iplomacy to China, Australia, and other countries bordering on the
Pacific. So adroitly and innocently has this been done, that not even a
rumor is current in any foreign cabinet that anything is afoot, and even
the masses of the Japanese themselves do not know what their government
is doing. But all the commanders have had definite orders so to time
their departure from the various ports as to meet at a given parallel
within a day or two of the time set for the opening of the Canal. That
parallel is between Hawaii and San Francisco, barely two days distant
from the latter. Steam is up, the magazines filled, the guns shotted,
the plan of campaign worked out to the last detail. Like hawks, they are
hovering within easy reach of each other, ready for the signal. The
moment I press this button, the wireless will flash the news across all
the continents and all the seas. Then the captains who smashed the
Russians at Port Arthur and in the Sea of Japan will turn their vessels'
prows toward arrogant America, and within forty-eight hours our guns will
be thundering at her western doors."

A dull glow crept into his sallow cheeks and his eyes blazed, as he saw
in vision the victory of his beloved Nippon.

"But there," he said, as though repenting his outburst of enthusiasm, so
foreign to his habitual reticence and self-control, "they will do their
part. It only remains for us to do ours. I will not keep you longer
to-night, Ofirio," he went on, by way of dismissal. "Report to me
to-morrow at the same hour for final instructions."

He pressed a bell, and a servant, bending low, ushered the Cuban out into
the night.

But Togi still lingered. The lines in his face had deepened. His long
experience had taught him how often the cup is dashed from the lips as
one makes ready to drink. The reaction and depression that come to one
when, after tremendous toil and strain, his plans await fruition, held
him in their grip. It is true, those plans seemed faultless. Nothing
had failed in their calculations. The mechanism was working without a
jar. But this very perfection was in itself ominous. Perhaps, even
then, fate was preparing to spring upon them and lay their hopes in
ruins. And again his eyes turned longingly toward the button, the
lightest touch on which would shock the world to its center.

Namoto noticed the direction of his glance and smiled.

"Be not impatient, Togi," he said. "Soon now the hour will st