Scrymgeour said hopefully that the place would look cozier after he had his pictures in it; but he stopped me when I began to fill my pipe.

He believed, he said, that smoking was not a Japanese custom; and there was no use taking Japanese chambers unless you lived up to them.

Here was a revelation.

Scrymgeour proposed to live his life in harmony with these rooms.

I felt too sad at heart to say much to him then, but, promising to look in again soon, I shook hands with my unhappy friend and went away.
[Illustration] It happened, however, that Scrymgeour had been several times in my rooms before I was able to visit him again.