.    I  will  not  £o  home  like  this."

As  she  stood  beside  h'm  the  door  opened,  and
she  tur~ed  with  a  stait  of  surprise,  for  it  was
neither  th?  doctor  nor  the  nurse  who  entered.
CHAFFER   XXXI
"21  it  oft  uuin'0


A  fat  old  gentleman,  in  a  spo'.ted  woollen  cloak,
;i  ivancod  leisurely.  Less  practised  than  Mi-
tsue  in  the  gentle  art  of  deceiving,  his  face  at  once
should  the  anger  he  felt  at  finding  her  here ;  she
on  the  other  hand  betraye.l  no  sign  of  confusion —
her  smile  and  bo  v  wore  charming.  "  How  do  yo  i
do?  You  are  welcome!  Will  you  sit  do.vn?"

"  Hum  !  Thank  you  for  visiting  him  so  often."
gro'.vled  the  old  man  sarcastically  ;  and  turning  to
Kwanichi  :

"How  are  you?  Very  happy  !o  have  such
lo.-ely  victors  I  should  think!"

Hot'i  Kwanichi  and  Mitsuc  felt  extremely  un-
cou/ortablj,  and  th-  former  racked  his  weary
brain  Low  to  explain,  or  make  an  end  to  the
hateful  situation.
Tadayuki  snvled.  He  felt  he  had  the  best  of
it.  He  had  caught  them  both  and  spoiled  their
pleasant  tete-a-tete,  and  he  was  not  going  to  let
them  off  easily.
''Ilo-ho!"  he  laughed    softly    an  1    turned    1o
M  ts  ie,  who,  not  at  all  abashed,  had  seated  herself
[276-]


9(n  oia  man'*  Kfttmr.
by   the   s  nail   fire-box,   an  !   was  holding  her  little
white   hand  over  the  glowing  charcoal.
1  Yo:i  are  veiy  kind  to  put  yourself  out  iike
this,  when  I  am  sure  you  must  be  busy  at  horn  :.
