When they reached the door they found a group of three or four persons examining the goods of a man who seemed to be a peddler. He was very anxious that his goods—and he did not seem to have many of them—should be appreciated, and the bystanders were quietly and earnestly listening to what he had to say.
But no one took notice of the newly arrived party.
After a little while, the landlord made his appearance, and though he seemed glad to see them, and brought them a few eggs and some other trifling refreshments, he soon went away again, and they saw no more of him until several hours later when they took their leave.
But their own servants cooked them a good dinner of things they had with them, and seemed to make themselves perfectly at home in the household of the tavern.
Tom said it was a good deal like working your passage on a ship, but Moriyama could see no objection to it. He was sure, he said, that he would rather be waited on by his own servants than by any one likely to be found at a roadside tavern, and he was sure their own provisions were better than anything likely to be found there.
This was all true enough, but Tom could not help thinking what a row would be kicked up in an American tavern, no matter how small and mean it might be, if the guests brought their own provisions, and cooked them in the tavern kitchen.
They stopped at other places, at one tea-house in particular, where there were plenty of waiters, plenty of guests, and a very great plenty of tea.
They were two days on the road, although the distance was only about thirty miles.
It is impossible to tell one half that these two boys did and saw in Yedo.
They saw all sorts of shops, with curious signs, tea-houses thronged with customers; people at work at various trades—in workshops that were entirely exposed to the view of passers-by, and almost everything arranged in a different way from what Tom thought was right and proper.