Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 176, 21 ʻApelila 1891 — A ROMANCE. [ARTICLE]

A ROMANCE.

1 wish to. <iistinctly staie ib«t thia tale is pure fieticn. I fcave Bcrupulo»sly avoided everything that might be t suspected -t® haye even a resemblanee to aetualities, knowing as I do, the predjudiee that prevails in this " eoiinnUiiity against the T>ublicatjon of Acts and the severity of our laws. | In Japan students after ofher- | wise coiiipleting their e*du<M|i<sn , frequently spend a year or more ' wand«ring over the country, vīst- • ing Bt-itutions ©f * learning and j :S«eing objeets of. mterests, a fcind |of({erman wouderyaha in whieh i to s<'o tbe worid.

Xyituia was a voung Japanese s f .udeut aa vou might havī> known h Y the careless picturesquefWss c>t his drt\=ssi, the slfort sword tiiai he wore and by the book ho Wi<s rvauing «;s he strolled down a iane ordered with persitnmon (?) trees on the July evening wiien our story opens. As (,ur hero w;?lkcd and read he heard a sound of voices and -lairghter. . Lookmg up, he saw in the field by the road a group of women gathered around eome object on the ground. Thcn there was n-scattering, a titteriug ahd screaming; evidently there was something exciting. Nyama put his book in his pocket and scaiing the bambo<> fence approached the groap: Theyl had evidently been engaged in hay makmg; the primitive cycles and rakes and bundles of fresh grass streved the ground, In the center of tlie crowd was a woman who appeared wildly excited. First she sat down then she jumped up and wildly grasped her clothes in the region of her stomach, and went throngh a variety of cont«rtions. Then she t°re off her girdle and sprcading out her loose garment violentiv shook it; executing a kind of wardance all the time. The readers must know that the Japancse national dress is open down its entire length in front, the edges being usually lat>ped over and secured by a belt. Now when the lady in question opened out her garment in this fashion, it being theonly one she had on, there was naturally disp!aved a trifle, only a trifle, v more of the figure than is usually eshibited in European drawing rooi*is. Seeing a stranger, and a man approaching, she hastiiy gathered up the garment that" had been floating umbirella like around her person. The other gazed ti.il it penetrated their mi»ds that the intruder was a handsome young naan with bnght eyes and a bright smile, Then they too beganto adjust the loose dress over their breasts all red and glowing wiih the heat and exercise, and gene.rally, to think ofhow they looked the first impulae ofthe femaie mind. Pray dw,t let me interfere n saidj Nyama <; It is extremt.ly interesting lam sure t lam traveUng to see sighte. Wont vou go on ? " UGo (»n. there is n< thing io SC e here," said the woman stili elulehing her drcssed. k \vou have no business her,\—unlcss you want pome hay, long ears," she addH. Surveying the meu,bers ofthe group Nyama saw a young girl who was evidc s iUly not a worker. To be continued.