November 24th, 1901.


Clear sailing once more, Mate! In my last, I remember, I was blowing
the fog horn pretty persistently.

The letters from home set me straight again. If ever a human being was
blessed with a good family and good friends it is my unworthy self!
The past week has been unusually exciting. First we had a wedding on
hand. The bride is a girl who has been educated in the school, so of
course we were all interested. Some time ago, the middle-man, who does
all the arranging, came to her father and said a young teacher in the
Government school desired his daughter in marriage. The father
without consulting the girl investigated the suitor's standing, and
finding it satisfactory, said yea. So little Otoya was told that she
was going to be married, and the groom elect was invited to call.

I was on tiptoe with curiosity to see what would happen, but the
meeting took place behind closed doors. Otoya told me afterwards that
she had never seen the young man until he entered the room, but they
both bowed three times, then she served tea while her mother and
father talked to him. "Didn't you talk to him at all?" I asked. She
looked horrified. "No, that would have been most immodest!" she
said. "But you peeped at him," I insisted. She shook her head, "That
would have been disgrace." Now that was three months ago and she
hadn't seen him until Monday when they were married.

At our suggestion they decided to have an American wedding and I was