"How old do you think Tanaka is?" he asked her one day.
"Oh, about eighteen or nineteen," she answered. She was not yet used to the deceptiveness of Japanese appearances.
"He does not look more sometimes," said her husband; "but he has the ways and the experience of a very old hand. I wouldn't mind betting you that he is thirty."
"All right," said Asako, "give me the jade Buddha if you are wrong."
"And what will you give me if I am right?" said Geoffrey.
"Kisses," replied his wife.
Geoffrey went out to look for Tanaka. In a quarter of an hour he came back, triumphant.
"My kisses, sweetheart," he demanded.
"Wait," said Asako; "how old is he?"
"I went out of the front door and there was Master Tanaka, telling the rickshaw-men the latest gossip about us. I said to him, 'Tanaka, are you married?' 'Yes, Lordship,' he answered, 'I am widower.' 'Any children?' I asked again. 'I have two progenies,' he said; 'they are soldiers of His Majesty the Emperor.' 'Why, how old are you?' I asked. 'Forty-three years,' he answered. 'You are very well preserved for a man of your age,' I said, and I have come back for my kisses."