EARTHQUAKES AND RAILROADS. 11g

'

“Oh Uncle Nat, she’s come again
“ Another earthquake, Uncle Nat! It’s me and Rick,” said Ralph.
The two boys were pressing into the room half-lighted by the moon-
beams, when out of the curtains enclosing a bed, the face of an old
man was protruded, a long scalp-lock and a sharp nose projecting
into the light that the round moon at the window shed so liberally.

“‘ Show, show!” said a thin querulous voice. “Little boys musn’t
be up making a noise at this time of night. You must go right to
your room. Now go!” _

And they went.

Rogers brothers thought they would rather live in New England
even if there they could not get some things the Japanese had. But
by nine o’clock, the next morning, the subject of earthquakes was
entirely forgotten, as the boys were full of anticipation of a railroad
ride from Yokohama to Tokiyo, the capital.

“Will not Dr. Walton go with us?” asked the boys.

“T gucss so,” replied Uncle Nat. “We might ask him.”

Dr. Walton was a physician from Boston, who had been in Japan
a number of years. Boarding at the International, he had made the
acquaintance of Uncle Nat and his nephews. The boys took to him
decidedly. He was about thirty, rather tall and rather stout. His
complexion was very clear, taking on a blush almost as readily as a
baby’s, and his eyes were like handsome black cherries.

“ Yes, I do like Dr. Walton,’ declared Ralph.

“And so do I,” responded Rick.

When dressing for an evening walk, the doctor threw over his
shoulders a student’s cloak whose folds drooped with a peculiar grace,
the boys’ admiration was enthusiastic. It was then they thought they
would rather stroll with him than with the mikado himself. When
- Dr. Walton said he would go to Tokiyo with them, they knew that