“let us go outside. see, many of the citizens stand on the roofs of the cars. we can see nothing from here.”
thus coaxed ohano. with gonji’s parents she was traveling, their train running parallel with another crowded with the departing troops. the trains moved slowly, for all the country had come to see the departing ones and to acclaim them with loud banzais.
lady saito’s hard features were unrecognizable because of their swollen and agonized appearance. she allowed the younger woman to support her and finally draw her outside. the people made way respectfully for them. every one knew their history—knew, moreover, of the sacrifice they were making in giving up the only son, and of how generously they had contributed to the war fund. here were the brave, patriotic father and mother! here the young and beautiful wife.
ohano’s round cheeks were pink with excitement. she had forgotten, for the time being at least, her last interview with her husband. the excitement of the situation, the murmured admiration and respect of those about her, upheld her. there was almost an element of enjoyment mingled with her excitement, as her eyes wandered eagerly over the crowds.
the train bearing the troops moved a bit swifter along its course, and the fourth car came opposite to that on the platform of which stood the saito family.
“there he is! there he is!” cried ohano, excitedly; and she leaned far out, restrained by the solicitous hand of her father-in-law, and, waving her silk handkerchief, called to her husband by name:
“gonji! gonji! my lord gonji!”
“my son!” moaned the aged woman, unable longer to restrain her feelings.
stoically, and with no sign of the ache within her, she had parted from her son. japanese women send their men on perilous journeys with smiles upon their lips, even while their hearts are breaking; but now, as the mother saw the train carrying away the only child the gods had given her, the tension broke. she clung moaning to her husband and her daughter-in-law.
for the first time, as she saw the thin profile of the young man in the window of the car opposite, she was seized with an overwhelming sense of remorse. what happiness had she ever helped to bring into the life of her boy? she had put him from her after the manner of a spartan woman while he was yet in tender years. she had done this fiercely, heroically as she believed, fearing that otherwise she might not sufficiently do her duty to both him and the ancestors. but now—now! he was going from her forever! she had given him to the emperor! soon her terrible prayer that he might give his young life in service for his emperor and country might indeed be answered.
she felt very old, very feeble, and utterly forsaken and forlorn. even as she looked through tear-blinded eyes at her son there came vividly before her memory the pale and tragic face of the young and outcast wife he had loved so passionately. she burst into a loud cry, stretching out her arms frantically:
“oh, my son! oh, my son!”
in the opposite train gonji raised his head, saw his people, but, possibly because of the crowds and the intervening glass pane, did not notice their intense anguish. he smiled, bowed, and made a slight motion of salute with his hand.
his mother was silenced, and remained staring at him like one turned to stone. ohano’s face fell, and she stood like a pouting child unjustly punished. he had not even risen in his seat nor so much as opened the window.
both trains had now come to a standstill at the little suburban station. crowds of people swarmed over the platform, some even climbing the steps of the troop-train and penetrating into the cars themselves. a band began to beat out the monotonous droning music of the national hymn. windows were raised, caps lifted, and cheering ensued for a time. but still the lord gonji remained unmoved, not rousing from the moody reverie into which he seemed plunged, and casting not even a glance in the direction of the party that watched him so eagerly from across the way: so oblivious and indifferent to his surroundings did he seem.
suddenly an officer in the seat behind him leaned over and spoke to him. his family saw gonji start as if he had been struck. turning about quickly in his seat, he tore at the fastenings of the window. now he leaned far out, his ears strained, his eyes searching above the vast crowds without.
they watched him curiously, following his gaze. his lips moved; he seemed about to leap from the window, but was held back by the restraining hand of his brother-officer, and the train began to move rapidly.
a hush had fallen not alone upon the family of the saito, but on the throngs pressing on all sides. as if compelled, their united gaze followed that of the seemingly entranced gonji.
upon a little hillock a short space removed from the station, one lone figure stood out, silhouetted against the clear blue sky. her kimono was of a vermilion color, embroidered with dragons of gold. gold, too, was her obi, and in the bright sunlight her scarlet fan and the poppies in her hair flashed like sparks of fire.
to the crowds in the valley below, surging like a swarm of sheep all along the railway-tracks, following the troop-trains, their hoarse cheers mingling with that of the beating drums and the chanting of the national hymn, she seemed a symbol of triumph, an exquisite omen of victory to come!
some one shouted her name aloud:
“the glorious spider of the house of slender pines!”
“nay,” cried another, “it is the vision of the sun lady herself!”
the soldiers, too, saw her, and began to cheer, their wild banzais ringing out triumphantly and reaching the geisha on the hill.
