ndredfold.

I spoze that it wuz on Robert Strong's account (he is acquainted with
so many big Chinamen and Japans) that we wuz invited to a elegant
tiffen in one of the Mikado's palaces at Tokio. The grounds wuz
beautiful, the garden containing some of the most beautiful specimens
of trees, trained into all shapes, some on 'em hundreds of years old,
but havin' their faculties yet, and growin' jest as they wuz told to,
and all the beautiful flowers and shrubs that Japan can boast of, and
palm trees, bananas, giant ferns and everything else beautiful in the
way of vegetation.

The palace is one of the oldest in Tokio. It wuz only one story high,
but the rooms wuz beautiful. The fan chamber wuz fifty feet square,
the walls covered with fans of every size and shape and color. The
only furniture in this room wuz two magnificent cabinets of lacquer
work and four great, gorgeous bronze vases.

The tiffen wuz gin by a high official; there wuz fifty guests. The
hour was two in the afternoon. There wuz ten ladies present--two
beautiful Japanese ladies, dressed in the rich toilette of Japan. The
lunch cards wuz little squares of scarlet paper, with black Japanese
writing. Josiah looked at the card intently and then whispered to me:

"How be I goin' to know what I am eatin' from these duck tracks?"

But I whispered, "Le's do what the rest do, Josiah, and we'll come out
all right."

But we had a dretful scare, for right whilst we wuz partakin' of the
choice Japan viands a loud rumblin' sound wuz hearn, and I see even as
we rushed to the door the timbers of the ceilin' part and then come
together agin and the great bronze chandelier swing back and forth. My
pardner ketched hold of my hand and hurried me along on a swift run
and wouldn't stop runnin' for some time. I tried to stop him, for I
got out of breath, but he wuz bound to run right back to Yokohama,
thirty miles off. But I convinced him that we would be no safer there,
for you can't argy with earthquake shocks and tell when they're
comin', they are very common in all parts of Japan. After the first
heavy shock there wuz two lighter ones, and that ended it for that
time. But though we all went back to the table, I can't say that I
took any great comfort in the tiffen after that.

A blow has fell onto me I wuzn't prepared for. We found a number of
letters waitin' for us here at the tarven that Robert Strong had
ordered to be forwarded there. It seemed so good, whilst set