notebook shut without writing anything. What a failure. Now I had angered my father and I could be sure that his revenge would he something fearful. That night as I lay shivering in bed I tried to think if there were still not some way of redressing the situation. I crept out of bed, tiptoed down to the parlor, and opened the drawer of the desk where my father had most likely put his notebook. I found the book and took it out. I riffled through the pages until I came to the place where he had jotted down our requests for presents. I licked the notebook pencil and wrote in big letters LION MASK. This accomplished I returned to my bed. I had not the faintest
wish for a lion mask. In fact, I would actually have preferred a book. But it was obvious that Father wanted to buy me a mask, and my frantic desire to cater to his wishes and restore his good humor had emboldened me to sneak into the parlor in the dead of night. This desperate expedient was rewarded by the great success I had hoped for. When, some days later, my father returned from Tokyo I overheard him say to Mother in his loud voice—I was in the children's room at the time—"What do you think I found when I opened my notebook in the toy shop? See, somebody has written here 'lion mask.' It's not my handwriting. For a minute I couldn't figure it out, then it came to me. This was some of Yozo's mischief. You know, I asked him what he wanted from Tokyo, but be just stood there grinning without saying a word. Later lie must have got to wanting that lion mask so badly he couldn't stand it. He's certainly a Funny kid. Pretends not to know what he wants and then goes and writes it. If
