“I say old shaven head——how many bangs would he give for the Prince of Wales, Moriyama?”
“Four, I think.”
“Well then, old fellow, princes belong to the set that they take kings from, and I belong to the set that they take presidents from, and so we’re even, and I want you to pound four times every time I come in the house. Do you hear that? Tell him it, upside down, Moriyama.”
Moriyama, who was laughing at this speech, said something to the porter in Japanese, but I do not think that he translated Tom’s words.
But Tom never got but one bang when he came in, though he used to shake his fist at the porter every time he heard it.
Moriyama was very anxious that Tom should visit Yedo with him, and so after a few days spent in further sight-seeing in Yokohama, the two friends set off for the metropolis of Japan.
ENTRANCE TO A JAPANESE TAVERN.
They traveled on horseback accompanied by their bettos and other servants. They rode along the Tokaido, or great highway of Japan, and they were by no means the only travelers, for the road was crowded with foot passengers, men on horseback, and people in palanquins. The whole road was one lively scene, and to Tom it was a very interesting one. And the best of it was, that there was nothing, no matter how curious or outlandish, that Moriyama could not explain to him.
They stopped on the way at a tavern, which was rather different from anything of the kind that Tom had ever imagined.