Page "fiction" Paragraph 662

Rector had never been able to find out much about Hino's past.

Hino talked very little about himself except for the infrequent times when he used a personal illustration in connection with another subject.

Putting the pieces of this mosaic together, Rector had the vague outlines of a biography.

Hino was the fourth son of an elderly farmer who lived on the coast, in Chiba, and divided his life between the land and the sea, supplementing the marginal livelihood on his small rented farm with seasonal employment on a fishing boat.

Without exception Hino's brothers turned to either one or both of their father's occupations, but Hino showed a talent for neither and instead spent most of his time on the beach where he repaired nets and proved immensely popular as a storyteller.

He had gone into the Japanese navy, had been trained as an officer, had participated in one or two battles -- he never went into detail regarding his military experience -- and at the age of twenty-five, quite as a bolt out of the blue, he had walked into the mission as if he belonged here and had become a Christian.

Rector was often curious ; ;

often tempted to ask questions but he never did.

If and when Hino decided to tell him about his experiences, he would do so unasked.