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Each 1 vol small 'uarto, illustrated anddecoratedih colour .
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Th e Roses of Saint Eliz ab ethBv 'ANE SCOTT WOODRUFF
Gab riel and th e Hour B ookBv EVALEEN STEIN
Th e Ench antedAutomob ileTr a nda tcdfi m the F r a ud'byM ARY ' SAFFORD
Pussy-Cat TownB1 MARION AMES TAGGART
O-Heart-SanBY HELEN EGGLESTON HASKELL
Car lotaBY FRANCES MARGARET FO'
a'L . C . PAGE COM PANY
New Eng l and B uildingBOSTON , MAS S .
T WAS A LONG WALKTO THE PALACE
See pag e 2 0
CONTENTS
O-Heart-San Has a DreamO -Heart-San Meets the PrinceO-Heart-San Visits th e PalaceO-Heart-San Sees the Gold-FishTh e Story of Princess SplendorThe Mushroom Hunt0-Heart-San in Maid Marg ery s
C lothesO-Heart-San is BetrothedO-Heart-San Prepares for th e Wedding
Th e Visit of the Cesarevitch'apan Mourns w ith its EmperorO-Heart-San is Saved
ILLUSTRATIONS
It was a long w alk to the palace 'Seepag e 2 0) Fr ontirpiete
Dropped g ently to her knees b efore atiny chest of drawers
Th e empress rode in what Prince Harucalled a w rit/mm
The g raceful little mothering in the g ame
Looked sadly up at the snow-cappedpeak of' Fuji Yams
Sinking to the g round as softlyas a g reat white snowflake
O -H E A R T - S AN
CHAPTER I
OH E A RTS A N H A S A D R E A M
H I S is the story of OHeart-San, the beautiful ,
and of H aru , the young PrinceImperial of Japan.O -HeartSan was small andslender. Her hands and feetwere tiny, and her skin was thecolor of the Brazil-nuts meat.Her hair gl istened l ike a crow
swing, but her black eyes weredeep and soft, and so sad thatthey seemed just ready to overflow with tears.
O -H EA RT - S A N
O -Heart-San, although a humble l ittle girl , the daughter of awood carver, was famous for herbeauty throughout the city ofTokyo. I t was said that she knewbetter than any lady of the Imperial Court how to whiten her faceand hands with rice powder, andWhere to touch h er round cheeksand her ful l l ips with rouge. Herchignon, which was dressed oncea week , was higher and moreglossy than any other chignon inthe country, and it was, as wellit might be, the envy of all whoknew her. Sometimes it wasdressed with flowers and j eweledpins and wonderful rolls of scarletcrape, and then O-HeartSan worea beautiful gown of white si lk, scatteredwith huge poppies , her sash
O - H EA RT -SA N
and the linings to her long sleevesa blaze of scarlet. More oftenshe was seen clad in a pale pinkkimono, with a sing le white chrysanth emum in her hair.One morning, when O-HeartSan was ten years old, she had awonderful dream , a dream thatforetold so much happiness thatthe hearts of her family andfriends were fi lled with joy. I nthe dream O-Heart-San was ca rried to the skies in a golden basketby a falcon. The falcon droppedthe basket into the heart of afleecy white cloud just as all ofthe heavens were il lumined by agreat flash of l ightning whichsent a shaft straight through theheart of O-Heart-San. At this0-Heart-San cried out in fright,
O - H B A RT - SA N
and would have wrinkled her facein fear a thing which no wel lbred Japanese girl should do ifa friendly stork had not at thatmoment al ighted on the edge ofthe golden basket, and , lookingstraight into the eyes of O -HeartSan , said in the k indest tones
N ever fear, l ittle O-HeartSan ,I have come to mend the rent thatthe l ightning made.
Forthwith the stork th readed apine needle and mended the breakin O-Hea rt-San
'
s side, seal ing theedges with some bits of plasterbrought by a fierce looking hawk.O-Heart-San told the dream toher family the next morning asthey sat on their heels eating abreakfast of rice cakes and tea.Humph , said O-Heart-San
s
O -H EA RT - SAN
father, shrugging his shoulders, it is truly a most marvelousdream to come to my humblehouse. Wife, bring me the dreambook at once.
'
Immediately, oh honorable husband, said O-Heart-San
s mother,opening a beautiful l ittle box ofcarved wood and taking out thedream book.O -Heart-San
s father l ighted hispipe and puffed three times beforeopening the dream book, then , asthree puffs were al l the l ittle pipecontained, he tucked it into hisbelt, and taking the dream bookturned the pages slowly backward , looking for the meaning ofO-Heart-San
s dream. O-HeartSan and her mother sat on theirheels beside him, their calm faces
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O - H EA RT - SA N
not work to-day. I shall tel l myfriends of the good fortune thathas come to my miserable houseand my unworthy daughter.As he strode grandly towardsthe door O-Heart-San and hermother threw themselves on theirknees and touched the floor withtheir foreheads. Neither of themfelt hurt at the harsh things thathad been said of the beautiful l ittleO-Heart-San and of the prettyl ittle house, for both understoodthat in Japan it is pol ite to speakslightingly of one
s own houseand family, reserving the pleasant things to say of the housesand famil ies of one
s friends.After the august person hadgone, O -Heart-San folded backthe screens that divided the first
O - H E A RT - SA N
floor of the l ittle house into fourrooms, and was about to brushout the dust and crumbs thather eyes had detected on the whitematting, when her mother shookher head.You will brush all your good
luck out after him if you sweepnow, O-Heart-San. Come insteadto the wistaria arbor with yoursewing. O-HeartSan blushed ather forgetfulness, for she knewquite as well as her mother that itis very bad luck indeed to sweepimmediately after a departure.Thankful that her mother hadprevented her from brushing outall the good fortune that the dreamhad brought, she took her l ittlebox of sewing and followed hermother to the wistaria arbor.
s
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During the morning a greatmany friends, who had heard ofthe dream , cal led to congratulatethe l ittle O-Heart-San, and manyof them tried to buy the dreamwith its great good fortune.A stout lady, in a very redgown, whose husband was a richtea merchant, offered O -HeartSan two beautiful flowered kimonos, which she had broug ht withher in a j inrikisha, for the dream .A pretty geisha, who had beensold by her father to the owner ofa famous tea garden when she wasa very l ittle girl , offered a lovelymirror with a j eweled back, aswell as two lovely fans for thehair, for even half of the beautifuldream.But O-Heart-San shook her
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O - H EA RT - SA N
head , saying politely to each visitor who wished to buy her dream :Oh, honorable , beautiful one,
do not come to our so dirty house.I am only an ugly little girl , whohas dreamed a poor dream, whichis not worth one-half of the honorable, beautiful gowns and j ewelsthat you offer me.And no matter how much theybegged , nor how long they stayed ,they could not prevail upon thesweet O-Heart-San to change hermind .But late that afternoon, as OHeartSan and her mother weresitting behind a screen in the verandah, embroidering, there was agreat clatter in the street. WhenO-HeartSan heard the noise shedropped her work and peeped
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O -H EA RT -S A N
around the screen. Then shejumped up in fright.Honorable mother, I see a
great throng of men and boys inthe street fol lowing a glass coach.What can it mean ' She sl ippedoff her sandals andscampered intothe house.As the procession drew nearer,
0-Hcart-San , peeping through thebl inds, turned to her mother andcried excitedly :
Mother, mother, I am sure itis the young prince. Who elsewould ride in a glass coach withChrysanthemums on the panels,and who else has such a pale,handsome face, and such blackeyes. And there is a star on hiscap, and oh , oh , he is stoppinghere. He is coming in ' Oh,
l l
O - H EA RT - SA N
what shal l I do ' I have no rougeon my cheeks, and there is a lockof hair straying over my ear.
Retire at once to the innerchamber, O-Heart-San, said hermother, as calmly as if it were aneveryday occurrence for the PrinceImperial to stop at the wood carver
s tiny cottage. I wil l ask whathis humble subjects can do for hishonorable maj esty.
ROPPED GENTLY TO HER KNEES BF.
FORE A TINY CHEST OF DRAWERS
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O -H EA RT -S A N
CHAPTER II
O-H EART-S A N M EE T S T H E P R I N C E
H EART-SA N s l ip p e dbehind a tall screen and
dropped gently to her knees beforea tiny chest of drawers with a mirror above it . Smoothing her hair,she fastened the lock that thewind had disarranged into place bymeans of some sticky paste thatshe kept in a carved ivory box.Then she dusted her face with ricepowder unti l it was as white as awhite Chrysanthemum, touching lipsand cheeks with rouge. When shehad finished her toilet she peepedshyly from behind the screen.
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O - H EA RT - SA N
There was the young prince followed by a score of attendants.On the l ivery of each attendantwas the crest of the imperial household, a round gold mark thatlooked l ike a l ittle sun, but was intended to stand for a Ch rysanth emum, the royal flower. Slightlyin advance of his fol lowers camethe prince, straight as a bamboorod
,with laughing, slant l idded
black eyes and a smil ing mouth.As O-HeartSan looked her heartbegan to flutter and her fingers totremble so that she almost droppedthe mirror she held.Oh , i f he should ask for me.
I am sure I should die before Icould salute him, she whisperedto herself. How black his eyesare and how narrow, more p ierc
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O -H EA
