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BOTCHAN


when she met her sweet heart by a rare chance….”

The geisha slapped the lap of Clown with a “Cut that out,” and Clown gleefully laughed. This geisha is the one who made goo-goo eye at Red Shirt. What a simpleton, to be pleased by the slap of a geisha, this Clown. He said:

“Say, Su-chan, strike up the string. I’m going to dance the Kiino-kuni.” He seemed yet to dance.

On other side of the room, the old man of Confucius, twisting round his toothless mouth, had finished as far as “…dear Dembei-san” and is asking a geisha who sat in front of him to couch him for the rest. Old people seem to need polishing up their memorizing system. One geisha is talking to the teacher of natural history:

“Here’s the latest. I’ll sing it. Just listen. ‘Margaret, the high-collared head with a white ribbon; she rides on a bike, plays a violin, and talks in broken English,–I am glad to see you.’” Natural history appears impressed, and says;

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