eply touched, pressed his
comrade's hand. The insurrection of the Filipinos! In Manila the bells
of the Dominican church of _Intra muros_ rang out their monotonous call
to early mass.

_Chapter II_

ON THE HIGH SEAS

The _Tacoma_ was expected to arrive at Yokohama early the next morning;
the gong had already sounded, calling the passengers to the farewell
meal in the dining-saloon, which looked quite festive with its colored
flags and lanterns.

There was a deafening noise of voices in the handsome room, which was
beginning to be overpoweringly hot in spite of the ever-revolving
electric fans. As the sea was quite smooth, there was scarcely an empty
place at the tables. A spirit of parting and farewell pervaded the
conversation; the passengers were assembled for the last time, for on
the morrow the merry party, which chance had brought together for two
weeks, would be scattered to the four winds. Naturally the conversation
turned upon the country whose celebrated wonders they were to behold on
the following day. The old globe-trotters and several merchants who had
settled in East Asia were besieged with questions, occasionally very
naive ones, about Japan and the best way for foreigners to get along
there. With calm superiority they paraded their knowledge, and eager
ladies made note on the backs of their menus of all the hotels, temples,
and mountains recommended to them. Some groups were making arrangements
for joint excursions in the Island Kingdom of Tenno; others discussed
questions of finance and commerce, each one trying to impress his
companions by a display of superior knowledge.

Here and there politics formed the subject of conversation; one lady in
particular, the wife of a Baltimore merchant, sitting opposite the
secretary of a small European legation who was on his way to Pekin to
take up his duties there, plied him with questions and did her level
best to get at the secrets of international politics. The secretary, who
had no wonderful secrets to disclose, had recourse to the ordinary
political topics of the day, and entertained his fair listener with a
discussion of the problems that would arise in case of hostilities
between America and Japan. "Of course," he declared, vaunting his
diplomatic knowledge, "in case of war the Japanese would first surprise
Manila and try to effect a landing, and in this they would very likely
be successful. It is true that Manila with her strong defenses is pr