Geoffrey and his wife sat down or sprawled on square silk cushions called _zabuton_. Then the _shoji_ were thrown open; and they looked down upon Nagasaki.
It was a scene of sheer enchantment. The tea-house was perched on a cliff which overhung the city. The light pavilion seemed like the car of some pullman aeroplane hovering over the bay. It was the brief half-hour of evening, the time of day when the magic of Japan is at its most powerful. All that was cheap and sordid was shut out by the bamboo fence and wrapped away in the twilight mists. It was a half-hour of luminous greyness. The skies were grey and the waters of the bay and the roofs of the houses. A grey vapour rose from the town; and a black-grey trail of smoke drifted from the dockyards and from the steamers in the harbour. The cries and activities of the city below rose clear and distinct but infinitely remote, as sound of the world might reach the Gods in Heaven. It was a half-hour of fairyland when anything might happen.
Two little maids brought tea and sugary cakes, green tea like bitter hot water, insipid and unsatisfying. It was a shock to see the girls' faces as they raised the tiny china teacups. Under the glaze of their powder they were old and wise.
They observed Asako's nationality, and began to speak to her in Japanese.
"Their politeness is put on to order," thought Geoffrey, "they seem forward and inquisitive minxes."
But Asako only knew a few set phrases of her native tongue. This baffled the ladies, one of whom after a whispered consultation and some giggling behind sleeves, went off to find a friend who would solve the mystery.
"_Nésan, Nésan_ (elder sister)" she called across the garden.
Strange little dishes were produced on trays of red lacquer, fish and vegetables of different kinds artistically arranged, but most unpalatable.
A third _nésan_ appeared. She could speak some English.
"Is _Okusama_ (lady) Japanese?" she began, after she had placed the tiny square table before Geoffrey, and had performed a prostration.
Renewed prostration before _okusama_, and murmured greetings in Japanese.
"But I can't speak Japanese," said Asako laughing. This perplexed the girl, but her curiosity prompted her.
