xt7tht2g808w https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7tht2g808w/data/mets.xml Little, Frances, 1863-1941. 1909 books b92-226-31183404 English Century, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Little Sister Snow / by Frances Little [pseud.] ; illustrations by Genjiro Kataoka. text Little Sister Snow / by Frances Little [pseud.] ; illustrations by Genjiro Kataoka. 1909 2002 true xt7tht2g808w section xt7tht2g808w

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

A FERVENTr, WHISPERED PRAYER

LITTLE SISTER

SNOW

FRANCES LITTLE
AUTHOR OF
"THE LADY OF THE DECORATION"

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
GENJIRO KATAOKA

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
I 909

Pubushed October, 19w

THE DE V1PNPiE PRE"

TO MY NIECE

ALICE HEGAN RICE

IN MEMORY OF MANY HAPPY MONTH'
SPENT TOGETHER IN JAPAN

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A fervent, whispered prayer . . . Frontispiece

With outstretched hands and flying feet 5

She would throw her into the ditch . . . 7

The two old people . . . . . . . . . 33

Yuki San was called before her father . . . 53

With paint and brush she fell to work . . 65

At the slightest sound she listened . . . . 77

Not willing to be surpassed in salutation . 8

"M- heart bleed for lonely" . . . 97

She busied herself with serving the tea 105

Very helpless and lonesome . . . . . . 121

To make good her promise to the gods . . 137

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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

CHAPTER I

A QUAINT old Japanese garden
lay smiling under the sunshine
of a morning in early spring. The sun,
having flooded the outside world with
dazzling light, seemed to sink to a ten-
der radiance as it wooed leaf and bud
into new life and loveliness. It loos-
ened the tiny rivulet from the icy fin-
gers of winter, and sped it merrily ofn
its way to a miniature lake, where shin-
ing goldfish darted here and there in
3

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

an ecstasy of motion. It stole into the
shadows of a great pine-tree, and
touched the white wings of the pigeons
as they cooed the song of mating-time.
It gleamed on the sandy path that led
to the old stone lantern, played into the
eyes of Kwannon, the Goddess of
Mercy, and finally lost itself in the
trees beyond.
Under a gnarled plum-tree, that for
uncounted years had braved the snow
and answered joyously the first call of
spring, a little maiden stood and held
out eager hands to catch the falling
blossoms. The flowering-time was
nearly done, and the child stood watch-
ing the petals twirl quickly down, fill-
ing the hollows and fashioning curious
designs on the mossy grass.
4

WITH OUTSTRETCHED HANDS AND FLYING FEET

Ij, I; -

stid j, , 6

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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

The softest of breezes coming across
the river, over the thick hedge, saucily
blew a stray petal straight into the
child's face. To Yuki Chan it was a
challenge, and with outstretched hands
and flying feet she gave chase to the
whirling blossoms. Round and round
the old tree, into the hedge, and up the
sandy path she raced, her long sleeves
spreading like tiny sails, her cheeks
flushed to the same crimson as her
flowery playmates. A sudden stillness
in the air ended the romp. Yuki Chan
returned to her playground beneath
the tree, and taking her captured pet-
als from the folds of her kimono,
began to count her trophies.
"Ichi, ni, san, ichi, ni, san," she
rhythmically droned, three being the
7

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

magical number that would bring good
luck if the petals were properly ar-
ranged and the number repeated often
enough.
But the monotony of repetition
brought rest, and soon Yuki Chan, for-
getting to count, made a bed of the
fallen petals and turned her face to-
ward the little straw-roofed house
from which noises of busy preparation
came.
It was a birthday. Not Yuki
Chan's, for that came with the snow-
time. This was the third day of the
third month, which in the long ago was
set apart as the big birthday of all little
girls born in' the lovely island, and was
celebrated by the Festival of Dolls.
Yuki Chan lay with her slim body
8

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

stretched in the warmth of the sun.
In every graceful line was the imprint
of high breeding; her white face, so
unusual with her race, was stamped
with the romance and tragedy of cen-
turies; while her eyes, limpid and lu-
minous, looked out at the world with
eager, questioning interest.
Through the wide-open slioji of the
house she caught glimpses of her
father and mother hurrying and
holding consultations. She marked
frequent visits to the old warehouse
that held the household treasures,
and the bringing out of bundles
wvrapped in yellow cloth. The air
brought her whiffs of cooking food,
and the flower- and fish-men deposited
a fair part of their stock on the porch.
9

LITTLE SISTER SNOWV

But Yuki Chan was banished fronm
these joys of preparation because of
naughtiness, and as she lay in the
warm sunshine she thought of her
recent wickedness. She smiled as she
remembered how she had hid her fa-
ther's pipe that he might work the
faster, and broken the straps of her
mother's wooden shoes, so that she
could not go outdoors. She laughed
softly when she thought of the
stray cat which she had brought into
the house and coaxed to drink milk
while she, with skilful fingers and a
pairof scissors, transformed her smooth
fur into a wonderful landscape garden.
Short work had made kitty's head
slick and shiny, like a lake, with a stray
bristle or two, which stood for trees.
I0

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

In the middle of her back stood Fuji,
the great mountain, with numberless
little Fujis to keep company. Many
winding paths ran down kitty's legs
to queer, shapeless shrines, and it was
only when Yuki Chan had insisted on
making a curious old pine-tree with
twisted limbs of kitty's short and
stubby tail that trouble ensued, and she
had been requested by her mother to
take her honorable little body to the
garden.
Yuki Chan remembered her mother's
beautiful smile of love as she gently
chided her, and recalled the note of
trouble in the kind voice. Was the
mother sorry because she had stuck
out a very pink tongue at a cross-eyed
old image that sat on the floor on the
II

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

very spot that she wanted to step upon
Or was it-and Yuki Chan grew grave
-that the last go rint had been spent
for the newv dress she was to wear that
day
All her short life Yuki Chan had
lived in a house of love, but no veil of
affection, no sacrifice, could shield her
from the knowledge of poverty. She
had never seen her mother wear but
one festival dress, yet her own little
kimono was ever bright and dainty,
and even the new brocade of the dolls'
dresses stood alone with the weave of
gold and tinsel.
A solemn thought, like a pebble
dropped into water, caused circle after
circle to trouble her childish mind.
She did not quite understand, but she
I2

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

knew there was something she must
learn. She had been naughty and
wveighed her mother's spirits. She had
caused a grave look in her father's kind
eyes, and had sent the household pets
scattering with her mischief. Now she
must be good- very good-else the
fox spirit would come upon her, and
she would go through life an unhappy
soul. She would give more obedience
to the honorable mother, whose every
word had been a caress. It was as if
for the first time the great book of life
opened before her and, though uncon-
scious of its meaning, the first word
she saw spelled Duty.
The noises from the house grew
fainter. The child, with blinking eyes,
lay gazing straight above her. Over-
13

LITTLE SISTER SNOWS

head the branches overflowed into a
canopy of crimson, which shut out the
great real world and opened into a
fairy world wherein only the untried
feet of youth may tread and the fragile
flowers of child-dreams bloom. The
gates thereto are slight but strong, and
only knowledge erects an impassable
barrier.
The wind sang its lullaby through
the blossoms of the tree, and sleep
would soon have overtaken Yuki Chan
had not a peculiar sound aroused her
and caused her eyes to fly wide open.
Once before she had heard it, and it
had meant death to the big robin who
lived in the branches above. The cry
came from the mother bird this time
and brought Yuki Chan to her feet.
'4

LITTLE SISTER S N'O

Through the shower of blossoms,
brought down by the mad fluttering of
wings, she saw a tiny half-feathered
thing struggling in the sharp claws of
her lately acquired pet. WVith certainty
of success, the cat let its victim weakly
flutter an inch or two away, then
reaching out a cruel paw drew it back.
Twice repeated, the green eyes nar-
rowed to slits, and Yuki Chan, horri-
fied, saw big red drops slowly dripping
from either side of the whiskered
mouth. Terror held her for a moment
as she heard the crunching of small
bones, then white passion enveloped
her as she stole noiselessly from behind
and closed her two small hands around
the furry throat.
"Baka! " she cried from between her
I5

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

clenched teeth. "Baka-to eat the
baby birds! This day still I ask Oni to
make you into a stone, which every
foot will kick and hurt, and you can
neither move nor cry. You cruel,
cruel beast!" In vain the cat strug-
gled. Yuki Chan held it firmly at
arm's-length while she decided what
was to be its fate.
Looking sternly at the offender,
her lips rounded into a long-drawn
"s-o," the light of anticipated revenge
danced in her eyes. At last she knew
what to do, 0 most honorable but very
ugly cat! She would throw her into the
ditch, where great crawling frogs with
popping eyes would stick out long
tongues; where flying things would
sting, and creeping things would bite;
i6

SHE WOIJLD THROW HFR INTO THF. DITCI-I

I
I
i , I
II I
I

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LITTLE SISTER SNOWV

where the great tide would come later
and take her out to the big, big ocean,
where there was neither milk to drink
nor birds to eat.
At the thought of her furry play-
mate floating alone and hungry in the
vast place which, to Xuki Chan, had
neither beginning nor end, something-
of pity touched her heart, and she-
slightly loosened her grasp.
The cat gained a good breath and
used it. In the fight for freedom a
sharp claw w as drawn dowsn the
child's arm, leaving a line of red in its.
course. Compassion took flight, and
Yuki Chan, clutching anew, went
swiftly down the path that led to the
street, with a watchful eve on the
lodge of the keeper of the gate.
I9

LITTLE SISTER SNOWT

The keeper was very old, and very
cross, and lately had acquired a curi-
ous idea that little girls must ask his
honorable permission to go in and out
the gate. One day he actually threat-
ened punishment, and Yuki Chan,
in her scorn, invited him to cut
off his head with a sword, that he
might save his face. Now the way
was clear.
She turned her head and bumped
her small body against the weight of
the heavy gates until they swung
slightly apart and permitted her to slip
through.
So intent was her purpose to reach
the ditch across the street that she did
not see an approaching jinrikisha, and
before she knew it she had been tum-
20

LITTLE SISTER SNOWV

bled over and sent rolling to the side
of the road. Still clutching the kitten,
she sat up and rubbed the dust from
her eyes.
Standing over her was the jinriki-
sha man, and beside him was his pas-
senger, a young American boy, whose
light hair and blue eyes held her spell-
bound. He was brushing the dust
from her kimono, and his foreign
tongue made strange sounds.
"Say, kid," the boy was saying, as
he transferred the dust from his hands
to his handkerchief, "glad you 're not
hurt or got any bones cracked.
M Vhere 's your mama, or your papa, or
your nurse, to give you a spanking and
keep you off the street "
As he talked Yuki Chan grew fas-
2 21

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

cinated watching his mouth, and for-
got, for a moment, her direful inten-
tion. The cat, again taking advan-
tage of her relaxed hold, began to tug
for freedom, and a lively struggle en-
sued.
The boy, looking on, began to laugh,
a laugh that began in his eyes, ran over
his face and down into his throat,
whence it came again in a shout of
boyish merriment.
Yuki Chan, looking from him to the
smiling jinrikisha man, grew crimson
with anger. With a swift movement
she ran toward the ditch.
Divining her purpose by the look in
her eyes, Dick Merrit went gallantly
to the rescue of the kitten. He was
tall for his sixteen years, and his long
22

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

strides more than matched the patter-
ing steps of the slip of a girl who raced
before him.
"No, you don t, kiddie," he cried;
"y'our manicured cat is not going into
the ditch, if we have to scrap for it."
Mlerrit caught Yuki Chan in one
arm, and again and again loosened her
fingers from the struggling kitten.
"Iya, Iya!" the child screamed; but
Merrit, as determined as she, held her
firmly, and ended by lightly slap-
ping first one little hand and then the
other.
The child, thus coming into contact
for the first time with physical force,
relaxed her grasp and gazed in amaze-
ment at the boy's determined face.
"I guess your 'Iya' means no, little
23

LITTLE SISTER SNOWV

lady, and I say 'Iya' too," said -Merrit.
taking the cat into his arms and
smoothing its uneven back. "You are
not going to put it into the ditch. Wkhy
don't you give it to me I am getting
up a collection of cats and things at
the school, and I 'd like to take this
queer specimen along. Ask her if I
can have it."
The jinrikisha man, who stood a
smiling spectator, saw Dick M'errit's
hand move toward his pocket, and was
instantly alert and eager to settle the
matter.
"Him ve'y bad girl," he said; "him
make dead for catty. You give me ten
sen, I take girl homely. You have
much of catty."
But Dick declined all interference,
24

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

and putting the cat inside his coat he
stooped down and took one of Yuki
Chan's unresisting hands. Her sleeve
fell back, and he saw the long red
scratch.
"Hello! The cat had an inning too,
did n't she I 'd like to chuck her for
hurting you, but I can't let you give
her a bath in that dirty hole. Never
mind, I '11 take her home, and some day
I '11 bring you something. I bet you
don't understand. a word I 'm saying,
but I '11 be hanged if I know how to
make you."
Feeling rather helpless, Dick talked
on, patting first Yuki Chan and then
the cat.
The child stood speechless and
looked deep into his eyes, not having
25

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

entirely recovered from the shock of
the first blow she had ever received.
"You '11 be good, won't you" he
went on coaxingly, "not drown any
more cats and things "
Yuki Chan, with the intuition that
only a child can have, suddenly
bridged the gulf of strange language
and understood. With the quick move-
ment of a nestling bird, she bent for-
ward and laidher cheek against the boy's
shoulder. It was not only complete sur-
render, but allegiance to the conqueror.
Dick rose, red and confused. Then
he climbed into the jinrikisha, trying
to ignore the smiles of the man.
Yuki Chan, with her hands joined
just below her sash, bent her body like
a half-shut jack-knife.
26

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

"Arigato-arigato," she said po-
litely, as she bowed again and again.
"Him say t'ank you," interpreted
the jinrikisha man.
"Good-by," called Dick. "Don't for-
get-be good !"
Yuki Chan watched the back of the
jinrikisha and the swinging brown
legs of the jinrikisha man that showed
beneath. She had forgotten the cat,
but she still remembered the kind look
in the blue eyes of the boy.
"Yuki, Yuki !" came the voice of the
mother in her native tongue. "Come,
the feast is prepared, and the sandals
are worn from my feet running to seek
you. Hurry! before the red beans
grow cold."
The child sent a long-drawn "Hei"
27

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

in answer to her mother, then to her-
self she said over and over:
"Be goodu-be goodu."
She had heard the words a few
times before, but they were associated
with her visits to the mission-school
and a certain oblong box out of which
came sticks of red and white with a
very sweet taste. Now, as she said
them, a new meaning seemed to play
about them.
She slipped through the gate and
walked with unhurried feet toward the
small house, so gay in its festal plu-
mage. As she passed the old plum-tree
she looked up and saw the mother bird
cuddling her babies beneath her breast.
Some tender thought lighted the
child's face into a strange beauty, as a
28

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

stray sunbeam finds a hidden flower
and glorifies it. Turning her face up-
ward to the nest, she patted her own
cheek and said: "Be goodu, Yuki, be
goodu."

CHAPTER II

IN the springtime a Japanese house
is a fairy-like thing, wvith only top
and bottom of straw and a few uphold-
ing posts to give it a look of substance.
Yuki Chan's house was typical. The
paper screens were carefully put
away during the day, that the breezes
might play unobstructed through the
house. At night the heavy wooden
doors were fitted into grooves and
served not only to keep out the night
air, but also the evil spirits that come
abroad when the great sun ceases
watching.
Binding the whole was a narrow
30

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

porch, showing a floor polished like a
mirror from the slipping and sliding
of generations of feet. Yuki Chan first
learned to know her face in its reflec-
tions and, alas! by the same method
had learned the saucy fascination of
sticking out her small pink tongue.
On the side of the porch toward the
plum-tree the child found her father
and mother waiting. The two old peo-
ple sat on gay cushions with hands
folded and feet crossed. Their festal
attire bore the marks of a once careless
luxury, but now shabbiness tried to
hide itself under the bravery of tinsel,
where once had been pure gold.
Each year the struggle of obsolete
methods of business and the intricacies
of progress plowed the furrows a little
3'

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

deeper in the man's face, and when his
eves, that in youth had blazed with am-
bition, grew wistful and troubled, he
dropped them that his wife might not
see.
But what silence could hide from
this frail woman any mood of the man
she had served with mind and body
and soul these many years When she
came to him as a shy bride on trial, she
knew no such word as love. Duty was
her entire vocabulary, and she asked
nothing and gave all.
Many little souls had come to her,
with hands all crimped and pink, like
new-blown cherry-leaves, only to close
their eyes and pass out to the good god
Jizo, who is always waiting to help lit-
tle children across the river of death.
32

THE TWO OLD PEOPLE

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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

In years gone by, night after night
sleep had flown before the terror that
another woman would be brought into
the house that the family name might
not die out. Silently she Would slip out
to the little shrine and pour out pas-
sionate words of prayer that just one
little soul might be permitted to live.
No matter how long the night, nor
how bitter the struggle, morning al-
ways found her bright and cheerful.
bending every effort to invent news di-
versions for her husband. She labored
to anticipate every wish, and even
though she did without, she provided
him the best of comfort. \Vorking far
into the night, secretly disposing of
her small personal treasures, acquies-
cing in his most trivial statements, she
35

LiTTLE SISTER SNOW

planned that no slightest gap in the do-
mestic arrangement should suggest it-
self to him.
The woman worked and prayed and
waited. Then she triumphed. In the
wake of a great snow-storm came the
longed-for child, and they called her
Yuki, after the snow that had brought
them their wish. Hand in hand with
Yuki Chan came love, and bound the
hearts of the man and woman with ties
of a desire fulfilled. From that time to
this love had prevailed, and as Yuki
Chan climbed on the porch, besmirch-
ing its shining surface with her muddy
little feet, that had been guiltless of
sandals all day, the faces of the two old
people lighted up with sudden joy.
Yuki Chan looked ruefully at the
36

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

muddy prints she had made and real-
ized that she had been a most impolite
little girl. Remembering her recent
resolve, she sought the eves in which
she had never seen any light for her
save that of love. She drew close, and
reaching down took her mother's hand,
hard and cracked by labor, and laying
her cheek against it said, with a voice
sure of forgiveness and sweet desire
for atonement:
"Go men nasai."
The mother, with a courtly but play-
ful air, granted her pardon with a low
salutation. Then with a rush of affec-
tion that no convention could stem, she
folded the child to her heart and lived
another moment of supreme joy.
The father sat by, making no com-
37

LITTLE SISTER SN\ OWN

ment, his eyes bright and twinkling.
Then hie suggested that their AMajes-
ties, the dolls, had been waiting long
on the shelf. WVas it not time they
were receiving a visit
The years of toil wxere telling on
both father and mother, but they daily
refreshed themselves at the overbrim-
ming fountain of Yuki Chan's youth,
and now, as they each took one of her
hands to go in to see the dolls, they
were so gay that the child suggested
that instead of walking they should do
the new one-two-three-hop she had
learned at the kindergarten.
It was unheard-of conduct, but it
was for Yuki Chan, and father and
mother stumped along, cheered on by
the small girl who was trying to keep
38

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

time, but was breathless through sheer
excess of happiness.
There was nothing in the room to
impede their progress. N o chairs with
treacherous legs to trip over, no beds,
nor tables with sharp corners-noth-
ing whatever but the matting, soft and
thick, where Yuki Chan had practised
all the gymnastics of childhood un-
bruised and unharmed.
Half skipping, half hopping, and
wholly undone with laughter and ex-
ertion, the three at last reached the
place where, for six years, offerings
had been made for the gift of the child
who stood to these two for love.
Arranged in the best room in the
house, on five long red-covered shelves,
were dolls. Big dolls and little dolls,

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

thin ones and fat ones, each one to rep-
resent some royal man or woman of
the long ago, and dressed in a fashion
of a time almost forgotten. There was
Jimmu Tenn5, the first real emperor.
His hair was done in a curious fashion
and his dress was of a wonderful
brocade, while his hands clasped
two fierce-looking swords. There was
jing5, too, who had won fame and last-
ing honor by her wonderful fighting,
and was so great she had to sit by the
emperors and look down on the other
empresses. Such a lot of them! Some
worthy to be remembered every day in
the year, others the more quickly for-
gotten the better.
Yuki Chan knew them all by heart,
and she lingered before those she liked
40

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

and quickly passed those she did not
care for. She could not be rude to an
emperor, even though he had been
dead hundreds of years. She was
really not very afraid of the greatness
of the old doll men and women who sat
on the shelf, still it was well to be care-
ful about handling them. She might
be turned into a lizard or a snake, just
as the old lodge-keeper had said.
But her delight was in the miniature
toilet articles of solid silver, costly gold
lacquer, and porcelain, so tiny, so beau-
tifully carved they must have meant
the eyesight of some workman, only
too glad to shut out the sunlight for-
ever if he might produce just one per-
fect thing.
The things, however, that made
4'

LITTLE SISTER SNON\V

Yuki Chan clap her hands and the
nesting birds perk up their heads at the
sound of her clear, sweet laugh were
the funny little lacquer carts in which
the royalty was supposed to ride,
drawn by impossible fat bullocks, so
bow-legged that their curves formed a
big round 0. Yuki Chan made her
red lips into the same shape, and called
her mother to look.
She pretended to feed the dolls with
real food and wine, and actually plaved
with the five court musicians, because
they were partly servants and it did
not matter.
Her tongue ran in ceaseless chatter.
Her father and mother hovered
around her, repeating the history of all
those wonderful people. Yuki Chan
42

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

listened very little, so concerned was
she with her own comments, until she
happened to see an anxious look creep
into her mother's eyes. It was some-
thing every little girl must know, and
if Yuki Chan's honorable ears refused
to open, how would she learn Then
Yuki Chan nestled close, and gave lit-
tle pats of love and tried to listen.

THE shadows of the bamboo grew
long and slim as the sun kissed them
good night. The sails skimmed home-
ward on a silver sea as the west cov-
ered its rosy pink in a veil of deepest
blue. The young birds in the old plum-
tree did not stir at the loving touch
of the mother who, with a soft bill,
searched and sought for the lost one.
43

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

The plum-blossoms lingered yet for a
night as the air had grown chill.
Within the house Yuki Chan, still
dressed, lay on the floor, weary with
the wonders of the day. Her mother
took from a small inclosure beneath a
shelf many soft comforts with which
she arranged the child's bed. Yuki
Chan, talking all the time in a low
monotone, tried to unravel a tangle in
her mind of birds and cats and dolls.
It was all getting unmanageable and
very hazy, when her mother gathered
her into her arms, and quickly casting
aside her two garments laid her gently
in a bath of caressing warmth. A mo-
ment more and the little maiden lay
like a rose-leaf in her bed.
The night-lamp made shadowy
44

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

ghosts of all it touched, and one gleam
of light, escaping the paper shade,
hung like an aureole above the head of
Yuki Chan's mother as she knelt with
clasped hands before the Buddha on
the shelf.
Her moving lips had only one re-
frain: "The child, the child, the child."
Yuki Chan watched the play of the
light in the half-dark room. What
funny things those shadows made, and,
strangely enough, one more wonderful
than all the rest grew into the shape of
the boy, and his lips were saying, "Be
good."
Then Yuki Chan lost herself in a
mist of drowsiness, and her mother sat
by, and kept time with her hand as she
chanted rather than sang:
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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

"Sleep, little one, sleep.
The sparrows are nodding.
Beneath the deep willow-trees
The night-lamp is burning.
Thy mother is watching,
Sleep, little one, sleep."

CHAPTER III

Ce ELVE times had the plum-tree
I scattered its petals to the wind,
and Yuki San' had passed from child-
hood into girlhood, and had already
touched the border of that grave land
of grown-up, where all the worries lie.
For though she was apparently only a
larger edition of the spoiled, impulsive
happy child of old, yet often her eyes
were shadowed with the struggle of
shielding her aging father and mother
from the poverty that was coming
closer day by day.
1 The honorific Chan, used only in childhood, is
changed to San in later years.
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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

During the three years she had been
gaining her education at the English
mission-school, they had toiled unceas-
ingly that she might have the best the
country could afford, but now that she
had returned after her long struggle
with a strange language andl a strange
people, it was but fitting that she
should take up her duties as the daugh-
ter of an impoverished family of high
rank. The father, grown old and fee-
ble, gave up the battle for existence,
and being a devout Buddhist, turned
his thoughts upon Nirvana, which he
strove diligently to enter by perpetual
meditation and prayer. The mother,
used to guidance and unable to think or
plan for herself, turned helplessly to
Yuki San.
48

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

The duties were heavy for girlish
shoulders, and often as the dawn crept
over the mountains it found the girl
wide-eyed and still, trying to solve the
problem of modest demand and mea-
ger supply.
She had learned many things at the
mission-school. She could read and
write English imperfectly, she could
recite the multiplication table faster
than any one else, she could perform
the most intricate figures in physical
culture, and if she had infinite time she
could play three hymns on the organ.
These varied accomplishments, how-
ever, seemed of little assistance in
showing her how to stretch her fa-
ther's small pension beyond the barest
necessities of the household. Tales
49

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

had been told her of a great land, far
beyond her sea-bound home, where
women of the highest birth went out to
work in the busy world. How she
had marveled at their boldness and
wondered at the customs that would
permit it! Now she half envied
them their freedom, and sighed over
the iron-bound etiquette that for-
bade a departure from her father's
roof save for the inevitable end of
all Japanese women-a prearranged
marriage.
It was for this she had been so care-
fully trained in all phases of house-
keeping, and in all the intricacies of so-
cial life. Her education from birth
had been with a view of making
smooth the path of her future husband
50

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

that his home might be peaceful and he
untroubled.
Each day as the burden grewv heav-
ier she fought her battle with the brav-
cry and courage of youth. With jests
and chatter she served her parents'
simple meals, constantly urging them
to further indulgence of what she pre-
tended was a great feast, but which in
reality she had secretly sacrificed some
household treasure to obtain. She
deftly turned the rice-bucket as she
served, that they might not see the
scant supply. With great ceremony she
poured the hot water into the bowls,
insisting that no other sake was made
such as this. Her determination to
keep them happy and ignorant of the
true conditions taxed her every re-
5S

LITTLE SISTER SNOW

source, but it was her duty, and duty to
Yuki San was the only religion of
which she was sure.
But one day a great event happened
in the little home. Yuki San was
called before her father and told, in
ceremonious language, that a marriage
had been arranged for her with Saito
San, a wealthy officer in the Emperor's
household. She laid her head upon
the mats and gave thanks to the gods.
Now her father and mother would live
in luxury for the rest of their lives!
Saito San was to her onlv a far-
away, shadowy being, whom she was
to obey for the rest of her life and
whose house she was to keep in order.
He was a means to an end, and entered
into her thoughts merely as one to
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LITTLE SISTER SNOW

whom she was deeply grateful. Youth
and all its joys were strong within her,
and the pressure of poverty gone, her
whole nature rebounded with delight.
Many times had marriage b