Captain June Read online

  CHAPTER II

  "SEKI SAN, look at the old woman with black teeth! What made them black?What have the little girls got flowers in their hair for? What are theyringing the bell for?"

  Seki San sitting on her heels at the car window tried to answer allJune's questions at once. The sad parting was over. Mrs. Royston hadleft in the night on the steamer they had crossed in, and the Captainand the Purser and all the passengers were going to take care of heruntil she got to Hong Kong, and after that it was only a short way toManila, and once she was with Father, June felt that his responsibilityceased.

  When they first boarded the train, June had sat very quiet. If you winkfast and swallow all the time, you can keep the tears back, but it doesnot make you feel any better inside.

  "If God has got to take somebody," June said at length gloomily, "Ithink He might take one of my grandmothers. I have got four but one ofthem is an old maid."

  "Oh no," said Seki, "she isn't."

  "She _is_," persisted June, "she keeps every thing put away in littleboxes and won't let me play with them. Seki, do you guess God would jes'as lieve for me to have a horn as a harp when I go to Heaven? I want apresser horn like they have in the band."

  "But you will not go for many long times!" cried Seki, catching his handas if he were about to slip away. "Look out of the window. See! They aregiving the cow a bath!"

  In a field nearby an old man and woman were scrubbing a patient-lookingcow, and when the creature pulled its head away and cried because it didnot want to get its face washed, June laughed with glee. After all, onecould not be unhappy very long when every minute something funny orinteresting was happening. At every station a crowd of curious facesgathered about the car window eager to catch a glimpse of the littleforeign boy, and June, always ready to make friends, smiled at them andbobbed his head, which made the boys and girls look at each other andlaugh.

  "We bow with our whole self, so," Seki explained, putting her hands onher knees and bending her body very low, "and we never shake with thehands nor kiss together!"

  "Don't the mothers ever kiss the children good-night?" asked Juneincredulously.

  "Oh! no," said Seki, "we bow."

  While June was thinking about this strange state of affairs, a man cameclose under the window, carrying a tray and calling: "_Bento! EoBento!_"

  Seki San took some money from a little purse which she carried in herlong sleeve, and handing it out to the man, received two square woodenboxes and a fat little tea-pot with a cup over its head like a cap.

  The Tea-Party on the train.]

  "Are we going to have a tea-party?" asked June, scrambling down from hisperch.

  "So," said Seki San, reaching under the seat and pulling out a tinychest, in which were other cups and saucers and a jar of tea leaves, "wewill have very nice tea-parties and you shall make the tea."

  June, following instructions, put some of the tea in the small pot andpoured the hot water over it, then he helped Seki San spread two papernapkins on the seat between them.

  "Now," he said, "where's the party?"

  Seki San handed him one of the boxes and began to untie the string ofthe other.

  "I have some sticks tied on to mine!" cried June, "two big ones and atiny little one wrapped up in paper."

  "That is your knife and fork and pick-tooth," said Seki San. "You musthold the sticks in one hand like this."

  But June was too busy exploring the contents of the two trays thatformed his box to stop to take a lesson in the use of chop-sticks. Thelower tray was full of smooth white rice. In the top one, was a bit ofomelet and some fish, and a queer-looking something that puzzled June.

  "What is it?" he asked.

  "Guess it!" said Seki mysteriously, "guess it with your nose."

  "It's pickle!" cried June.

  "Pickled sea-weed," said Seki, "and I have also brought you someJapanese candy that you pour out of a bottle."

  There was no bread, no butter, no knife nor fork nor spoon, but Junethought it was the very nicest tea-party he had ever been to. Sittingwith his stocking feet curled up under him as Seki had hers, heclattered his chop-sticks and spilt the rice all over the seat, whilethey both grew weak with laughter over his efforts to feed himself.

  "Don't you wish you were a little boy, Seki San?" he asked when most ofthe lunch had disappeared.

  "Why?" said Seki.

  "'Cause," said June, "you'd have such a good time playing with me allthe time!"

  "But no," said Seki seriously, "I must be big womans to take care ofyou."

  "And tell me stories!" added June with policy: "tell me 'bout Tominow."

  "Tomi?" said Seki San, smiling. "You going see Tomi very soon,to-morrow, perhaps to-night. Tomi very bad little dog, makes a crossbark at all big peoples, but loves little children. When Tomi verylittle his nose stick out, so--Japanese think it very ugly for littlepug-dog's nose to stick out, so we push it in easy every day. Now Tomihas nice flat nose, but he sneeze all the time so--kerchoo, kerchoo,kerchoo."

  June laughed at the familiar story, but suddenly he sobered:

  "Say, Seki, I don't think it was very nice to push his nose in; Iwouldn't like to have my nose pushed in so I would have to sneeze allthe rest of my life."

  "Ah! but he must be beautiful! Tomi would not be happy if his nose stuckout when other pug-doggies had nice flat nose. Tomi is very happy, he isgrateful."

  It was quite dark when they reached their destination; June had beenasleep and when he slipped out on the platform he could not remember atall where he was; Seki's mother and her sisters and brothers besides allthe relatives far and near had come to welcome her back from America,and quite a little crowd closed in about her, bowing and bowing andchattering away in Japanese.

  June stood, rather forlornly, to one side. This time last night Motherhad been with him, he could speak to her and touch her, and now--it wasa big, strange world he found himself in, and even Seki seemed his Sekino longer.

  Suddenly he felt something rub against his leg, and then he heard aqueer sound that somehow sounded familiar. Stooping down he discovered aflat-nosed little pug that was kissing his hand just as if it had beenbrought up in America.

  "It's Tomi," cried June in delight, and the pug, recognizing his name,capered more madly still, only stopping long enough to sneeze betweenthe jumps.

  Ten minutes later June was sitting beside Seki San in a broadjinrikisha, rushing through the soft night air, down long gay streetsfull of light and color and laughter, round sharp corners, up steephills, over bridges where he could look down and see another world ofpaper lanterns and torches, and always the twinkling legs and the biground hat of the jinrikisha man bobbing steadily along before him.

  "Is it like a story-book all the time?" he asked.

  Seki San laughed: "Oh, no, June, story-book land is back in America,where the grown-up houses are, and the rich, fine furnitures, and thestrange ways. This is just home, my very dear home, and I have such gladfeelings to be here!"

  June cuddled close and held her hand, and if he felt a wee bit wistful,and wiped his eyes once in a while on her sleeve, he did it verycarefully, so that Seki would have nothing to spoil the glad feeling inher heart at being home again.