know. One can never tell. But what I did just now any other person who
spoke both languages would have been glad to do."

The end of the episode was that Mme. Fontaine waited with Miss Campbell
and the three girls, while Billie, in the center of a curious circle of
onlookers and with the help of Komatsu, put on a new tire.

"Are you in a 'riksha?" asked Miss Campbell of their deliverer. "We would
be glad if you would let us take you back to Tokyo in the car. My young
cousin is a careful and experienced chauffeur. This is the only accident
of the sort we have ever had and I think it was entirely the fault of the
child."

"Oh, I am not in the least timid in motor cars and I accept with
pleasure," answered Mme. Fontaine quickly.

Some twenty minutes later, with Komatsu running ahead to clear the road,
the "Comet" threaded his way at a snail's pace along the Arakawa Ridge.
No doubt his mechanical organism, which Billie had endowed with a soul,
heaved a sigh of relief when they took the road home.

"Who were the young men with the knives and sword canes, Mme. Fontaine?"
asked Mary on the way back.

"Oh, they are a group of fanatical young persons opposed to foreigners.
Most of them are descendants of the samurai. They believe in old Japan.
They talk the wildest kind of nonsense, and while their beliefs are
opposed to progress, they represent in Japan what the Nihilists represent
in Russia and the Anarchists and such people in other countries. They
will outgrow it in time. Some of the finest men in Japan once belonged to