ilure. A cloisonne shop is every bit as
depressing as the embroidery works. You will see men picking up on the
end of their tiny instruments gold wire, which is so microscopic as to
be like a grain of dust, and almost as invisible. This tiny morsel has
to be placed on the metal vase and fixed there.

[Illustration: A CLOISONNE WORKER]

Talking of the delicate and exquisite tools used by cloisonne workers
reminds me of tools that are just as delicate, but used for quite
another purpose--namely, those which the Japanese dentists handle so
dexterously. However, the stock-in-trade of a Japanese dentist chiefly
consists of the proper use of his finger and thumb. The most
strongly-rooted tooth invariably gives way to this instrument. A
Japanese dentist has only to apply his fingers to a tooth, and out that
tooth comes on the instant. It is sometimes very amusing to see a group
of dentists' assistants, all mere children, practising their trade by
endeavouring to pull nails out of a board, beginning with tin tacks and
ending with nails which are more firmly rooted than the real teeth
themselves.

When I had gathered my team together by the help of my right-hand ally,
Inchie, after having chosen the best of them from every branch of art,
they continued to go on well and assiduously, and the decorations of my
house were in full swing, when suddenly there was a break, a distinct
break. I went round to the store early one lovely morning in May, as was
my habit, and found, to my surprise, that the whole place was empty. Not
a metal-worker or carpenter was to be seen. They had all mysteriously
disappeared--where? To view the cherry-blossom! Inchie also, whom I had
relied upon as a good steady colleague, had, on the first opportunity,
and without any warning, drifted away into the open air with the whole
band to view the blossom. The Japanese workmen, who are skilled, and
want examples from Nature, evidently adhere to the principle that "all
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and so, whether I liked it or
not, when such a glorious day had presented itself, they were not going
to miss the opportunity of enjoying it. It was a holiday, or rather the
sunshine had declared it to be a holiday, and all Japan, rich and poor,
employers and employed, had turned out to picnic in the parks, and feast
their eyes upon the cherry-blossom. So universal was the holiday, and so
persistently did Inchie implore that I should join them, that I soo