“Then I shall carry it in myself. I am here as the teacher of Iyesada Sama. I demand the deference due a teacher.”
At this he took the sword from me, and knelt to enter the chamber of audience. I walked after him erect. The slowness of our progress up the long apartment gave me ample time to observe the place and its occupants. All one side of the chamber was open upon a fantastic garden of sand and rocks representing a volcanic seashore. Its bare, verdureless stretch contrasted strongly with the richness and ultra-delicacy of the apartment’s decorations.
My attention quickly centred upon the two persons seated before the gorgeous tokonoma. One I recognized as Abe Ise-no-kami, the elder of the two strange daimios at the Shogun’s conference. He sat on the left of a young man whose amiable but weak face answered to Yoritomo’s descriptions of the epileptic heir apparent.
As I stalked up the room behind the creeping chamberlain, the Prince and his companion regarded me with looks of surprise that quickly deepened to resentment. The tojin was presuming to swagger into the presence of the Shogun’s son! But I had planned my course and was sure of my ground. When within a short distance of the angry sitters, I paused and gazed at the Prince in stern reproof.
“Is this the proper manner for a pupil to receive his teacher?” I demanded. “Can it be that Iyesada has been misinformed as to the purpose of my visit?”
The Prince turned to Abe with a look of bewilderment, as if seeking aid and instruction. The Daimio rose and signed him to do the same.
“Woroto Sama is implored to pardon the rudeness,” he said. “Excuse is offered that he was not distinctly announced as a teacher.”
I glanced down at the stooped figure of Gengo.
“The offence is forgotten. Mistakes occur even with the best of intentions. I have come at the command of the Shogun to instruct his son in tojin learning.”
Abe whispered a few words to the Prince, who promptly stepped away from his seat, and waved me to it with a graceful bow.