Three

Okada had a great fondness for the Yü Ch'u hsin-chih, a collection of Chinese essays and stories, and one of the items in it, “The Big Iron Bludgeon,” a tale of military prowess, he could all but recite from memory. It had long been his ambition to become adept in one of the martial arts, though he had never had an opportunity to do so. In the last few years, however, he had taken up rowing and had gone at it with such enthusiasm that, at the recommendation of his teammates, he had been made a member of the rowing