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252
:r Where
THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO.
to, Ojo San?" said old Sobei, as Sallie entered
her vehicle.
"To the Kadzusa dry-goods store in Uyeno," replied Fitz.
Away they went, and on quitting the gate, encountered
Oto, whose jin-riki-sha was spattered all over with mud.
w :? Come with us," said Johnnie. You are just in time."
After riding awhile they reached an imposing establishment
on the corner of a street.
The little white awning under the eaves of the store, bore
three characters, Kadzu-sa-ya, and a vertical sign projecting
on the street was inscribed on the top in small letters, Genkin
(one price), and in larger, Go jfuko jfuto-mono rtii o-yasui
uri (Dry goods and cotton cloth of various kinds sold here
cheap for cash). At the right of this, shading
the corner of
the house, was a sloping curtain, marked at the top with the
same inscription as the board, and stamped with a large circle
in which was the character Hisa (long established), and be-
neath it the title Kadzusa store. This curtain was held upon
the ground by two weights, secured to the ends of a bamboo
run through its lower loops.
A girl was seated, buying cotton cloth, the merits of which
were earnestly explained by a clerk, who, in his endeavors to
be respectful, craned his neck in a very comical fashion. Behind
him knelt an assistant, measuring goods with a bamboo
stick.
The shelves were filled with fabrics, the better kinds of
which were wrapped in paper or covered with yellow muslin.
The customer paid for her purchase, and, balancing herself
on her high clogs, started homeward.
Sallie and her party quitted their vehicles, and seating
themselves on the edge of the shop-board, asked to be shown
some goods.