THE KINGDOM OF
SLENDER SWORDS
By HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES
(Mrs. Post Wheeler)
SATAN SANDERSON
Illustrated by A. B. WenzellTALES FROM DICKENS
Illustrated by Reginald B. BirchTHE CASTAWAY
Illustrated by Howard Chandler ChristyHEARTS COURAGEOUS
Illustrated by A. B. WenzellA FURNACE OF EARTH
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
INDIANAPOLIS
THE KINGDOM OF
SLENDER SWORDS
BY
HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES
(Mrs. Post Wheeler)
With a Foreword by His Excellency Baron Makino
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
A. B. WENZELL
INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright 1910
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
PRESS OF
BRAUNWORTH & CO.
BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS
BROOKLYN, N.Y.
TO
CAROLYN FOSTER STICKNEY
FOREWORD
It has been my happy fortune to have made theacquaintance of the gifted author of this book. Fromtime to time she was kind enough to confide to meits progress. When the manuscript was completedI was privileged to go over it, and the hours so spentwere of unbroken interest and pleasure.
What especially touched and concerned me was, ofcourse, the Japanese characters depicted, the motivesof these actors in their respective roles, and otherJapanese incidents connected with the story. I ammost agreeably impressed with the remarkable insightinto, and the just appreciation of, the Japanesespirit displayed by the author.
While the story itself is her creation, the local coloring,the moral atmosphere called in to weave thethread of the tale, are matters belonging to the domainof facts, and constitute an amount of useful andauthentic information. Indeed, she has taken unusualpains to be correctly informed about the peopleof the country and their customs, and in this she hassucceeded to a very eminent degree.
I may mention one or two of the striking characteristicsof the work. The sacrifice of the girl Harumay seem unreal, but such is the dominant idea ofduty and sacrifice with the Japanese, that in certainemergencies it is not at all unlikely that we shouldbehold her real prototype in life. The description ofthe Imperial Review at Tokyo and its patriotic significancevividly recalls my own impression of thisspectacle.
It gives me great satisfaction to know that by perusingthese pages, the vast reading public, who,after all, have the decisive voice in the national governmentof the greatest republic of the world, andwhose good will and friendship we