dressed foreigners who had invaded the privacy of their home. The Japanese counts among his many good qualities an unparalleled love for children, and the sousofficier of the party seeing the little ones, stepped across and patted their heads, much to the children's astonishment and to the delight of the hysterical women behind the barrier. The dogs, too, had become reconciled to the presence of the strangers, and were proceeding to establish a confidence by nuzzling their boots and spurs after the manner of their kind. It was a scene that a De Neuville might have depicted.

There is an impression in this country that the Japanese soldier, officer and man, is all that is perfection in the fulfilment of his duties. We would hasten to assure the reader that the Japanese are very, very human, and that no mortal is perfect. A Japanese subaltern of cavalry in command of an officer's patrol is just as likely to

"It was

good for his men and horses to be rested and fed."

make grievous errors as the young popinjay of a British Lancer entering upon his first campaign. Now there is one principle which youthful subalterns commanding patrols are very apt to forget-which is, that the first duty of every officer, be he a field-marshal commanding an army or a lance-corporal directing a section, is to give his enemy the credit of being just as astute as himself. Now our subaltern, although he had not seen the sign of a Cossack for hours, had no right to risk the information. he had acquired by seeking the hospitality of a village. It was good for his men and horses to be rested and fed; it was essential that he should possess himself of a guide; but it was also obligatory that he should not run the risk of his whole enterprise proving fruitless. There are ways of resting and feeding horses even in moments of dire necessity, and there are ways of securing guides without jeopardising the whole of your command. It so happened

♦

that, although he had posted a sentry to his rear, apprehending that he might have been followed, yet he had failed to place a similar watch at the opposite extremity of the village. This slight oversight was to cost him a heavy penalty; but that is always the way in war.

If it had not been that the old opiumsaturated janitor had found occasion to go out through the gates into the street beyond, it is probable that the Japanese headquarters would never have heard of this patrol again. As it was, the old man put his withered head beyond the portico, to view a half sotnia of Cossacks galloping down the street. With more agility than his shambling gait would have suggested, the old man jumped back within the portico and slammed the great gates, fixing bar and bolt, and just in time, though the Japanese sentry at the far end of the village had seen the hostile forces, and fearing that his comrades would be trapped,