"I have no further orders to give you for the present," said Nagato; "only keep our bargain secret."
"We will not tell it even to the gulls that fly over the sea."
The Prince opened his belt, and threw a piece of gold on the ground.
"Our engagement begins from to-day for those who are here present," said he, "and I will count out a hundred kobangs to each one. You will choose among your mates the number of men needed to make up my little army. Engage the bravest and most discreet."
"Sailors are not chatterboxes," said Raiden, "particularly fishermen; noise frightens the fish. Come, Loo," said he; "the Prince is ready to count out the money."
Loo approached, and began to arrange the little plates of gold in piles. Each man came forward in his turn and gave his name, which Nagato wrote upon a long strip of paper. The Prince looked with pleasure on the frank and daring faces of these men, who had sold him their lives. He thought that seldom at court had he met the loyal look which shone here in every eye. The majority of these men were bare-chested, revealing their vigorous muscles. They laughed with pleasure as they took their money.
Soon the Prince left the tea-house, and ascended the banks of the river. For a long distance he could hear the laughter and the voices of the sailors, who, as they drank their saki, sang loudly the song of Dainogon-Ootomo. Loo, who heard it for the first time, tried to recall it, and hummed it as he marched behind the Prince:
"If I were not a man, I would fain be a tun."