We were busy night and day until the mobilizing

was completed. Some were assigned to field regi

ments, others were put on the waiting-list, and soon
we were ready to start at a moment's notice.
Those who were left at home to fill up vacancies
later on were sorely disappointed, and entreated
their officers to allow them to join the fighting regi
ments at once. Their comrades had to comfort
and encourage, cheer and praise these disappointed
men, explaining to them that the war with Russia
was not likely to come to an end in six months or
even in a year; that their turn was sure to come
before long; that it was not at all a disgrace to be
on the waiting-list, on the contrary that they were -

to have the honor of dealing the finishing stroke to

the enemy.
After our regiment was ready to start, one sad
affair took place. Togo Miyatake was one of those
who were lodged in a Buddhist temple called Kwan-
nonji to wait for a later summons. He was in good
health and excellent spirits. When leaving home
he had promised his parents, brothers, and friends
that he would be among the first to help win battles.
Now, instead of dying in the field, he had to wait,
doing nothing. He did not know when he would be
sent. This was too great a humiliation for him to
bear. He thought it better to kill himself, so that
his spirit, freed from the shackles of the body, might
be at the front to work with his living comrades.
8