"And the barber does not forget that he is a very useful person. There, in the open streets, he communicates, by the tinkling of a little bell, the fact that he is ready to shave the heads and arrange the cues or pig-tails of those who may require his services; and as one man after another takes the seat that has been put ready for him, the barber not only shaves and plaits, but also frequently paints his customer's eyebrows and gives his clothes a brush."
"Father, why do Chinamen wear pig-tails?" here broke in Leonard, who, with Sybil, was very much interested in what he heard.
"After they were conquered by the Tartars they were obliged to wear them, to show that they were in subjection to their conquerors; but now the pig-tail is held in honour, and the longer it will grow the better pleased is the Chinese gentleman who wears it. Some very bad criminals have their tails cut off as a great punishment and disgrace.
"Well, what should you like to hear now?" Mr. Graham asked, after a little pause.
"What Chinese shops are like, I think," said Sybil.
A SHOP IN PEKING.
SIGN-BOARD OF A CUSHION AND MATTING MANUFACTORY.
"Most of those in China are quite open in front; where we are going I suppose we shall see very few, if any, shop-windows at all, but in Peking many of the shops have glass windows. In China there are certain streets for certain shops, where the different branches of trade have generally their own sides of the road. A shop is called a hong. Sometimes the master sits outside, waiting for his customers to arrive.