“Not so, Yansan; he is one of many kings, a pork king, or an oil king or a railroad king.”
“Surely there cannot be but one king in a country, Excellency,” objected Yansan.
“Ah, you are thinking of a small country like Japan. One king does for such a country; but America is larger than many Japans, therefore it has numerous kings, and here below us is one of them.”
“I should think, Excellency,” said Yansan, “that they would fight with one another.”
“That they do, and bitterly, too, in a way your kings never thought of. I myself was grievously wounded in one of their slightest struggles. That flag which you see there waves over my fortune. Many a million of sen pieces which once belonged to me rest secure for other people under its folds.”
My landlord lifted his hands in amazement at my immense wealth.
“This, then, is perhaps the treasure-ship bringing money to your Excellency,” he exclaimed, awestricken.
“That’s just what it is, Yansan, and I must go down and collect it; so bring me a dinner of rice, that I may be prepared to meet the captain who carries my fortune.”