not very pretty: one of her eyes is smaller than the other, and she
has a hole in her cheek, resulting from an illness of her childhood."

[Footnote A: A yen is equal to four shillings.]

"Oh no! on no account that one! Let us seek amongst a less
distinguished class of young persons, but without scars. And how about
those on the other side of the screen, in those fine gold-embroidered
dresses? For instance, the dancer with the specter mask, M. Kangourou?
or again she who sings in so dulcet a strain and has such a charming
nape to her neck?"

He does not, at first, understand my drift; then when he gathers my
meaning, he shakes his head almost in a joking way, and says:

"No, sir, no! Those are only _Guéchas_,[B] sir--_Guéchas!_"

[Footnote B: _Guéchas_ are professional dancers and singers trained at
the Yeddo Conservatory.]

"Well, but why not a _Guécha_? What odds can it be to me, whether they
are _Guéchas_ or not?" Later on, no doubt, when I understand Japanese
affairs better, I shall appreciate myself the enormity of my proposal:
one would really suppose I had talked of marrying the devil.

At this point M. Kangourou suddenly calls to mind one Mdlle. Jasmin.
Heavens! how was it he did not think of her at once; she is absolutely
and exactly what I want; he will go to-morrow or this very evening, to
make the necessary overtures to the parents of this young person who
live a long way off, on the opposite hill, in the suburb of