2-716-811 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'He glared fiercely at the apparition...', 1919. 'Tomosaburo was a brave, strong-minded samurai, to whom the sensation of fear was totally unknown. He glared fiercely at the apparition, and then, half unconsciously, turned for the samurai's only safeguard, his sword, and drew it from its sheath. The sword is regarded as sacred by the Japanese knight and was supposed to possess the occult power...of exorcising evil. The spirit laughed superciliously when she saw his action. "No motive but the kindest of intentions brought me here to proffer you my assistance in your trouble, but without the least appreciation of my goodwill you show this enmity towards me. However, your wife's life shall pay the penalty," and with these malicious words the phantom disappeared.' Illustration to "The Spirit of the Lantern", a story in "Romances of Old Japan", by Madame Yukio Ozaki. [Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd, London, 1919]