THE HOUSE OF THE MISTY STAR ***

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The House of the Misty Star

[Illustration: She quickly walked across the burning coal]

The House of the Misty Star

A ROMANCE OF YOUTH AND HOPE AND LOVE IN OLD JAPAN

By

Frances Little (Fannie Caldwell Macaulay)

Author of "The Lady of the Decoration," etc.

[Illustration]

New York The Century Co. 1915

Copyright, 1915, by THE CENTURY CO.

Copyright, 1914, 1915, by THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

_Published, April, 1915_

TO A FAITHFUL FRIEND NUI SHIOME OF TOKIO.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I ENTER JANE GRAY 3 II KISHIMOTO SAN CALLS 16 III ZURA 32 IV JANE GRAY BRINGS HOME A MAN 55 V A CALL AND AN INVITATION 70 VI ZURA WINGATE'S VISIT 85 VII AN INTERRUPTED DINNER 95 VIII MR. CHALMERS SEES THE GARDEN AND HEARS THE TRUTH 108 IX JANE HOPES; KISHIMOTO DESPAIRS 125 X ZURA GOES TO THE FESTIVAL 138 XI A BROKEN SHRINE 147 XII A DREAM COMES TRUE 158 XIII A THANKSGIVING DINNER 174 XIV WHAT THE SETTING SUN REVEALED 190 XV PINKEY CHALMERS CALLS AGAIN 203 XVI ENTER KOBU, THE DETECTIVE 218 XVII A VISIT TO THE KENCHO 235 XVIII A VISITOR FROM AMERICA 243 XIX "THE END OF THE PERFECT DAY" 260

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

She quickly walked across the burning coal _Frontispiece_

PAGE Through the sinister shadows of Flying Sparrow Street 13

Zura Wingate advanced to my lowly seat on the floor, and listlessly put out one hand to greet me 39

The bowing, bending, and indrawing of breath 75

Page started forward. A sound stopped him 113

"God in Heaven. How can I tell her!" 187

"Oh, God! A thief! It's over!" 245

Oh! boy, boy, I thought I'd lost you 263

The House of the Misty Star

[Illustration]

The House of the Misty Star

I

ENTER JANE GRAY

It must have been the name that made me take that little house on the hilltop. It was mostly view, but the title--supplemented by the very low rent--suggested the first line of a beautiful poem.

Nobody knows who began the custom or when, but for unknown years a night-light had been kept burning in a battered old bronze lantern swung just over my front door. Through the early morning mists the low white building itself seemed made of dreams; but the tiny flame, slipping beyond the low curving eaves, shone far at sea and by its light the Japanese sailors, coming around the rocky Tongue of Dragons point in their old junks, steered for home and rest. To them it was a welcome beacon. They called the place "The House of the Misty Star."

In it for thirty years I have toiled and taught and dreamed. From it I have watched the ships of mighty nations pass--some on errands of peace; some to change the map of the world. Through its casements I have seen God's glory in the sunsets and the tenderness of His love in the dawns. The pink hills of the spring and the crimson of the autumn have come and gone, and t...

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