The Days of a Man 



sions, however, we had only ourselves to blame, 

 having left open a certain section of the house-wall 

 for purposes of ventilation. But our American par- 

 tiality for fresh air was most disturbing to the town 

 watchman, and at four in the morning sleep was 

 broken by a loud, prolonged clatter of his fiendish 

 wooden device. If anything went wrong, he did not 

 intend to be held responsible! 



While preparing to leave after breakfast, my wife 

 not understanding the inviolability of Japanese 

 dinner sets asked if she might purchase one of the 

 charming lacquer dishes from which we had eaten the 

 night before, to be treasured as a memento of a 

 delightful experience. Her request was received with 

 some perturbation. The service, it appeared, con- 

 sisted of twenty complete individual sets. To break 

 Lord li's one was to spoil all. But if Madame cared for it, a 

 beautiful old service in Nara red which had belonged 



t T * * * ^^ 



service 



to the Lord li could be had for a moderate sum. Mrs. 

 Jordan hesitated to take so fine a treasure from its 

 historic setting, but as Dr. Kuma assured her that the 

 landlord could not afford to keep it and had decided 

 to sell at the first opportunity, we accepted the offer 

 with enthusiasm. To the purchase was then gener- 

 ously added a couple of small blue and white covered 

 dishes said to be at least 150 years old. 



On our way northward from Hikone, I stopped for 

 a moment at the junction station of Maibara to meet 

 Hamilton Holt, my colleague in the World Peace 

 Foundation, then recently arrived in Japan on a 

 similar mission of good will. Reaching Yokohama 

 Yokohama toward evening, we were met by the local branch of 

 Boy Scouts, who had asked the privilege of escorting 

 us from the station. After a studied welcome in 



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