through the covering of snow and cheered the beauty-loving people to
much silent endurance. The plum tree was almost an object of worship in
this part of the Empire. It stood for bravery and loyalty in the face of
disaster, but as one tottering old woman put it, as she went down on her
knees begging food for her grandbabies, "The Ume Ke makes me suffer
great shame for my weakness. It gives joy to weary eyes, courage to
fainting heart, but no food for babies." In the outlying districts many
children on their way to school fainted for want of food; hospitals were
full of the half-starved; police stations were crowded with the
desperate; and temples were packed with petitioners beseeching the gods.

It was near the holidays. My pupil teachers and helpers worked extra
hours and pinched from their scant savings that those they could reach
might not have a hungry Christmas. They put together the price of their
gifts to each other and bought rice. In gay little groups they went from
door to door and gathered up twenty feeble old women, brought them to my
house and feasted them to the utmost.

Hardly a day passed without some new and unusual demand, until learning
to stand up and sit down at the same time was almost a necessity.

Had my own life lacked absorbing interest, Jane Gray's activities would
have furnished an inexhaustible supply. As she grew stronger and could
come and go at her pleasure, her unexpectedness upset my systematic
household to the point of confusion. She supplied untold excitement to
Pine Tree and Maple Leaf, the two serving maids earning an education by
service, and drove old Ishi the gardener to tearful protest. "Miss
Jaygray dangerful girl. She boldly confisteal a dimension of flower
house and request strange demons to roost on premises."