comes another bit of hard paved road, and then the towering Red
Gate of the temple grounds of Buddha.

Yuki had noted dully that in little gardens the cherry trees, always
earlier here than in Tokio, were fashioning their annual robes of
pink. The wind from the sea, now rising, threw petals out into the air
before her. She watched the fluttering signals eagerly, but for some
morbid reason would not lift her eyes to the tree. She had but one
thought now,—a hunger for the Buddha's face. She longed to test
herself, to find whether, in the gap between the Christian Yuki and
the Princess Haganè, a shred of herself still clung. This shred, it
must be, that the Buddha would smile upon.

Through the gate she stumbled, her gaze still on the ground. The
wide stone pathway stretched soft and pink with fallen bloom. A
breeze, entering with her, swept the surface in a mass, as though
some one twitched the far end of a long pink rug. Petals filled the
air. They came now in a small hurricane, fretting her cheeks with
ghostly fingers, burrowing softly in her collar, catching and clinging
to the long folds of her robe. A sob stretched in her throat and hurt
her. She would not raise her eyes. She reached the two long granite
steps leading up to the inner court of the Buddha. Here petals were
banked in rosy drifts. She could see the bases of stone lanterns
standing before the shrine. An invisible hand seemed pressing on
her shoulder.

"Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu!" sobbed her lost

childhood through her trembling lips.

An old priest, old beyond the telling, with a face as of wrinkled

silver, glided out from among the flower-laden trees. "You are in
great grief, my child?"

"Yes, reverend sir, in great grief; and it is of that kind which, to a

stronger heart, might not be called a grief."

"I know; that is a kind hard to endure, but its triumph gives
greatest enlightenment. Look to the face of Buddha, and pray for his
endurance."

"Pitying sir," sobbed the girl, "I have become, while in the foreign
land, a Christian."

The smile on the old priest's face did not alter. "All new religions
are but forms of the old. Buddha will not pity thee less that thou
dost call him 'Ye-sus,' for He, too, was a Buddha, even as you and I,
daughter, even you and I, through long striving, may become."

"I will dare, then, raise my eyes to him," answered the girl. The
old man stood very close to her, and as he saw the white face lift,
joined his hands and whispered, "Namu Amida Butsu!" A moment
later he was gone. Petals eddied and settled where he had stood.

At first the young wife felt little emotion of any sort. She gazed
steadily into the marvellous, calm face with a glint of gold under the
half-closed lids and in the jewel on the forehead. As she looked, it
grew to be a thing not smoothed and fashioned by human hands,
but by the eyes and hearts of worshippers,—the apotheosis, the
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