I am afraid, I said, that I must have expressed myself clumsily to Miss Hemster. I think I told her, but I make the statement subject to correction, that I had so long since severed my connection with diplomatic service in Tokio that even the slight power I then possessed no longer exists. If I still retained my former position I should scarcely be more helpless than I am now, so far as what you require is concerned.
Thats exactly what I told her, growled the old man. I suppose you havent any suggestion to make that would help me out at all?
The only suggestion I can make is this, and indeed I think the way seems perfectly clear. You no doubt know your own Ambassador, perhaps have letters of introduction to him, and he may very easily arrange for you to have an audience with His Majesty the Mikado.
Oh! our Ambassador! growled Mr. Hemster in tones of great contempt; hes nothing but a one-horse politician.
Nevertheless, said I, his position is such that by merely exercising the prerogatives of his office he could get you what you wanted.
No, he cant, maintained the old gentleman stoutly. Still, I shouldnt say anything against him; hes all right. He did his best for us, and if we could have waited long enough at Yokohama perhaps he might have fixed up an audience with the Mikado. But Id had enough of hanging on around there, and so I sailed away. Now, my son, I said I was going to give you a talking to, and I am. Ill tell you just how the land lies, so you can be of some help to me and not a drawback. I want you to be careful of what you say to Gertie about such people as the Mikado, because it excites her and makes her think certain things are easy when theyre not.
I am very sorry if I have said anything that led to a misapprehension. I certainly did not intend to.
No, no! I understand that. I am not blaming you a bit. I just want you to catch on to the situation, thats all. Gertie likes you first rate; she told me so, and Im ever so much obliged to you for the trouble you took yesterday afternoon in entertaining her. She told me everything you said and did, and it was all right. Now Gertie has always been accustomed to moving in the very highest society. She doesnt care for anything else, and she took to you from the very first. I was glad of that, because I should have consulted her before I hired you. Nevertheless, I knew the moment you spoke that you were the man I wanted, and so I took the risk. I never cared for high society myself; my intercourse has been with business men. I understand them, and I like them; but I dont cut any figure in high society, and I dont care to, either. Now, with Gertie its different. Shes been educated at the finest schools, and Ive taken her all over Europe, where we stayed at the very best hotels and met the very best people in both Europe and America. Why, weve met more Sirs and Lords and Barons and High Mightinesses than you can shake a stick at. Gertie, shes right at home among those kind of people, and, if I do say it myself, shes quite capable of taking her place among the best of them, and she knows it. There never was a time we came in to the best table dhôte in Europe that every eye wasnt turned toward her, and shes been the life of the most noted hotels that exist, no matter where they are, and no matter what their price is.
I ventured to remark that I could well believe this to have been the case.
Yes, and you dont need to take my word for it, continued the old man with quite perceptible pride; you may ask any one that was there. Whether it was a British Lord, or a French Count, or a German Baron, or an Italian Prince, it was just the same. I admit that it seemed to me that some of those nobles didnt amount to much. But thats neither here nor there; as I told you before, Im no judge. I suppose they have their usefulness in creation, even though Im not able to see it. But the result of it all was that Gertie got tired of them, and, as she is an ambitious girl and a real lady, she determined to strike higher, and so, when we bought this yacht and came abroad again, she determined to go in for Kings, so Ive been on a King hunt ever since, and to tell the truth it has cost me a lot of money and I dont like it. Not that I mind the money if it resulted in anything, but it hasnt resulted in anything; that is, it hasnt amounted to much. Gertie doesnt care for the ordinary presentation at Court, for nearly anybody can have that. What she wants is to get a King or an Emperor right here on board this yacht at lunch or tea, or whatever he wants, and enjoy an intimate conversation with him, just like shes had with them no-account Princes. Then she wants a column or two account of that written up for the Paris edition of the New York Herald, and she wants to have it cabled over to America. Now shes the only chick or child Ive got. Her mothers been dead these fifteen years, and Gertie is all I have in the world, so Im willing to do anything she wants done, no matter whether I like it or not. But I dont want to engage in anything that doesnt succeed. Success is the one thing that amounts to anything. The man who is a failure cuts no ice. And so it rather grinds me to confess that Ive been a failure in this King business. Now I dont know much about Kings, but it strikes me theyre just like other things in this world. If you want to get along with them, you must study them. Its like climbing a stair; if you want to get to the top you must begin at the lowest step. If you try to take one stride up to the top landing, why youre apt to come down on your head. I told Gertie it was no use beginning with the German Emperor, for wed have to get accustomed to the low-down Kings and gradually work up. She believes in aiming high. Thats all right ordinarily, but it isnt a practical proposition. Still, I let her have her way and did the best I could, but it was no use. I paid a German Baron a certain sum for getting the Emperor on board my yacht, but he didnt deliver the goods. So I said to Gertie: My girl, wed better go to India, or some place where Kings are cheap, and practise on them first. She hated to give in, but shes a reasonable young woman if you take her the right way. Well, the long and the short of it was that we sent the yacht around to Marseilles, and went down from Paris to meet her there, and sailed to Egypt, and, just as I said, we had no difficulty at all in raking in the Khedive. But that wasnt very satisfactory when alls said and done. Gertie claimed he wasnt a real king, and I say hes not a real gentleman. We had a little unpleasantness there, and he became altogether too friendly, so we sailed off down through the Canal a hunting Kings, till at last we got here to Japan. Now were up against it once more, and I suppose this here Mikado has hobnobbed so much with real Emperors and that sort of thing that he thinks himself a white man like the rest. So I says to Gertie, Theres a genuine Emperor in Corea, good enough to begin on, and well go there, and thats how we came round from Yokohama to Nagasaki, and dropped in here to get a few things we might not be able to obtain in Corea. The moment I saw you and learned that you knew a good deal about the East, it struck me that if I took you on as private secretary you would be able to give me a few points, and perhaps take charge of this business altogether. Do you think youd be able to do that?
Well, I said hesitatingly, Im not sure, but if I can be of any use to you on such a quest it will be in Corea. Ive been there on two or three occasions, and each time had an audience with the King.
Why do you call him the King? Isnt he an Emperor?
Well, Ive always called him the King, but Ive heard people term him the Emperor.
The American papers always call him an Emperor. So you think you could manage it, eh?
I dont know that there would be any difficulty about the matter. Of course you are aware he is merely a savage.
Well, theyre all savages out here, arent they? I dont suppose hes any worse or any better than the Mikado.
Oh, the Mikado belongs to one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. I dont think the two potentates are at all on a par.
Well, thats all right. That just bears out what I was saying, that its the correct thing to begin with the lowest of them. You see I hate to admit Im too old to learn anything, and I think I can learn this King business if I stick long enough at it. But I dont believe in a man trying to make a grand piano before he knows how to handle a saw. So you see, Mr. Tremorne, the position is just this. I want to sail for Corea, and Gertie, she wants to go back to Yokohama and tackle the Mikado again, thinking you can pull it off this time.
I dislike very much to disagree with a lady, I said, but I think your plan is the more feasible of the two. I do not think it would be possible to get the Mikado to come aboard this yacht, but it might be that the King of Corea would accept your invitation.
Whats the name of the capital of that place? asked Mr. Hemster.
It is spelled S-e-o-u-l, and is pronounced Sool.
How far is it from here?
I dont know exactly, but it must be something like four hundred miles, perhaps a little more.
It is on the sea?
No. It lies some twenty-six miles inland by road, and more than double that distance by the winding river Han.
Can I steam up that river with this yacht to the capital?
No, I dont think you could. You could go part way, perhaps, but I imagine your better plan would be to moor at the port of Chemulpo and go to Seoul by road, although the road is none of the best.
Ive got a little naphtha launch on board. I suppose the river is big enough for us to go up to the capital in that?
Yes, I suppose you could do it in a small launch, but the river is so crooked that I doubt if you would gain much time, although you might gain in comfort.
Very well, well make for that port, whatever you call it, said Hemster, rising. Now, if youll just take an armchair on deck, and smoke, Ill give instructions to the captain.
CHAPTER V
We had been a long time together in the little office, longer even than this extended conversation would lead a reader to imagine, and as I went through the saloon I saw that they were laying the table for lunch, a sight by no means ungrateful to me, for I had risen early and enjoyed but a small and frugal breakfast. I surmised from the preparations going forward that I should in the near future have something better than rice. When I reached the deck I saw the captain smoking a pipe and still pacing the bridge with his hands in his pockets. He was a grizzled old sea-dog, who, I found later, had come from the Cape Cod district, and was what he looked, a most capable man. I went aft and sat down, not wishing to go forward and became acquainted with the captain, as I expected every moment that Mr. Hemster would come up and give him his sailing-orders. But time passed on and nothing happened, merely the same state of tension that occurs when every one is ready to move and no move is made. At last the gong sounded for lunch. I saw the captain pause in his promenade, knock the ashes out of his pipe into the palm of his hand, and prepare to go down. So I rose and descended the stairway, giving a nod of recognition to the captain, who followed at my heels. The table was laid for five persons. Mr. Hemster occupied the position at the head of it, and on his right sat his daughter, her head bent down over the tablecloth. On the opposite side, at Mr. Hemsters left, sat the young lady of whom I had had a glimpse the afternoon before. The captain pushed past me with a gruff, How de do, all, which was not responded to. He took the place at the farther end of the table. If I have described the situation on deck as a state of tension, much more so was the atmosphere of the dining-saloon. The silence was painful, and, not knowing what better to do, I approached Miss Hemster and said pleasantly:
Good-morning. I hope you are none the worse for your shopping expedition of yesterday.
The young woman did not look up or reply till her father said in beseeching tones:
Gertie, Mr. Tremorne is speaking to you.
Then she glanced at me with eyes that seemed to sparkle dangerously.
Oh, how do you do? she said rapidly. Your place is over there by Miss Stretton.
There was something so insulting in the tone and inflection that it made the words, simple as they were, seem like a slap in the face. Their purport seemed to be to put me in my proper position in that society, to warn me that, if I had been treated as a friend the day before, conditions were now changed, and I was merely, as she had previously remarked, her fathers hired man. My situation was anything but an enviable one, and as there was nothing to say I merely bowed low to the girl, walked around behind the captain, and took my place beside Miss Stretton, as I had been commanded to do. I confess I was deeply hurt by the studied insolence of look and voice; but a moment later I felt that I was probably making a mountain of a molehill, for the good, bluff captain said, as if nothing unusual had happened:
Thats right, young man; I see you have been correctly brought up. Always do what the women tell you. Obey orders if you break owners. Thats what we do in our country. In our country, sir, we allow the women to rule, and their word is law, even though the men vote.
Such is not the case in the East, I could not help replying.
Why, said the captain, its the East Im talking about. All throughout the Eastern States, yes, and the Western States, too.
Oh, I beg your pardon, I replied, I was referring to the East of Asia. The women dont rule in these countries.
Well, said the staunch captain, then thats the reason they amount to so little. I never knew an Eastern country yet that was worth the powder to blow it up.
Im afraid, said I, that your rule does not prove universally good. Its a woman who reigns in China, and I shouldnt hold that Empire up as an example to others.
The captain laughed heartily.
Young man, youre contradicting yourself. Youre excited, I guess. You said a minute ago that women didnt rule in the East, and now you show that the largest country in the East is ruled by a woman. You cant have it both ways, you know.
I laughed somewhat dismally in sympathy with him, and, lunch now being served, the good man devoted his entire attention to eating. As no one else said a word except the captain and myself, I made a feeble but futile attempt to cause the conversation to become general. I glanced at my fair neighbor to the right, who had not looked up once since I entered. Miss Stretton was not nearly so handsome a girl as Miss Hemster, yet nevertheless in any ordinary company she would be regarded as very good-looking. She had a sweet and sympathetic face, and at the present moment it was rosy red.
Have you been in Nagasaki? I asked, which was a stupid question, for I knew she had not visited the town the day before, and unless she had gone very early there was no time for her to have been ashore before I came aboard.