“Oh, they are a group of fanatical young persons opposed to foreigners.  Most of them are descendants of the samurai.  They believe in old Japan.  They talk the wildest kind of nonsense, and while their beliefs are opposed to progress, they represent in Japan what the Nihilists represent in Russia and the Anarchists and such people in other countries.  They will outgrow it in time.  Some of the finest men in Japan once belonged to these clubs of soshi, as they are called.  In another generation there will be very few of them left.  In the meantime they are quite dangerous occasionally.  About fifty years ago a band of them attacked the English Legation at Takanawa and there was a fierce fight.  But I feel perfectly sure that they wouldn’t attack people now.  Only motor cars and the like.”

“That would have been bad enough,” remarked Billie, patting the wheel of the “Comet.”

Mme. Fontaine smiled pleasantly.

“After the great excitement may I not have the pleasure of offering you a reviving cup of tea at my house?  It would make me very happy.”

Miss Campbell would have much preferred to go straight home, but to decline the invitation would have seemed ungracious and she accepted promptly.

Along the broad streets of Tokyo, under out-stretched boughs heavy with blossoms, they rolled, and at last Billie paused as directed at a gate in a wall behind which was a charming little house, set in the usual beautiful garden.

If Mme. Fontaine was fascinating and elegant, so also was her home.  The drawing-room, which seemed to occupy most of the second floor, was furnished in European fashion with deep chairs and couches, Oriental rugs and rich hangings.  There was a grand piano near the windows, and on the walls were the rarest and most beautiful Japanese prints.  It was a blending of the East and West and was one of the most artistic and delightful apartments the girls had ever seen.  In the dim shadowy confines they caught glimpses of teakwood cabinets in which were carved ivories and pieces of fine porcelain.  The girls would have liked well to linger another hour among all these interesting and strange objects, but Miss Campbell, for some reason, was in her most conventional mood.  While her manner toward Mme. Fontaine left nothing to be desired and she was graciousness personified, she cut the call to twenty-five minutes by the French clock on the mantel, and then go she would.  As they were leaving Mary noticed on a table near the door two splendid swords, one very large and heavy and one with a double-edged blade of much smaller size.

“Oh, are these the swords of a samurai warrior?” she demanded, with excited interest.

“Yes,” answered Mme. Fontaine.  “They belonged to my great grandfather.”

Not until they were back in the “Comet” and well on the way home did they realize the meaning of her words.

“Then,” exclaimed Nancy, “she is half Japanese.”