Produced by Annie R. McGuire
[Illustration: Book Cover: The Boy Travellers.]
[Illustration]
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST
* * * * *
ADVENTURES OF
TWO YOUTHS IN A JOURNEY
TO
JAPAN AND CHINA
BY
THOMAS W. KNOX
AUTHOR OF "CAMP-FIRE AND COTTON-FIELD" "OVERLAND THROUGH ASIA"
"UNDERGROUND" "JOHN" ETC.
Illustrated
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
FRANKLIN SQUARE
1880
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFACE.
* * * * *
_To my Young Friends:_
Not many years ago, China and Japan were regarded as among the barbarous
nations. The rest of the world knew comparatively little about their
peoples, and, on the other hand, the inhabitants of those countries had
only a slight knowledge of Europe and America. To-day the situation is
greatly changed; China and Japan are holding intimate relations with us
and with Europe, and there is every prospect that the acquaintance
between the East and the West will increase as the years roll on. There
is a general desire for information concerning the people of the Far
East, and it is especially strong among the youths of America.
The characters in "The Boy Travellers" are fictitious; but the scenes
that passed before their eyes, the people they met, and the incidents
and accidents that befell them are real. The routes they travelled, the
cities they visited, the excursions they made, the observations they
recorded--in fact, nearly all that goes to make up this volume--were the
actual experiences of the author at a very recent date. In a few
instances I have used information obtained from others, but only after
careful investigation has convinced me of its entire correctness. I have
aimed to give a faithful picture of Japan and China as they appear
to-day, and to make such comparisons with the past that the reader can
easily comprehend the changes that have occurred in the last twenty
years. And I have also endeavored to convey the information in such a
way that the story shall not be considered tedious. Miss Effie and "The
Mystery" may seem superfluous to some readers, but I am of opinion that
the majority of those who peruse the book will not consider them
unnecessary to the narrative.
In preparing illustrations for this volume the publishers have kindly
allowed me to make use of some engravings that have already appeared in
their publications relative to China and Japan. I have made selections
from the volumes of Sir Rutherford Alcock and the Rev. Justus Doolittle,
and also from the excellent work of Professor Griffis, "The Mikado's
Empire." In the episode of a whaling voyage I have been under
obligations to the graphic narrative of Mr. Davis entitled "Nimrod of
the Sea," not only for illustrations, but for incidents of the chase of
the monsters of the deep.
The author is not aware that any book describing China and Japan, and
specially addressed to the young, has yet appeared. Consequently he is
led to hope that his work will find a welcome among the boys and girls
of America. And when the juvenile members of the family have completed
its perusal, the children of a larger growth may possibly find the
volume not without interest, and may glean from its pages some grains of
information hitherto unknown to them.
T. W. K.
NEW YORK, _October_, 1879.
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I. PAGE
THE DEPARTURE. 17
CHAPTER II.
OVERLAND TO CALIFORNIA. 30
CHAPTER III.
ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 48
CHAPTER IV.
INCIDENTS OF A WHALING VOYAGE. 58
CHAPTER V.
ARRIVAL IN JAPAN. 72
CHAPTER VI.
FIRST DAY IN JAPAN. 83
CHAPTER VII.
FROM YOKOHAMA TO TOKIO. 101
CHAPTER VIII.
SIGHTS IN THE EASTERN CAPITAL OF JAPAN. 115
CHAPTER IX.
ASAKUSA AND YUYENO.--FIRST NATIONAL FAIR AT TOKIO. 131
CHAPTER X.
WALKS AND TALKS IN TOKIO. 144
CHAPTER XI.
AN EXCURSION TO DAI-BOOTS AND ENOSHIMA. 156
CHAPTER XII.
SIGHTS AT ENOSHIMA. 169
CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE ROAD TO FUSIYAMA. 183
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ASCENT OF FUSIYAMA. 197
CHAPTER XV.
EXECUTIONS AND HARI-KARI. 215
CHAPTER XVI.
AMUSEMENTS.--WRESTLERS AND THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENTS. 227
CHAPTER XVII.
A STUDY OF JAPANESE ART. 239
CHAPTER XVIII.
SOMETHING ABOUT JAPANESE WOMEN. 254
CHAPTER XIX.
FROM YOKOHAMA TO KOBE AND OSAKA. 266
CHAPTER XX.
THE MINT AT OSAKA.--FROM OSAKA TO NARA AND KIOTO. 279
CHAPTER XXI.
KIOTO AND LAKE BIWA. 291
CHAPTER XXII.
THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI.--CAUGHT IN A TYPHOON. 303
CHAPTER XXIII.
FIRST DAY IN CHINA. 318
CHAPTER XXIV.
A VOYAGE UP THE YANG-TSE-KIANG. 328
CHAPTER XXV.
THE TAE-PING REBELLION.--SCENES ON THE GREAT RIVER. 339
CHAPTER XXVI.
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 352
CHAPTER XXVII.
SIGHTS IN PEKIN. 365
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A JOURNEY TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 377
CHAPTER XXIX.
FROM SHANGHAI TO HONG-KONG.--A STORY OF THE COOLIE TRADE. 388
CHAPTER XXX.
HONG-KONG AND CANTON. 400
CHAPTER XXXI.
SIGHTS AND SCENES IN CANTON. 408
ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Japanese Swimming-scene. Reproduced from a Painting
by a Japanese Artist _Frontispiece_.
PAGE
Mr. Bassett has Decided 17
Mary 18
Mary Thinking what she would Like from Japan 19
Overland by Stage in the Olden Time 20
Overland by Rail in a Pullman Car 21
Cooking-range in the Olden Time 24
Cooking range on a Pullman Car 24
Change for a Dollar--Before and After 25
Kathleen's Expectations for Frank and Fred 26
Effie Waiting for Somebody 28
Good-bye 29
Watering-place on the Erie Railway 30
The Course of Empire 31
Valley of the Neversink 32
Starucca Viaduct 33
Niagara Falls, from the American Side 34
Entrance to the Cave of the Winds 36
From Chicago to San Francisco 38
Omaha 39
Attacked by Indians 41
Herd of Buffaloes Moving 42
An Old Settler 43
"End of Track" 44
Snow-sheds on the Pacific Railway 45
View at Cape Horn, Central Pacific Railway 46
Seal-rocks, San Francisco 47
Departure from San Francisco 48
Dropping the Pilot 49
The Golden Gate 50
In the Fire-room 51
The Engineer at his Post 53
The Wind Rising 55
Spouts 57
Whale-ship Outward Bound 57
Captain Spofford Telling his Story 58
New Bedford 59
Sperm-whale 60
"There she blows!" 61
Implements Used in Whaling 62
Whale "Breaching" 63
In the Whale's Jaw 64
Captain Hunting's Fight 66
A Game Fellow 67
A Free Ride 68
Captain Sammis Selling Out 70
Shooting at a Water-spout 71
Frank Studying Navigation 73
Working up a Reckoning 75
View in the Bay of Yeddo 76
Japanese Junk and Boats 77
A Japanese Imperial Barge 78
Japanese Government Boat 79
Yokohama in 1854 81
A Japanese Street Scene 84
Japanese Musicians 86
Japanese Fishermen 87
"Sayonara" 88
Japanese Silk-shop 89
Seven-stroke Horse 90
Female Head-dress 91
The Siesta 91
A Japanese at his Toilet for a Visit of Ceremony 92
A Japanese Breakfast 95
Mutsuhito, Mikado of Japan 97
Landing of Perry's Expedition 98
The Last Shogoon of Japan 99
Third-class Passengers 102
Japanese Ploughing 103
Japanese Roller 104
Manuring Process 104
How they Use Manure 105
Mode of Protecting Land from Birds 106
Storks, Drawn by a Native Artist 106
Flock of Geese 107
Forts of Shinagawa 108
A Jin-riki-sha 109
Japanese on Foot 111
An Express Runner 112
A Japanese Coolie 113
Pity for the Blind 114
View of Tokio, from the South 115
Japanese Lady Coming from the Bath 116
Fire-lookouts in Tokio 117
Too Much Sa-kee 118
Sakuradu Avenue in Tokio 119
Japanese Children at Play 121
The Feast of Dolls ("Hina Matsuri") in a Japanese House 122
A Barber at Work 123
A Transaction in Clothes 124
Ball-playing in Japan 125
Sport at Asakusa 126
Spire of a Pagoda 127
Belfry in Court-yard of Temple, showing the Style of a
Japanese Roof 128
Shrine of the Goddess Ku-wanon 130
Praying-machine 132
Archery Attendant 134
A Japanese Flower-show. Night Scene 135
A Christening in Japan 137
A Wedding Party 138
Strolling Singers at Asakusa 139
View from Suruga Dai in Tokio 140
A Child's Nurse 140
Lovers Behind a Screen. A Painting on Silk Exhibited at the
Tokio Fair 141
Blacksmith's Bellows 142
A Grass Overcoat 143
A High-priest in Full Costume 145
A Japanese Temple 146
A Wayside Shrine 148
The Great Kosatsu, near the Nihon Basin 150
Blowing Bubbles 151
Father and Children 153
Caught in the Rain 155
A Village on the Tokaido 157
A Party on the Tokaido 159
Beginning of Relations between England and Japan 161
Pilgrims on the Road 162
Threshing Grain 163
Peasant and his Wife Returning from the Field 164
A Japanese Sandal 165
The Great Dai-Boots 166
Salutation of the Landlord 168
The Head Waiter Receiving Orders 168
A Japanese Kitchen 170
Boiling the Pot 171
Frank's Inventory 172
How the Japanese Sleep 173
A Japanese Fishing Scene 175
"Breakfast is ready" 176
Interior of a Tea-garden 178
The Path in Enoshima 179
A Group of Japanese Ladies 181
Specimen of Grotesque Drawing by a Japanese Artist 182
Bettos, or "Grooms," in Full Dress 185
A Japanese Loom 188
Artists at Work 189
Coopers Hooping a Vat 190
Crossing the River 192
Mother and Son 193
A Fishing Party 194
The Man they Met 196
Travelling by Cango 198
Japanese Norimon 199
Frank's Position 200
Hot Bath in the Mountains 201
A Japanese Bath 202
The Lake of Hakone 203
Antics of the Horses 206
A Near View of Fusiyama 207
In a Storm near Fusiyama 208
Ascent of Fusiyama 211
The Four Classes of Society 216
Two-sworded Nobles 218
A Samurai in Winter Dress 219
Beheading a Criminal 221
Japanese Court in the Old Style 224
Japanese Naval Officer 225
Japanese Steam Corvette 225
A Japanese War-junk of the Olden Time 226
A Japanese Wrestler 228
A Pair of Wrestlers and their Manager 230
The Clinch 231
Japanese Actor Dressed as a Doctor 233
The Samisen 234
Playing the Samisen 235
Scene from a Japanese Comedy.--Writing a Letter of Divorce 236
Scene from a Japanese Comedy.--Love-letter Discovered 237
Telling the Story of Bumbuku Chagama 238
Frank's Purchase 240
Japanese Pattern-designer 241
Fan-makers at Work 241
Chinese Cloisonné on Metal 242
Japanese Cloisonné on Metal 243
Japanese Bowl 243
Cover of Japanese Bowl 244
Chinese Metal Vase 246
Modern Japanese Cloisonné on Metal 247
Japanese Metal Cloisonné 248
Chinese Porcelain Cloisonné 248
Group Carved in Ivory 249
Japanese Pipe, Case, and Pouch 249
Japanese Artist Chasing on Copper 251
A Japanese Village.--Bamboo Poles Ready for Market 252
A Japanese Lady's-maid 254
Bride and Bridesmaid 255
Merchant's Family 255
Mysteries of the Dressing-room 256
Lady in Winter Walking-dress 257
A Girl who had never Seen a Dressing-pin 259
Ladies' Hair-dresser 260
Ladies at their Toilet 261
Japanese Ladies on a Picnic 262
Ladies and Children at Play 263
Flying Kites 264
A Village in the Tea District 266
Tea-merchants in the Interior 267
The Tea-plant 268
Firing Tea 269
Hiogo (Kobe) 270
The Junk at Anchor 271
The Helmsman at his Post 272
Japanese Sailors at Dinner 273
Junk Sailors on Duty 274
View from the Hotel 276
The Castle of Osaka 277
Vignette from the National Bank-notes 280
Imperial Crest for Palace Affairs 281
Imperial Crest on the New Coins 281
Old Kinsat, or Money-card 282
Ichi-boo 282
Vignette from Bank-note 283
Vignette from Bank-note 283
Men Towing Boats near Osaka 284
Mode of Holding the Tow-ropes 284
The Ferry-boat 285
The Hotel-maid 285
A Japanese Landscape 286
Dikes along the River 287
Night Scene near Fushimi 288
Women of Kioto 289
Ladies of the Western Capital 292
Restaurant and Tea-garden at Kioto 294
An Artist at Work 295
Lantern-maker at Kioto 295
A Japanese Archer 297
Temple Bell at Kioto 298
Reeling Cotton 298
Japanese Temple and Cemetery 299
Handcart for a Quartette 300
Horse Carrying Liquid Manure 301
The Paternal Nurse 301
Picnic Booth Overlooking Lake Biwa 302
A Maker of Bows 302
The Inland Sea near Hiogo 303
Approaching Simoneseki 304
Dangerous Place on the Suwo Nada 304
Pappenberg Island 305
Women of Nagasaki 306
A Christian Village in the Sixteenth Century 307
Monuments in Memory of Martyrs 308
A Path near Nagasaki 309
Hollander at Deshima Watching for a Ship 310
The Rain Dragon 311
The Wind Dragon 312
The Thunder Dragon 312
A Typhoon 314
Course of a Typhoon 316
Caught near the Storm's Centre 317
The Woosung River 318
Chinese Trading-junk on the Woosung River 319
Shanghai 321
A Coolie in the Streets of Shanghai 322
A Tea-house in the Country 324
Smoking Opium 324
Opium-pipe 325
Man Blinded by the Use of Opium 326
Chinese Gentleman in a Sedan 327
Canal Scene South of Shanghai 328
A Chinese Family Party 330
A Gentleman of Chin-kiang 331
Chinese Spectacles 332
Ploughing with a Buffalo 333
Threshing Grain near Chin-kiang 333
Carrying Bundles of Grain 334
A River Scene in China 335
A Nine-storied Pagoda 337
Little Orphan Rock 337
Entrance to Po-yang Lake 338
Tae-ping Rebels 340
General Ward 342
The Gate which Ward Attacked 343
General Burgevine 344
Fishing with Cormorants 347
A Street in Han-kow 349
Wo-chang 350
The Governor-general and his Staff 351
Attack on the Pei-ho Forts 353
Temple of the Sea-god at Taku 355
A Chinese Beggar 355
Signing the Treaty of Tien-tsin 356
Mode of Irrigating Fields 359
The Doctor's Bedroom 360
Part of the Wall of Pekin 361
A Pekin Cab 362
A Composite Team 363
A Chinese Dragon 364
A Pavilion in the Prohibited City 366
Temple of Heaven 367
Pekin Cash 367
Traditional Likeness of Confucius 368
God of War 368
God of Literature 368
God of Thieves 368
A Mandarin Judge Delivering Sentence 369
Squeezing the Fingers 371
Squeezing the Ankles 371
A Bed of Torture 372
Four Modes of Punishment 373
Standing in a Cage 374
Hot-water Snake 374
Carrying Forth to the Place of Execution 375
Just Before Decapitation 375
Military Candidates Competing with the Bow and Arrow 376
Walking on Stilts 378
Juggler Spinning a Plate 379
Gambling with a Revolving Pointer 379
Fortune-telling by Means of a Bird and Slips of Paper 380
Fortune-telling by Dissecting Chinese Characters 381
Chinese Razor 382
Barber Shaving the Head of a Customer 382
Bridge of the Cloudy Hills 383
The God of the Kitchen 384
A Lama 385
The Hills near Chan-kia-kow 386
Specimen of Chinese Writing 389
Four Illustrations of the Chinese Version of "Excelsior" 393
Barracoons at Macao 394
Coolies Embarking at Macao 395
Enraged Coolie 396
A Deadly Fall 396
Firing Down the Hatchway 397
The Writing in Blood 398
The Interpreters 399
Hong-kong 401
Fac-simile of a Hong-kong Mille, Dime, and Cent 403
Fort in Canton River 404
Gateway of Temple near Canton 406
Street Scene in Canton 410
Five-storied Pagoda 412
Horseshoe or Omega Grave 413
Presenting Food to the Spirits of the Dead 414
A Leper 414
A Literary Student 415
A Literary Graduate in his Robes of Honor 415
A Sedan-chair with Four Bearers 416
A Small Foot with a Shoe on it 417
Peasant-woman with Natural Feet 417
A Tablet Carved in Ivory 419
"Good-bye!" 421
CHAPTER I.
THE DEPARTURE.
[Illustration: MR. BASSETT HAS DECIDED.]
"Well, Frank," said Mr. Bassett, "the question is decided."
Frank looked up with an expression of anxiety on his handsome face. A
twinkle in his father's eyes told him that the decision was a favorable
one.
"And you'll let me go with them, won't you, father?" he answered.
"Yes, my boy," said the father, "you can go."
Frank was so full of joy that he couldn't speak for at least a couple of
minutes. He threw his arms around Mr. Bassett; then he kissed his mother
and his sister Mary, who had just come into the room; next he danced
around the table on one foot; then he hugged his dog Nero, who wondered
what it was all about; and he ended by again embracing his father, who
stood smiling at the boy's delight. By this time Frank had recovered the
use of his tongue, and was able to express his gratitude in words. When
the excitement was ended, Mary asked what had happened to make Frank fly
around so.
"Why, he's going to Japan," said Mrs. Bassett.
"Going to Japan, and leave us all alone at home!" Mary exclaimed, and
then her lips and eyes indicated an intention to cry.
[Illustration: MARY.]
Frank was eighteen years old and his sister was fifteen. They were very
fond of each other, and the thought that her brother was to be separated
from her for a while was painful to the girl. Frank kissed her again,
and said,
"I sha'n't be gone long, Mary, and I'll bring you such lots of nice
things when I come back." Then there was another kiss, and Mary
concluded she would have her cry some other time.
"But you won't let him go all alone, father, now, will you?" she asked
as they sat down to breakfast.
"I think I could go alone," replied Frank, proudly, "and take care of
myself without anybody's help; but I'm going with Cousin Fred and Doctor
Bronson."
"Better say Doctor Bronson and Cousin Fred," Mary answered, with a
smile; "the Doctor is Fred's uncle and twenty years older."
Frank corrected the mistake he had made, and said he was too much
excited to remember all about the rules of grammar and etiquette. He had
even forgotten that he was hungry; at any rate, he had lost his
appetite, and hardly touched the juicy steak and steaming potatoes that
were before him.
During breakfast, Mr. Bassett explained to Mary the outline of the
proposed journey. Doctor Bronson was going to Japan and China, and was
to be accompanied by his nephew, Fred Bronson, who was very nearly
Frank's age. Frank had asked his father's permission to join them, and
Mr. Bassett had been considering the matter. He found that it would be
very agreeable to Doctor Bronson and Fred to have Frank's company, and
as the opportunity was an excellent one for the youth to see something
of foreign lands under the excellent care of the Doctor, it did not take
a long time for him to reach a favorable decision.
"Doctor Bronson has been there before, hasn't he, father?" said Mary,
when the explanation was ended.
"Certainly, my child," was the reply; "he has been twice around the
world, and has seen nearly every civilized and uncivilized country in
it. He speaks three or four languages fluently, and knows something of
half a dozen others. Five years ago he was in Japan and China, and he is
acquainted with many people living there. Don't you remember how he told
us one evening about visiting a Japanese prince, and sitting
cross-legged on the floor for half an hour, while they ate a dinner of
boiled rice and stewed fish, and drank hot wine from little cups the
size of a thimble?"
Mary remembered it all, and then declared she was glad Frank was going
to Japan, and also glad that he was going with Doctor Bronson. And she
added that the Doctor would know the best places for buying the presents
Frank was to bring home.
"A crape shawl for mother, and another for me; now don't you forget,"
said Mary; "and some fans and some ivory combs, and some of those funny
little cups and saucers such as Aunt Amelia has, and some nice tea to
drink out of them."
"Anything else?" Frank asked.
"I don't know just now," Mary answered; "I'll read all I can about Japan
and China before you start, so's I can know all they make, and then
I'll write out a list. I want something of everything, you understand."
"If that's the case," Frank retorted, "you'd better wrap your list
around a bushel of money. It'll take a good deal to buy the whole of
those two countries."
Mary said she would be satisfied with a shawl and a fan and anything
else that was pretty. The countries might stay where they were, and
there were doubtless a good many things in them that nobody would want
anyway. All she wished was to have anything that was nice and pretty.
[Illustration: MARY THINKING WHAT SHE WOULD LIKE FROM JAPAN.]
For the next few days the proposed journey was the theme of conversation
in the Bassett family. Mary examined all the books she could find about
the countries her brother expected to visit; then she made a list of the
things she desired, and the day before his departure she gave him a
sealed envelope containing the paper. She explained that he was not to
open it until he reached Japan, and that he would find two lists of what
she wanted.
"The things marked 'number one' you must get anyway," she said, "and
those marked 'number two' you must get if you can."
Frank thought she had shown great self-denial in making two lists
instead of one, but intimated that there was not much distinction in the
conditions she proposed. He promised to see about the matter when he
reached Japan, and so the conversation on that topic came to an end.
It did not take a long time to prepare Frank's wardrobe for the journey.
His grandmother had an impression that he was going on a whaling voyage,
as her brother had gone on one more than sixty years before. She
proposed to give him two heavy jackets, a dozen pairs of woollen
stockings, and a tarpaulin hat, and was sure he would need them. She
was undeceived when the difference between a sea voyage of to-day and
one of half a century ago was explained to her. The housemaid said he
would not need any thick clothing if he was going to Japan, as it was
close to Jerusalem, and it was very hot there. She thought Japan was a
seaport of Palestine, but Mary made it clear to her that Japan and Jaffa
were not one and the same place. When satisfied on this point, she
expressed the hope that the white bears and elephants wouldn't eat the
poor boy up, and that the natives wouldn't roast him, as they did a
missionary from her town when she was a little girl. "And, sure," she
added, "he won't want any clothes at all, at all, there, as the horrid
natives don't wear nothing except a little cocoanut ile which they rubs
on their skins."
"What puts that into your head, Kathleen?" said Mary, with a laugh.
"And didn't ye jest tell me," Kathleen replied, "that Japan is an island
in the Pacific Oshin? Sure it was an island in that same oshin where
Father Mullaly was roasted alive, and the wretched natives drissed
theirselves wid cocoanut ile. It was in a place they called Feejee."
Mary kindly explained that the Pacific Ocean was very large, and
contained a great many islands, and that the spot where Father Mullaly
was cooked was some thousands of miles from Japan.
At breakfast the day before the time fixed for Frank's departure, Mr.
Bassett told his son that he must make the most of his journey, enjoy it
as much as possible, and bring back a store of useful knowledge. "To
accomplish this," he added, "several things will be necessary; let us
see what they are."
"Careful observation is one requisite," said Frank, "and a good memory
is another."
"Constant remembrance of home," Mrs. Bassett suggested, and Mary nodded
in assent to her mother's proposition.
"Courage and perseverance," Frank added.
"A list of the things you are going to buy," Mary remarked.
"A light trunk and a cheerful disposition," said Doctor Bronson, who had
entered the room just as this turn of the conversation set in.
"One thing more," Mr. Bassett added.
"I can't think of it," replied Frank; "what is it?"
"Money."
"Oh yes, of course; one couldn't very well go travelling without money.
I'm old enough to know that, and to know it is very bad to be away from
one's friends without money."
The Doctor said it reminded him of a man who asked another for ten cents
to pay his ferriage across the Mississippi River, and explained that he
hadn't a single penny. The other man answered, "It's no use throwing ten
cents away on you in that fashion. If you haven't any money, you are
just as well off on this side of the river as on the other."
"You will need money," said Mr. Bassett, "and here is something that
will get it."
He handed Frank a double sheet of paper with some printed and written
matter on the first page, and some printed lists on the third and fourth
pages. The second page was blank; the first page read as follows:
LETTER OF CREDIT.
NEW YORK, _June_ 18_th_, 1878.
TO OUR CORRESPONDENTS:
We have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. FRANK BASSETT, the
bearer of this letter, whose signature you will find in the
margin. We beg you to honor his drafts to the amount of two
hundred pounds sterling, upon our London house, all deductions and
commissions being at his expense.
We have the honor to remain, Gentlemen,
Very truly yours,
BLANK & CO.
The printed matter on the third and fourth pages was a list of
banking-houses in all the principal cities of the world. Frank observed
that every country was included, and there was not a city of any
prominence that was not named in the list, and on the same line with the
list was the name of a banking-house.
The paper was passed around the table and examined, and finally returned
to Frank's hand. Mr. Bassett then explained to his son the uses of the
document.
"I obtained that paper," said he, "from the great house of Blank &
Company. I paid a thousand dollars for it, but it is made in pounds
sterling because the drafts are to be drawn on London, and you know that
pounds, shillings, and pence are the currency of England."
"When you want money, you go to any house named on that list, no matter
what part of the world it may be, and tell them how much you want. They
make out a draft which you sign, and then they pay you the money, and
write on the second page the amount you have drawn. You get ten pounds
in one place, ten in another, twenty in another, and you continue to
draw whenever you wish. Each banker puts down the amount you have
received from him on the second page, and you can keep on drawing till
the sum total of your drafts equals the figures named on the first page.
Then your credit is said to be exhausted, and you can draw no more on
that letter."
"How very convenient that is!" said Frank; "you don't have to carry
money around with you, but get it when and where you want it."
"You must be very careful not to lose that letter," said Mr. Bassett.
"Would the money be lost altogether?" Frank asked in return.
"No, the money would not be lost, but your credit would be gone, and of
no use. A new letter would be issued in place of the missing one, but
only after some months, and when the bankers had satisfied themselves
that there was no danger of the old one ever being used again."
"Can I get any kind of money with this letter, father?" Frank inquired,
"or must I take it in pounds sterling? That would be very inconvenient
sometimes, as I would have to go around and sell my pounds and buy the
money of the country."
"They always give you," was the reply, "the money that circulates in the
country where you are. Here they would give you dollars; in Japan you
will get Japanese money or Mexican dollars, which are current there; in
India they would give you rupees; in Russia, rubles; in Italy, lire; in
France, francs; in Spain, pesetas, and so on. They give you the
equivalent of the amount you draw on your letter."
This reminded the Doctor of a story, and at the general request he told
it.
[Illustration: CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR--BEFORE AND AFTER.]
A traveller stopped one night at a tavern in the interior of Minnesota.
On paying his bill in the morning, he received a beaver skin instead of
a dollar in change that was due him. The landlord explained that beaver
skins were legal tender in that region at a dollar each.
He hid the skin under his coat, walked over the street to a grocery
store, and asked the grocer if it was true that beaver skins were legal
tender for one dollar each.
"Certainly," answered the grocer, "everybody takes them at that rate."
"Then be kind enough to change me a dollar bill," said the stranger,
drawing the beaver skin from under his coat and laying it on the
counter.
The grocer answered that he was only too happy to oblige a stranger, and
passed out four musk-rat skins, which were legal tender, as he said, at
twenty-five cents each.
"Please, Doctor," said Mary, "what do you mean by legal tender?"
The Doctor explained that legal tender was the money which the law
declares should be the proper tender, or offer, in paying a debt. "If I
owed your father a hundred dollars," said he, "I could not compel him to
accept the whole amount in ten-cent pieces, or twenty-five-cent pieces,
or even in half-dollars. When the government issues a coin, it places a
limit for which that coin can be a legal tender. Thus the ten-cent piece
is a legal tender for all debts of one dollar or less, and the
half-dollar for debts of five dollars or less."
Mary said that when she was a child, ten cherries were exchanged among
her schoolmates for one apple, two apples for one pear, and two pears
for one orange. One day she took some oranges to school intending to
exchange them for cherries, of which she was very fond; she left them in
Katie Smith's desk, but Katie was hungry and ate one of the oranges at
recess.
"Not the first time the director of a bank has appropriated part of the
funds," said the Doctor. "Didn't you find that an orange would buy more
cherries or apples at one time than at another?"
"Why, certainly," Mary answered, "and sometimes they wouldn't buy any
cherries at all."
"Bankers and merchants call that the fluctuation of exchanges," said
Mr. Bassett; and with this remark he rose from the table, and the party
broke up.
[Illustration: KATHLEEN'S EXPECTATIONS FOR FRANK AND FRED.]
The next morning a carriage containing Doctor Bronson and his nephew,
Fred, drove up in front of Mr. Bassett's house. There were farewell
kisses, and hopes for a prosperous journey; and in a few minutes the
three travellers were on their way to the railway station. There was a
waving of handkerchiefs as the carriage started from the house and
rolled away; Nero barked and looked wistfully after his young master,
and the warm-hearted Kathleen wiped her eyes with the corner of her
apron, and flung an old shoe after the departing vehicle.
"And sure," she said, "and I hope that wretched old Feejee won't be in
Japan at all, at all, and the horrid haythens won't roast him."
As they approached the station, Frank appeared a little nervous about
something. The cause of his anxiety was apparent when the carriage
stopped. He was the first to get out and the first to mount the
platform. Somebody was evidently waiting for him.
[Illustration: EFFIE WAITING FOR SOMEBODY.]
Doctor Bronson followed him a minute later, and heard something like the
following:
"There, now, don't cry. Be a good girl, and I'll bring you the nicest
little pigtail, of the most Celestial pattern, from China."
"I tell you, Mr. Frank Bassett, I'm not crying. It's the dust in the
road got into my eyes."
"But you are; there's another big tear. I know you're sorry, and so am
I. But I'm coming back."
"I shall be glad to see you when you come back; of course I shall, for
your sister's sake. And you'll be writing to Mary, and she'll tell me
where you are. And when she's writing to you she'll--"
The bright little face turned suddenly, and its owner saw the Doctor
standing near with an amused expression on his features, and, perhaps, a
little moisture in his eyes. She uttered a cheery "Good-morning," to
which the Doctor returned,
"Good-morning, Miss Effie. This is an unexpected pleasure."
"You see, Doctor" (she blushed and stammered a little as she spoke),
"you know I like to take a walk in the morning, and happened to come
down to the station."
"Of course, quite accidental," said the Doctor, with a merry twinkle in
his eyes.
"Yes, that is, I knew Frank--I mean Mr. Bassett--that is, I knew you
were all three going away, and I thought I might come down and see you
start."
"Quite proper, Miss Effie," was the reply; "so good-bye: I must look
after the tickets and the baggage."
"Good-bye, Doctor Bronson; good-bye, Mr. Fred. _Bon voyage!_"
Frank lingered behind, and the rest of the dialogue has not been
recorded.
"She's a nice girl," said Fred to the Doctor as they made their way to
the ticket-office. "And she's very fond of Mary Bassett, Frank's sister.
Spiteful people say, though, that she's oftener in Frank's company than
in Mary's; and I know Frank is ready to punch the head of any other boy
that dares to look at her."
"Quite so," answered Dr. Bronson; "I don't think Frank is likely to be
forgetful of home."
Soon the whistle sounded, the great train rolled into the station, the
conductor shouted "All aboard!" our friends took their seats, the bell
rang, and the locomotive coughed asthmatically as it moved on.
Frank looked back as long as the station was in sight. Somebody
continued to wave a delicate handkerchief until the train had
disappeared; somebody's eyes were full of tears, and so were the eyes of
somebody else. Somebody's good wishes followed the travellers, and the
travellers--Frank especially--wafted back good wishes for that somebody.
[Illustration: GOOD-BYE.]