126 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
a quarter to ten next morning, “ my parents will be 
all absence ” pulling much harder than the court of 
inquiry, and, risking the wrath of ELM. Consul, took 
the opposite road to that leading to the Consulate. 
I arrived at the house sharp on time. It stood in 
a large garden surrounded by a high fence. It was 
lovely and lonely. My friend came smiling to meet 
me. I took off my shoes, and was ushered into a 
matted room, where, although “ my parents were 
all absence,” my grandparents were not, and I was 
introduced to “ my grandmother.” My temperature 
fell several degrees. Then my lady came to the 
business of the meeting : she wanted a loan of a 
thousand yen. The mercury fell to freezing-point, 
on which I suddenly remembered I had an important 
engagement at the Consulate, and, excusing myself 
with the promise to see her later, I rushed off there. 
On arrival, I found the proceedings had already 
commenced. H.M. Consul looked severely at me 
over his spectacles, as he said : “ So you have arrived 
at last. I suppose we must now begin all over 
again.” I made profuse apologies, assuring him 
that I had not been able to come earlier, owing to 
some pressing financial business that had cropped 
up. The lady did not get the thousand yen. I did 
not possess so much. After this our relations, some¬ 
how, were not nearly so cordial as they had previ¬ 
ously been. 
The young lady married a year or so afterwards, 
and if she is still alive must be a woman of nearly 
fifty. She is not at all likely to see this, so will not 
feel hurt at my “ giving her away ” as I have done. 
The winter passed pleasantly. About the middle 
of January (1877) the Mitsubishi Steamship Com- 
