[Illustration:  {Children at play}]

12.  Sometimes they put glass on the strings of their kites, and with it try to cut the strings of other boys’ kites.  They are very clever at this game, and there is great laughter when a string is cut.

13.  In the house, during the day, girls like to blow soap bubbles.  At dusk they are fond of hunting fire-flies, and driving them to and fro with fans.

14.  In the summer they catch grasshoppers, and keep them in small bamboo cages.  They say that the chirping of the grasshoppers brings them good luck.

15.  All Japs are polite—­even boys.  When a boy goes to the house of a friend he squats on his heels.  Then he places his hands on the floor, and bows until his forehead touches his toes.  This he does again and again, and all the time he speaks very politely.

[Illustration:  {Boys bowing}]

16.  Jap children are taught to be very kind and helpful to their elders, and to the poor and the weak.  Yesterday I saw a little girl run from her mother to take the hand of a blind man and lead him across the street.

17.  Now, my dears, I must end this letter.  To-morrow I start on my homeward way.  I shall sail across the ocean to the great land of America.  I hope you are all well, good, and happy.  Your loving father.

* * * * *

24.  A letter from Canada.

1.  My dear children,—­Look at the globe in my room and find Japan.  Then find America.  You will see that a broad ocean lies between them.  It is called the Pacific Ocean.  I have crossed this ocean, and I am now in the great country of Canada.

2.  I am sure that you cannot guess where I am writing this letter.  I am writing it in the train.  I have already been three days in the train, and I am only half-way across Canada.

3.  I am glad to say that I am once more under the Union Jack.  The whole land of Canada is British, from sea to sea.  Our flag floats above every city.

4.  The first part of my journey pleased me most.  The train ran through a beautiful country, filled with splendid trees.  Some of them are as high as a church tower, and have trunks many yards round.  There are no finer trees in all the world.

5.  Later in the day our train ran by the side of a rushing river, which was deep down in a narrow valley between the mountains.

6.  In this river there are millions of salmon.  I saw men catching them.  You will see tins of salmon from this river in most of the grocers’ shops at home.

7.  As the train ran on, the mountains rose higher and higher, until their tops were covered with snow.  We then began to cross the great Rocky Mountains.  Up and up the train climbed, until the rails reached their highest point.

[Illustration:  {The Rocky Mountains}]

8.  Then we began to descend.  We ran through dark clefts in the rocks, along the edges of steep cliffs, across rivers, and by the side of lakes.  High above us were the snowy mountain tops.  It was all very grand and very beautiful.