ENGLISH READERS

THE HIGH SCHOOL SERIES

DIFFERENT KINDS OF INFLUENCE

One day, TOKUGAWA IEMITSU, partly for his own amusement, and partly to prove the powers of two very promising young men, propounded a difficult case, and SHIGEMITSU, pass judgment on the same.
  SHIGEMASA decided the case on the spot.  But SHIGEMUNE spent two or three days powdering over it before giving his decision.
  When the judgments of the two brothers were compared, they were found to be alike.  Most people that heard of this said that SHIGEMASA was the cleverer of the two, because he had decided at once what took SHIGEMUNE two or three days to settle.
  A few days after this occurrence, the father of the two young men, KATSUSHIGE, had occasion to go to the Shogun's palace on some business, and the judgment of the two sons was alluded to.
  "SHIGEMASA," remarked KATSUSHIGE, "is weak and without real intelligence.  SHIGEMUNE, on the other hand, is a calculator, and therefore will prove useful."
  "How can you say that SHIGEMASA lacks intelligence when he decided a difficult case so quickly?" asked IEMITSU.
  "The deciding of a matter in which perhaps thousand are concerned," replied KATSUSHIGE, "is not a thing to be begun and finished in the space of a few minutes.  In acting thus, SHIGEMASA showed a want of appreciation of the issues of a question, and therefore I say he is lacking in true intelligence.  Such judgment as his, being precarious, are not to be encouraged."
   KATSUSHIGE'S opinion on this matter is doubtless correct.  The kind of intelligence that he recommends is essential in a judge.  But in many other walks of life, however, the quick perception of SHIGEMASA would prove most useful.   It often happens that there is no time to deliberate: generals, navigators, doctors, and many others have often to act on the spur of the moment.  To such men the sharpness of SHIGEMASA would be most valuable.
  On the other hand, intelligence combined with the flippancy and off-handedness that KATSUSHIGE thought he perceive in his son, though it enables its possessor to arrive at a rapid decision, is often the cause of serious harm.  However quickly so important question has to be settled, a consciousness of its gravity, in that it quickens the mind to greater exertion and calls into play its hidden and dormant resources, proves to be of no small assistance un arriving at a right decision.



SELF-CONTROL

HIRATSUKA ETCHU-NO-KAMI, a daring man, who feared nothing, while wandering about the country as a knight-errant, was urged by messengers from IEYASU to enter his service.
"IEYASU is stingy," he replied; "although he uses polite language to his subordinates, the emoluments he bestows are very scanty."
This remark was reported to IEYASU, and he was very much annoyed by it.
ETCHU joined ISHIDA MITSUNARI, and fought against IEYASU at the battle of Sekigahara.  MITUNARI was defeated, and ETCHU taken prisoner and brought before IEYASU.
IEYASU was pleased to see ETCHU brought to him in such an ignominious way, and as he approached, jeeringly remarked: -  " Your refusing to severe the stingy man and choosing to follow MITSUNARI looked at in the light of recent event, proves to have been a very wise course! Eh?
ETCHU countenance changed, and a fierce, angry look came over him as he replied: - "For a knight to be taken captive is not so an occurrence that you need speak in this way.  Was not the man who now jeers at me for coming here as a prisoner of war a captive himself when but a lad? And was he not in after years taken by TODA DANJO and sent to ODA NOBUNAGA, who shut him up in the Owari castle for three years?  To forget that we ourselves have been in captivity and to laugh at others when in the same state, is a very extraordinary Proceeding, I must confess."
   IEYASU was enraged by these remarks, and exclaimed - "You abominable scoundrel! I have a mind to cut off your head on the spot. But,-no, you shall not die so easily; you shall be spared that you may undergo suffering" 
Some little time after this, when IEYASU was in a good humor HONDA HACHIYA asked him why he had spared ETCHO. "Seeing that he vas so insolent," remarked HACHYA, "It would only have been doing what was natural if you had killed him on the spot." 
"ETCHU is a brave man, the like of whom it would be difficult to find," replied IEYASU. "And he is as intelligent and eloquent as he is brave. Supposing I had killed him on the spot, it would have amounted to no more than a temporary gratification of my angry feeling, and would have been prompted only by his insulting remarks to me. Had I killed him, I should have regretted it ever after. My keeping him alive was a wise measure, looked at in another way too. It is not to be supposed that because such a rare man does not care to serve me he will not be of use to others in the world. My son HIDETADA will stand in need of such men as ETCHU after I am dead, and he will do well to make use of him." 
IEYASU'S command over himself on this occasion was very remarkable. When his rage was at its and we expect to hear that he appeased it in the way that in the age in which he lived was considered most proper, namely, by taking summary vengeance on the cause of it, we find that he suddenly checks himself and allows reason to resume the authority over his actions that had been temporarily wielded by passion. 
In refusing to make a personal insult an excuse for taking a man's life, IEYASU showed himself to be far more advanced in moral matters than those who in later days, in civilized countries, have fought desperate duels for no other reason than to wipe off the imaginary reproach which some insulting remark is supposed to have entailed on them. 

REASON AND EMOTIONS

When TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI was engaged in fighting against HOJO UJIMASA, in Odawara, he ordered his followers to get up a theatrical performance for the amusement of the various lords that were taking part in the war. 
Just as the entertainment was at its height, a knight called HANABUSA SUKEBEI, who was in the temporary employ of UESUGI KAGEATSU, happened to pass the place where it was going on. He heard the music and the shouts of the audience. These sounds vexed him beyond measure; and with a loud voice he exclaimed:-With such an enemy as he has to encounter, instead of planning some mode of attack, for our general to be frittering away his time in trivial amusements of this kind- I have no patience with such folly. And for all these barons to be here, in obedience to the call of such a frivolous general, looking at this tomfoolery what are thing coming to？"
"One of the guards near overheard these remarks, and immediately called out: "who are you that speak thus?"
Without the slightest fear, SUKEBEI replied: - "I am HANABUSA SUKEBEI, in the temporary employ of UESUGI KAGEKATU"
"What do you mean by speaking in this impolite way of the action of the Government?" inquired the guard. "Are you tipsy, or are you mad?  I must report your conduct to my superior officer."
  "Since, in time of war", replied SUKEBEI, "it is the duty of generals to put a stop to frivolities and to enforce strict attention to the business in hand, instead of asking whether I am tipsy or mad, it would be more relevant for you to ask whether the Commander of the forces is not so. And these barons that surround such a commander and quietly look on while he wastes his time in these frivolities - what a set of cowards they must be! Ugh! It goes through me to listen to such sounds in a war camp. I feel as if my whole soul were defiled by them."  Thus saying, SUKEBEI spat on the ground in disgust, as men do when they have come into contact with some noxious thing, and hastily left the place. 
The guard hardly had patience to listen till these remarks were concluded, so insolent did they seem to him. When SUKEBEI had left, he went at once to his superior officer, one NAZUKA MASAIE, and reported what had occurred. 
When the theatrical entertainment was over, MASAIE went to HIDEYOSHI and gave him an account of the conduct of SUKEBEI.
HIDEYOSHI vas very angry, and set off in post baste for KAGEKATSU. On his arrival, HIDEYOSHI sprang up, and, in a great age, said: - "Ah! UESUGI, a man in your service called HANABUSA SUKEBEI has used abusive language in speaking of me. You are to arrest him at once, and crucify him head downwards. If you do not obey this command, you and he shall be crucified together."
As he said this, HIDEYOSHI stamped the ground in a furious rage. 
"I have been here the whole morning looking at the theatrical performances," replied KAGEKATSU," and as yet I do not know anything of SUKEBEI'S having acted impolitely to you. If you will you allow me, I will go and make inquiries into the matter."
Thus saying, he took his departure; but before he had gone more than two or three hundred yards, a messenger from HIDEYOSHI summoned him back. 
"Now," thought KAGEKATSU, "I shall get into trouble as well as SUKEBEI, on account of something he has been saying against HIDEYOSHI."
When he returned he found HIDEYOSHI in a better temper.  He turned to KAGEKATSU and said: -
As SUKEBEI did not utter this impolite speech in my presence, but addressed it to one of my guards, instead of having him crucified you can cut off his head. And you had better give it out that he has suffered this punishment for his insolent speech. This will keep others from acting in the same way"
KAGEIKATSU bowed assent to the orders, and started off to put them into execution. 
He had not gone far before he was again recalled. KAGEKATSU wondered what was going to be said to him now. With bowed head, he knelt before HIDEYOSHI, and awaited his orders. HIDEYOSHI remained quite quiet, and seemed to be in deep thought. After a little while he remarked: - "SUKEBEI is not in your regular employ. He is a knight-errant who has joined your forces temporarily; therefore if you were to cut off his head it would be acting in an unfair way to one who is not under your direct control. You had better tell him to disembowel himself.  In that case he will be dying in a way that involves no reproach to the name of a samurai.
KAGEKATSU rose and left HIDEYOSHI'S presence, but had hardly set out for his quarters when he was again informed that HIDEYOSHI had still something that he wished to say to him. 
He returned; but remained at the remote corner of the room, at some distance from HIDEYOSHI, thinking that what the latter wished to say was probably only some trifling thing in connection with the carrying out of his order that he had forgotten to mention and that he would not be detained more than a few minutes in his presence. 
"Come nearer, come nearer!" exclaimed HIDEYOSHI. He seemed to be going to enter into a long conversation. KAGEKATSU did as he was bidden. 
HIDEYOSHI commenced: - "In thinking over what has occurred, SUKEBEI, after all, uttered nothing but the truth, looked at from his point of view. My holding these theatricals in time of war, has not proceeded from mere love or amusement on my part. It was done in order to show the enemy that we felt ourselves to be strong, and looked upon fighting against such as he as mere child's p]ay. It was a stratagem of mine, designed to dishearten the foe.  But SUKEBEI was not aware of all this. He knows that one of the precepts of the warrior is 'not to be afraid of a great enemy and never to despise a little one.' And it did not seem to him that my conduct was in accordance with this precept. And, while the hundreds of lords and honorable men that attended these theatricals never asked a question in reference to them, never ventured to doubt their advisability, that a man occupying a subordinate position like SUKEBEI should come and spit at the camp where they were being held and ask whether the commander of the troops was drunk or mad that he allowed such frivolities - this is sufficient to show that SUKEBEI is a knight of no ordinary courage.
"About three hundred years ago, when AOTO FUJITSUNA was still a farmer, one day he led an ox to Kamakura. Just at that time, HOJYO TOKIYORI had assembled a large number of priests, whom he was engaged in feasting when FUJITUNA arrived. FUJITSUNA, when he saw what was taking place, laughing scornfully, said: - "What a foolish Government is ours! Instead of assisting people that need assistance, here is TOKIYORI giving away food to priests, who, of all other people in the world, least need it." Here he abused the Government in the strongest language that the could find and in a voice that all around could hear.  This was, as you know, the making of FUJITSUNA.  TOKIYORI was struck by the discernment, courage, and honesty which the farmer displayed on this occasion, and took him into his employ, and so gradually, FUJTSUNA rose to power, and the whole gradually country was benefited by his rule. 
"This HANABUSA SUKEBEI has slandered me; but in doing it, has shown that he is a man of sufficient independence of character to speak his mind even about a man occupying the rank that I do. He is therefore the kind of man as FUITSUNA; and it being so, far be it from me to punish him for what he has done.  You had better take him into your regular employ and make a general of him."
HIDEYOSHI'S mood had changed.  KAGEKATSU and other barons in attendance on him were much struck by the great prudence, forbearance, and large-learnedness that their lord shoved on this occasion.
KAGEKATSU did as HIDEYOSHI bade him: he made a general of SUKEBEI; and in the war that followed this event, SUKEBEI was most successful.  Some years after, having had a disagreement with one of KAGEKATSU'S retainers, NAOE KANETSUGU, SUKEBEI became a follower of IEYASU; and his name was handed down to posterity, as one of the illustrious men of those days. 
This tale resembles the last in being the history of a contest between reason and emotion. But, in that the provocation that HIDEYOSHI received was in several particulars more exasperating than that of IEYASU, and in that, of the two men, the temper of the former was more violent than that of the latter, the triumph of reason over passion here is more remarkable than that recorded in the last story.  The moral of both tales is that, if men will but give their passions time to cool, reason will be sure to assert her rights and save them from great crimes. 


THE ASAKUSA TEMPLE

ONCE for all I will describe a Buddhist temple, and it shall be the popular temple of Asakusa, which keeps fair and festival the whole year round, and is dedicated to the  "thousand armed"  Kwan-on, the goddess of mercy ! Kwan-on, the goddess of mercy', the most popular divinity, of the Japanese Pantheon, was imported from China, where she is known as Kwan-in. The following note and legend of her origin have been given to me by, Mr. F. V DICKEN'S: - "Probably Kwan-yin was found as a principal goddess among the Chinese by the Buddhist missionaries on their arrival from India, and by them was made out to be their own deity Avalokiteswara, who is male, and head of the church. Her name means onlooker, the hearer of prayers, or rather of the sound of prayers.  The Chinese say she was a daughter of Chong Wang(B.C696), and was put into a convent and ordered to be executed because she refused to marry in accordance with her father's wished.  The executioner's sword broke, and in consequence she was stifled.  She went to hell, but hell immediately turned into paradise; and Yama, its king, disgusted with the change, sent her back to life on a lotus flower.  Then her father fell sick, and she cured him by cutting off the flesh of her arms, and feeding him with it.  A statue was ordered to be erected to her with eyes and arms complete, but by a misunderstanding of the word Ch'uen(complete)for Ts'ien, a thousand, it was provided with a thousand arms and eyes."  The "thousand armed Kwan-on" came to Japan with the Buddhist propagandists, and her cultus is one of the most popular in the Empire.  The temple of Sanjusangendo at Kyoto contains (it is said) 33,000 representations of this divinity, a thousand of which are larger than life.  It is one of the most impressive sight in Japan.
  Writing generally, it may be said that in design, roof, and general aspect, Japanese Buddhist temples are alike.  The sacred architectural idea expressed itself in nearly the same form always.  There is the
Single or double roofed gateway, with highly colored figures in niches on either side; the paved temple-court, with more or fewer stone or bronze lanterns; amainu, or heavenly dogs, in stone on stone pedestals; stone sarcophagi, roofed over or not, for holy water; a flight of steps; a portico, continued as a verandah all around the temple ; a roof of tremendously disproportionate size and weight, with a peculiar curve ; a square or oblong hall divided by a railing from a "chancel," with a high　and low altar, and a shrine containing Buddha, or the divinity to whom the chapel is dedicated ; an incense burner and a few ecclesiastical ornaments. 　The symbols, idols, and adornments, depend upon the sect to which the temple belongs, or the wealth of its votaries, or the fancy of the priests. Some temples are packed full of gods, shrines, banners, bronzes, brasses, tablets, and ornaments; and others, like those of the Shinto sect, are so severely simple、that with scarcely an alteration they might be used for Christian worship to-morrow.
  The foundations consist of square stones on which the upright rest.  These are of elm, and are united at intervals by longitudinal pieces.  The great size and enormous weight of the roofs arises from the trusses being formed of one heavy frame built upon another in diminishing squares till the top is reached, the main beams being formed of very large timbers put on in their natural state.  They are either very heavily and ornamentally titled, or covered with sheet copper ornamented with gold, or thatched to depth of from one to three feet with fine shingles or bank.  The casing of the walls on the outside is usually thick elm planking either lacquered or unpainted, and that of the inside is of thin, finely planed and beveled planking of the Retinospora obtusa.  The lining of the roof is in flat panels, and where it is supported by pillars, they are invariably circular, and formed of the straight, finely grained stem of the Retinospora obtuse.  The end of the roof beams under the eaves are either elaborately caved, lacquered in dull red, or covered with copper, se are the joints of the beams.  Very few nails are used, the timbers being very beautifully joined by mort ices and dovetails, other methods of junction being unknown.
  A broad paved avenue, only open to foot passengers, leads from the street the grand entrance, a colossal two-stored double-roofed mon, or gate, pained rich dull red.  On the either side of this avenue are lines of booths, which make a brilliant and lavish display of their contents, toy-shops for smoking apparatus, and shops for the sale of ornamental hair-pins predominating.  Nearer the gate are booths for the sale of rosaries for prayer, sleeve and bosom idols of brass and wood in small shrines, amulet bags, representations of the jolly-looking DAIKOKU, the gods of wealth, the most popular of the household gods of Japan, shrines, memorial tablets, cheap ex votos、sacred bells, candlesticks, and incense-burners, and all the endless and various articles connected with Buddhist devotion, public and private.  Every day is a festival day at Asakusa; the temple is  dedicated to the most popular of the great divinities; it is the most popular of religious resorts; and whether he be Buddhist, Shintoist, or Christian, no stranger comes to the capital without making a visit to its　crowded courts, or a purchase at its tempting booths.  Not to be an exception, I invested in bouquets of firework flowers, fifty flowers for two sen, each of which, as it slowly consumes, throws off fiery coruscations, shaped like the most beautiful of snow crystals.  I was also tempted by small boxes at two sen each, containing what look like little slips of withered pith, but which, on being dropped into water, expand into trees and flowers.
  Down a paved passage on the right there is an artificial river, not over clean, with a bridge formed of one curved stone, from which a flight of steps leads up to a small temple with a magnificent bronze bell.　　At the entrance several women were praying.  In the same direction are two fine bronze Buddhas, seated figures, one with clasped hands, the other holding a lotus, both with "The light of the world" upon their brows.  The grand red gateway into the actual temple whose courts were equally crowded with buyers and sellers, and of a "whip of small cords" in the hand of One who claimed both the temple and its courts as His "Father's House."  Not with less righteous wrath would the gentle founder of Buddhism purify the unsanctified courts of Asakusa.  Hundred of men, women, and children passed to and fro through the gateway in incessant streams, and so they are passing through every daylight hour of every day in the year, thousands becoming tens of thousands on the great matsuri days, when the mikoshi or sacred car, containing symbols of the god, is exhibited, and after sacred mines and dances have been performed, is carried in a magnificent, antique procession to the shore and back again.  Under the gateway on either side ore the Ni-o or two kings, gigantic figures in flowing robes, one red and with an open mouth, representing the Yo, or male principle of Chinese philosophy, the other green, and with the mouth firmly closed, representing the In, or female principle.  They are hideous creatures, with protruding eyes, and faces and figures distorted and corrupted into a high degree of exaggerated and convulsive action.  These figures guard the gates of most of the larger temples, and small prints of them against burglars.  Attached to the grating in front were a number of straw sandals, hung up by people who pray that their limbs may be as muscular as those of the Ni-o.
  Passing through this gate we were in the temple court proper, and in front of the temple itself, building of imposing height and size, of a dull red color, with a grand roof  of heavy iron grey tiles, with a sweeping curve which gives grace as well as grandeur.  The timbers and supports are solid, and of great size, but in common with all Japanese temples, whether Buddhist or Shinto, the edifice is entirely of woos.  A broad fight of narrow, step, brass-bound steps leads up to the porch, which is formed by a number of circular pillars supporting a very lofty roof, from which paper lantern ten feet long are hanging.  A gallery runs from this round the temple, un-matted, and an inner one behind a grating, into which those who choose to pay for the privilege of praying in comparative privacy, or of having prayers said for them by the priests, can pass.

II.
In the outer temple, the noise, confusion and perpetual motion are bewildering. Crowds of clattering clogs pass in and out, pigeons, of which hundreds live in the porch, fly over your head, and the whirring of their wings mingles with the tinkling of bells, the beating of drums and gongs, the high pitched drone of the priests, the low murmur of prayers, the rippling laughter of girls, the harsh voices of men, and the general buzz of a multitude. There is very much that is highly grotesque at first sight. Men squat on the floor selling amulets, rosaries, printed prayers, incense sticks, and other wares. Ex votas of all kinds hang on the wall and on the great round pillars. Many of these are rude Japanese pictures. The subject of one is the blowing up of a steamer in the Sumida-gawa with the loss of a hundred lives, when the donor was saved by the grace of Kwan-on? Numbers of memorials are from people who offered up prayers here, and have been restored to health or wealth. Others are from junk-men whose lives have been in peril. There are scores of men's queues and a few dusty braids of women's hair offered on account of vows or prayers, usually for sick relatives, and among them all, on the left hand, are a large mirror in  a gaudily gilt frame, and a frame picture of the P.M.S China!  Above this incongruous collection are splendid wood carvings, and frescoes of angels, among which the pigeons find a home free molestation.
  Near the entrance there is a superb incense burner in the most massive style of the older bronzes, with a mythical beast rampant upon it, and in high relief round it the Japanese signs of the zodiac, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, serpent, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog, and hog.  Clouds of incense rise continually from the perforations round the edge, and a black-toothed woman who keeps it burning is perpetually receiving small coins from the worshippers, who then pass on to the front of the altar to pray.  The high altar, and indeed all that I should regard as properly the temple are protected by a screen of coarsely notted iron wire.  This holy of holies is full of shrine and gods, gigantic candlesticks, colossal lotuses of gilded silver, offerings, lamps, lacquer, litany books, gongs, drums, bells, and all the mysterious symbols of a faith which is a system of morals and metaphysics to the educated and initiated, and an idolatrous superstition to the masses.  In this interior the light was dim, the lamps burned low, the atmosphere was heavy with incense, and amidst its fumes shaven priests in chasubles and stoles moved noiselessly over the soft matting round the high altar on which Kwan-on is enshrined, lighting candles, striking bells, and murmuring prayers.  In front of the screen is the treasury, a wooden chest 14 feet by 10, with a deep slit, into which all the worshippers cast copper coins with a ceaseless clinking sound.
  There too they pray, if that can be called prayer which frequently consists only in the repetition of an uncomprehended phrase in a foreign tongue, bowing the head, raising the hands and rubbing them, murmuring a few words, telling beads, chopping the hands, bowing again, and then passing out , or on to another shrine to repeat the same form.  Merchants in silk clothing, solders in shabby French uniforms, farmers, coolies in "vile raiment." Mothers, maidens swells in European clothes, even the samurai policemen, bow before the goddess of mercy.  Most of the prayers ere offered rapidly, a mere momentary interlude in the gurgle of careless talk, and without a pretence of reverence; but some of the petitioners obviously brought real woes in simple " faith."  I specially noticed two men in stylish European clothes, who prostrated themselves over and over again, and remained before the altar several minutes, offering low-voiced prayers, with close eyes, and every sign of genuine earnestness, and several women in obvious distress, probably about sick persons, who offend their prayers with a pleading agony, no less real than that which ascend to our Father in heaven from anguished hearts in England.
  In one shrine there is a large idol, spotted all over with pellets of paper, and hundreds of these are sticking to the wire netting which protects him.  A worshipper writes his petition on paper, or better sill, has it written for him by the priest, chews it to a pulp, and spits it at the divinity.  If, having been well aimed, it passes through the wire and sticks, it is a good omen; if it lodges in the netting the prayer has probably been heard. The Ni-o, and some of the gods outside the temple are similarly disfigured.  On the left there is a shrine with a screen, to the bars of which innumerable prayers have been tied.  On the right , accessible to all, sits BINZURU, one of BUDDHA'S original sixteen disciples.  His face and appearance have been calm and amiable, with something of the quiet dignity of elderly country gentleman of the reign of GEORGE �V,but he is now worn and defaced, and has not much more of eyes, nose, and mouth, than the Sphinx, and the polished, red lacquer has disappeared from his hands and feet, for BINZURU is a great medicine god, and centuries of sick people have rubbed his face and limbs, and then have rubbed their own.  A young woman went up to him, rubbed the back of his neck, and then rubbed her own.  Then a modest-looking girl, leading an ancient woman with badly inflamed eyelids and paralyzed arms, rubbed his eyelids, and then gently stroked the closed eyelids of the crone.  Then a coolie, with a swelled knee, applied himself vigorously to BUNZURU'S knee, and more gently to his own.   Remember, this is the great temple of the populace, and "not many rich, not many noble, not many mighty," enter its dim, dirty , crowded halls.

�V
But the great temple of Kwan-on is not the only sight of Asakusa.  Outside it are countless shrine and temples, huge stone Ama-inu, or heavenly dogs, on rude blocks of stone, large cisterns of stone and bronze with and without canopies, containing water for the ablutions of the worshippers, cast iron Ama-inu on hewn stone pedestals - a recent girl - bronze and stone lanterns, a stone prayer - wheel in a stone post, figures of BUDDHA with serene countenance of one who rests from his labors, stone idols, on which devotees have pasted slips of paper inscribed with prayers, with sticks of incense rising out of the ashes of hundreds of former sticks smoldering before them, blocks of hewn stone with Chinese and Sanskrit inscriptions, an eight-sided temple in which are figures of the "Five Hundred Disciples" of BUDDHA, a temple with the roof and upper part of the walls richly colures, the circular Shinto mirror in  an inner shrine, a bronze treasury outside with a bell which is hung to attract the god's attention, a striking five0storied pagoda, with much red lacquer, and the ends of the roof-beams very boldly carved, its heavy eaves fringed with wind bells, and its uppermost roof terminating in a graceful copper spiral of great height, with the "sacred pearl" surrounded by flames for its final.  Near it, as near with tablets, on which are inscribed the names of donors to the temple, and the amount of their gift.
Among the many shrines is an Imari or Fox temple, fox-worship being one of the most universal superstition in Japan.  The foxes, however, are only the servants of a mythical personage m\named UGA, to whom is ascribed the honor of the discovery and cultivation of the rice plant. Popularly, however, the honors due to INARI Sama (the name under which UGA was deified) are paid to his servants. Before two gilded boxes in this shrine their was a tray on which small bowls of rice and foxes molded in sugar wew placed as offerings.  Shinto gohei, strips of paper cut and folded in a special fashion, and usually attached to white wand, and supposed to represent the Shinto kami, or gods, who are simply defied heroes, were in the same temple, and there were Shinto tori-I, or portals, in wood and stone near the entrance.
There is a handsome stone-floored temple, to the south-east of the main building, to which we were the sole visitors.  It is lofty and very richly decorated.  In the centre is an octagonal revolving room, or rather shrine, of rich red lacquer most gorgeously, ornamented.  It rests on frame of carved black lacquer, and has a lacquer gallery running round it, on which several richly decorated doors open.  On the application of several shoulders this gallery, the shrine rotates.  It is, in fact, a revolving library of the Buddhist Scriptures, and a single turn is equivalent to a single pious perusals of them.  It is an exceedingly beautiful specimen of ancient decorative lacquer work.  At the back part of the temple is a draped brass figure of BUDDHA, with one hand raised - a dignified piece of casting.  All the Buddhas have Hindoo features, and the graceful drapery and Oriental repose, which have been imported from India, contrast triangularly with the grotesque extravagances of the indigenous Japanese conceptions.  In the same temple are four monstrously extravagant figures carved in wood, life size, with clawed toes on their feet, and two great fangs ill addition to the teeth in each mouth. The heads of all are surrounded with flames, and are backed by golden circlets.  They are extravagantly clothed, in garments which look as if they were agitated by a violent wind ; they wear helmets and partial suits of armor, and hold in their right hands something between a monarch's scepter and a priest's staff. They have goggle eyes and open mouth, and their faces are in distorted and exaggerated action. One, painted brighted red, tramples on a writhing devil painted bright pink ; another painted emerald green, tramples on a sea-green devil ; an indigo blue monster traramples on a sky-blue fiend .; and a bright pink monster treads under his clawed feet a flesh-colored demon. I cannot give you any idea of the hideousness of their aspect, and was much inclined to sympathize with the more innocentlooking friends whom they were maltreating. They occur very frequently in Buddhist temples, and are said by, some to be assistant torturers to EMMA, the lord of hell, and are called by others  "The gods of the Four Quarters."
The temple grounds ale a most extraordinary slight No English fair in the palmliest days of fairs ever presented such an array of attractions.  Behind the temple are archery galleries in number, where girls, hardly, so modest looking as usual, smile and smirk, and bring straw-colored tea in dainty, cups, and tasteless sweetmeats on lacquer trays, and smoke their tiny pipes, and offer you bows of slender bamboo strips, two feet long, with rests for the arrows, and tiny cherry-wood arrows, bone-tipped, and feathered red, blue, and white, and smilingly, but quite unobtrusive]y, ask you to try your skill or luck at a target hanging in front of a square drum, flanked by red cushions. A click, a boom, or a hardly audible "thud " indicate the result. Nearly all the archers were grown-up men, and many of them spend hours at a time in this childish sport. 
All over the grounds booths with the usual charcoal fire, copper boiler, iron kettle of curious workmanship, tiny cups, fragrant aroma of tea, and winsome, graceful girls, invite you to drink and rest, and more solid but less inviting refreshments are also to be had. Rows of pretty paper lanterns decorate all the stalls. Then there are photograph galleries, mimic tea-gardens, tableaux in which  a large number of groups of life-size figures with appropriate scenery are put into motion by a creaking wheel of great size, matted lounges for rest, stands with saucers of rice, beans and peas for offerings to the gods, the pigeons, and the two sacred horses, Albino ponies, with pink eyes and noses, revoltingly greedy, creatures, eating all day long and still craving for more.  There are booths for singing and dancing, and under one a professional story-teller was reciting to a densely packed crowd one of the old, popular stories of crime.  There are booths where for a few rin you may have the pleasure of feeding some very ugly and greedy apes, or of watching mangy monkeys which have been taught to prostrate themselves Japanese fashion . 
One of the greatest sights is a collection of tableaux, lire-size figures, the work of one artist who, after visiting the thirty-three great temples of the goddess of mercy, was so impressed by her power and goodness that he created thirty-five group, in order to show his countrymen the benefits other cutus.
   These figures are wonderfully true to life, and wear real garments.  In most of the tableaux the goddess is represented as a lovely and gentle woman-a Madonna,  but with divine power.   Mr. GRIFFIS, in The Mikado's Empire, gives an interesting account of each.  The two most curious, as representing two articles of the Buddhist faith-future punishment and metempsychosis-are tableaux of a hungry robber appropriating the temple offerings, with a painting near him showing his coming destiny, in which there are devils and a red-hot cart with axles of fire, and one of a man suffering from violent headache, who is directed by Kwan-on to the spot where the buried skull which belonged to him in a former state of existence is being split open by the root of a tree which is growing through the eye-socket.   On removing the root the pain ceases ! 
The catalogue of sights is only half exhausted.   Besides the regular sights, there are gardens to the left of the temple, in which dwarf azaleas are still blooming, and which display to thousands of admirers the great floral sights of Japan in their turn: camellias in January, plum-blossoms in ear]y March, cherry-blossoms in April, the sacred lotus in July, and chrysanthemums in November.   The Japanese are Passionately fond of certain flowers, and the " cherry viewing" the  "iris and peony viewing," the "lotus viewing," and the "map]e viewing," are excursions which are part of the 

annual routine of Japanese life.  The badges of many of the most celebrated families are floral.  The Imperial or public badge of the Mikado is an open chrysanthemum with sixteen petals; his palace, or private badge represents blossoms and leaves of Paulowinia Imperiaperilis; and the celebrated badger of the Shoguns of the TOKUGAWA dynasty is three leaves of a species of mallow, united at tiaeir tips. 
But in the Asakusa Gardens at this season it is less the natural than the. artificial beauties which attract.   Much of the "highest art" in Japanese gardening consists in distorting, deforming, dwarfing, exaggerating, and thwarting nature.   The borders are clipped tea-plants : shrubs and trees are carefully, trained and clipped into the likeness of umbrellas, boats, houses, men with foreign hats, tortoises  storks, and cats, and the beloved form of Fuji is represented several times.   It is curious that  the gardeners choose the most rigid and intractable of pines, the Pinus massoniana or Pinus prveflolra, for their: most difficult experiments, and that the same pines are subject to operations for the production of dwarfishness and deformity in almost every garden in Japan.   There are guilds of florists, the occupation is hereditary, and different families possess hereditary skill in the different deformities which are produced.   Carefully dwarfed trees of various kinds, strange variegation of leaves and flowers, painstaking exaggerations of calyx, corolla, or pistil, and careful development and perpetuation of sundry strange freaks of nature, make these gardens no less than the grand forest trees left to their own ways, both in them and the temple courts, very interesting to a new-comer.   But here, as everywhere, people interested me more than things. Their devout but more frequently irreverent worship, their gross and puerile superstitions, the total absence of beggars and disorderly characters, the childish amusements of men and women, the formal dress and gravity of children, the singular mixture of religion and amusement extreme but not disrespectful curiosity. with which foreigners are still regarded, the absence or groups in which father, mother and children, enjoy themselves together, yet the perfect freedom with which women move among men, the attention paid to children by Parents of both sexes the diminutive size of the people, the exposed but modest faces of the women, the clean and well-dressed appearance of all, their extreme quietness:, the courtesy and good order preserved , by the thousand who thronged, the temple and its grounds during the afternoon, and the fact that not a. sing]e policeman was present, made a deep impression upon, me. 


HARA SOEMON'S MOTHER


 At the beginning of the eighteenth century there lived in Ako, Harima, a baron called ASANO NAGANORl.  Now it happened that an Imperial Ambassador was sent from the Court to the Shogun at Edo, and NAGAlNORI and another nobleman were appointed to receive and feast 
the envoy, and an official of high rank, named KIRA YOSHIHIDE, was ordered to teach them the proper ceremonies to be observed on the occasion. 
YOSHIHIDE was not satisfied with the bribes that he received for this service ; and the therefore made a point of insulting NAGANORl.   NAGANORI attempted to cut YOSHIHIDE down with this dirk, but failing in the attempt, was arrested and compelled to commit harakiri.  His castle at Ako was confiscated, and his follower were in consequence scattered in various directions.
 A certain number or his retainers, under OISHI KURANOSUCE, one of NAGANORl'S chief councilors, determined to avenge their lord's death.  HARAA SOEMON, one of KURANOSUKE'S chief friends, when he heard of what was contemplated, hid himself in the village of Ako, and kept up a secret correspondence with KURANOSUKE, who was then living in Kyoto. 
After a while KURANOSUKE expressed a desirer to see SOEMON on some important matters connected with the plot they were maturing. 
One day, therefore SOEMON went to his mother and said :- " I have some business of importance in Kyoto that makes it necessary for me to visit the place as soon as possible, and I may be obliged to go on to Edo.  Although my absence from home may cause you great inconvenience, I very much desire to be allowed to be absent for thirty days." , 
" In my opinion " replied his mother, who at once guessed what was intended, " if you go to Edo you will not return for a very long time. Knights are persons,  who, seeing that they receive emoluments from their masters year by year, must hold themselves in readiness, in cases of exigency to lay down their lives for them.   But the advice I have to give is that, in seeking to obtain your desire, you act calmly and deliberately.  Strengthen your body for the task ; and do nothing till your plans are thoroughly matured.   If, fearing to lose your life, you fail to press forward to the post of danger and return unscathed to this house, never shall I look on your face with joy again " 
" In avenging a lord," replied .SOEMON,  "the plans that have been agreed to must be kept secret, and even in the case of parents and children, there must be mo exception to this rule.   This is a part of the loyalty we ought to show to our masters.  The only pang l have in connection with this matter  arises from your being old and helpless.  If I am killed, I fear there will be no one to support you." 
Here SOEMON wept.
His mother grew very angry, and with a good deal of feeling, said :-" It is impossible at all times to be both filial al]d faithful.  Is one old woman such as I to stand in the way of your taking vengeance on the enemy of your late lord ?  Go at once ; and let me see your face no more." 
The parent and child took leave of each other in tears.
 SOEMON went to Kyoto, and finding that KURANPSUKE was sick, nursed him five or six days_, and then, feeling concerned about his mother, with KURANOSUKE 'S leave, returned to visit her. 

His mother was much surprised to see him, and asked why he had come back. 
"As KURANOSUKE is ill," he replied, "his going to Edo has been postponed, and therefore I have come back." 
His 'mother remained silent for a while, as if in deep thought. Then she took out wine, drank some herself, and handed some to her son. When it was a little after eight o'clock, she said :-"Now I will go to bed ; " and, bidding good-night to her son, retired. 
The next morning she did not appear at breakfast at the usual hour.. SOEMON waited some little, but there being no signs of her putting in all appearance, he went to her room to see what was the matter.  He opened the sliding door and looked in.  There was his mother stretched out dead upon floor.   A glance told him that she had died no natural death.
By the side of the corpse lay a document which read as follows 
"As I endeavored to impress on you when you left for Kyoto, there are times when filial piety and faithfulness to a lord are incompatible, when the former has to give place to the latter.  If you know that you have an enemy, then you ought not to know that you have a mother.  Although I took great pains to try and make you understand this, yet here you are back again ; and all on my account.  Such a weak purpose will effect little.  As long, then, as you are still of this mind, it will not be easy for you to carry out the intention of killing your lord's enemy.  More than this, I very much fear that this indecision of yours, If carried 
 
much further, will cast a blot on our name and sully the reputation which our ancestors have bequeathed to us.  To prevent all this, I die.  In the lower regions, I shall ,meet with our late lord. Henceforth look on KIRA YOSHIHIDE as the enemy of our mother as well as of your lord." 
SOEMON was overcome with grief.   But the thing was done and there was no help for it ; so, after attending to the funeral rites of his mother, he set his heart steadfastly on attaining the object he had in view, and immediately started off to join KUlANOSUKE. 
The vendetta, once so widely practiced in Japan, is now no longer allowed; and suicide is in all cases deemed wrong.  But, considering the circumstances in which s]le lived, and what in those days was deemed to be the most sacred or duties, the conduct of unselfishness and devotion. 


INGENUITY. 
I.

IT is related of TOKUGAWA IEYASU that one night, producing a quantity of cord, he asked his attendants to tell him the length of it at once.  They did their best to measure it quickly in all kinds of ways ; but everyone that tried took an immense time about it.   The Shogun kept hurrying them, which confused them so much that they did not know what they were doing. 
MATSUDAIRA NOBUTSUNA  happened to be present at the time. When he saw their perplexity, he took the cord in his hand, measured a few arm's lengths, and gave it to them to weigh.  Having ascertained its weight, he calculated with the abacus the length of the whole piece. 
IEMITSU, delighted, exclaimed :-" Another instance of NOBUTSUNA'S sharpness." 

II

.    At the time when IEMITSU was confined to his room sick he was at a loss what to do for a pastime. As he gazed on the exquisitely laid out garden that stretched itself out before him, he thought of an alteration that might be made, which, while its execution would afford him amusement to watch, would, he considered, be an improvement to the place.  Situated in the centre of he garden was a huge stone. This he ordered his servants to have taken away, and the Place which it occupied made into a grass plot.
     Those who received the command were puzzled to know how to remove this huge stone without injuring the garden.   It vas too large to carry, and if they rolled or dragged it they would ruin the garden.
 NOBUTSUNA, who was present, at once struck on a plan to suit the occasion.  " Dig well around the stone," said he, "carry the earth away, sink the stone deep in, the ground, cover it with earth, and then lay down sod over the place, and you will have accomplished the alteration which the Shogun desires without injuring anything."
Those that stood round were again astonished at the ingenuity displayed by, NTOBUTSUNA and remarked: - NOBUTSUNA is growing to be like HIDEYOSHI in fruitfulness of resource." 
  MATSUDAIRA NOBUTSUNA was a genius in his way genius is shown in ability to discover ways and means of doing things that are new or uncommon and for the accomplishment of which there is no prescribed way or set of means.  The most valuable intellectual faculty is originality ; and this faculty can only be cultivated by attempting to do what we have never seen done, or to do it in some way different from the  mode in which it is customarily performed. 



INDEPENDENCE OF SPIRIT.

SHISHI, the grandson of KOSHl, when in Ei, was very poor, even to the extent of not having a decent garment to wear.   It is recorded that at this time he could not afford to take more than nine meals in twenty days.  Under these circumstances DEN SHIHO thought it would be a kindness to send him a coat.  He sent him one made of fox-skin, fox-skin coats being highly valued in those days.  Before be dispatched it.  SHIHO thought to himself:- " If I do not give a good reason for presenting it to him, he will not accept it." He therefore instructed the messenger that conveyed it to address SHISHI as follows:- " Mr. SHIHO sends his kind regards to Mr. SHISHI, and begs him to accept the fox-skin coat which he is forwarding to him, his reason for sending it being that he has it by him and has no special use for it.  If he lent it to any one, he would soon forget to whom he had lent it ; and giving it away to anybody that he did not particularly care for, would be like throwing it away ; so, not knowing of any better way of disposing of it, he hopes you will do him the favor of accepting it.
" SHISHI did not comply with this request.  Whereupon SHIHO sent a second messenger, who was instructed to ask SHISHI why he did not accept the coat, seeing that he was in want of one. 
To whom SHISHI replied :- "I have heard that it is better to throw a thing into the ditch than to give it when there is no reason for doing so.  I am poor; but on this account I do not care to be the recipient of cast-off goods ; and therefore I cannot accept it." 
In this case the feelings of the would-be giver and the feelings of the one who was asked to receive the gift, were perhaps mutually misunderstood.  SHIHO'S reason for offering the gift did not constitute a reason for SHISHl'S reception of the same, though it was intended to do so.  And SHISHI,' in a spirit of commendable independence, failed to comprehend the kindness and good feeling which prompted the offer. 
On the whole, it is safe to say, however, that SHISHI erred on the right side, feeling as he did how important it was not to allow poverty to crush the spirit of independence within him. All high-minded and .rightlythinking men have considered this mental quality to be a most powerful factor among those varied intellectual and moral forces which tend to keep the world in a perpetual state of progress. 

INGRATITUDE MEETS WITH ITS DUE REWARD.

I.
MANY years ago, while the world was yet young and men led such uneventful lives that the slightest deviation from their customary round was an epoch to be remembered, when their heads, for want of better furniture, were filled with fancies quaint and wild as the gloomy hills and valleys ,where they lived, ere the mineral oil had come to pale the feeble glimmer the cresset, and turn the darkness of the night-when all good folks should be abed-to daylight, and multiply the pallid scholars, and help to raise the intellectual faculties above the animal,- in such a time, when the country people by reason of their simple natures were said to be on better terms with the brute creation than they are at present, there lived in Hida, hard by the village of Takayama, an honest farmer-though the adjective is not insisted upon by the historian - whose name was - HACHISUKE.
A happy man, as men go, was HACHISUKE, for the gods had sent him, by a loving wife, two children- a girl of thirteen summers and a boy of  four - to bear him company in the long winter days when the snow lay thick upon the ground, as it did in those bleak regions for full three dreary months, so thickly indeed that the hoe perforce stood rusting behind the barn door and the husbandman had nought to do but pass his days beside his charcoal fire longing for the cheerful sun to come in force, and the pleasant south-west wind to blow and thaw the imprisoned soil into verdure once again.
 Against these days of forced imprisonment, the thrifty country folks had learned to lay up in early autumn good store of that year's rice,  daikon , dried and salted fish, soy and such like, the better to endure the siege of winter.  From some unknown cause or other, in the memorable year when the events here chronicled took place, HACHISUKE had postponed his usual trip to Takayama for supplies until the north wind had asserted its supremacy over every other wind that blows, and had even flung a flake or two of snow in at his kitchen door, just to warn him, as it were, to be up and doing or perhaps he'd -be too late. 
So HACHISUKE bestirred himself at last in right good earnest, and started off forthwith upon his lonely mountain walk. He had not gone far, however, before the grey sky darkened and the snow, from being a sprinkle, began to fall continuously.  At first it lay but lightly upon his road, but by degrees it thickened, hung about the trees and bushes, changed the features of the landscape and blotted out the pathway, insomuch that he found it hard to keep the proper course. Then, to make things worse, the wind began to sweep around him in angry gusts, filling his eyes and mouth with downy flakes and so confusing him that at length he lost his way.  Fiercer and fiercer blew the blast, and heavier fell the silent snow, until poor HACH:ISUKE'S straw raincoat and great round that with a tuft atop were so thickly covered that he looked for all the world like a walking stone lantern.  Presently, he found himself  knee deep in drifts, and the light of day forsaking him, and the storm so thick that he could neither see to advance nor yet retrace his steps.  And now his heart began to die away within him, for well he knew that to pass a night upon the mountain was almost certain death.  He remembered in his anguish how, not so many years ago, an unexpected snow-fall such as this had robbed a good wife of her husband and changed her little ones to orphans.  So, on his struggled manfully, each moment getting further from the track, and filled with gloomy thoughts about his wife and children, till, at last, quite worn out with his exertions and overcome by a strange drowsiness, he stumbled, regained his feet, struggled on a little further and then fell upon his face again, this time to rise no more.  Bravely had the poor fellow faced his difficulties, but the formidable odds he fought against had been too much for him. 
But when did fortune turn her back upon the brave?  Had HACHISUKE given in before competed to, he might have died where he had fallen, and no one been a bit the wiser, until returning spring I had thawed the snow and laid his body on the grass, to be discovered by such chance straggler as might pass that way.  As it was, however, his perseverance had carried him to where a huge she-bear was tramping homeward and by placing himself athwart her path, had taken the best possible means to attract her attention. It is likely that at the present time-since bears have learnt to hug and otherwise misconduct themselves -a man's relations would not have cause to thank their stars that he had fallen in with such queer company ; but it was otherwise in the venerable days when HACHISUKE lived, for to his chance encounter with the bear he owed his life. 
Attracted by the farmer's prostrate form, the ponderous brute delayed her awkward march, the better to determine what it was that lay so still and motionless before her. . Nor was she long in making up her mind, apparently, for having turned it over once or twice, and sniffed at and otherwise examined it, by some mental process which, for want of a better designation, we call instinct, she came to the conclusion that there lingered somewhere in the innermost recesses of the chilled and absolutely helpless human being underneath her a feebly, smoldering vital spark, which, left untended, would assuredly be extinguished but which care and kindassure perchance, might kindle once more into a flame.  So, flinging it gently across her shaggy back- For, despite her ungainly exterior, she had a kindly disposition-she trotted off to her cave among the rocks, and in no long time deposited it before her two young cubs, who, filled  that curiosity which is natural in bears of such a tender age, bestowed upon it an amount of attention which might have been considered inconvenient, not to say impertinent , by HACHISUKE had been in possession of his senses.

II

As it was, however, HACHISUKE knew as little of what was going on around him as the sugi trees before the entrance to the cave.  For he betrayed no signs of life until, by dint of licking him all over and lying on either side of him to impart to him some of their warmth the bears were at length rewarded ,for their trouble by seeing consciousness return, and his eyes once more unclose upon a world which, but for their exertions, he had left for ever.  Nor was the prospect which now met his troubled gaze one like]y to promote an unmixed joy at his deliverance from the painless dissolution of a frozen sleep.   For it cannot be disputed that there are few things in this world more likely to upset a man, and make him take a gloomy view of life than to see in front of him when first he wakes up from lengthened ,trance, a huge she-bear squatted on her haunches, and taking stock of him, it might be said, with her head upon one side and her blood-shot eyes half closed-as is the manner of your true art critic-whilst from asthma, may be, or hunger, for all he knows to the contrary, her breath is short and her sides are heaving and her great red tongue, hanging down on her breast, is agitated like a scarlet petticoat hung in a breeze. 
Nor are his impressions likely to receive a more cheerful coloring, to find-when he fain would rest his eyes on some less disturbing sight-squatting on either side of his mother, a younger bear, as closely imitating his superior as his genius permits him.  For many minutes, afraid to stir for fear of precipitating a fate which seemed inevitable, HACHISUKE lay quite motionless ; but by degrees the silence, broken only by the panting of the bears, becoming intolerable , he made shift to erect himself upon his knees, as well as his fright and state of weakness permitted him, and proffer thanks to his preservers for all the kindness ,they had shown in rescuing him.  Reassured by finding that they all returned the salutations which he made them with thee best grace they could command, he began to take courage a little. And when the discovery broke upon him that the grimaces, visible on each countenance, in place of being demonstrations of hostility, were really meant to do duty for winning smiles, he felt completely at his ease, and was conscious of no other feeling toward them but that of overwhelming gratitude for the saving of his life. 
As the annual snow fall had fairly set in now, and he saw no prospect of escape, it soon became evident that he would have to pass the winter where he was.  Nor would this have been much of a trial to a hardy fellow like himself, perhaps, if he had been able to see from whence the food necessary for his sustenance during the long inactive period before him was to be procured.
 He had greatly misjudged the bears,  however,  if he fancied that they took the trouble to rescue him from one kind of death only that he might die of another, more lingering and wretched than the first. For, anticipating his wants, one of them very politely presented his paw to him about dinner time, and made signs to him to lick it. 
Now, either because he misunderstood the kind intention of the bear or had no stomach for that sort of food, he at first declined the diiging offer, but seeing, as time went on, that the bears performed this ceremony at stated intervals themselves, and with great apparent satisfaction, he-began to think that there was more in it than appeared upon the surface.  So, being soon consumed with hunger, and without the wherewithal to satisfy it otherwise, he was at last constrained to make trial of the paw, and found to his great joy his pangs alleviated and his appetite, however ravenous before, to have disappeared completely soon after be had partaken of the viands. 
In such wise did the winter slowly pass away, until the spring returning, and the snow having thawed sufficiently to allow of his making out his whereabouts, HACHISUKE, not unnaturally, became impatient to depart and rejoin his family.  To his leaving them the bears made no objection, as became such well bred animals ; but they testified so much regret at parting with him that he was moved to tears, and felt as lonely and uncomfortable when he had said good-by, as if he had separated from his dearest friends for ever. 
Having made his way homeward as expeditiously as melting snow and swollen torrents permitted, he found his wife, as he expected, lamenting him as dead, and in the very act of arranging with certain friends the formation of a party to start the following day .in search of his remains. 
Great was the rejoicing over his return, as may readily be imagined, and the news that he had come back spread like wildfire round the hamlet.  Neighbors and acquaintances gathered in from all sides to see him and hear the tale of his escape, and innumerable were the congratulations and many the exclamations of wonder and surprise when he told them of his handsome treatment by the bears. 
It was hardly, to be expected that narrative so strange could be listened to without exciting curiosity among the hearers and engendering a desire to learn the whereabouts of the bears' retreat.   But HACHIISUKE steadfastly refused to disclose the secret, and even declined to entertain the liberal offers of certain hunters of the district who were willing to pay considerable sums for the information. These latter, having found that their repeated entreaties were of no avail and that his gratitude remained proof against temptation, at last abandoned their attempts and went away.
 If HACHISUKE'S gratitude, however, like a noble metal submitted to assay, had proved its quality, this tale had never been written ; or had its nature not been tried at all, it is likely that it would have deceived even himself and passed into a proverb.   For many a seeming virtue gets credit for being the real thing, until by some chance test its pinchbeck nature is discovered to the world.  Adversity, was the touchstone which showed that HACHISUKE'S sense of benefits received was nothing but a base alloy. As long as things went well with him he had no thought of treachery.  But when hard times came, the offers of the hunters, which he had so lately remembered with regret, and the greed of gain by brooding thereupon got such possession of his heart, that, in an evil moment for all concerned, he determined to give up his friends to destruction.  So, sending for the hunters one evening, he informed them of his project, and accounted for his conduct by saying that, although naturally anxious to protect as much as possible the brutes that had been so kind to him, he was nevertheless persuaded that he could be of but little use to them, inasmuch as the vigorous search which had been instituted since he had told his story and the assistance rendered therein by the country people, would assuredly end in the discovery of the bears and their dispatch, in which case -and here was of course the rub-the profits which they brought would be divided among the finders only, and he would not be entitled to claim a share. In this the hunters readily concurred, and united in assuring him that they had every Prospect of finding out the cave in a very few days, and that if he wished to benefit by the discovery he had better make up his mind to assist them
�V
.Upon the stipulation that he was to have half the proceeds, to purchase therewith a neighboring farm- on which he had laid longing eyes - an agreement was formally drawn up and signed, whereby he p]edged himself to kill the bears without giving the hunters an further trouble and the unholy bargain was completed with a cup of wine. 
So, in furtherance of his design, he had a botamochi prepared the next day, and having placed it in a box, set off alone to see his friends finding them, nor had he any trouble in inducing them to eat his cake, after which, with many signs of mutual goodwill and friendship, he parted from them. 
Having by such insidious means laid the foundation or a taste for pastry in the bears, and convinced them of his friendliness and honesty of purpose, after fifty days had passed he visited them again. 
On this occasion, as on the previous one, he was the bearer of a cake, with the difference, however, that the present one was poisoned.   The unsuspecting bears received their visitor with transports, and ate his fatal gift with every demonstration of gratitude and appreciation ; after which they accompanied him half way home and, manifesting much regret at being obliged to separate, bade him an affectionate farewell. 
It is not related how HACHISUKI slept that night, but , notwithstanding what his dreams may have been, it is quite certain that they did not prevent his accompanying whom he had summoned overnight -at daybreak next morning to the cave.  Having entered first, he found the old bear stretched in death across the opening, and somewhat further on the young ones.  Nor could he-murderer though he was-refrain from tears at the sight, nor help apostrophizing the remains with reasons for the murder. The hunters, however, who had nothing upon their conscience, were not delayed by any sentimental scruples, but speedily fell to and flayed their victims, cut up the carcasses, and departed with the spoil. Being now enabled to possess himself of the land he so much coveted, HACHISUKE lived contentedly for several months, pursuing diligently his caring the while, and living frugally enough to permit of his purchasing an ox, which, to a man in his circumstances, was property of no little value. 
Now it came to pass that upon the anniversary of the day when, bearing the poisoned cake in his hand and hiding treachery in his heart, HACHISUKE had visited the bears, he found himself at early daybreak trudging along beside his ox to the village of Takayama, to deliver a load of barley to a merchant of that place who had bought it of him. 
And, whilst her lord is absent on this errand, his better half, seizing hold of Father Time by his scanty forelock,-as becomes a good and thrifty house-wife takes her seat before her loom, and plies her shuttle with, such diligence as is only manifested by those who look upon the labor of making material for their husband's garments as truly one of love.  But though she works on this day with her wonted zeal, she seems preoccupied and ill at ease ; her face is clouded with an anxious look not often seen thereon, and the cheerful song with which she is in the habit of lightening the monotony of her daily routine is not to be heard. She is strangely irritable too ; small trifles seem to put her out.  The breaking of a thread, or a false throw of the shuttle is enough to call an angry exclamation to her lips. Even the sound made by her daughter chopping daikon on the bench outside the kitchen door,. distresses her so much that she calls out in no gentle tones :-"For heaven's sake do make less noise." And presently, to make things worse, the little boy begins to cry, and the girl, unable to pursue her work for his interference, is constrained at last to ask her mother to use her influence to keep him quiet. Scarce knowing what she says, her thread being in a tangle and her whole soul lost in its confusion, she angrily desires the girl to cut the brat's nose off if he won't cease troubling her. On hearing this, the girl makes what's intended for a harmless demonstration with the knife, but, alas! the blade is so loosely fastened into the wooden handle that it unexpectedly flies out, and inflicts a gash upon the boy's throat so deep and fatal, that before his mother-who, attracted by his sister's cries, has run to see what is the matter-can reach him, he expires. 
IV
 Beside herself with fright and anger, the unhappy and distracted woman forthwith wants all her rage upon the girl. and ends by striking her upon the head so violently, that the billet of wood with which she inflicts the chastisement is broken in her hand, and the wretched child falls dead before her.   Overcome now with horror and remorse at the frightful turn events have taken, the mother shrieks for help, and, none arriving, faints with terror. 
When consciousness returned, and she saw her children lying dead before her, HACHISUKE'S wife, like one demented, raved and tore her hair at first, but presently, a copious flood of tears coming to her relief, she grew calmer, and was able to turn her thoughts to the course which it now behaved her to pursue.  To face her husband with the two dead bodies in the house and have 
to avow herself their murderess, she felt to be impossible ; so she determined to take her own life too, and by that means escape the vengeance which she knew would be her due. 
Taking up the corpses, of the children, therefore she laid them side by side before the altar shelf, and having covered them decently with a quilt, she went out into the ox's stable and hung herself.
 In the meantime, while all these shocking scenes were being enacted at his house, HACHISUKE, having sold his barley well, and received the money, set out from Takayama upon his return journey, happy and light-hearted at having made a famous bargain, and a little elevated, it must be confessed, from sundry cups of wine, to which, in the exuberance of his spirits he had treated himself.  Merrily he jogged along upon his devious way, laughing boisterously at times, and ever and anon stopping to refresh himself from a little keg of sake which he carried dangling from his waist by a string for the day was sultry and the road along which he toiled a dusty one,- two potent factors in the; production of an intolerable thirst.   Overcome at length by heat-and perhaps too frequent applications to the keg-the became uncertain of his way, and determined, therefore, to sleep off his debauch before proceeding farther. With that intention, accordingly, he tied his beast up to a tree, and having selected a shady spot, lay down and disposed himself for slumber. 
The sun was declining when he awoke, and the effects of his potations had quite passed off but he felt chilly and dispirited, and unable to get rid of the recollection of a hideous dream which had visited him whilst he slept.  In it the bears had come and glared upon him with ferocious eyes, had growled at him, and torn him. In vain he tried to sing or shout, his voice refused to obey, so he hurried on, shuddering and in silence, a prey to gloomy and disturbing thoughts.  
Anxious to reach home ere nightfall, he continued to press forward as quickly as his ox's pace allowed him.  A presentiment of coming evil lay heavy on his heart　which he hoped the well-known sounds of home and the voices of his wife and children would quickly dissipate. But the house is strangely silent when he reaches it. There's no one stirring: it looks deserted. "What, ho!- there- is everyone abed ?"  No answer.  It was never so before. What can it mean ?  
Trembling like a man in ague, and with a grim foreboding of he knows not what, he makes haste to house his ox and explore the mystery of the silent house. 
But an intruder is in the ox's stall, a hideous and unwarrantable intruder, with a swollen purple visage and great goggling eyes, who moves not or makes a sign, and yet who so affects, with these ghastly protruding eyeballs, the patient beast that it snorts again with fear and will not budge beyond the door. 
Ten thousand plagues upon it for a stubborn beast, is it, too, bent on driving him to madness?  Go in it must and shall. But HACHISUKE'S blows have a different effect to what he calculated on, for, appalled by the thing before it, and infuriated by the ill usage which would make it enter where it dares not, the ox turns and gores its master to death. 
Thus was the bears' cruel death avenged, and thus, did base ingratitude meet with its due reward. 

EXTRAORDINARY.POWERS DEMAND EXTRAORDINARY OCCASIONS FOR THEIR DISPLAY. 

THERE was in the Sengoku period [B.C. 425-22l], in Cho, one of the States of China, a prime minister called HEIGENKUN who, after the fashion of those days was very fond of having guests in his house.  He often had thousands at a time.  He studied the characters of these guests, and, when occasions arose in which their services were needed, he made use of them in various ways. 
It happened once that the Shin troops attacked a  place belonging to Cho, called Kantan ; and HEIGENKUN was sent to So, to request the king of So to assist the king of Cho against his enemies.   Before he set out, he wished to choose from his guests twenty men to accompany him on his journey, but he could not find more than nineteen that had any knowledge of fighting.  While he was puzzling himself to know how to make up the complement, a man called MO SUI came forward and begged that he might be allowed to make the twentieth man. 
"A good knight in the world," said HEIGENKUN, is like a sharp gimlet in a bag whose point is seen projecting.  You have been in my house three years, but I have never perceived any sharpness in you  Therefore I do not care to take you." 
"If I were put into a bag," said S'UI, " I would not be content with just showing my point, but would spring out of the bag" 
HEIGENKUN somewhat struck by this remark, as well as by the face with which it was uttered and the expression on the countenance of the man from whose lips it proceeded, consented to allow SUI to make the twentieth man. 
The remaining nineteen looked at each other in a knowing way.  They all suppressed the tendency to laughter which they felt, but each one said to himself: - "A queer companion I have in this SUI, and no mistake " 
The party went to So and endeavored to make a treaty with the king of that state, but the negotiations proceeded very slowly. The king of So received HEIGENKUN in a room somewhat elevated and reached by a flight of steps. SUI and his companions were not allowed to enter this room. They waited in one of the lover rooms.  The conference began early one morning and lasted till late in the forenoon. SUl'S patience gave out. He determined to go and see what was the matter, and get the affair decided in one way or another.  
So, gradually, ascending the steps to the place w]]ere the conference was taking place, with his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw If necessary he stood before the king. " Surely" said he to the king of So, "You know whether it is for your interest or not to make an agreement with us. Why, then, do you beat about the bush in this way?" 
The king of So was very angry. " What do you do up here?" he asked.  " I am making a treaty with your master and not with you. Go down stairs, you rude fellow!"
"Why do you speak to me in this angry way?" asked SU[. "Is it because you think that, as king of this country, and backed by numbers, you can afford to treat men from another state with contempt ? You think you can depend on thousands of your countrymen to defend you against me; but in this you are mistaken.  Here you are in this confined place; and whether you leave it or not depends on whether I allow you to do so. Your life, then, is in my hands. My reason for coming into this room unbidden is that my master is here. Your thinking that because you have numbers to back you, you can afford to be haughty, is a great mistake. Yours is a great country, but that is no reason for its being a strong one. You have of late been defeated in battle after battle.  You need assistance against the Shin people more than we. So that the agreement we have come to make, will be of more benefit to you than to us." 
"It is as you say," replied the king of So, somewhat alarmed by SUl'S manner, "we will do as you propose." "It that be the case," said Sul, turning to the king's attendants; "bring blood taken from a fowl, a horse, and a dog, and we will make a covenant and swear fealty to each other." 
They brought the blood, and Sul presented it to the king of So first, saying:-" Do you be the first to' drink this : my master shall be the next, and after that will partake of it." 
The blood was drunk and the treaty formally ratified. When SUI had partaken OE the blood, he took the basin, and, going down to the place \'here his nineteen companions were waiting, said to them:-"Here, you chicken-hearted fellows. I drink, will you-not that you deserve it." 
Thus the treaty was made; and the combination of the forces of Cho and So resulted in the de[eat of the Shin army 
When Ch6's embassy returned from So, HIGENKUN remarked to SUI one day:-"I have studied the characters of thousands of people with whom I have been associated, and never before have I been so mistaken in any one as in you." .
After his return from So, SUI became the chief guest of HEIGENKUN'S house.
 The capabilities of men are seldom revealed till there comes an occasion in which the have to be tested. Some of the ablest men are averse to parading their powers for the sake of show in the transaction of commonplace things. SUI seems to have been one of these. Though the methods he adopted to 5how his proficiency cannot be commended, they suffice to prove that he was a man endowed with a brave heart and an independent spirit, and that he was ready to lay down his life for his country. In his case, beneath an unprepossessing exterior, there was concealed an indomitable will, which made its possessor determined to conquer or die in the attempt.  HEIGENKUN'S failure to discern this, shows that the variety of human character is so great that even those who have spent all their lives in studying its many shades, every now and then meet with a specimen entirely new to them, possessing peculiarities that distinguish it from all those previously ,examined and classified. 

TWO GENEROUS HEARTS.

KONISHI YUKINAGA had a great antipathy to KATO, KIYOMASA and, in combination will ISHIDA MITSUNARI, plotted to destroy KIVOMASA'S influence with HIDEYOSHI by means of slander.
Consequently, when, on his return from Corea, KIYOMASA went to Fushimi with a view of seeing HIDEYOSHI, the latter refused to receive him, crediting, as he did, the slanderous report that had reached him. 
KIYIYOMASA asked MASUTA NAGAMORI to intercede for him. NAGAMORI refused, saying: -" You had better go to MITSUNARI and confess yourself in the wrong." 
"Not if it costs my life," replied the high-spirited KIYOMASA, and, returning to his home, he awaited the arrival of some communication from HIDEYOSHI.
 In July 1596 A.D. there occurred in Kyoto and its neighborhood a very severe earthquake accompanied by a violent wind, that destroyed the castle of Fushimi. a[]d caused the death of some hundreds of persons. 
 "Though my going may give offence;" said KIYOMASA to himself, yet at a such time as this, I a[n bound to go and see how HIDEYOSHI fares." 
So saying, at the head of two hundred soldiers, he set out for Fushimi. When he arrived, he found HIDEYOSHI sitting with his wife on a mat outside the castle. 
HIDEYOSHI looked up, and, making use of the name by which he had known KIYOAMASA in childhood, said: "TORA, how quick]y you have come!" The use of this familiar appellation put an end to all feeling of estrangement; and, approaching HIDEYOSHI, KIYOMASA spoke freely to him of all that had happened. He recounted to him his various exploits in former times, and assured him that the report which had reached him was a base slander. Whereupon HIDEYOSHI turned to his wife, and said: - " Even such a stalwart man as this, owing to the hardships through which be has passed, is greatly changed!  How sun-burnt he is, and how thin!" Thus saying, he set him to guard the castle gate. 
Shortly after this, MITSUNARI and his followers arrived. But KIVOMASA forbad their entering the castle.
 HIDEVOSHI was very much attached to MITSUNARI; so he ordered KIYOMASA to allow him to come in, even through he excluded every one else. 
Whereupon KIYOMASA called out with a loud voice to one of his followers: - Just let in that little in,, significant flatterer there, will you. "The next morning HIDEYOSHI sent for KIYOIASA, and inquired minutely, respecting the war in Corea. At the close of the conversation, with tears in his eyes, HIDIYOSHI said:-" TORA, you were brought up in my house when a child, and in so many tlli!1gs your nature resembles mine ; it is a thousand pities that anything should be allowed to separate us from each other.
From this time forward, their regard for each other was greater than ever. 
Both these men were endowed with the magnanimity that characterizes true heroes. Had either of them lacked this quality, the slanderous report would have caused a breach between them that would never have been healed. It was this that enabled KIYOMASA to forgive HIDE\'OSHI the injury he had done him in believing a report that was in every way such a contradiction of all the acts of his past life. And it was this that, on the other hand, enabled a proud and high-spirited ruler like HDEYOSHI to confess himself in the wrong in having credited such a report - that made him willing to retrace his footsteps, and reveal to his subordinates that he was conscious of having for a brief interval allowed his native generosity, to be counteracted by the insinuations of a man who was no less expert in inventing slander than ill uttering flattering speeches. 

REFINED FEELING

FUKUSHIMA MASANORI received from IEYASU, as a reward for his services, the provinces known as Oki and Bingo. 
MASANORI paid a visit to IEYASU to thank him for the gift. IBYASU, when he heard that he was coming, said that he should be glad to receive his three chief councilors t the same time. He wished, he said, to converse with each of them separately. 
The first that was ushered into the Sh6gun's presence was FUKUSHIMA TAMBA, afterwards Governor of the Castle of Kambe, in Bingo. He was a lame man, and came limping into IEYASU'S presence. The next was OZEKI IWAMI afterwards Governor of the Castle of Mitsugi. He had a hare-lip. The next was NAGAO HAYATO, afterwards Governor of the Tojo Castle, in Bingo. He was blind in one eye.
 One of IEYASU'S attendants, seeing these deformed councilors coming in one after another, was so amused that he could not contain himself: he burst out laughing before IEYASU. I
EYASU waited till the visitors had left, and then calling the attendant, asked:- "What were you laughing at just now? I have little doubt that it was the deformity of the three Bingo councilors that made you laugh. Now it is very wrong to laugh at deformity, for none of us know when we ourselves may become deformed. And as for these three men, their past history should surely make it impossible that they should be laughed at. They are all men who have been in battle over and and again-men of extraordinary courage and strength of purpose. They have been chosen from among all the knights who have served MASANORI for their superior skill and strength. And for ordinary samurai such as they to be invited to pay a visit to the Shogun, vas considered by them and their friends as a mark of distinction, which any man might well be proud. Instead of laughing at them, then, you should endeavor to imitate them. Your not possessing a feeling of veneration for such heroes, is a proof that you lack one of the great secrets of success, and unless you cultivate this feeling you will never become renowned." 
For two or three days IEYASU treated this attendant with great indifference, al]d his feelings seemed very much hurt by what had occurred.
The refinement of IEYASU'S Imnd shows itself very clearly on this occasion. There is no surer sin of a coarse mind than a tendency to make men's physical deformities and imperfections the subject of ridicule. Such conduct is no less unreasonable than a breach of good taste ; since there are few physical deformities but have been received from parents or are the result of accidents. 

A SHORT LIFE OF TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI.

TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI vas born in the village of Nakamura, situated in the district of Aichi, Owari, I36 A.D. His farther was a retainer of ODA NOBUHIDE, the Owari daimyo. He was first named HIYOSHI, in honor of the god to whom his mother prayed before his birth. 
In appearance he very much resembled a monkey, so that he as nicknamed SARUNOSUKE, which by degrees came to be used as though it were his real name. 
When about seven or eight years old, he was so obstreperous that the neighbors all compassionate his mother on having such a child, and such herself despaired of ever being able to manage him. His parents, when talking about their son one day, agreed that it would never do to leave him away longer without instruction, and therefore made up their minds to send him to a Buddhist temple called the Komyoji. "At a temple," said they, "he will, it is to be hoped, learn how to behave, as well as get a knowledge of books." 
  The head-priest seeing that HIYOSHI was a remarkable looking child said to himself :-" This boy  is going to make a good priest some day so he shall be taught carefully." 
The priest tried all he could to induce HIYOSHI to study, but without success. The lad cared for nothing but play. One of his favorite amusements was to collect a lot of children, arm them will bamboos, and then ascend a mount and set them to fight with each other, he himself acting as their general. 
The priests did their best to bring him into subjection, but all to no purpose. He would argue in favor of the life that he was living, and one day remarked:-" Priests are a set of beggars. Do you think that in a world there men are all fighting one against another and everything is out order, that I am going to study how to become a beggar ?" 
The priests did not know what to do with him; but, out of regard to his parents, they kept him till he was twelve years old.
When he reached this age, it happened one day that he was directed to place the usual offering of food in front of on of the images of Amida. He took the food, and, going up to the idol, addressed it as follows:  " You are a divinity that is said to give he]p to men : on this account you receive great honor from all who visit the temple. You are fed every day, but you eat nothing. Can you, while taking no food, obtain sufficient strength to give help to men? If you possess a heart that leads you to help men, then take the food I offer you.  If you refuse it, then, you are no more than a dumb idol, and I will smash you to pieces." 
HIDEYOSHI stood by the idol for a while, watching to see whether it would take anything or not. When he saw that it took nothing, he said:- " According to the agreement I made with you, since you do not eat, I will beat you to pieces."  Talking a candlestick from the altar he commenced to belabor the image. H had not beaten it long, before its head fell of with a crash on the floor of the temple. 
The priests hearing the noise came rushing out in a great state or alarm. "Well here's a pretty thing!' they exclaimed, "SARUNOSUKEE has beaten off the head of Amida!" Whereupon there was a great commotion. 
　The priests met to consider what had best be done with the lad. " This boy is now twelve years of age" said they "and therefore, he is quite old enough to know the difference between right and wrong: notwithstanding this, he does nothing but mischief; we cannot keep him in the temple any longer"
They sent therefore to GEN-EMON the cousin of HIYOSHI'S mother, who had requested the priests  to take the boy under their charge,  informed him of what had happened, and said that they were sorry to be compelled to dismiss the lad from the temple.
 GEN'EMON took the boy away, and reproved him sharply for what had happened, pointing out to him what trouble his unruly conduct was causing, and begging him, for the sake of his parents, to lead a steadier life in future. 
GEN-EMON now apprenticed HIYOSHI to a crockery-manufacturer. 
HIYOSHI remained with this man some little time, and did the work that was given him. But after a while, he said to himself: - "It will never do to remain long in the house of such a mediocre person as my master." So he refused to work. 
His master was surprised at this change, attributing it to HIYOSHI'S extreme youth, thought it not worth taking much notice of.  He would try what a little relaxation would do. So he entrusted one of his children to the lad, and bade him carry him on his back while he amused himself. HIYOSHI thought to himself:- " Well, here is a troublesome business! I shall not stand this long."  He considered that the best thing to do would be to run away. But the question was where should he go. "It will never do to go home," said he, "for then GEN-EMON would be down on me again; so I had better get away to some distant place." 
So, one day, he took the child, and, tying it with a rope to the wood-work of well, "There," said he,  "stop here patiently, my little man, it will not be long before some one comes to your rescue." 
HIYOSHI now set off for the town of Okazaki, Mikalwa. He had no money, but he did not trouble himself about that when hungry he begged food, but when not hungry, so great was his independence of spirit, he would not take food or money, though it was offered to him. At night he would sleep under the eaves of houses, and by day he occupied himself in sight-seeing and begging.
 After he had lived in this way for about six days, it happened one afternoon that, while he was asleep on a bridge, TAKECHIYO (IEYASU), the son of TOKVGAWA HIROTADA, the Governor of the Okazaki Castle passed in a palanquin, with a crowd of attendants, in grand style. His followers saw a beggar sleeping on the bridge, which they had to cross. They aroused him and, dragging him to one side: said: "Get out of the way, you rude fellow!" 
HIYOSHI rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and, looking up, saw TAKECHIYO'S train passing, and thought to himself as he looked at the child in the palanquin: " He is a human being and so am I. There is no reason, therefore, why should get out of the way for him. He is younger, too, than I.  The airs he assumes are the result of his being in a better position than I.  Well, as they used to say at the temple, "people's becoming high or low, rich or poor, is something that is always taking place, and which cannot be avoided."  I am low now, but I hope to rise some day, and when I do, I will humble that child by making him tie up my shoes."  Whereupon he settled himself off to sleep again. 

II
   At sunset he was aroused a second time.  A noted robber, called HACHISUKE MASAKATSU with a whole crowd of followers, on his way eastward, crossed the bridge; and as the party hurried by, one of them happened to step on HIYOSHI'S foot. 
HIYOSHI was very angry, and called out: " Though are a man and I a child, that is no reason why you should tread on me." 
"You are nothing but a beggar," replied the robber, "who, for want of a dwelling, has thrown himself down in the road. Even if you were trodden to death by Passers-by, what would it matter?  You may thank your stars that you have escaped without serious injury. 
"Your concluding that because I lie here I have no dwelling," answered HIYOSHI,  "shows how little you know. The whole of Japan is my resting place, and therefore this bridge, too, is my dwelling. Though it is the highway, yet it is not by any means a highway meant for you alone.  Since it is for all alike, all alike should act politely when passing along it.  To tread on people that are lying in then road, and then to abuse them by calling them beggars, is surely a strange proceeding.  But," added the boy adroitly, "If you must call me a beggar, then treat the like one by giving me some food." 
"An audacious young chap Indeed!" growled the robber.  "I will stop your jabbering."
 MASAKATSU now came forward and said: - "Do nothing hastily: what the lad says is not unreasonable.  His remarking that the whole of Japan is his resting-place, shows that he is a boy of great courage, and such being the case, he may prove very useful to us.  His saying that if he is to be called a beggar he ought to receive food, is a proof that he is conscious of the shame attaching to the life he is now leading.   He is certainly a brave fellow; and therefore I have something that I wish to say to him."  Whereupon MASAKATSU stepped forward, and said:-" Rather than live the life of a beggar, will you not become my follower?  Of course you will get your food, and in addition to this, I call promise that anything you may specially wish for shall be given you.  But, first, I want to know whence you come and how old you are."
 "I am from Owari, from the Adachi district; my age is twelve, replied HIYOSHI.  "If you will give me food, I will go anywhere you may wish to take me." 
 "We are from the same part of the country, then," replied MASAKATSU; "that will be an additional reason for my taking care of you.  But it is only right that you should know that our occupation is to break through hard walls and to make way into places where money is to be found.  The money that we take is spent in enjoying ourselves.  It is a rule among us that any one that wishes to join us shall initiate himself by guiding us to some rich house where money is to be had."
 " There is no difficulty about that," said HIYOSHI, " but unless you give me something to eat, I can do nothing, I am so hungry."
 "Very good," said the robber, and at once ordered food to be brought for him. 
After HIYOSHI had taken the food, and they had all rested, he led the robbers to the outskirts of the town, and, showing them several large rich-looking houses, said:-" There you can take your choice of these." 
MASAKATSU looked at them. "To robbers," said he, " the way to get into a place is not so important as the way to get out of it. The means of escape from the outside house of the three are good, so we will choose that one." 
Whereupon the robbers all approached the house, but finding that it was well secured, paused before the main entrance, to consider how best to get in.
 HIYOSHI seeing this, remarked:-" Persons who take advantage of the inmates of houses being off their guard to rob them, surely should not waste time in the way you are now doing.  You do not seem to be at all up to your business.  I will show you how to do it.  There is no difficulty about getting the gate open." 
Thus saying, he laid hold of a part of the fence that projected, climbed over the paling, and opened the gate.  
The robbers all gazed at each other with all amazement, and said:- "He both looks and acts exactly like a monkey! 
"They entered the house, found a quantity of money, and all managed to get away without being discovered with the exception of HIYOSHI, who, for some reason or other, remained behind while the others were leaving. 
Some of the household awoke, and, crying out: "Thieves! thieves!" aroused the whole house. The doors were at once closed to prevent any one escaping, and it looked as though HIYOSHI must be captured. 
But, as quick as lightning, an expedient came to his mind, which he instantly, carried out.  He rushed to the kitchen, and, taking up a huge stone, dropped it into the well, and at the same time gave a loud shout, as though he had fallen into the water himself.  This brought all the imamates of the house to the spot. "The thieves have got into the well!  The thieves have got into the well!" they cried, and one and all surrounding the well, they left the rest of the house free for HIYOSHI to pass through.  This he did, unbolting the doors, and letting himself out. 
MASAKATSU had missed HIYOSHI, and was on his way back to the house to look for him when he met him. 
MASAKATSU remained in Mikawa some time, robbing various houses in the neighborhood, HIYOSHI acting as his guide.  The robber-chief admired the lad more and more, and treated him with the greatest care and consideration.
 One day, HIYOSHI came to MASAKATSU and said: "Though I am young, yet, if I am to work side by side with you, I cannot get on without a sword, and I should, like to possess a really good one."
 "That is very natural," replied MASAKATSU, It I will supply you with a suitable weapon." Here he handed him a sword. 
HIYOSHI did not seem pleased with the gift.  "While you are giving," said he, " you might as well furnish me with a thoroughly good weapon - one that is made by some noted man, then I will do my best to work for you.
"Smiling, MASAKATSU replied:- "What sword do you wish for?  What maker will please you ?  It I know this, I may be able to accommodate you, but I am not sure." 
"Then," said HIYOSHI please give me the sword that you have on.
"MASAKATSU was astonished at the lad's boldness, and replied: - "However much you may wish to have this sword, I am sorry that I cannot part with it.  It is a weapon that I have received from my ancestors.  It was made by the famous MURAMASA - No; I cannot give you this, but any other that you ask for, you shall have.  There are numbers of swords no whit inferior to this one. Mention which of them you would like, and you shall have it." 
Before MASAKATSU had finished what he was saying, HIYOSHI exclaimed "Well this is something that I　never looked for. Did you not say when I entered your service, that anything that I specially wanted you would give me?  And, now, because you do not know how to spare a sword that I wish to have, are you going to break the agreement you made with me?  Is this acting like a man?  What is the use of a good sword to a bad man such as you?  If you will not give me the sword, then I shall no longer act as your guide in robbing houses.  I will throw up this business and be off.  You had better consider what you are doing; for, if I am not mistaken, a good servant is of more value to you than a good sword, for it is by means of the former that you obtain all the money that you have.  I await your answer, and shall act accordingly.
 MASAKATSU pondered for a while, and then said: - "There is truth in what you say.  But this sword was received from my ancestors; I cannot give it to you; but I tell you what you can do, you can steal it if you get a chance. In that case, I shall not have committed any sin against my ancestors. 
HIYOSHI was delighted.  "All that I have to say is," he replied, "that if I get the sword without being discovered, you will never receive it back again."
 
III
 That night MASAKATSU thought to himself: - "HIYOSHI will be coming for the sword. "So he placed the weapon close to his pillow, and kept awake to watch for him. But HIYOSHI did not make his appearance that night.  MASAKATSU, on thinking it over in the morning, smiled to himself and said:-"This HIYOSHI is a very sharp lad, but, being still a child, he is afraid to come and steal the sword.  And his saying all that he did, was no doubt with the object of seeing whether I would keep my promise to him, and of putting me into a difficulty about it.  It is not probable that he really wishes to possess the sword. "So, the next day, he went to HIYOSHI, and asked him:-"How is it that, according to the agreement you made, you did, not come to steal the sword last night?" 
  "The reason for my not coming," replied HIYOSHI, "was that, on thinking over the affair yesterday after leaving you.  I did not feel that a person so unworthy as I ought to possess such a noted weapon; and then, too, I could not make up my mind to rob you of a sword bequeathed to you by your ancestors; so I gave up all thoughts of taking it." 
"If that be the case," answered MASAKATSU, "then, you may have what other sword you wish." 
HIYOSHI left MASAKATSU'S presence without making any reply.
 After lying awake the whole of the night, the robber-chief felt very tired, and his mind being quite at ease after what HIYOSHI had said, early in the forenoon he lay down, and soon dropped off into a sound sleep, from which he did not awake till the afternoon, when, to his astonishment, his sword was nowhere to be found.
MASAKATSU inquired of all his followers as to who had taken the weapon, but no one knew anything about it.  Suddenly, in the midst of ail the commotion of the search for the sword, HIYOSHI marched quietly into the room, with the sword in his belt, and, addressing MASAKATSU, pointed to the weapon and said: - "This, no doubt, is what you are looking for." 
"Did you not say this morning that you had no longer any desire to take the sword?" asked the robber-chief.  "And now, while I have been sleeping, you have come and carried it off.  An outrageous piece of impudence, indeed!" 
Before MASAKATSU had finished what he was saying, HIYOSHI exclaimed: - "Well, you are talking widely, and no mistake.  Listen to what I have to say.  I thought to get the sword last night, but as you were awake, I could not accomplish it.  When you called me in this morning, and asked why I did not come for it during the night, to throw you off your guard I told you what was false.  It was for you to have perceived this.  You failed to do it and composed yourself to sleep in broad daylight - a piece of carelessness that it would be difficult to match anywhere.  As I said before, having obtained the sword, I shall keep it." 
 "This lad" said MASAKATSU'S only twelve years of age; but his acts and words show a marvelous amount of intelligence.  He is going to make a great man some day. " After this incident, despite the loss of his sword, MASAKATSU felt more attached to HIYOSHI than ever.  
While all his was happening, HIYOSHI'S parents were very anxious about him.  They had no idea where he had gone.  One day, however, a man called AOKI KAMBEI, who had come to Mikaya on business, happened to run against HIYOSHI in the road. 
" Where on earth have you been?" asked KAMBEI.  " Your father and mother are in a great way about you.  They have been inquiring for you far and near."  
Smiling, HIYOSHI replied: - "Well, I was dismissed, or rather ran away from every place to which I was sent, and having no excuse to make to any of you, I came here, hoping by some means or other to realize the object I have in view.  I am now in the employ of a man called HACHISUKA MASAKATSU."
   "Hachisuka Masakatsu!  Is he not the leader of a gang of robbers?" asked KAMBEI, horror-stricken.
   "He is," replied HIYOSHI calmly."
   What will your parents say when they hear of it?  Anyhow you had better go back with me to their house."  This HIYOSHI agreed to do.  So, in company with KAMBEI, he returned to the house of GEN-EMON. 
GEN-EMON, when informed how HIYOSHI had been employed, asked him whether he was not bringing great disgrace upon his parents and relations by his misbehavior. 
To this, with a smile on his face, he replied: "There is no saying hat because a boy is employed by a robber, therefore he must necessarily be bad.  There are persons who, like the lotus in the mud, retain their purity and beauty even in the midst of robbers.  To condemn in a lump, then, every person who has to do with robbers shows a singular want of discernment." 
GEN-EMON and KAMBEI were both struck with the cleverness of HIYOSHI'S replies.  "No one is a match for you in talking," said GEN-EMON. 
GEN-EMON forthwith went to MASAKATSU, and told him that HIYOSHI could not serve him any longer. After this HIYOSHI was kept at home for some little time.
 At the age of fourteen his nature did not seem one whit altered.  He gave no assistance to any one in the house, but from morning to night went about just where he pleased, perpetrating all kinds of mischief, and only returning to his parents' house when he was hungry.  If anything was said to him, he either paid no attention whatever to it, or else pitched on some weak point in the language used by the person reproving him, or took exception to it.  By degrees he grew to be so unbearable at home that his parents thought that they must send him away.  So they negotiated with a friend of KAMBEl'S, a carpenter called YOHEI, who agreed to take him into his employ.
 As he could not, of course, do any carpentering work, HIYOSHI was employed in carrying the carpenters' lunch to the places where they were working.  At this time there was a great deal of building going on inside the Kiyosu castle walls, and HIYOSHI carried the carpenters' lunch from the head carpenter's house to this place.  All the overseers of the work used to notice him, and remarked how like a monkey he was; and yet they seemed attached to him and often had little chats with him. 
One day, an officer of higher rank than those usually seen there, came down to the place where the carpenters were working, and vas busy examining accounts and making notes, when HIYOSHI came up to him and said: - You are a skilful penman.  Since you write so well, I have no doubt that you receive a very good income. 
"Yes," said the officer, "I do. I spend all my time in writing, and as I excel in the art. I receive five hundred koku a year." 
"Ah," said HIYOSHI, "although you can write well, I suppose it is because you can do nothing else that you only receive that amount.  Are you satisfied, then, with that sum? Five hundred koku!  Why, it is only enough to yield material for making rice paste will]-and for you to be satisfied with such an amount, is too ridiculous!"  
The officer was furious.  "You abominable young scoundrel!" he exclaimed,  "move from that place if you dare: I will kill you."
 HIYOSHI ran away at a great rate.  This made the officer still more angry, and he sent to YOHEI'S house demanding that the lad be sent to him at once.  "I will kill him," said he: "If I do not I am no true samurai."
 YOHEI was at his wit's end to know what to do.  He begged the officer to pardon the offence:  after a great deal of persuading, the latter consented.  YOHEI called HIYOSHI and censured him sharply for what he had done.  HIYOSHI was not affected in the least by the reproof.  He stared up at the ceiling in the most careless manner, and when YOHEI had finished, remarked in an off-handed way: - "What a stupid fellow this officer is!"  His being contented with five hundred koku a year, is like the frog being contented with his well.  I thought to make him a little more aspiring, and the stupid fool flew into a rage." 
YOHEI did not know what to reply, but he thought it would never do to have such a rash, care-for-nothing sort of lad in his house.   So he handed him over to KAMBEI without delay, and KAMBEI sent him back to GEN-EMON.  GEN-EMON was puzzled to know what to do; as the lad had come back from every place to which he had been sent.  So he took him to his parents' house again.   
HIYOSHI'S father was not angry with him nor did he reprove him in any way.  This was his habitual mode of treating him.  He saw that he was different from ordinary children, and thought it best to leave him to develop according to the bent of his own genius.  "He is self-willed," said he, "but he is not wicked. We can do no good by crossing him he will right himself in time. "But HIYOSHI'S mother was very much concerned about him, wondering how all his wild freaks would end.

IV

THE next step that was taken was to apprentice HIYOSHI to a blacksmith related to his mother.  For ten days he worked steadily, but after that, by degrees, got slacker and slacker till at last he did absolutely nothing.  He would go away to the mountains and spend the whole day in amusing himself, and only return when he was hungry. 
One afternoon, he was so hungry that he did not know what to do with himself, but he was aware that if he returned to the blacksmith's house he would not get a chance of going away again, and he was enjoying himself immensely, so he went to an old woman that lived on the outskirts of the village, who had been his foster mother, and induced her to give him some food.  When he left her house, he thanked her, and said:- " When I become independent, I will repay you at the rate of ten thousand grains of rice for every one you have given me." 
" I did not give you food with the expectation of being repaid, "replied the old woman.  "It is because you always talk so big that people dislike you.  You had better leave off talking in that grand style"   
 You are mistaken," said HIYOSH, "I am not talking grandly.  What I say I mean.  If I get what I expect to get I will repay you without fail."  HIYOSHI amused himself till the evening, and then returned to the blacksmith's house.
 The blacksmith saw no use in keeping a lad of this kind; so he thought of sending him back to his parents, but just at that time there was a priest in the village who wished to get some one to accompany him to the mansions of the various barons of the surrounding districts with the fuda which it was customary to send around to them every year.  HIDEYOSHI'S parents were asked whether they would object to their son's going on this mission; and, on their consenting to the plan, HIYOSHI set off in company with the priest. 
They went to a number of places, and among others to Hamamatsu, in Totomi.  Here, through the introduction of the priest.  HIYOSHI became acquainted with MATSUSHITA YUKITSUNA, a retainer of IMAGAWA YOSHIMOTO.  YUKITSUNA was well versed in the art of war, and acted as a fencing-master.  Being a most valuable retainer, he was in the receipt of a large income.  
HIYOSHI stayed about two days in YUKITSUNA'S house, and while there all YVKITSUNA'S followers remarked how like a monkey he was.  But to YUKITSUNA his face was an interesting one that Promised great things.  When he tried him with a few questions, his answers were remarkably prompt and clear.  YUKITSUNA was so pleased with his whole bearing and demeanor, that he asked him whether he would like to stop with him and become one of his retainers. 
 "If you are good enough to employ me," replied HlYOSHl, "I shall be very glad to do my best to serve you.  For, to tell the truth, to become a knight has long been my earnest desire."  So the agreement was made, and HIYOSHI was employed in looking after one of YUKITSUNA'S boys, a lad about nine years of age.  As YUKITSUNA was a great warrior, all his young retainers were instructed every day in fencing and archery; and every night they listened to the expounding of books on the art of war.  HIYOSHI attended most diligently to these expositions night after night, and by day he watched the various military exercises that were going on.  
Having at last found a place which suited his tastes and a master whom he could admire, he worked most assiduously for three years.  After which, YUKITSUNA, -seeing how much he had advanced, and that, though only eighteen years of age, he had intelligence enough for a man of fifty, ordered the ceremony of gembuku to be performed, and his name to be changed to TOKICHI.  
On this occasion a sword vas bestowed on him.  TOKICHI looked on the sword and said:- " I have now become a man, and shall be expected to act the part of a man, and therefore, though I am but a sandal-bearer; I should like to possess a better sword than this."  
The other servants of YUKITSUNA were very much annoyed by this remark."  The Idea of grumbling at a gift received from our master in this way!" said they. 
TOKICHI smiling, replied:- " It is not from self-will that I make this request, but in order that I may fulfill my duties to my master. A sandal bearer is always near his lord, accompanying him even to the front door of his house.  He never knows what attempts may be made on his master's rife, and how soon he may have to fight in his defense, and therefore he should have a good sword.  As we give ourselves to our masters without reserve, there is no reason why we should conceal anything from them that we think it is to their interest to know.  To hide a thing from a master is a breach of faithfulness."    
 YUKITSUNA heard of these remarks, and was pleased with them, and at once gave TOKICHI a very superior sword.
 About two years after this, a war between IMAGAWA YOSHIMOTO, the baron whom TOKICHI'S master served, and HOJO UJIYASU broke out.  TOKICHI asked his master to allow him to accompany him to the war; but he refused.  TOKICHI, however, was not to be put off he pressed his suit more and more; but his master was relentless.  Determined to have his own way, TOKICHI went off and borrowed some old rusty armor, and when YUKITSUNA was about to set out, made his appearance equipped for battle.  His master was very much surprised.  On being asked where he had obtained the armor, TOKICHI replied: - "As I could get no one to lend me armor.  I bought this old suit."
 TOKICHI distinguished himself in this battle by killing the enemy's general, ITO HYUGA-NO-KAMI.  This was accomplished in the following way: When, after the first encounter, the enemy retreated in confusion, TOKICHI ran into their midst and, approaching their general, suggested that he should cross the river at a certain shallow place, which, he said, he would point out to him.  Then, when the general was about to cross the river, TOKICHI sprang out from some rushes where he had been hiding, and after stabbing the horse on which HYUGA-NO-KAMI rode, succeeded in killing the general himself.  The death of this general caused great confusion in the enemy's ranks, and secured victory to YOSHIMOTO'S forces. 
TOKICHI saved his master's life, too, on this occasion, which made YUKITSUNA feel very much attached to him ever after. 
On the principle that that which is done by the servant is done by his master, this exploit of TOKICH'S brought renown and an increase of income to his master YUKITSUNA and YOSHIMOTO, in informing YUKITSUNA of this increase, requested him to reward TOKICHI for his services. 
   Accordingly, YUKITSVNA called TOKICHI and congratulated him on the honor that he had won in the first battle he had ever fought. "Considering," said he, "how great are the services that you have rendered in this battle, I shall henceforth look upon you as my own child, and it is my wish that you should add the surname of MATSUSHITA to that you already bear.  
"Your kindness," replied TOKICHI, is very great: I am very much obliged to you.  But as regards the name you purpose bestowing on me, I do not think that it would be good for one so unworthy as I to receive such an honorable name; and I fear, too, that were I to assume it, it would cause great jealousy amongst your servants, I therefore beg, with all due deference, to decline it.  But as I do not possess a surname, I have something to suggest in reference to my receiving one." 
  "What is that? " asked YUKITSUNA.  
  " I am loath to receive the whole of your name," replied TOKICHI; "but I should like to remove part of the character which stands for your name, and, instead of MATSUSHITA, assume the name of KINOSHITA.  In doing this, as the part of the character that I drop [公] will be that which bears the meaning of lord, it will be made plain that I do not wish to place myself on a level with my master." 
MATSUSHITA was very pleased with this suggestion, thinking to himself: - "TOKICHl'S modesty is most creditable to him.
 " MATSUSHITA little knew what was in the mind of his retainer.  TOKICHI, it is said, did not wish to take the name of a man so low in rank as YVKITSUNA.  He aimed at something far higher: he did not care to make it appear to the world that he was satisfied with being the adopted son of a subordinate like YUKITSUNA.  Then again it is asserted, with what amount of truth it is hard to say, that in assuming the name of KINOSHITA, he thought of the barons who should be subject to him in future; as the character for tree was frequently used figuratively for a baron, it is affirmed that he spoke of himself as one who should have all the boku, or barons beneath him, and therefore assumed the name of KINOSHITA - the meaning of the whole appellation that he bore being: - "TOKICHI beneath whom the barons are." 
  YUKITSUNA'S life had been endangered in the late battle by the nature of his armor.  This armor was so unyielding that when it was laid hold of by an instrument called the kagiyari, or crooked spear, YUKITSUNA was dragged from his horse, and had not TOKICHI come to his rescue, he would have lost his life.  This made him desirous of obtaining other armor.  When speaking about it to his friends, he heard that there was a superior class of armor to be found in Owari, and knowing that TOKICHI had come from that province, he called him and asked with about it. 
 Yes;" said TOKICHI, "I know that armor well.  It is called domaru.  It is entirely different from the okegawa armor used in these parts.  It is fastened on the right side, and can be let out or taken in at pleasure." 
   "I should like to possess a suit," said YUKITSUNA, "and as you know all about it, I should be glad if you would go and purchase one for me.  Here are six ryo, which will be quite enough to procure a good suit. 

V

TOKICHI took the money, and set out for Owari.  On the way he thought to himself: - "I have been purposing to leave YUKITSUNA'S house for a long time, and this seems to be a good opportunity for me to do it.  I will steal this money, buy clothes, and procure other things necessary for use, and then I will get into the employ of some great baron.  When I have realized my purpose, I will pay the money back. It is true that it is not right to steal, but in performing great exploits we cannot stop to think of every trifle connected with the means employed; and then, too, YUKITSUNA has gained a good deal by me, so that my taking five or six ryo from him is not much after all."
 He returned to his parents' house, and consulted them as to whether he had not better try to get into the service of ODA NOBUUNAGA, the lord of the castle of Kiyosu.  His father said that this was by far the best thing he could do.  "In these troublous times," said his father, "there is no one to be compared to ODA NOBUNAGA." 
TOKICHI therefore purchased a sword and a suit of armor, and went off to Kiyosu.　 As it was difficult for him to obtain an interview with such a great man unless when out of doors, TOKICHI waited till NODUNAGA went out hunting one day, and when the baron was sitting down to rest, approached, and kneeling down before him, said:- "My father was a retainer of your father, and therefore for a long time I have been intending to join your ranks; I now request that you will make use of me as a servant." 
"Your face is like a monkey's," replied NOBUNAGA, smiling; "and therefore doubtless you are an intelligent fellow.  I will take you into my service.
"After occupying several subordinate positions, TOKICHI became the bearer of NOBUNAGA'S sandals, and served his master most faithfully, not omitting, to do what he thought would please him even in minor matters.  NOBUNAGA was in the habit of rising very early in the morning and going out on horseback before most of his followers were aware that he was stirring.  On these occasions TOKICHI would never fail to follow him.  NOBUNAGA conversed with him freely, and soon found out how keen all insight into most things he possessed.  
About a year after TOKICHI had been in NOBUNAGA'S service, it happened that some two hundred yards of the castle wall of Kiyosu was broken down by a heavy rainfall.  Orders were given for its repair: but though a longtime was spent over the work, little progress was made. 
One day TOKICHI, while walking about under the castle walls, looked at the broken-down parts and, 
after exclaiming in an audible voice, "How dangerous! how dangerous!" muttered some inaudible words to ,himself.  
NOBUNAGA was near, as TOKICHI knew well.  He called TOKICHI and asked: - "What were you saying to yourself there just now?" 
TOKICHI feigned to be reluctant to express his opinion before the other followers of NOBUNAGA. His master pretended to be angry and, pulling TOKICHI by the hand, asked: - "Why do you not speak?"
 Whereupon the latter replied: - "To the east of you there are IMAGAWA and TAKEDA, and to the west SAITO, ASAI, and ROKKAKU.  These all see the cracks in your castle walls.  Notwithstanding this, day after day the repairs go on in a most leisurely manner.  Your officers show little faithfulness to their master in carrying on things in such a way."
 NODUNAGA made no answer, but went away to his quarters within the castle, and sent for TOKICHI to come to him.  "I will make you superintendent of the castle wall repairs," said NOBUNAGA.  "Can you get them done at once? " 
"I can," replied TOKICHI.
 And, very much pleased with his new appointment, he went out immediately and told the officers in charge of the repairs that the superintendence of them had been entrusted to him, and that therefore he hoped they would take care that his orders were executed.  
The officers did not at all relish seeing their lord's sandal-bearer elevated to such a position.  So, in surly tones, they replied: - "If you have charge of the business, you had better manage it the best way you please, we will have nothing to do with it." 
TOKICHI called all the workmen together and told them that he had a message from NOBUNAGA to them.  After treating them to some sake, he informed them that he had been created manager of the works.  He looked after the repairs himself, and got all the gaps filled up in three days.  
When NOBUNAGA was returning from shooting one day, he saw the work from a distance and said to his attendants: - "How on earth has the monkey got this done so quickly?"  
From this time TOKICHI became one of NOBUNAGA'S regular officers, and was set to superintend a variety of undertakings. 
In the following year, TOKICHI remarked to NOBUNAGA one day that, as the water supply at Kiyosu was very deficient, it would be better to move the castle to Komaki. 
NOBUNAGA had held this opinion for some time, but, knowing that it would prove an expensive job, he had constantly put it off.  He was annoyed now to find that some one besides himself had discovered that the water was deficient in Kiyosu, and that TOKICHI had spoken about it before others.  "You monkey, " said NOBUNAGA," what are you chattering about?  If you talk such nonsense, I will kill you." 
 The followers of NOBUNAGA were not a little surprised to find that TOKICHI'S face did not change in any way however sharply he was reproved.  All he seemed to care about was his master's interest, knowing that NOBUNAGA'S interest was his own.  
Subsequent to this, for about six years, NOBUNAGA was engaged in perpetual war with the surrounding provinces, TOKICHI acting as his right-hand man.  TOKICHI undertook and carried through all kinds of dangerous enterprises.  Wherever there was anything difficult or hazardous to be accomplished, there was he.  And fortune seemed to smile on him wherever he went. 
In 1566 A.D. NOBUNAGA changed TOKICHI'S name to HIDEYOSHI, and bestowed on him three hundred kwan of land. 
HIDEVOSHI fought with and subdued all the surrounding barons, and in 1575 A.D. the title of CHIKUZEN-NO-KAMI was bestowed on him by his lord, and. in addition to this, he himself adopted the name of HASHIBA instead of KINOSHITA.  He now received an income of twenty-two thousand koku a year.
 His sharp eye perceived, however, that his increase of power would excite the jealousy of his master. So, one day, he said to one of his followers: - "ODA NOBUNAGA appears in public as though he were very impartial-ready to patronize merit wherever he sees it -as though nothing could excite his envy.  But it is not really so.  In heart he is very jealous, and I know that if he sees that I am glad to get all the land that he has bestowed on me, my life will be in danger.  Something must be done to remedy this."  
They agreed that HIDEVOSHI should propose to NOBUNAGA that he (HIDEYOSHI) bequeath to one of the baron's sons all his lands, and ask permission to go and conquer more territory. 
The proposal in reference to his son pleased NOBUTAGA very much.  "But," said he, "how are you going to be provided for?"
 "If you will give me orders to go and attack the western provinces," replied HIDEYOSHI, "I will, in a very short time subdue two or three of them.  The bulk of the conquered territory shall be handed over to you.  I will only reserve a few odd strips for myself." 
To this NOBUNAGA agreed.  Before HIDEYOSHI set out on his expedition, he came to take leave of his master.  On this occasion, NOBUNAGA, giving him a flag, said to him: - " If you conquer the sixteen provinces to the west of this, you shall become their ruler.  You will then be in a position to take the whole of Kyushu.  Whatever auxiliary forces you may need from time to time, shall be forwarded to you."
 "Not despising my low rank," replied HIDEVOSHI, you have appointed me to this high office in preference to the numerous brave generals who serve you.  I, on my part, therefore, will gladly expend all my strength in this war.  Your giving me a flag, I take to be a proof that you intend me to issue commands just as I please.  Those who oppose us, I will attack; those who become subject to us, I will treat leniently.  By adopting wise my measure, I shall succeed in bringing into subjection the whole of the sixteen provinces known as Chugoku.  When this is completed, I will go on to Kyushu and take the whole of it.  When Kyushu is taken, then, if you will grant me the revenue of that island for one year, I will prepare ships of war and purchase provisions, and go over and take Corea.  Corea, I shall ask you to bestow on me as a reward for my services, and to enable me to make still further conquests; for with Corean troops I intend to bring the whole of China under my sway.  And I shall do it, too as easily as a man rolls up a piece of matting and carries it under his arm.  When all this is accomplished, then, owing to your great power and influence I shall have succeeded in uniting the three countries, viz., China, Corea, and Japan.  These are my intentions: what do you think of them?" 
Laughing, NOBUNAGA replied: - "HIDEYOSHI is talking big.  Well, I leave you to do as you please."  
 In five years HIDEYOSHI subdued five provinces, and in December of the fifth year he returned to NOBUNAGA, to pay him a visit of ceremony after his long absence.  NOBUNAGA was very pleased to see him.  Patting his face, he said: - "You are no longer the TOKICHI of former days.  Tomorrow I will entertain you as a guest." 
The next morning HIDEYOSHI presented to his lord a magnificent sword, a hundred horses, and five hundred other articles.  These presents covered a large space of ground NOBUNAGA saw them from the walls of the castle and was highly gratified by the sight.  "These," said he to his retainers, "are the presents of that hero HIDEYOSHI!"
 After being entertained handsomely, HIDEYOSHI was sent back to the seat of war. 
VI
Hearing that MORI had garrisoned the castle of Takamatsu and was determined to do his best to repulse the invaders, HIDEYOSHI hastened to the spot. 
MORI knew that upon the fortunes of Takamatsu the fate of his dominions depended, so he did all he could to save the castle.  HIDEYOSHI was confident of taking it, but he thought to himself: - " If I take this castle without NOBUNAGA, he will be jealous of me." So he sent off a messenger to NOBUNAGA to inform him that the castle of Takamatsu might be taken any day, but that, as the forces of MORI were very considerable, he thought it necessary to ask NOBUNAGA to come in person and hoist his flag among them, and take the castle.  " If you do this," said he, "then the whole of MORl'S dominions will be ours in a very short time." 
NOBUNAGA was very pleased to receive such a message, and ordered thirty-five thousand troops to march for the seat of war at once.  He himself purposed following with a body-guard of about one hundred men.   He got as far as a temple called Honnoji, in Kyoto, where he put up for the night.  Here he was attacked by AKECHI MITSUHIDE, one of his chief retainers; and killed. 
When MORI heard that NOBUNAGA was coming with such a large force, he proposed terms of peace to HIDEYOSHI.
 HIDEYOSHI would not listen to them.  
He was informed shortly after of the death of NOBUNAGA, but kept the matter to himself the whole of the day on which the news arrived.  
The next day the castle was taken; and the commander of the garrison committed suicide.  But MORI was encamped in the neighborhood with a large force. 
HIDEYOSHI knew that his enemies must hear of the death of NOBUNAGA soon, so he sent a messenger to them to acquaint them with the fact, and informed them in the coolest manner possible, that he would either fight or come to terms with them whichever they pleased.  
MORI, after some hesitation, decided to make peace with HIDEYOSHI. 
 HIDEVOSHI, after borrowing some troops from him, immediately set out for Settsu.  
On reaching that province, he found that MITSUHIDE had not only killed NOBUNACA, but that he had killed his son NOBUTADA, attacked the castle of Azuchi, carried off all the treasures which he found therein, and seized the reins of government in Kyoto.  
When HIDEYOSHI reached Amagasaki, he made known the death of his master, cut his hair, and put on mourning attire.  The notice that he published on this occasion, with an invitation to the surrounding barons to assist him in revenging NOBUNAGA'S death was as follows: "AKECHI MITSUHIDE has treated with contempt all the kindness which he has received from his master, and has been guilty of high treason.  He has done what neither heaven nor earth allows.  He has done what provokes the wrath of both gods and men.  HIDEYOSHI and such a rebel may not remain under the same heaven together.  I have brought all the troops that belong to my territory in Harima. I am desirous of uniting these with those under the command of your Excellencies, of taking the head of this scoundrel MITSUHIDE and exposing it to the gaze of' the world. So shall I rejoice the departed 'soul of ODA NOBUNAGA." 
On the thirteenth day after he had killed NOBUNAGA, MITSUHIDE was slain by HIDEYOSHI, and his head was exhibited to public view at the Honno temple, the scene of the murder of his late lord.  This happened in 1582 A.D.  
The chief retainers of ODA NOBUNAGA all opposed HIDEYOSHI; but one after another, he subdued them. 
After he had brought all his personal enemies into subjection, he again addressed himself earnestly to the task of conquering the whole country and making every province subject to a central government.
 As Kyoto seemed to him to be too confined a place in which to build a large castle, he removed to Osaka, where he built the castle the remains of which are still to be seen in that city. 
 Subsequent to this there was a war between IEYASU and HIDEYOSHI.  It was caused by IEYASU'S taking the side of NOBUO, the son of NOBUNAGA, against HIDEYOSHI. NOBUO was jealous of HIDEYOSHI'S growing prosperity, and went to IEYASU to ask him to assist him to assert his rights as the successor of NOBUNAGA, which IEYASU agreed to do.
 HIDEYOSHI was defeated: perhaps owing to the fact that he did not lead the army in person. After this the two castle to terms.  
 The next year HIDEYOSHI subdued Shikoku; and the same year became Kwampaku, and received the surname of TOYOTOMI from the Emperor. 
 In 1586 A.D, he built a large house near Kyoto called Juraku.  In this he lived and carried on the affairs of the government.  During the next four years he subdued Kyusyu, as well as all the northern provinces.  
 He had remarked to NOBUNAGA years before that when the whole of Japan was subject to him, he proposed to take Corea, and afterwards China. From this purpose he never for a moment swerved.  He now sent a letter to Corea, in which the following words occurred: 
"Our country has been for some time in a great state of disorder, and the Emperor's. commands have not been obeyed.  HIDEVOSHI was vexed to see this state of things, and so, buckling on his armor he went out to battle, and by degrees has brought the whole of the sixty provinces of this empire beneath his sway. 
" HIDEY0HI was originally a man of low rank.  But his mother before she bore him dreamt that she had the sun within her, and the diviners said that the meaning of this vas that, like the sun in yonder heaven, there would be no place where HIDEYOSHI'S power did penetrate. 
" In accordance with this prediction, wherever I have fought I have conquered: I have subdued the whole of Japan.  The Japanese people are rich and prosperous.  From ancient times they have never been in a better position than they are now.  Men's lives are short, so they must enjoy themselves while they can.  My one delight is the extension of our empire.  Therefore, using your country as a medium, I  intend to bring China under my dominion.  "Any barons who refuse to become subject to me I shall attack. 



"The Emperor is very pleased with the tribute you have brought him.  When HIDEYOSHI invades China he will look to you to provide troops who are acquainted with that country to assist in the war." 
In 1592 A.D. HIDEYOSHI sent an army to Corea; and it was very successful there.  The Coreans themselves seemed to have offered little resistance, but the troops who were sent from China fought the Japanese for about five years.  After this KONISHI YUKINAGA, who was tired of the war and anxious to return to Japan, either credited, or pretended to credit an offer that CHIN IKEI made; which was that if the Japanese troops were withdraw from Corea.  HIDEYOSHI should be declared the Emperor of China.  The troops were withdrawn; and YUKINAGA came back to Japan will the news of the agreement that had been made, IKEI accompanying him as Chinese ambassador.  The latter brought with him gorgeous robes, which he said it was customary for the emperors of China to wear, and which it would be necessary for HIDEYOSHI to put on when he was crowned.  A letter also was brought, which was said to be a formal delivery of the whole of China into HIDEYOSHI'S hands.  
HIDEYOSHI was full of exultation, and thought that, at last his great object was realized, and that the three kingdoms were to be united.  A day was fixed for the coronation ceremonies.  Arrayed in the gorgeous robes that IKEI had brought, HIDEVOSHI appeared before all the great lords of the land. The preliminaries being over, a priest was commanded to read the document which declared him to be Emperor of China.  All present listened which anxious ears to the contents of the letter, and noun more so than HIDEYOSHI himself what was their astonishment and rage when they heard the words - " We do hereby make you Emperor of Japan. 
"HIDEYOSHI'S countenance changed and assumed a fierce expression.  He took the crown from his head and dashed it to the ground; tore the robes from his body and cast them from him; and, snatching the document from the hands of the priest who was reading it, tore it in shreds, and with a loud voice said: "As I have the whole of this country in my grasp, did I wish to become its emperor, I could do so without the consent of barbarians. 
"Then, calling your YUKINAGA, he asked:- " What do you mean by disgracing our country, and deceiving me?  I will kill you and the Chinese ambassador together." 
YUKINAGA trembled all over and thought his last hour was come.  But, on the intercession of his friends, his life was spared, and HIDEYOSHI'S fury was somewhat appeased.  But the same night it broke out afresh, and he commanded KAT KIYOMASA to go to the Chinese ambassador and tell him that he was to return to his country at once, and inform the Chinese that HIDEYOSHI would send troops to slaughter them like so many cattle.

VII

  HIDEYOSHI'S second expedition left for Corea in February, 1597, A.D.  In June of the next year HIDEYOSHI became very ill, and in July his disease was so serious that little hope of his recovery was entertained.  When he realized how ill he was, he sent for IEYASU, and addressed him as follows: - " It is most unfortunate that, before foreign countries have been subjected to us, I should be overtaken with this illness.  I foresee that there will be great wars after my decease; I know, too, that there is no one but you who can keep the country quiet.  I therefore bequeath the whole country to you, and trust that you will expend all your strength in governing it. "My son HIDEYORI is still young.  I beg that you will look after him. When he has grown up I leave it to you to decide whether he shall be my successor or not." 
"In my opinion there is no time, however distant, when people will refuse to be subject to your son," replied IEYASU. "But, yet, as it is difficult to know how people's minds may change in reference to this, I think you had better appoint some one to look after his interest.  I beg to decline the task. -  I am not equal to it." 
HIDEYOSHI replied: - "It is my deliberate opinion that there is no one to be compared to you; so please do not refuse what I ask."
On the thirteen of July, HIDEYOSH['S illness increased, and it was evident that he could not last long. Just as, to those around him, he seemed to be passing away, he opened his eyes and said: "I have caused the death in foreign lands of some thirteen hundred thousand soldiers."  Thus saying, he closed his eyes again and immediately expired.  He had reached his sixty-third year.  
It is said that HIDEYOSHI rewarded handsomely all those who had assisted him in his days of obscurity.  In return for the six ryo he took from MATSUSHITA YUKITSUNA, he gave him land valued at ten thousand koku a year.  The robber, HACHISUKA, too, was not nor the old woman who gave him a meat; forgotten, nor the wife to whom he was married whilst living in YUKITSUNA'S house and who afterward objected to live with him because he was so much like a mot]key.  
Among the comments of SAN-YO, the author of the Nihon Gwaishi on the life of HIDEYOSHI, the following remarks occur:
"TAIKO, being a man of plebian origin who succeeded in subduing the whole of Japan, was in a very different position to that occupied by those who inherit rights and property which they feel it to be their duty to maintain and preserve.  The lands that he gave away were not originally his own, and therefore he distributed them among his followers without the slightest stint.  The same holds good in reference to his mode of employing people.  The men whom he made use of were not entrusted to his care by his ancestors, and therefore he possessed no feelings towards them which made him desirous of sparing them as much as possible. 
"His rapid success, and the no less rapid way in which the fruits of his success were lost to his family, may both be traced to these two sources.  
 "We may illustrate what happened by supposing the case of a man of no reputation gambling and being successful.  Had he not been successful, no one would have heard his name.  Because he bas been successful, he invites his friends to partake of his hospitality.  They feast together and rejoice together, and no one envies him his success.  TAIKO'S success in gambling exceeded his own expectations.  On the death of NOBUNAGA he had an opportunity of rising, which he made use of, and succeeded beyond his most sanguine hopes.  If we look at the men who were in power when NOBUNAGA was killed, we find that they were either men who were on an equality with TAIKO, or men who did not care to compete with him.  Although he subdued the great barons of his day, he was well aware that they would not, without some good reason for doing so, remain subject to him long.  So he thought to himself: "As I have risen from obscurity and obtained power over others by the sword, so soon as ever my position in the state seems to the great barons to be only used for my personal benefit and advancement and does not confer anything on them, they will no longer allow me to rule over them. I must make it worth their while to keep me in power. "So he gave away land and money right and left without stint, and thus made it worth men's while to fight for him.  He bestowed the wealth he had acquired as freely as though he were giving away dust. And the persons who received it valued it at no higher rate. They did not look upon the land and money received as special it favors bestowed on them by TAIKO, but simply as the due reward of the services they had rendered him.  Their thirst for gain was never satisfied.  For every new effort they put forth in his cause, they expected some additional rewards.  But though their desire to receive was unbounded, HIDEYOSHI'S power to give vas limited by the size of the country over which he ruled, and therefore it came about that rewards for his generals had to be sought in other lands. 
"Accordingly, before the wounds received in the battles they had fought here in their own country where healed, his generals were dispatched to Corea-a country entirely unknown to them.  And there, during a series of years, they spent their strength in a fruitless war.  
"As a proof that all their efforts were put forth more for their own aggrandizement than out of regard for TAIKO, no sooner did they hear of his death than they set up each one for himself, and the whole country; was thrown into a state of disorder again. 
" All this was the natural outcome of TAIKO'S finding himself surrounded by a large number of people who had no personal regard for him.  It was owing to his not sparing the land wherewith to reward them when they served him.  After his death, the effect of this mode of procedure was to lead the men whom he had helped each one to think of himself; and thus that which was rapidly gained was as rapidly lost. " 
TAIKO'S suddenly gaining power and as suddenly losing it, reminds one of a saying of BUTEI'S, which runs as follows:- 'That that which has been acquired by me should be lost by me, should cause no feeling of resentment on n]y part.'  Seeing that TAIKO'S mode of losing power was precisely similar to his mode of acquiring it, he has no cause for resentment."  
This criticism of SAN-YO'S, though explaining some things, leaves a great deal unexplained.  It fails-to do justice to the genius which enabled HIDEYOSHI to accomplish what he did, and omits to mention the many privileges he conferred on his country. Among the many good effects which HIDEYOSHI'S name had on his countrymen, one was that it taught them that it was possible for the whole nation to be subjected to one man's will by one man's energy and skill.  And though the way in which this was accomplished involved the work being to some extent done over again by IEYASU, yet the fact that it had actually been effected at all, was doubtless an encouragement to the founder of the dynasty during the fierce struggles of the civil war that followed TAIKO'S death.



 In showing what one man is capable of effecting, their appearance of such men as ALEXANDER the Great, NAPOLEON the first, and TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI serves a good purpose.  But, in that the motives of such heroes, if they do not stop at mere personal fame, do not usually go beyond temporary national glory, the after-effects of their brilliant careers are often fraught with great evils. In HIDEYOSHI'S case it must not be overlooked that anything was better than the state of anarchy and civil discord in which he found the country, and that what he accomplished was a necessary preliminary to the progress subsequently made.
 
TWO SUCCESSFUL CAREF.RS.
 
AT one time during the Sengoku period, there was a nominal emperor of the whole of China, who lived in a city called Rakuyu, in Shu.
 This sovereign, however, had not the slightest control over the affairs of the empire.  Each State managed its own affairs; and they all made war on each other t will.  At this time China was divided into seven States, which bore the names of Shin, So, En, Sei, Cho, Gi, and Kan.  Among these Shin was by far the most powerful.  But though more than a match for any one of the others taken separately, she was not sufficiently strong to fight against them in combination.  Consequently her great object was to sow the seeds of dissension among, them; and their great object, on the other hand, was to unite against her as far as practicable.  
 This state of things gave rise to the propagation of two schemes for uniting the whole country in one empire.  These were known as the Renko scheme and the Gojo scheme.  The latter advocated the uniting of the six States against Shin and the former the combination of one or two of the six with Shin against the others. 
Various scholars and eloquent men used to go round to the great barons to advocate one or other of the two schemes.  Among these there were two very noted men called SO SHIN and CHO GI.  They were both gifted with great powers of speech, and extremely assiduous in everything they undertook.  In early life they were great friends, but afterwards long separation led to a certain amount of mutual estrangement.  Of these two we purpose giving a short account, and we will begin with SHIN. 
 SHIN was born in Rakuyo, and while still young became the disciple of a man called KIKOKU; under whose tutorship he gradually began to display great power of speech. SHIN, perceiving in what he specially. excelled, thought that if he wished to gain a reputation, he must choose some occupation in which his talent would find a suitable field for display.  So he determined to become a Yuzeika and go around to the various barons advocating one of the two great plans which were attracting so much attention at the time.  To him the Renko plan seemed the most likely to succeed, so he chose it.  The first place to which he went was the capital of the Shin State. 
On the occasion of his first interview with KEI, the King of Shin, he addressed him as follows:-" Your country is well enclosed by rivers and mountains, and you have in it all the sinews of var. You have men and horses, and material for making any amount of war implements.  You are not dependent on a foreign country for anything that you need. So that, with a little scheming, you can easily make yourself the master of the whole of China.  If you will give me your attention for a short time I will explain to you the great benefits to be derived from following the course I recommend." 
" I have heard it said," replied King KEI, " that a bird cannot fly without good wings; that a country is not to be attacked without some clear casus belli; and that, unless the general policy of the rulers is such as to recommend itself to the people, it does not answer for the rulers to employ them in war. I am extremely obliged to you for coming to me from a distant place and for offering to take the trouble to instruct me.  But as I am now unable to undertake what you recommend, I beg that you will come to me again at some more propitious time."  
"I have had my doubts as to whether you would adopt the plan that I recommend, owing to your love of peace," said SHIN.  " But, seeing that all the great men of antiquity attained the position they held by fighting, it does not seem to me that you can be an exception to the rule, however much you may wish it. Even in ancient times, when the whole country was in a peaceful condition, all kinds of conferences about war used to be carried on and treaties made between one State and another.  And why was all this done?  Because the various men in power saw that things were not going to be kept straight by mere talk.  In those days plausible speech was all the fashion.  There were stores of men who went about propagating fine theories, which they said would, if followed, keep people from going to war.  But, as a matter of fact, it did not prove so and force had to be resorted to.  If this was so in those days, how much more is it so now.  The present is a time in which nothing but physical force will answer.  It is useless to prate about learning and morals, for these alone will prove altogether inadequate for the defense or the extension of an empire in a time like this.  Why I said that I had doubts as to whether you would follow my advice was that I perceived that you prefer talk to action."  Thus SHIN went on for some time, but the King gave no heed to what he said. 
SHIN remained in the capital for some days, but his expenses had been heavy, and now it was plain that no money was to be made at the court of King KEI: so, with ragged clothes, straw sandals, and hair gaiters, a bundle of books on his back, and a bag hanging by his side,  with downcast, disappointed looks he returned to his home.  His wife was weaving when he arrived.  She continued her work and took no notice of him whatever; and his brother's wife, who was there at the time treated him in the same way.  No offer to prepare a little rice for him was made.  His father and mother, who were also present, simply gazed at him without uttering a word. 
" My wife," said SHIN with a heavy sigh, " no longer looks upon me as her husband; my brother's wife no longer looks upon me as her brother-in-law; my parents no longer look upon me as their child.  This is all on account of my failure to gain a means of living." 
The fact was that they all thought that it was unreasonable to expect to make a living in the way that SHIN did.  "Most people," said they to him, " choose some trade or occupation by which something certain is to be made, but you do nothing but talk; how can you expect to make money?" 
That night, as he could not obtain consolation from his family, he determined to try what encouragement he could derive from his books.  He had failed, but he would not fail always.  No effort should be spared to prepare him for being more successful in the next attempt.  He opened out his books and from among them chose a work on war, written by one TAIKO, which seemed to him full of wise counsel.  He studied it well and selected from it those parts that were specially applicable to the time in which he lived.  When he became drowsy, he thrust a gimlet into his high till the blood streamed out and continued his reading.  As he read he said to himself: - "There is no reason why I should not by explaining such matters as I am now studying to some great lord be enriched by him with 
gold and silver and rise to occupy a high position in the state." 
For about a year he continued his studies most diligently, thinking of all kinds of ways in which the things that he read could be put to a good use.  At the end of this time, he said to himself: - " Now am I equipped with material for enlightening the lords of the land."  As his advocacy of the Renko scheme had been unsuccessful, and it was immaterial to him which cause triumphed so long as he got on in life, he determined to become an advocate of the Goju scheme.  He chose for the scene of his operations the State of Cho, this being the next powerful kingdom to Shin.  On his arrival at the capital of Cho, he soon succeeded in obtaining an interview with King SHUKU.  For in these days the rage for listening to theories of amalgamation and alliance was at its height.  He explained to SHUKU minutely the best plan to be adopted for the furtherance of the interests of Cho and the overthrow of Shin.  
The King was very much pleased with his remarks, and at once decided to make him his prime minister.  Thus Suddenly SHIN rose from the depths of poverty to the wealthiest and most influential position in the kingdom of Cho.   
King SHUKU was so struck with SHIN'S persuasive powers that he determined to send him around to the five States, to explain to them the scheme he proposed.  SHIN set out on his journey with all the state and pomp of a monarch: his train consisted of one hundred chariots, he took with him a thousand rolls of brocade, two hundred precious stones, and ten thousand pieces of gold.  These were to meet the expenses of the journey and to be used as presents to the various kings and great barons whom he visited.  



He went the round of the five countries, and was well received wherever he went, and five States agreed to the plan advocated.  He suited his discourse to the persons he was instructing and on all occasions used language; that was well understood, often mixing up expressions which belonged to the local dialect with what he said, which had the effect of making him very popular.  He took care to impress on all the States that, as the proverb has it,  "It is better to be the head of a small thing than the tail of a large one " - meaning by this that it was better for the ix kingdoms each to maintain its own independence and occupy a prominent position than become subject to Shin and fill a subordinate one. 
 So great was SHIN'S fame that he was created the head of the Confederacy, and thus became, as it were, the prime minister of the whole of the six States.

 
II

When at the height of his power, SHIN had occasion to go by his native place, and he purposely did it in the greatest state possible.  The roads were all swept and put in order for him to pass; music attended him on his way; the authorities came out a distance of thirty miles to meet him and escort him into the town; thousands of the attendants of the great barons who traveled with him swelled his train till it reached enormous proportions.  His wife, parents, and other relations knelt with their heads on the ground as he passed, and though they could not resist casting up their eyes to look on one who had in the time of his poverty been so familiar to them, they dared not raise their heads.  As he passed close to his wife, she leant her head to one side to hear what he would be pleased to say.  But he said nothing. His sister-in-1aw crawled along on all fours with her head down, and in subdued tones begged his forgiveness for her past conduct. 
Turning to her, SHIN asked: - " How is it that, whereas you were so haughty a little time ago, now you are so dumb-stricken?"  
" It is on account of your having been exalted to rank and having become so rich," she replied. 
"Ah " said SHIN "when a man is poor his own parents don't care to own him; when he becomes rich his relations are afraid of him.  Notwithstanding this, it is good that I took to the occupation I did, for had I been content with a rice field to cultivate, I should have spent all my days in obscurity.
 SHIN distributed a large sum of money among his friends.  
For the space of fifteen years, owing to the treaty that had been made, Shin was not able to carry out it designs on the six States. 
Subsequent to this, the King of Shiin sent a Yuzezka to Sei and Gi and succeeded in inducing them to attack Cho. 
The King of Cho was taken by surprise.  He immediately sent for SHIN and asked him how it was that the treaty which he (SHIN) had been the means of drawing up had been so unceremoniously violated.
"I will go to En," replied SHIN "and will set the matter to rights by inducing the En people to interfere." 
He did not succeed in doing this, however, he was sent on to Sei, and subsequent]y went back to En again, and afterwards ended his days in Sei in the following manner: - It happened that SHIN and a Sei Taifu had a quarrel, and the Talfu Sent an assassin to kill SHIN.  SHIN was stabbed, but the wound was not fatal.  On his case being reported to the King, he did his best to discover who the assassin was, but without success.  The wound that SHIN had received was a bad one, and it was plain to himself and to others that he could not live long.  He was very anxious to find out who the assassin was, so he requested the King to give his consent to the following mode of discovering him. 
" Let me be taken," said SHIN, " to a public place, and be killed by being dragged in two by chariots, and let it be given out that this is done to me on account of my pretending to be furthering the interests of Sei whilst all the time working into the hands of En." 
This plan was carried out, and the assassin, as predicted, made his appearance, and was executed.  
After SHIN'S death it came to light that he had actually been doing as he represented - that he had been plotting ,with the King of En against Sei.  There seems little to admire in the career of SHIN except it be his strength of will.  From early youth he was determined to succeed, and, nothing discouraged by his first failure, he diligently set to work to prepare himself more thoroughly than he had hitherto done for the efficient discharge of the duties of a Yuzeika.  From the beginning to the end of his career, however, his one, great aim seems to have been to succeed in life, and it made little difference to him whether his success was brought about in an honest or in a dishonest manner.  Patriotic motives do not seem to have actuated him in any way whatever.  He cared little what country's cause he furthered as long as the course he took brought about his own promotion.  Even his treatment of GI, which contains some elements of generosity and shows in some of its features a deep knowledge of the working of the human heart, is tainted by the remembrance that it was done with the object of making his own position more secure, as will be seen by the story we are now about to relate. 
Cho GI was born in the State of Gi, and in his youth became a disciple of KIKOKU and a companion of So SHIN.  Gl appeared at this time to be the more intelligent of the two.  He drank in the instructions of his teacher with the greatest avidity.  After he had finished his education he went round to the various great barons as a Yuzeika.  But, like SHIN, he did not at first receive much encouragement anywhere.  In fact, oh the contrary, he seems to have been held in contempt by certain persons who knew him.  
One day, when in attendance on the prime minister of So at a feast, some jewels belonging to GI's master were found missing.  Some people who heard of the occurrence said :- " As GI is poor and has no reputation to lose he no doubt, has taken the jewels." 
GI was accordingly arrested, beaten, and told to confess his crime.  He said that the had not stolen the jewels, and on his persisting in the, was set free.  When he went home his wife, commenting on the event, said: - "Ah ! if you had not taken to the occupation of a Yuzeika and gone about counseling the great barons so much, you never would have been put to shame in this way." 
Treating the whole thing lightly, GI put out his tongue and asked: - " Do you see this tongue?  As long as GI has a tongue, you need not trouble about his making his way in the world." 
On looking around to see where an opening was to be found, he perceived that SHIN was at the head of affairs in the six States.  Could he get on by his means?  Well, he might do so, but he did not quite like presuming on his former friendship and asking for employment. 
Just at this juncture, SHIN was anxious to _get some one to send to the kingdom of Shin.  And he thought that he could not do better than employ GI, if this 1'vere possible.  He sent a messenger to him, who was instructed not to say that he had come from SHIN, but simply to ask GI in a friendly way whether, in consideration of their former connection with each other, it would not be well for him to go to SHIN and tell him what he aimed at doing in life and ask his assistance. 
This course GI consented to follow, and an interview with SHIN was solicited.  This vas granted; and on a fixed day GI went to SHIN'S residence.  Before GI arrived, SHIN gave directions that he should be kept a prisoner there and not be allowed to go out anywhere.  SHIN himself did not see him for five or six days.  When at last he granted him an interview, he made a point of insulting him in every way: he placed him in a very low position beneath him; and directed that inferior food, such as was given to his domestics, should be served up to him. " I am surprised," said SHIN, "to find one endowed with such abilities as you content to remain so poor.  Of course, were I so inclined, I could place you in a high position at once, but, with one possessing so little ambition as you, what would be the use of it?  You can go: I have nothing for you." 
GI was utterly astonished at this treatment.  As he and SHIN had been old friends, he made sure that he would be received like a gentleman, and that SHIN would do what he could to help him on.  But instead of this, for some reason or other, SHIN looked on him as an enemy.  Well, he would have his revenge sooner or later.  But what could he do to get a position which should enable him to get a living? SHIN being at the head of the six States, and he now having become his enemy, there would be no getting employment under any of the barons in these States. He must overthrow the man who had so grossly insulted him. 
This is just the resolution that SHIN wished to force GI to make.  
GI left SHIN'S house in a great rage, and soon after made up his mind to set out for the kingdom of Shin.  Not long after this SHIN turned to one of his attendants, one day, and said: - " GI is a wise man.  I cannot attain to his standard.  I happened to get into power here before he was much known, but that he will go to Shin and will succeed in obtaining the post of prime minister of that country, I have not the slightest doubt.  Yet he cannot do anything whilst as poor as he is now.  I could have enriched him here of course, but I was afraid that he would rest content with the little that I might give him and would not aspire to rise higher.  Therefore it was that I put him to shame.  I knew that when his spirit was thoroughly aroused and he exerted himself to the full, he would rise to power." 
SHIN dispatched one of his attendants to GI with instructions to cultivate friendship with him, and then to give him money and carriages for his journey to Shin, and to accompany him to that country to see how he fared.  "But be sure, said SHIN, "that he does not know who you are till after he has gained a good position in the court of King KEI."  
On GI's arrival in Shin, he was made one of the guests of King KEI; and by degrees found favor in his eyes, and submitted several plans for attacking some of the provinces of the six kingdoms that pleased the king very much.  The messenger of SHIN, who had been assisting GI to the utmost of his power, when he saw that the latter had obtained a good place at the court of Shin, went one day to him and said that he had come to take leave of him previous to returning to Cho. 
GI was very much astonished.  "It Is " said he, " through your help that I have obtained the position I hold; and now, just as I am about to make some return to you for past favors, you speak of leaving me. What can be the meaning of this?" 
" It is not I that am your friend, " replied the man, " I am a mere emissary of SHIN'S.  He was afraid that the confederation which he .had brought about in the six kingdoms would be broken up by some clever schemers in Shin unless he had some one at the court of King KEI to counteract the influence of such, therefore he made use of a device in order to get you to go.  His putting you to shame, too, was done with the object of making you more determined to go to Shin; and when you had decided to go, he it was that sent you the money and the chariots to be used on your journey.  And, as now you have attained a good position here, I will return and tell my master how things are going on." 
"I had no idea," replied GI, "that I was being used as a tool in this way.  I see now that SHIN is a sharper man than I.  As I have got into power here, I can of course propose what schemes I please, but, with such a man as SHIN in Cho, anything that I might plan against that State would be of little avail. Thank your master for the help he has given me," he continued, "and tell him that whist he is in power in Cho, I will say - nothing that might injure his position there." 
Subsequent to this, GI became prime minister of Shin, and afterwards occupied the same position in Gi. This latter post, however, was held with the sole view of helping on the cause of Shin, whose prime minister again he afterwards became.  He died a natural death in Gi. 
Both SHIN and GI owed their success to their tongues, and that in an age when plausible talking was all the rage the popularity of such itinerant political counselors during the Sengoku period in China was something extraordinary.  Like the preachers of the Crusades in Europe, they were the originators of long and bloody wars. The barons and most of the kings of those days seem to have been swayed to and fro by these adventurers: their number and diverse opinions did much to prevent the six kingdoms from maintaining their independence.
 In no other age perhaps would oratorical power alone lift a man from the depth of poverty to the high rank held by SHIN and GI.  They were both clever, it is true, but neither of them could be trusted.  They lived in an unscrupulous age, and they acted in accordance with its spirit. SHIN is supposed by some to have been less virtuous than GI, but, as CHOKO has pointed out, this is owing to the fact that GI outlived SHIN and made a point of exposing a great many or the treacherous acts of the latter life. GI'S conduct vas in no respect more virtuous than that of his friend and benefactor. 

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION

ONE day a man called SADOYA - brought to DATE MASAMUNE a number of beautifully mounted scrolls and a book of great value full of verses of poetry written by famous men, and asked him to purchase them.  
MASAMUNE took the articles and said he would show them to his friends before deciding whether to buy them or not.  So he had them exhibited at Cha-no-yu parties and on other important occasions, 
  The officer employed by MASAMUNE to look after the ceremonies to be observed at these parties, one RIKUAMI by name, praised the articles very much, and said that MASAMUNE would do well to give a good price for them.  "They are extremely rare," said he, " and since SADOYA is a pawn-broker, if you give a good price for these things, he will be bringing other rare articles for sale." 
MASAMUNE was very much disconcerted by this last remark. "I was not aware," said he, "that these articles were brought here by a pawn-broker.  I thought that SADOVA had purchased them and was selling them to me at a profit, or that they were things that he had received from his ancestors, which he, for some reason or other, wished to part with.  But when you tell me they were obtained as a security from some poor man who had not the wherewithal to redeem them, it gives me no pleasure to keep them in my possession any longer. Write at once to SADOYA and inquire who was their former owner." 
This was done; and it appeared that the things had belonged to a knight called IMAGAWA KYUMA. They had been parted with as a last resource at a time of extreme poverty.  MASAMUNE immediately dispatched the articles to their former owner with a present of five ryo. 
KYUMA was very much affected when he heard all that had occurred, and at once determined to go to Sendai and thank the baron for his kindness. 
In spite of KYUMA'S low rank, MASAMUNE received him in person and spoke in a very kind way to him.  On hearing that he was a doctor in addition to being a good soldier and a well educated man, MASAMUNE offered him employment.  KYUMA gladly accepted the Offer.  He served MASAMUNE well, and afterwards became an infantry general.
 The power of association is shown in the refusal of MASAMUNE to use things that he knew to have been reluctantly parted with by some distressed person.  The articles themselves possessed every quality that was calculated to give pleasure and satisfaction.  MASAMUNE'S distinguished guests spoke of them in the highest terms; RIKUAMI, the master of the ceremonies, was loud in their praises; and at first MASAMUNE himself was delighted with them.  But all his pleasure was marred and turned into pain by that one casual remark of RIKUAR11 about the pawn-broker.  In MASAMUNE'S highly cultivated mind there was developed a form of feeling only possessed by the most refined men, which made it impossible for him to derive pleasure from the use of articles associated with the poverty and last straits of a man of fine taste and noble sentiments. 

CRIME OR DEATH

THERE lived in ancient times in Choan, China, a woman whose husband had an enemy that was always seeing his destruction but saw no means of effecting it.  This enemy heard that the man's wife was a very virtuous woman, so he determined to try and compass his end by her means.  The way he went to work was as follows: He seized the woman's father, and informed him that unless his daughter could be prevailed on to kill her husband, he (the father) should be put to death.  
The father called his daughter and told her of this, and asked what could be done.  The woman said to herself: - "If I do not act as the man wishes, he will kill my parent and I shall feel that I have been the cause of his death. "If, on the other hand, I do as he bids, I shall act wickedly by, my husband.  Rather than be either an unfilial daughter or an unfaithful wife I will die." 
Having made up her mind that the only virtuous path left open to her vas to lay down her life, she went to the man and told him that, as she had been ordered to wash her husband's hair the following night, she would place him with his face towards the east in a certain room and that his enemy could then come quietly into the room and kill him.  "The sign that it is the right person that you are killing" said she, " will be the disheveled and newly washed hair. 
"The woman, after washing her hair; went and occupied the place of which she had spoken to the man. The assassin entered the room in the dark and killed the person he found lying in the place and manner indicated by the woman.  It was not till after the deed was accomplished that he discovered who it was that had been slain. 
The devotion and faithfulness of this woman took away from the enemy of her husband all desire to slay his foe. 

A FOOLISH CUSTOM DISCONTlNUED.

WHEN the Echizen Baron, MATSUDAIRA TADAMASA, was very sick and about to die, some of his most faithful retainers were summoned to his presence. 
" I am about to die, " said TADAMASA "are there none of my faithful followers who will die with me?" 
 It was customary in those days for some of the personal attendants of great men to commit suicide immediately after their master's death-the idea being that, as they were not able to repay their master for all the favor he had shown them by the services rendered in this life, they should endeavor to make up the deficiency by attending him to the land of spirits.  
There were about thirty on the present occasion who replied that they had received more benefits from their lord than they at all deserved or could ever repay, and that therefore they intended to follow him to the grave.  
TADAMASA was very much gratified, and ordered wine to be handed round to them. 
Just at this time, one of TADAMASA'S retainers, MIZUNO SAZEN happened to enter his lord's chamber on business.  TADAMASA turned to him and said: "Well SAZEN, what do you say to dying with me as these faithful men purpose doing?" 
"I do not intend to die with you," replied SAZEN.
 TADAMASA angrily replied: - " If you have any good reason for speaking thus, then let me know what it is; if you have no good reason now give, you shall be killed." 
"Those who have now promised to die with you, "answered SAZEN, "are all persons who, having received a larger allowance of favor than they can repay in this world, are going to make up the deficiency in the next.  They are all young men whom you have chosen for their good looks and who have been kept by you for no other reason than that they please your fancy.  Notwithstanding their inferiority, they receive more emoluments than some of the ablest of your retainers.  There are among those that have promised to die with you flatterers who are paid highly for their words.  Such men are of no use to the country in any respect whatever.  They have no rank or influence except what they receive from you.  If they are respected, it is not for their personal merits, but on account of their connection with you.  It is only right that these persons should die with you.  And if they did not so die, they ought to be punished for not doing it.  But I am in quite a different position.  It is true I have succeeded my father in the reception of emoluments from you.  But for five years I have risen early and gone to bed late and have served you most faithfully the whole time.  The amount of labor I have expended in your service is quite double that of the thirty two men who have expressed themselves ready to die for you.  Yet, notwithstanding this, my income has not been increased, nor has my rank been raised.  Why, then, should I die with you?" 
"The sight of such persons as you offends me," replied TADAMASA, "and the sooner you return to your native place the better."
 SAZEN, however, took no notice of this command, and still remained in the service of TADANMASA'S family.  His conduct on this occasion was highly applauded on all sides. 

II

 It happened once that when the Owari daimyo, MATSUDAIRA TADAYOSHI, came up to Edo on government service, he grew very sick.  He consulted a great many physicians, and IEYASU paid him a good deal of attention and recommended several skilful doctors to him.  The treatment he received did him some good, and the Shogun, seeing that he was a little better, advised him to return to Owari and try what rest would do.  He set out for his home, but only got as far as Shinagawa when he died.
 Three of his chief retainers wished to show their regard for him by following him to the grave, and purposed to commit suicide, according to the custom that still prevailed in certain daimiates.  This was reported to IEYASU. 
IEYASU immediate]y remarked to his councilors: "This must be stopped at once.  You had better inform them that the proceeding is displeasing to the Government.  But if you don't care to do this, then say that I disapprove of it.  Anyhow, such a practice must be but a stop to.  It is, I know, in accordance with the ideas of the ancients, but it is a senseless custom.  If a man's regard for his master is so great that he is prepared to die for him, let him show his feeling of attachment by serving his successors.  If a master is in danger it is very praiseworthy for a servant to die in his stead.  But to die without a good object in view, in the way that those do who commit suicide because their master is dead, is to die like a dog.  This custom would never have been observed so long had there been no foolish barons to give it encouragement.  I am happy to see, however, that by degrees the various lords of the land are beginning to see what a foolish practice it is, and are forbidding its being resorted to in their dominions, but its abolition is still far from universal." 
The foregoing narratives well illustrate the way in which injurious practices come to be discontinued. A man who is expected to conform to the established custom points out that there are cases in which it is senseless to follow it.  This leads others to consider whether the practice as a whole is rational or not. And then by and by there arise rulers who strictly forbid the observance of what public opinion has pronounced to be no less foolish than injurious
. 
THE STORY OF A FAMILY FEUD.
 
I
Towards the close of the seventeenth century Japan, under the nominal sovereignty, of the Emperor REIGEN, enjoyed, for the first time in the course of several centuries, a lasting peace.  The quiet times which replaced the turmoil and insecurity of preceding years gave opportunities for the development of the literary and artistic resources of the country, of which the national genius was not slow to avail itself. Tales which the unsettled nature of the times before had stifled in their growth began to re-appear under higher auspices, and although the yoke of the TOKUGAWA was harsh, and genius was cramped by the severity of official censorship, still scope enough was left for much good work, and many were the legends and romances, till then only known by oral tradition, which at this period assumed definite shape under the sympathetic handling of popular writers. 
The vendetta in Japan was an expression of the national principle of clan, family, and individual lord. Dating from remote times, and recognized in theory, if not always in practice, as the peculiar privilege of the gentry the vendetta existed down to quite recent times as an unwritten code, with all the force of written law, having rules of careful limitation, but rigid application.  In general practice it was laid down as the duty of a samurai to avenge the death of his parent or lord, but while in the latter case the obligation was optional, and depended in many instances on his position in the clan, in the former case, it was compulsory, neglect being attended with loss of income and status in the clan.  The reason for this distinction is obvious.  By the ancient law affecting samurai - which, in the case of the murder of the Regent Ii KAMON-NO-KAMI, was evaded by a fiction invented for the occasion-the death of a samurai by assassination involved the forfeiture of the murdered man's rank, and the confiscation of his estates, if he had any, to the Crown.  His children became outcasts, and the family, in fact, ceased to exist.  But the privilege of the vendetta constituted a means of reinstating the murdered man's heirs in the position they had formerly occupied.  Thus, if a samurai fell under the assassin's knife, the duty of executing the vendetta devolved upon his eldest son.  If successful, the family honor was vindicated, and the son succeeded to the position occupied by his father.  But neglect to perform the obligation was punished by forfeiture of pension and status.  Should he die in the attempt to avenge his father's death, his children were bound to prosecute the vendetta, under pain of the same penalties in case of default.  But the performance of the vendetta was not obligatory on the next of kin.  Such a things return after failure was unknown.  The luckless samurai who had dared to return with the duties of the vendetta unfulfilled, would probably have met with the same fate at the hands of his indignant comrades as his unavenged parent; or, failing such extreme measures, ignominious expulsion from the clan is the least that would have awaited him.  Before starting on a vendetta, it was customary for a samurai to ask leave of his lord; and the permission thus asked for was called naga no itonta, or the "long leave; " for the duration of the vendetta was quite uncertain; and it being within the discretion of the avenger of blood to take service under another master at the conclusion of the vendetta, it often happened that the "long leave" was a final separation.  
Considering, therefore, the importance in which this remarkable institution was held, it is not surprising to find in a large proportion of the tales of the period to which I have referred, a succession of incidents grouped round the same central point of interest, which is invariably the vendetta.  
The following is an adaptation of one of these vendetta tales.  As a story, it lacks many of the picturesque features of the " Forty-seven Ronin; " nor are the incidents perhaps so characteristic of the spirit of samurai chivalry as those in the tale of the adventures of MIYAOTO MUSASHI referred to by  M. Dautremer in his admirable resume of Japanese, vendetta.  As an illustration, however, of the tenacity of purpose with which a vendetta was executed, it may well, I think, be ranked with tales of the same class; in default of a better term, I have called it " The Story of a Family Feud:
"One summer's day, in the year of our Lord 1763, the little fishing village of Kobe and its more important neighbor, the market town of Hyogo, showed signs of unusual bustle and activity.  The clatter of clogs, the opening and closing of shutters, and the busy hum of voices in all keys, from deepest bass to shrillest treble, betokened that something of universal interest was about to happen, and that something not of every day occurrence.  Messengers continually passed each other at full speed between the hamlet and the town; and groups of laborers occupied in clearing and leveling might have been met at every turn of the road.  The unusual stir in this neighborhood was connected with the arrival of a courier the day before, who had announced in grandiloquent language that the lord of Inaba would pass through on his way to Osaka.  The mayors heard the message with reverence, and passed it on to the heads of wards, by whom it was communicated to the leading householders; and, as we have seen, preparations were at once made for the reception of the august dignity who took his name from the province of Inaba.  
The day was fine and sultry, and the ancient high road along which the Baron's train was to come never perhaps looked hotter and dustier than on this occasion, when the good folk of both town and village were on the qui vive expecting the arrival of the procession.  Little breeze vas stirring, and the drowsy silence of a hot summer's day was only broken by the regular, though scarcely audible, lap of the waves on the shore, the monotonous drone of the cicada in the fir trees which shaded the road at sadly long intervals, or the lazy scream of a kite as it circled overhead.  The road looked hot indeed; hot as it stretched its long white length over the rich rice Plain to the north of the castle of the Straits, hot as it worked its way through dingy suburbs into the town of Hyogo and crawled out again past the neighboring village and away over a long stretch of yellow sand, which absorbed the sun's heat only to throw it back with greater intensity; cool for a moment as it disappeared in the beautiful grove which shades the Sumiyoshi shrine, but hotter and dustier and whiter than ever as it emerged once more and was gradually lost on the horizon in curves following the windings of the Bay.  
The Baron's train left Akashi in the morning, and was to reach Hyogo in time for the noonday siesta, a luxury of which the Baron was not likely to deprive himself, even when on the march.  The tedious etiquette of those days demanded punctuality, and at the appointed time the patience of the crowd of spectators was rewarded by the sight of a distant cloud of dust which told of the approach of the procession, and soon after the front ranks entered the outskirts of the town and filed s lowly through the streets to the quarters set apart for the noble guest.  The townspeople, as they knelt in obedience to the loud cries of " down! down ! " saw each detail of the procession as it swept past ; saw the Baron's charger as he plunged by, snorting defiance at the two grooms who restrained his eager movements ; saw the palanquin in which reclined the Baron, scanning with well-bred indifference the bent heads on each side ; saw the standards of flags with their bearers, the men-at-arms, in ranks or archers and swordsmen; and lastly the chef de cuisine, with his troop of scullions and kitchen attendants, which closed the rear of the procession.  When the cortege had passed, together with a feeling of regret that there was no more to be seen, came a sense of relief to the kneeling multitude that for then the affair was over.  They could now turn to their various duties and household occupations; nay, more, they had the materials for an evening's gossip about the various features of the gay pageant they had witnessed II.
 Among the many retainers of the Baron who had figured in the procession, few had found more favor in the eyes of the bystanders than one of the bodyguard named ISHI-I UEMON MASUHARU.  A man of middle stature and well advanced in years, his figure still retained much of the supple grace of youth, and though he was far from being handsome, his face vas pleasing and intelligent.  Add to this that his dress and appointments were in perfect taste, and it will be understood why he showed to advantage by the side even of those who surpassed him in stature and good looks, and how it was that the eyes of both sexes followed him approvingly as he stepped along behind his lord's palanquin. 
  Towards sundown, when the great heat of the day was over, and a southerly breeze was stirring the waters of the bay into playful ripples, the train, resuming its journey, wound its way out of the town across the sandy flat occupied by the fishing hamlet of Kobe, and along the seashore to the village of Sumiyoshi, where the night was passed; and on the following morning UEMON found himself in Osaka 
 It was no pleasure trip which took the lord of Inaba to that city.  Osaka then, as now, the great mart of the country, was Crown property, and the office of Governor was entrusted in rotation to certain nobles for a fixed term of years, at the end of which they could return to their own estates.  It was this duty which had now devolved upon the master of UEMON, and much as he disliked leaving his own people and his country seat, he had no option but to obey the summons which called him from his home occupations to administer the affairs of a city of merchants in which he had not a single interest.  
The retainer had no such regrets.  For him the change was agreeable in every way.  Originally brought up in the neighborhood of the capital, it was a pleasure to revisit old haunts, and for the sake of his family of six children who were fast growing up, he was glad to be in a part of the country which was as much the seat of learning and polite accomplishments as it was the centre of commercial activity. 
  The arrival of a new governor was a great event in those days.  The court of every noble had its following of dependents and hangers-on, from the scholar and artist down to the scholar actor and the vendor of small wares, and the change of governors was thus a time of anxiety to many who feared to lose the patronage already enjoyed, of hope to others, who, having failed to secure any of the places in the old court, looked for better luck under the new order of things.  UEMON, in his position as a prominent member of the body-guard, was marked out by an eager crowd of place-hunters as a proper person to solicit for a share of the patronage of the new governor.  Foremost of those who besieged him with applications, and distinguished from the rest by au air of faded gentility, was au ex-doctor named AKAHORI YUKAN.  Originally brought up to the medical profession, his practice had never been extensive.  For some reason or other, his boluses and prescriptions were not to the taste of the Osaka public, and he at length decided to exchange the the peaceful calling of curing human diseases for the somewhat antagonistic profession of fencing.  It was therefore in the capacity of a master of spearfencing that he called upon UEMON, and the latter at length yielded to his importunities and placed him in a temple in a quarter of the town called Temma-cho, whence YUKAN 'visited his patron frequently.  Being gifted with considerable powers of conversation, he soon ingratiated himself with UEMON and in course of time their acquaintance ripened into friendship.  YUKAN, being an old man and childless, had adopted his cousin GENGOETON, a young man who idled his time away in vicious pursuits and had acquired a bad name. 
One day, when UEMON and the fencing master were sitting together drinking tea, - an occasion which, under the growing intimacy between them, had of late become frequent, - UEMON, who had long sought an opportunity of warning YUKAN of the excesses of his son, remarked to the fencing-master that GENGOEMON was but a poor hand at fencing and would find it hard to succeed his father as a teacher of the art.  YUKAN took the remark in bad part, and challenged UEMON to have a bout with his son.  UEMON protested against this reception of his well-meant advice.  " It was for your sake I spoke, " he added. " What match is a man of my years for a young fellow like your son?" 
But YUKAN'S blood was up, and he pressed his patron so strongly that he at length yielded, and, meeting GENGOEMON, easily proved his own superiority and the truth of his warning.  
 GENGOF-MON felt his defeat keenly; and being naturally passionate and accustomed to have his own way in everything, he brooded over his discomfiture until his desire for revenge drowned every other feeling in his breast, and he determined to take the life of the man who had lowered him in his own and his father's estimation. 
To decide upon a course of action with GENGOEMON, was to carry it out. So, one dark night, a week after the bout of arms which revealed GENGOEMON'S bout of skill, anyone having a reason to loiter in the neighborhood of UEMON'S house might have observed a figure dressed in dark clothes stealing cautiously along to take up a 'position in the angle of a wall near the house of UEMON, from which he could watch unperceived the movements of the inmates.  This figure was the fencing-master's son.  The night was cold; and as the searching wind found its way within the loose folds of his inner garment, GENGOEMON felt more than once inclined to abandon his project of revenge for that night at least.  But the evil spirit in him whispered that to draw back now was to lose such a chance as might never occur again.  So he wrapped his only garment tightly round him and crouched with his back against the wall, trying to ignore the fact that his feet and hands were rapidly getting stiff with the cold. His obstinacy was at length gratified by seeing UEMON'S eldest son, SANNOJO, come out of the house and proceed at a brisk pace in the direction of the Baron's residence, it being the hour for his duty. Another five minutes of watching and UEMON himself appeared, followed by a single attendant, and disappeared down a side lane.  GENGOEMON watched him as long as he was in sight, and then looking cautiously round to see that he was not followed, crept on tiptoe into the house.  Once inside, he made his way to the room which he knew was occupied by UEMON'S second son HIKOSHICHIR. HIKOSHICHIRO was asleep, so GENGOENION carefully closed the door of his room on the outside. Then, seizing a cross-pointed spear which was hanging up in the passage, he concealed himself in the porch, lying in wait for UEMON'S return.  He had just time to do this, when the sound of footsteps on the gravel path warned him of the approach of his victim.  The footsteps came nearer and nearer.  A moment more and UEMON'S foot was on the threshold.  He was now in full view of the assassin, who thrust the spear deep into his side.  The wounded man drew his sword, and grasping the spear handle, tried with the instinct of an old fencer, to draw the assassin within his reach; but in so doing the cross-piece of the spear point entered his side, and with a deep groan he fell dead on the doorstep.  Before the horror-stricken attendant could collect his senses, a sweeping sword slash from the same hand stretched him senseless across the body of his master, and the dealer of the blow dashed past him and disappeared in the darkness. HIKOSHICHIRO, roused by, the noise of the struggle, had sprung up, only to find his door secured on the outside, and when at last he succeeded in forcing his way out through the chamber partition, there was no sign of the assassin, though the traces of the deed were fresh enough in the bodies of UEION and his attendant. 

III.
 GENGOEMON had thought to escape undetected, but the servant of UEION had recognized him before the sword-blow had taken effect, and as soon as he had recovered sufficiently from the effects of his wound to give a correct account of the affair, his evidence placed the guilt of the crime without doubt to GENGOEMON'S door.  The simultaneous disappearance of the fencingmaster and his son set any doubts which might have existed in their favor at rest. 
For many days YUKAN had felt uneasy regarding the movements of his son, fearing that his passionate nature might lead him to commit some desperate act.  The day before the murder, YUKAN had resolved that he would put an end td the suspense which was harassing him, and he told his son that on the following night he was going to leave Osaka and go for a time to Otsu, where be had some relatives.  That GENGOEMON, who was entirely, dependent on his father, would accompany him was of course understood.  So when the fencingmaster's son returned home after the murder of UEMON, he found his father only waiting his arrival to start. 
YUKAN, noticing the excited appearance of his son, would have questioned him as to the cause, but he dreaded to hear the revelation which he felt sure would be made, and the two made their way silently through the deserted streets towards the open country, accompanied by, an ancient domestic, who carried the few articles of the household which had survived the sale of the ex-doctor's effects.  It was not until after they had reached their destination, that the story of that night's work was told to YUKAN. He had every reason to keep the matter secret, and the two lived in retirement with their relations, who were content to see that they were under a cloud, and forebore to intrude upon their private affairs.
 Meanwhile, a hue and cry was raised in Osaka.  The murdered man's popularity had been great, and there were not wanting stout hearts, both in the clan and amongst his acquaintance, who would have desired nothing better than to join in the work of tracking the assassin.  But UEMON had two grown up sons, and, in accordance with samurai etiquette, the duty of exacting vengeance for the murder was left to them. 
As soon as the funeral ceremonies were concluded, SANNOJ obtained leave of absence for himself and HIKOSHICHIRO, and the two brothers at once commenced to search for GENCOEMON in Osaka; and although the absence of the latter made all efforts to find him there unavailing, they elicited in the course of their enquiries that the older AKAHORI had left for Otsu.  Doubting not that where the father was they would find the son, they at once set out on the road to that town; and during their journey they decided that, as YUKAN was doubtless privy to the deed which had robbed them of their father, he was a fit mark for their vengeance.  
Their design was not long in execution.  Three days after their arrival at Otsu, the body of YUKAN, stabbed in several places, was found by a nightwatchman lying in a lonely thoroughfare; and simultaneously with this event certain placards were posted in three conspicuous places, in the main street of Otsu on Gojohashi in Kyoto, and on Kyobashi in Fushimi.  On these vas written: -
"To AKAHORI GENGOEON.  In murdering your benefactor and then running away, you transgressed the laws of the samurai.  Therefore we killed your father YUKAN in the streets of Otsu. Now you also have reason to regard us as your enemies.  Cease then, to run away, and come and take our heads.
 ISHI-I SANNOJO.
 ISHI-I HIKOSHICHIRO." 
GENGOEMON, however, for reasons best known to himself, thought it advisable to decline this invitation; and though sought for everywhere for the space of eight long years, he successfully evaded pursuit.  
Now the wife of INUGAI SEIBEI, a farmer of Murahara, in the province of Mino, was the aunt of the two brothers, and having enlisted her help in the prosecution of the family feud, they went to stay in her house.  But it so happened that HIKOSHICHIRO, being or a quarrelsome disposition, did not agree with SEIBEI'S family; and the result was that after many quarrels, in which, SANNOJO and the aunt acted as mediators, HIKOSHICHIRO set off by himself one fine day, not without loosing a parting shaft at his good-natured brother SANNOJO, whom he twisted with being a lazy stay-at-home.  He had cause later to repent of his hot-headed-ness.  During his absence his aunt died.  SANNOJ, having occasion to send his servant MAGOSUKE on an errand to his family in Geishu, was left alone in the house with his uncle.  
GENGOEMON, unknown to the brothers, had kept himself carefully acquainted, through an intimacy with one of the servant-maids, with all that had passed in SEIBEI'S household.  In fact, while they had been searching for him, he had been equally on the alert to seize an opportunity of avenging the death of the late ex-doctor and fencing master.  HIKOSHICHIR'S departure did not escape his notice, and he speedily became aware of the further fact of MAGOSUKE'S errand to Geishu.  To what use his information was applied we shall see presently.  
SANNOJO was a favorite with all who knew him; yet it was doubtful whether h did not owe his popularity more to a certain indolence of temperament, which made him too lazy to quarrel, than to any special good quality in his nature.   His brother's departure did not trouble him much. It was he argued, just as well that he was out of the way, for he was tired of being appealed to to mediate in the quarrels between HIKOSHICHIRO and his uncle, which were of constant occurrence.  As for GENGOEMON, he had given up all hope of finding him, and was content to wait till some chance threw him in his way. Meanwhile, as he could not return to the family in Geishu, it suited him very well to stay with his uncle. The farm was a lucrative one, and SEIBEI on his part, having no children of his own except an only daughter, was well content to have the society of a nephew, one of his own kith and kin, who could appreciate the quiet life of the country and was an agreeable companion.  The bond between uncle and nephew grew stronger after the death of SEIBEI'S wife, and it was the old man's pet project to marry his daughter to SANNOJO as soon as she should have grown into womanhood.
 The time passed pleasantly enough in the comfortable homestead at Murahara, and except on great occasions, when the hospitable farmer would invite a neighbor or two to spend the evening, one day followed another with a quiet monotony which was not without its charm.  
One winter's night in the year 168 1 A.D., SEIBEI and his nephew were entertaining a guest, and the three were chatting gaily round the hibachi sipping sake from cups which were dexterously, replenished by a rosy-cheeked damsel who squatted just outside the circle.  The conversation turned on many things, and the visitor, who, in his position as village schoolmaster, was better read than the others, vas discoursing on the merits of a recent account of HIDEYOSHI'S expedition against the barons of Kyusyu which, he had met with in an old MS., when the sound of the fire watchman going his round warned them that it was time to think of retiring to rest.  His uncle wishing to have a word in private with his guest, SANNOJO rose up first and went to the bath-room.  It was quite dark, save for the fitful glimmer of all oil lamp, and as he vas stepping into the ball, having divested himself of his evening garment, he received a terrific blow from an unseen assailant, which laid his face open from forehead to chin.  He staggered, and instinctively, put up his arm to shield himself, when his wrist was severed by another slash.  NO third stroke was needed, and the murderer, who was none other than GENGOEION, spurning the body of the dying man with his foot as he issued from his place of concealment behind the door, sprang into the room where SEIBEI and his guest were sitting, and slashing about him wildly, wounded the schoolmaster SEIBEI retaining his presence of mind snatched down a spear from its place on the rack, and attacking GENCOEION, forced him to beat a retreat.  Rushing out of the house, he began to cut his way through the outside fence.  SEIBEI, thinking to intercept him, darted out by, "a back way, but here there was no room for him to use his spear, and by this time GENGOEMON had got through the fence and met him with a blow which stretched him of the ground.  SEIBEI lay there half stunned by the fall, while the farm servants, who were at last aroused to a sense of what was going on, pursued GENGOEMON with lighted torches, but the darkness of the night favored the fugitive, and they failed to overtake him. 

IV

It would need a powerful pen to describe the hopeless grief which settled on the farmer's household. The old man's recovery was slow; not, indeed, owing to the effects of the wound, which was slight, but from the shock caused by the death of his favorite nephew.  For day he lay in a state of semi-consciousness, and when at last he was able to rise from his bed of sickness, it was as a changed man.  The events of that night found him a hale old man, to whom life was as enjoyable as ever; they left him an object of sympathy to all around him.  
There was another in the household on whom the blow descended with not less force, though better fitted to endure, he bore it in a different manner.  MAGOSUKE, the trusted servant of SANNOJO, who had nursed him when a child and guided his earliest exercises with bow and sword, returned to Murahara two days after the tragedy.  Something in the more than usually quiet aspect of the house jarred upon him as he approached, but he thought nothing of it, and entering the gateway, he was soon inside the house.  But as he stopped to brush the dirt from his leggings, a maid-servant came running towards him, her eyes red with weeping. "Oh! Mr. MAGOSUKE," she said, "why did you not return before?  We are all in such distress-oh dear!" and the girl relapsed into a fit of sobbing, burying her face in her hands.  MAGOSUKE raised her up, and after some difficulty succeeded in stemming the torrent of her tears.  His repeated inquiries as to the cause of this distress at last drew forth a response from' the girl. "  Our young master," - and the words came out with a choked utterance - " is dead " 
The retainer's face grew an ashy pale staggering back, he put his hand to his head, as if to assure himself he was not dreaming.  Then, recovering himself, with a sudden movement he seized the girl with both hands, and shaking her roughly, thundered out: - "Woman, take care what you say!" 
Too frightened to speak, the girl could only point to au object in the corner which had escaped MAGOSUKE'S notice.  It was a coffin, half hidden by a cloth.  MAGOSUKE loosened his rasp of the maid, who cowered down at his feet, terrified by the violence of his manner.  His' brain was in a whirl - everything round him seemed to swim - he clung to a doorpost and stared vacantly before him.  Then a mist came over his eyes-his, knees bent under him, and he sank down on the floor, still holding on to the post. 



When he recovered from his swoon he was calmer, and at once asked to be shown to the room where his master's body was lying.  Into that sanctuary we will not follow him.  It was some hours later when he came out, with a set look on his face, and, calling for writing materials, shut himself up in his own chamber.  He had beet busy for some minutes tracing characters with a nervous energy on a roll of paper which he held on his knee, when there came a voice from outside which said: - "With your leave," and the schoolmaster, who had been the guest of SEIBEI on the night of the attack, without waiting for an answer, opened the door and stepped into the room, closing the sliding panel behind him.  He stood for an instant while his eye, glancing round the chamber, took in every detail; then moving slightly forward, he sat down opposite the retainer.  MAGOSUKE appeared quite unconscious of the interruption, and wrote steadily on.  His dirk, drawn from his belt, lay on the mats within reach of his hand.  
The schoolmaster, whose right arm being wrapped in bandages told of the wound inflicted by GENGOEMON, at length broke the silence.  "Mr. MAGOSUKE," he said.  The writer started and looked up, and instinctively reached forward to where the dirk was lying.  His visitor put his hand gently on his arm.  "My good sir, you are wrong.  I know your intention and am here to frustrate it." Then raising his voice, he spoke long and earnestly, pointing out the folly of throwing away one's life for nothing.  " Your master " he added, died through no fault of yours.  Your duty is to avenge his death."  
 His words were not lost upon his listener.  Gradually his eye brightened, and when the speaker stopped he sat erect with something of his usual manner.  The schoolmaster did not pursue his advantage, but waited for the other to speak.  MAGOSUIKE seemed to make more than one effort to reply, but though his lips moved, no sound escaped them.  When at last he spoke, it was with a feeble energy, but his voice gathered strength as he continued.   "Sir, I thank you; you are right.  I did, indeed, think I could never look any of my master's family in the face again and so I made up my mind to die.  But I see my mistake.  My duty is to the living as well as to the dead.  I dedicate my life from this hour to the task of tracing the assassin whose cowardly hand slew my young master. 
" He rose, replaced the dirk in his girdle, and beckoned the other to accompany him, and the two joined the rest of the household, who were busy in attending on the sick man and making preparations for the funeral of his nephew. 
Trouble fell thick and fast on the ISHII-I family.  Not long after the events of which we have been speaking, HIKOSHICHIRO, the second son, was drowned at sea, when on a visit to some distant relatives, and UEMON'S window, borne down by the weight of these successive bereavements, was laid in the family tomb in the spring of the following year.  GENGOEION silenced any scruples of conscience which troubled him in connection with his late deed of violence by the reflection that after all he had only killed the man who had slain his father and was seeking his own life, and had thus satisfied his own and his family's honor.  But he could never forgive himself for his first burst of passion, which ended in the murder of the man who was his father's friend and his own benefactor.  Often, in the dead of night, he would start up, and, under the influence of some worried vision, would imagine he saw again the body of UEMON as it lay in the porch of his house on the fatal night which saw the fencing-master's flight from Osaka with his son.  Sometimes when in the midst of merry-making, the thought of his base ingratitude would come upon him and turn the sweet in his cup to bitter; and again at other moments, when conversing with his friends, a melancholy gloom would steal over him which no efforts of his associates could dispel.  But the feeling of all others which rankled in his breast was the knowledge that his father's life had been forfeited by his own treachery.  A prey to these and other thoughts, he became thoroughly wretched.  His former air of effrontery was replaced by a cowed look, and when he walked out, which was not till dusk, he crouched at every street corner and looked anxiously round, fancying that everyone following him must be a spy set to dog his footsteps by the ISHI-I family.  This condition of mind grew at length so unbearable, that he resolved to enter the service of some Baron, and gain in the privacy of a noble's yashiki that peace of mind to which he had long been a stranger.   
With this object GENGOEMON visited a relative named AOKI YASUEMON, a retainer of ITAKURA OKI-NO-KAMI, whose head castle was at Kameyama, in the province of Ise.  On YASUEMON'S introduction, this nobleman received GINGOEMON into his service at a salary of 150 koku a year; and he took careful measures to protect him, knowing he was a marked man.  The rules of fortified places in those feudal times were very strict; and the castle of OKI-NO-KAMI was no exception lo the rule.  No one from another province was allowed to take lodgings for a single night in Kameyama, nor were strangers permitted to enter the castle.  More effectually to divert suspicion, GENGOEAION changed his name to MIZUNOSUKE. 
Now at last he deemed himself secure.  He had placed a barrier between himself and his former life, and despite the irksomeness, at first, of the routine of the yashiki to one of a roving disposition and accustomed to perfect freedom from his childhood, he felt that the keenest pursuit must through this last act of his meet with a check. 
But there was one point which escaped him in his calculations.  The duty, of a servant to his master is the first principle of morals, and MAGOSUKE was a man to whom loyalty was as dear as his own soul. When disturbed by the schoolmaster he had shut himself in his chamber with the intention of not surviving his master.  He abandoned that intention, not from any weakness of purpose, but because he saw the truth of the schoolmaster's reasoning, which the wildness or his grief had prevented his realizing before.  He stayed at the farmhouse till after the funeral ceremonies were completed, and afterwards lie prolonged his stay until the recovery of the master of the house was assured.  Then he took his departure, and from that day his friends heard little of him; and, except to receive the small quarterly stipend allowed him by the family, he never appeared among his old associates.  His time he spent roaming over the country under various disguises; now as a fishmonger, anon as a furbisher of looking-glasses, but ever intent on one object-to gain tidings of GENGOEMON and discover the place of his retreat.  
The general appearance of the retainer was not ill-adapted for the assumption of disguises.  He was short in stature, with broad shoulders, and having contracted a slight stoop from a fall in early childhood, his walk was ungraceful.  Small but piercing eyes set far back under the brows gave an expression of quickness to a face not otherwise remarkable for prominent features.  His favorite disguise was that of a pilgrim.  It needed no special training to act this part, and as the shrines everywhere throughout the country were accessible by routes leading through populous places, he found it both easy and economical to pass himself off as on a pilgrimage to some distant fane.  Moreover, the garb of a devotee disarmed suspicion, for no one thought of suspecting any hidden motive behind the innocent questions of an elderly pilgrim. 
V
MAGOSUKE had tracked GENGOEMON (for though the latter had changed his name we shall continue to call him by his first name, in order to avoid confusion) to a spot some ninety miles along the Tokaido from Otsu; but here he had lost trace of him, and all efforts to recover the clue had failed.  The retainer went over the ground carefully as far as Edo, and then, branching off, he followed the Oshukaido for some distance up the east coast, then, turning back, he struck across the interior in a westerly, direction, and returned to Kyoto by the mountain high road.  So far he only met with disappointment, and it is improbable that his search would ever have been re-warded, had not chance thrown him unexpectedly across the man he vas seeking.  Led by some instinct he could not explain, he started off to the place where he had first lost the clue.  Being in the neighborhood of Ise, he attired himself as a pilgrim and visited the shrines.  
It was MAGOSLTKE'S first visit to the shrines, and, like other travelers, he was charmed with the beauties bf the scenery.  Not less was he impressed with the solemn simplicity of the Geku, as it lies concealed in a forest of giant pines.  Glad to escape from the society of his fellow-travelers at the inn, MAGOSUKE used to steal away, and with no company save his own thoughts, wander for hours in the deep shade of the pine forest.  And, apart from the natural beauties of the spot.  Buddhist though he was, MAGOSUKE could not help sharing in the pious enthusiasm which the contemplation of those venerable fanes evokes in the breast of every Japanese, whether his creed be Shinto or Buddhist.  The retainer's constant attendance at length attracted the notice of one of the official guardians of the shrine. He noted the preoccupied and thoughtful air of the stranger, and arguing that he must be above the ordinary class of pilgrims, waited for au opportunity to enter into conversation with him.  
So, one afternoon, when MAGOSUKE was lying at the foot of a lofty pine, looking drowsily upwards at the small patches of blue sky and drifting cloud which were visible through the network of branches overhead, he became sensible of an approaching footstep; and a voice accosted him with: - "Good day Sir!"  It is very warm weather.
" At any other time the retainer might have resented the intrusion, but the peaceful stillness of the spot affected him unconsciously, and raising himself to a sitting position, so as to bring the intruder within the focus of his vision, he replied with mild politeness to his salutation.  After a few commonplace remarks, which elicited very guarded replies from MAGOSUKE, the priest withdrew, with an apology for having disturbed the stranger.  But the acquaintance thus made was renewed on a subsequent occasional and as the retainer soon discovered that the priest had no motive in seeking him save the ordinary temptation to converse with a stranger - which his lonely duties gave him few opportunities of indulging - he grew more communicative, and he gradually came to look forward to an afternoon's chat under the trees with his newly formed acquaintance.  The former a native of Ise, who had never been beyond the limits of the province, was greatly entertained by the descriptions of Kyoto and the surroundings of the capital which the retainer gave him; and the latter, who never lost an opportunity to acquire information regarding the locality in which he found himself, was interested, in spite of himself, in much which his companion told him of places and things familiar to him from childhood.  The subject on which the priest was most eloquent was a certain castle town called Kameyama, in which he had been brought up as a child.  His earliest, and, of course, his most vivid associations being connected with this place, the strong contrast offered by his present monotonous life might well serve as an excuse for the pleasure with which he dwelt on the gay scenes of a baron's court. MAGOSUKE, content to humor his hobby, heard so much of the wonders of Kameyama and of the great doings of the family of ITAKURA, to whom the castle belonged, that he determined to visit the place. And, early one morning, about a week after his first arrival at Ise, he set out afresh on his wanderings, albeit with much reluctance to tear himself away from such a pleasant neighborhood.  His way for the first ten or twelve miles lay on the route to Kyoto.  This distance accomplished, he found a branch road leading due north to Kameyama, and following this for some eight or nine miles farther he reached the castle town early in the afternoon.  His late acquaintance had not left him in ignorance of the strict prohibitions as regards strangers which were observed, but trusting to his pilgrim's dress to obviate any inquiry, MAGOSUKE entered the town, and strolling aimlessly through the streets, found himself, at the end of half au hour, opposite the outer gate of the castle.  Looking through, he saw a pleasing vista of carefully kept garden on tile other side of an intervening moat.  The guard, seeing apparently an elderly pilgrim in shabby and travel-stained garments, and thinking that he might be the friend or relation of one of the poorer inmates of the castle, allowed him to pass through the gate without challenge, and he walked on quietly till he reached the edge of the moat.  There was a corner fenced off with a stone raining, and, feeling tired, MAGOSUKE leant against it and looked down into the water, watching the bright plumaged kingfishers as the darted hither and thither in amongst the broad lotus leaves.  Occasionally there would be a tiny splash, and then a kingfisher would emerge from the water with a small fish shining in his beak, and the prize, being taken to a convenient nook on the bank, would be speedily devoured.  MAGOSUKE watched the movements of the small water hunters till his thoughts wandered off, and he fell into a deep reverie, in which he imagined himself returning to the family in Geishu with the news that he had discovered the retreat of their implacable foe. 
He was roused from his meditations rather suddenly by the clatter of horses' feet, and, looking round, he saw in the front rank of a party of gay cavaliers the face of the man he was seeking.  Yes!  It was no delusion!  GENGOEMON looked certainly older.  Trouble and the rough lire of several years had played havoc with the complexion of former days, and wrinkle and grey hairs might have sufficed to conceal his identity from an ordinary observer.  But time was powerless to disguise a face from the keen glance of long cherished enmity.  MAGOSUKE knew him instantly, and it needed all his power of self-restraint to keep quiet.  Indeed, as it was, his countenance assumed such a devilish expression of mingled hate and gratified astonishment that it attracted the attention of one of the party, who pointed him out to GENGOEMON.  But by the time the latter looked back, the retainer had recovered his self-possession, and was gazing down in the water with the same stolid expression which his face had worn five minutes before.  
Aware that his searching look had attracted some notice, MAGOSUKE vas anxious to leave the castle, but fearing to incur fresh suspicion by any precipitate movement, he waited until the party had disappeared through a gateway at the farther end of the moat leading into the inner enclosure.  As soon as the horsemen were out of sight he strolled back to the main entrance, and, turning his back on the castle, was moving along one of the streets which led away from it into the heart of the town, when he heard a shout behind him, and, looking back, saw a horseman approaching him at a brisk trot and making signals to him to stop.  MAGOSUKE hesitated for one moment, but reflecting what small chance there would be for au utter stranger in the place to escape from a mounted pursuer, he did as he was bidden, and, turning round, walked towards the horseman with an air of rustic stupidity that was perfectly natural; for, thanks to long habit in wearing disguises, he could imitate to perfection the slouching gait and indolent curiosity of a country pilgrim.  The horseman reined up when opposite to MAGOSUKE, and scanning him from head to foot, asked him by what right he had penetrated into the castle grounds, into which none but the Baron's retainers and their families were allowed admittance.
 " Honored Sir," replied the soi-distant pilgrim, making a low and clumsy reverence, and speaking with the broad nasal twang of a countryman from the south, " as you see, I am but a humble wayfarer returning from a pilgrimage to the sacred shrines of Ise, whither I went in pursuance of a vow made last winter when my wife was on a sick bed.  I knew not that it was forbidden to pass the castle gates, and seeing that the guards allowed me to enter, I pray you to consider that my error was one of ignorance, for which I crave your Honor's pardon." 
His reply seemed to satisfy his questioner, who, muttering what sounded like a threat against the offender in case of a repetition of this intrusion, turned his horse round and rode swiftly away.  The few bystanders belonging to the lower classes whom curiosity had attracted to the spot, and whose sympathies were on the side of the pilgrim, were not ill-pleased to witness the discomfiture of one of the castle gentry; and MAGOSUKE received several invitations to stop and take a cup of tea; but he politely declined, urging as an excuse the necessity of continuing his journey without delay, and found his way out of the town as quickly as he could.  On the road he overtook a wayfarer like himself, who appeared to be a talkative fellow, and, introducing himself as a small merchant of Kameyama, he proposed that they should travel together as far as his destination, which happened to be the village at which MAGOSUKE had decided to stop the night.  From his new acquaintance MAGOSUKE Picked up a good deal of gossip anent the household of the lord of Kameyama which was current in the town, but ignorant of his change of name he could hear nothing of anyone called AKAHORI GENGOEMON.  He was therefore forced to be content with the evidence of his own eyes that he had at length discovered the lurking place of his master's assassin. 
VI
  The rider who had followed MAGOSUKE was GENGO'EMON'S servant.  His master, from the moment of his entering the service of the ITAKURA family, renounced his former life of idleness, and knowing that in such service as his present one industry and integrity were the best roads to promotion, he had endeavored by steady application to make a name for himself.  His efforts were not without success.  Gradually he established a reputation for steadiness and industry; little by little he had mounted the ladder of promotion; and at the time of his being recognized by MAGOUKE, he was in a responsible position in the Baron's household, trusted by his lord and envied by his fellow retainers. When he passed MAGOSUKE that afternoon by the side of the moat, he was returning from a pleasure party with two or three jovial companions.  The solitary figure had escaped his attention, and when his notice was directed to it he say nothing but an elderly pilgrim, whose face was unknown to him.  But as he rode on he felt that his first impressions were mistaken the face was familiar to him, though he tried in vain to recall the associations connected with it. - Even in his present position he did not feel altogether secure.  His feud with the ISHI-I family might still, for aught he knew, be carefully nourished by his enemies, who might at that moment be on his track.  And when he reflected what a heavy debt it was that the family of his murdered benefactor held against him, he shuddered to think that the hand of the avenger night reach him at any time.  So he ordered his servant to ride back and question the stranger, and he saw anything suspicious, to give him in charge to the guard at the gate. The result of the order we have already seen, and the servant, not being able to elicit anything suspicious from the appearance and speech of the pilgrim, vented his spleen on the d whom he rated soundly for allowing any stranger, whatever his dress, to intrude into the castle grounds.  He then rejoined his master and told him what had passed, and GENGOEMON was forced to admit that there were no grounds for arresting the pilgrim.  Still he could not shake off the impression that the face was familiar to him, and that this unexpected reencounter boded no good to himself 
Leaving MAGOSUKE to make his way to Geishu with all the speed which was possible in those days, and GENGOEMON to brood over the possible fate which might reach him from the hands of those whom he had wronged, the course of our story takes us back to the history of the ISHI-I family.  While the events above related were occurring, ISHI-I UEMON'S two younger sons, GENZ TOMOTOKI and HANZO YOSHIMASA, having been adopted by two relations, retainers of the noble AKI-NO-KAMI named TANAKA SAKUEMON and ISHI-I KUDAYO, were being educated by NIWA SANDAYU, whose wife was the daughter of KUDAYO and the aunt of the two boys.  This old lady was of gentle birth, and to educational acquirements of no common order she joined the true spirit of the caste to which she belonged.  The traditions of the samurai class were to her sacred, and in any matter concerning the family honor she showed herself a true descendant of the race of proud gentlefolk of whose deeds she loved to read.  She was therefore never tired of impressing upon her nephews the necessity of revenging themselves upon their hereditary foe.  Her delight was of a quiet winter's evening, when they were seated round the brazier for warmth, to tell them stories of samurai daring, and with feminine tact she would so contrive as to introduce at the end of each narration the subject which was ever uppermost in her thoughts.  " If I were a man" she would say, "I would hunt out AKAHORI GENGOEION and strike his head from his shoulders, and thus would I wipe out the blot upon our family name.  It is with great bitterness that I always reflect that I am only a woman, and old, and therefore unable to accomplish this purpose.  But you are men, and strong.  Bestir yourselves; kill your father's enemy.  So may the spirit of your parent rest in its grave. 
" Brought up in this doctrine of revenge, it was but natural that the two lads should show, when yet young, a sense of their responsibility which augured well for the execution of the family vendetta.  
 When MAGOSUKE returned to the family at Hiroshima in the autumn of 1682 A.D. with news that he had at length discovered the lurking place of GENGOEMON, GENZO, who was then 15 years of age, at once decided to go himself to Kameyama, leaving HANZO, who was live years his junior, in charge of the family.  His relations opposed his departure, on the grounds that he was too young to venture upon this enterprise; and as no argument that he could bring had any effect, GENZO resolved to steal away unperceived.  But the more he thought over it the more desperate appeared the under taking.  To kill GENGOEMON was one thing - to escape another; and to hope to get safely away after the deed, vas to take a sanguine view of the case which certainly was not warranted by sober judgment. To his relations at Hiroshima he owed a deep debt of gratitude, - above all to his aunt, who had supplied the place of the mother he had lost; and it pained him to leave her, whom he might never see again, without the ceremony of leave-taking to which the circumstances of the present case lent a particular interest.  So he took advantage of a conversation with her to say:  "I have now become a man and am of an age to pass the wine cup with my friends, but, as you know, I never drink anything because I feel that I have a purpose in view.  Today, however, some wine came into the house.  Let me taste some for luck.  
  " As his aunt was helping him he' suddenly felt the tears coming into his eyes; and that she should not seer his emotion, he stretched out his arm as if to stay her from pouring out more, and with the same action concealed his face with his sleeve till he had recovered his composure.  That same night he wrote a farewell letter, and leaving it with one of his aunt's waiting-maids, he took ship and arrived at Okayama in Bizen. 
Here he stayed for some time in the house of a friend, and in the following year (1683 A.D.) proceeded to Osaka.  Having made his preparations for a long journey, he started for Kameyama, attended by, MAGOSUKE, who, it is unnecessary to observe, was privy to his flight, and endeavored to obtain a situation for him as servant to some resident in the town.  But he was young and inexperienced, and to these drawbacks he added the grave disqualification of being personally, unknown to anyone.  His applications therefore met with refusal everywhere, and his visit to Edo, with the object of gaining a footing in the head yashiki of OKI-NO-KAMI, vas attended with no better success.   
 Leaving Edo, he next traveled through the provinces of Hitachi, Kazusa, and Shimosa, looking everywhere for assistance in his Project.  In the course of his wanderings he underwent frequent privations.
 Five years passed in this way, without his being any nearer the fulfillment of his design.  But the time had not been spent altogether to no purpose.  The rough life be bad led-being many nights with no pillow but the bare hillside, and often reduced to beg: a meal-had strengthened his frame and toughened his sinews, and the tender lad of fifteen who had left Hiroshima five years　before was now a powerful man - strong in the supple vigor of limb and elasticity of muscle, but stronger still in the set fixity of purpose which remained to him after those years of hardship.  The faithful retainer had followed him devotedly, through all his journeys, had tended him when sick, and chased away with manly remonstrance the fits of depression which overtook him in the early part of his travels; but MAGOSUKE was now getting old, and though he himself desired to stay with his young master, pleading that he could never show his face again in Hiroshima while GENGOEMON still lived, GENZO saw that his presence would only hamper his own movements.  He was confirmed in his resolution to part with him by the arrival of his brother HANZO., who joined GENZO in Osaka.  
So MAGOSUKE went back to Hiroshima, while the brothers remained to concoct fresh schemes for the accomplishment of their common design. 

VII
Feeling that ill Edo they had more chance of success than elsewhere, he brothers proceeded thither, and HANZO succeeded in gaining daily employment in the head yashiki.  But further than his he could not get, and the brothers were forced to set out on their travels again.  Following out MAGOSUKE'S parting injunctions, they assumed various disguises, and visited Kameyama at one time as peddlers, at another time as tea brokers of Omi while they would occasionally play the part of country-folk from the province of Iga.  But it vas all to no purpose and they were fast approaching that frame of mind when the lethargy of despair deadens the senses and dulls the energies, when a circumstance occurred which revived their sinking hopes.  
It was early in the year 1696 A.D., eight years from the time when HANZO had joined his brother in Osaka, and the two brothers had for some weeks been lingering in the neighborhood of Kameyama, living in the cottage of a peasant whose acquaintance they had made.  They were less likely to attract attention under this humble roof than in a house of greater pretensions, and the landlord, whose thoughts never soared beyond daikon and the best method of working the ground, was far from suspecting that his guests were anything but the poor peddlers that they pretended to be.  While in this retreat GENZO fell sick, and his brother vent into Kameyama to purchase some medicine and a few such necessaries as they required in their present Position.  Returning home in the evening with his purchases, while yet a considerable way from home, he vas startled by loud cries proceeding from a wood through which the road lay.  HANZO did not lack courage, and drawing the short country-sword which hung at the side of the commonest peasant in those times as a protection against robbers, he made his way to the spot, guided by the sounds, which increased as he drew nearer, and there saw two men struggling with a third, whose dress marked him as belonging to the upper classes.  With an answering shout the youth sprang in upon the scene, and the suddenness of his attack taking the highwaymen-for such they were - by surprise, they decamped, leaving their victim to the - care of his preserver.  An examination of the stranger, who had sunk back fainting from his long struggle with the robbers, revealed the fact that he had received a severe wound on the head, from which the blood was flowing freely.  HANZO ran to a brook hard by, and steeping a cloth in the clear fresh water, hastened back and bound it round the injured part.  When he had recovered sufficiently, the wounded man explained that he was a samurai, by name HIRAI SAEMON, an officer of ITAIKURA'S household.  Having business of a private nature with a friend who lived outside of Kameyama, he had left his attendants, with orders to wait for him at the outskirts of the town; he had proceeded on alone, and was returning when he was suddenly attacked and felled by a blow from behind.  His sword was wrenched away before he could use it, and his assailants, having dragged him into the wood, were engaged in rifling him of the few articles of value he wore on his person, when the timely arrival on the scene of HANZO put another complexion on the matter and caused the abrupt flight of the thieves.  
As it was possible that the robbers might still be lurking in the vicinity, HANZO agreed to watch by the wounded man till daybreak if necessary, but this charitable intention was defeated by the approach of lights coming down the road, which proved to be carried by the officer's attendants, who, apprehending some mishap from the long delay in their master's return, had come out to look for him. Their joy was great at finding him safe, and with many expressions of thanks to HANZO for the address he had shown, the Party returned in haste to Kameyama, leaving HANZO to make his way home and give his brother, who was wondering what could have detained him so long, an account of that night's adventured.  
In accordance with a promise exacted by HIRAI before they separated, HANZO waited upon him a few days afterwards, and the officer, learning his wish to find employment in Kameyama, admitted him into his service.  But though HANZO was thus lucky enough to be at last established in Kameynma, he was not equally fortunate in his endeavors to procure a situation for his brother.  His master's friends appeared to be all well supplied which servants, and indeed HIRAI did not interest himself much in the matter, thin kind that he had discharged all obligations towards the younger brother by receiving him into his service. 
So, in spite of HANZ'S position, the brothers were as far off from their object as ever.  HANZO'S new duties occupied him for the greater part of the day, and it was only occasionally that he could get away and meet his brother in some quiet corner of the town, where they laid plans for waylaying GENGOEMON.  But plot and scheme as they might, they were foiled at every turn.  In the course of that year HIRAI died and HANZO had to be contented with a situation in the horse of a samurai of more humble position, where his work was harder and his pay a mere pittance.  
The winter of 1698 A.D. saw the two brothers in Edo, for the Baron of Kameyama was ordered to his bead yashiki in the northern capital, and HANZO'S master and GENGOEMON were in the Baron's suite.  The presence of their enemy at the seat of the Shogun's Court suggested to the brothers the. desirability of obtaining official sanction to the execution of their long-cherished vendetta, and as agreed upon between them, GENZO presented a petition to the Governor of the City, KAWAGUCHI SETTSU-NO-KAMI. 
The petition set forth the details of the murder in Osaka in the autumn of 1673 of ISHI-I UEMON MASAHARU by one AKAHORI GENGOEMON and asked for permission to take vengeance on the assassin. 
"Why," asked the Governor, whose curiosity was excited, "do you come without your brother HANZO?" 
"Your Highness," replied the petitioner, " will doubtless excuse his absence when you learn that he is at present overcome by sickness, which has indeed been aggravated by anxiety respecting the matter which I now lay before you".
"Why then " rejoined the Governor "have you allowed so long a time to elapse before presenting this petition? Answer me this." 
" May it please your Highness," said GENZO, "my brother and I were but children at the time of my father's death, and for many years we knew not where to find our enemy.  When we at length ascertained his hiding place, we forebore to present a petition, lest peradventure the matter should be noised abroad, and our enemy again conceal himself.  But the assassin is now in this city, and it is as a last resource that we have decided to bring our case before you." 
"I am satisfied," the Governor answered, and endorsed the petition as follows:
Know all men by these presents, that I, KAWAGUCHI SETTSU-NO-KAMI, Governor of the city of Edo, holding my appointment under His Sublime Highness the Shogun, hereby grant full permission to ISHI-I GENZO and ISHI-I HANZO to slay their father's murderer.  AKAHORI GENGOEMON, wherever in all this city of Edo they may find him, even though it should be within the sacred precincts of the castle. " He then recorded the fact in his official register.  
GENZO bowed his thanks and retired.  Calling subsequently at the office of another official named MATSUDAIRA IZU-NO-KAMI, this permission was re-certified. 
Armed with this powerful document, the brothers hoped that at last success was in their grasp, but they were again doomed to disappointment.  HANZO being in a comparatively menial position in the yashiki had no access to the apartments of GENGOEMON, who being high in the Baron's favor, was lodged close to the suite of rooms occupied by ITAKURA, nor could he, in the short intervals of relaxation which his duties permitted him, ascertain anything of the movements of his powerful enemy. At length GENGOEMON was sent back by the Baron to Kameyama, and this coming to HANZO'S knowledge, he communicated with his brother, who at once returned thither and exerted himself once more to secure a situation as a servant.  But as none of the worthy citizens of Kameyama would have dreamt in their wildest moments of becoming surety for an stranger seeking service in the town, however, extravagant the bribe offered, there was little chance for a poor fellow whose purse was as empty as that of an itinerant priest. 

VIII.
Time sped on.  Another year flew by, and GENZO disheartened with the failure of all his efforts in the neighborhood, returned to Edo.  Then it was that the patient perseverance of the two brothers was at length rewarded.  And it happened in this wise.  A certain retainer of SUO-NO-KAMI, NATSUME YAHEI, had occasion to go to Kameyama on business, and was in need of servant, more especially to assist him on his Journey.  
HANZO, hearing of this, obtained an introduction to YAHEI and told him he knew of a person who, he thought, would suit him. " The individual I speak of " said HANZO, " is a native of Tsuruga and wishes to visit the shrines of Ise, which lie on your road." 
"And what wages does your friend aspire to receive?" inquired YAHEI. " Oh, as for that, Sir," replied HANZO, " my friend, who has lived long in the country, desires to improve himself in polite manners, so as to qualify himself later on to enter the service of one of the Edo gentry.  He could not find a better school than the service of such a gentleman as yourself, and I am instructed to state on his behalf that he will be glad to serve you without wages." 
YAHEI was not insensible to flattery, and being something of a miser, he was delighted with this proposal and expressed himself willing to receive GENZO into his service on these conditions. 
So NATSUME YAHEI and his new servant went down to Kameyama, where GENZO was shortly joined by HANZO, who had changed masters and was now in the service of a retainer called SHIMOMURA ITTOKU.  The brothers were thus at last together in the town which had harbored their enemy during so many years.  United action was at length possible, and from the moment of their reunion, they occupied themselves night and day in discovering the surroundings and movements of GENGOEMON.  
It was now the summer of 1701 A.D., and the two brothers, having at length ascertained all that was necessary respecting GENGOEMON'S movements, were only awaiting a favorable opportunity, of putting their long-cherished design into execution.  The question of their own escape after the deed was done weighed little with them, so long as they could make sure of taking the life of GENGOEMON.  So they chose a fine night for their attack, the 18th of the 7th month, and the hour soon after midnight, that being the one at which their enemy would be returning home from his guard duties in the Baron's apartments.  That evening it seemed as if circumstances had combined to frustrate their undertaking, for they both experienced some difficulty in leaving home.  GENZO was busy long after the usual hour, and it was close on midnight when he at last got away.  Now there was a shrine dedicated to the god of war at no great distance from the road.  Here he stopped to compose his feelings, and, bolding up his fighting dress before the altar, he prayed to the god to give him success in his present venture.  He then went on to the second gate of the castle where the brothers had arranged to meet, and quietly awaited his brother's arrival.  
HANZO was also detained.  As he was' on the point of leaving the house, some friends called to see him.  It was already past the hour when he vas to have met GENZO, and he was tortured by apprehensions lest his brother, concluding that he had broken his tryst, should carry out the enterprise unaided.  So he had recourse to a subterfuge, and hastened the departure of his friends by pleading sudden indisposition.  NO sooner, however, had he closed the door on them than he hung up the sword presented to him by his master and brought out from its hiding place underneath the mats his own old weapon.  Then, having waited till the sound of his friends' retiring footsteps had died away in the distance, he joined his brother.  The moon was past the full, a circumstance favorable to the enterprise to be decided that night, for there was sufficient light to guide a person in delivering a blow, while at the same time the dimness of the light assisted anyone who wised to pass unnoticed, by rendering indistinct any object a little removed.  As HANZ approached the gate he felt his worst fears realized, for no one was visible, and he was turning away with a feeling of blank despair, when his ears caught a low whispered, "hist," and, peering into the uncertain obscurity, he saw a figure half-hidden in the angle of the gateway. 
"Silence," said GENZO for it was he  - "or you will rouse the guard; now follow me." 
The two stole along with careful tread until they reached ITAKURA'S residence.  Here they concealed themselves in the shadow of the eaves, watching for the moment when the relief should com. They had not long to wait.  Punctual to the hour came the relief, and GENGOEMON, having handed over his duties to his successor, stepped out of a side-chamber of the Baron's apartments, and walked away at a brisk pace in the direction of his house.  
There are times it the lives of men when the approach of evil is heralded by a gloomy foreboding, as mysterious as it is apparently irrational.  It was not so with GENGOEMON.  The current of his life had flowed on so smoothly during the last few years; wealth and dignity had come to him in such profusion, that the dark page of his life which used formerly to haunt him had long since been turned down and almost forgotten.  As he walked along, unconscious of the two deadly foes who were dogging his footsteps, his thoughts were with a sick child who lay awaiting his return; for she was his favorite, and like a spoilt child would let none but her father hush her to sleep.  A smile stole over his features as he pictured to himself the beaming face of his little darling and almost felt the loving arms twine themselves round his neck; and involuntarily he quickened his pace, and was rapidly nearing the portal of the Ishiizaka gate, which he could see looming through the faint moonlight, when a dark form shot past him, and as he stopped, startled, and laid his hand on his sword, a voice behind hissed out: -  "We are GENZO and HANZO, the sons of ISHI-I UEMON.
" A chill of horror crept through GENGOEMON, but he was naturally brave.  To draw his sword and place himself in a posture of defense was the work of an instant, and the first blow directed at his head by his assailant in front he parried.  But before another cut could be given by the same hand, GENGOEMON was struck down by two slashing strokes delivered from behind by the younger brother. As he fell he received a third wound and was unable to rise.  GENZO then knelt on his prostrate enemy and stabbed him in the throat.  After which each of the brothers drew from the folds of his girdle, where it had been carried for years past, a paper containing a history of the family feud, and these they fastened to the dead man's hakama. 

IX.
The scene of the encounter being close to the apartments of the Baron, the brothers expected every instant that his retainers would be roused by the noise of the affray and flock to the spot.  The idea of flight never having entered into their plans, they made a note of the year and day and awaited their pursuers, resolved only, to sell their lives as clearly as possible.  But the struggle had been so short and conducted so silently that in truth no alarm had been raised, and as no pursuers appeared, it occurred to GENZO that they might after all escape.  Acting on this sudden impulse, he motioned to his brother to turn and run, and followed, shouting out: "Your business is urgent.  Run ! run ! run! our lord orders us to use all speed !"  Repeating this at intervals, the brothers passed without hindrance through the gates of the castle, for the guard concluded that they were on some errand for the Baron and made no attempt to stop either of them.  They did not cease running till they reached the outskirts of the town, where they stopped for a moment to rest.  There were still no signs of pursuit, but, fearing lest their pursuers might be mounted, they pressed on as fast as their increasing exhaustion would permit, and, fording the river Seki struck into the open country off the main road, and, ascending a hill, carefully examined the horizon.  The day was breaking, and the clear morning atmosphere enabled them to see a long way on every side, but nowhere could they detect any signs of their being followed.  
The fugitives, gaining courage, accordingly ventured to stop at a small house by the roadside to buy food and sandals.  Here, in order to throw their pursuers off the track, they gave out that they were on their way to Tsu, a castle town to the south of Kameayama, and procured the services of a guide.  They dismissed him, however, after proceeding a short way, and, altering their course, struck into a by-path which led in the direction of Kyoto.  And it was now that the intimate knowledge of the country which they had acquired in the course of their wanderings served them in good stead.  Every inch of the ground between Kameyama and Kyoto was familiar to them; and, added to this advantage, their frequent journeys had developed powers of endurance and an insensibility to fatigue which many a courier in those days would have envied. 
They hurried on without relaxing their speed till the sun was high in the heavens, and by this time Kameyama lay many miles behind them.  Satisfied, then, they had out-distanced for the time any pursuit which might be attempted, they crept into a wood on the banks of the Oigawa and rested for a short while. 
Now it happened that a fisherman who lived in a cottage hard by the river and close to the wood which the brothers had entered, seeing in the bright morning a good augury for sport, had risen betimes, and, rod in hand, was busily pursuing his daily avocation.  The fish were biting merrily, and the angler, after several captures, was hugging himself with the prospect of an unusually heavy basket of trout, when his attention was attracted to a rustling in the wood opposite, and, as he looked, there emerged the figures of two young men, whose travel-stained garments showed that they had come a long distance.
 "A murrain on these knaves, to spoil my sport!" muttered the angler, as he observed the two travelers, after a hasty look up and down the stream, tuck up their skirts and prepare to ford the river in his direction; and, moved partly by pique, partly by an indolent curiosity, he laid down his rod and watched the movements of the strangers who had disturbed his fishing. 
The new-comers, bestowing no attention on the fisherman, crossed the stream, and, after washing their hands and faces in the river, disappeared in a small grove of trees on the river-bank which enclosed a rustic shrine dedicated to Hachiman-sama. 
The angler's curiosity was fairly roused, and, creeping in amongst the bushes, he crawled near enough to see the objects of his spleen kneeling on the steps of the shrine.  Fearful of being discovered, he kept quiet and presently the words of a prayer of thanksgiving, uttered in low and impassioned tones, came to his ears.  
"We thank thee, O God of Arms," it was thus that they prayed, - " that thou hast enabled us to say whom we looked upon as an enemy from childhood.  Many years have passed by since we left Hiroshima first on our errand of vengeance, and we were beginning to despair of success, when our design was accomplished in a manner not to be looked for even in a dream; and we have been permitted to escape.  This good fortune we owe to your favor and protection."
The prayer ended, and the two wayfarers, making a final obeisance, moved off rapidly along the path which followed the stream, and were soon lost to view round a bend of the river.  The inquisitive angler returned to his sport, nothing the wiser for having indulged his curiosity, and debating with himself the propriety of communicating to his family the mysterious scene of which he had been a witness, - for, dearly as he loved a bit of gossip, he was not sure whether popular credulity would receive his story, and whether he night not be laughed at for having been bewitched by a fox.  Leaving him in this state of mental perplexity, we will follow the brothers to the end of their journey and of our story, for but little now remains to be told. 
Carefully avoiding the main roads, and pursuing their course by by-paths and country tracks, the brothers reached Kyoto safely, and after a short stay resumed their journey to Hiroshima, where the joy manifested by the family at their safe return and the successful vindication of the family honor amply repaid them for the hardships and dangers which they had undergone.  
Their next business was to acquaint each branch of the family with the circumstances attending the death of ISHI-I UEMON'S assassin, AKAHORI GENGOEMON, in the town of Kameyama. 
 In the summer of the following year [A.D. 1702], the brothers proceeded to Edo and reported to the Governor of the city and at the office where GENZO had registered the official sanction, the successful accomplishment of the family vendetta.  Everywhere throughout the northern capital they were treated with great consideration, for the fame of their exploit had preceded them, and they were already, men of mark in the Popular estimation. 
Nor did their reward end there; for the heir-apparent of the Earldom of Chikugo, when he heard the story, at once sent for the two brothers and received them into his household.  Their high characters soon gained them the close friendship of the Earl, and GENZO was raised in the course of time to a high post in the principality. 
Such is the story of the treacherous murder of ISHI-I UEMON by AKAHORI GENGOEMON, and of the vengeance taken by his two youngest sons.  The sequel illustrates the truth of that saying of the wise man of old: - "The might of man sometimes triumphs over Heaven, but Heaven in the end prevails over man."  

FIDELITY UNCHANGED BY REVERSES.
    IN the seventeenth century of our era, before the fall of the Min dynasty, TEI SHIRYO, a Chinaman who occupied a high position under the Min Government, for some reason which is not recorded, came over to Japan and resided for some time on the island of Hirato, Hizen, where he married the daughter of TAGAWA, and by her had a son whom he named TEI SEIKO.  When the child was seven years old, his father took him over to China.  Three or four years later SHIRYO came back to fetch his wire, and for some time they all, lived together in Heian.
 SEIKO was very studious, and at the age of fifteen passed the entrance examination of the university.  Owing to the high rank which his father occupied, he was presented to the emperor RYOBU when quite young.  "The emperor looked on him with admiration and remarked: - " It will be difficult to find a wife good enough for you.  Henceforth you shall be regarded as my servant, and I hope you will serve me faithfully."  The emperor gave him the name of SHU, and he became head of the imperial body-guard.  He was also created a nobleman, and had various other favors bestowed on him.  In return for all this he determined to spend his whole life in serving the Min emperor, a purpose from which to the close of his career he never swerved. 
His father, however, gave him no encouragement in the carrying out of his resolution.  On the contrary, when he saw that the Shin cause was likely to succeed, he forsook the Min emperor and joined the rebels.   A number of the Min generals fell away to the enemy at the same time.  SEIKO'S mother was seized and treated so badly by the Shin troops that she killed herself.  And, to crown all, the Emperor RYOBU was taken captive.  
Up to this time SEIKO had given his attention to learning alone and knew nothing whatever of war. But now, seeing that his parent had become a rebel, and that his emperor was a captive, he thought it was high time to lay aside his studies and give his attention to military affairs.  He determined to become a warrior.
 Shortly after this, he went one day to the shrine of CONFUClUS and bid a solemn farewell to it and the learning it represented.  Then he took some ninety men who still remained faithful to him and went to Nan-etsu, where he collected a large number of troops.  It was not long before he heard of the death of RYOBU and was informed that another emperor, named TO, had been crowned in his stead by a few faithful adherents. 
To this emperor SEIKO went, swore allegiance to him, and commenced to fight in his cause.  He won several victories over the Shin troop.  His mode of carrying on war was free from the cruelties and outrages practiced by the Shin army.  So kind-hearted was he and so thoroughly under control were his troops that even little children did not fear to walk side by side with his men. 
Letters were constantly arriving from his father urging him to join the enemy's ranks, but all to no purpose.  He gained victory alter victory over the Shin troops and increased in power so much that he had hopes of being able to take Nankin, but, on estimating the force required to accomplish this, he found that that of which he had the command was altogether inadequate.  Having been born in Japan, he thought he might reasonably expect help from that quarter: so he came over to this country to ask for troops to assist him fn establishing the Min emperor on the throne: but the authorities here, not knowing the rights or the case refused to interfere.
 Disappointed, but not despondent, he went back to China determined to try his best to effect his purpose by means or the troops at his disposal.  First he made Kamon (Amoy) his head-quarters, and divided all the land that he had taken into seventy-two sections, over each of which he appointed a head. Whenever he bestowed an office, he enjoined on his nominee loyalty to the Min emperor. 
Subsequent to his he went to Formosa, took the whole country and was preparing to make it the centre of his operations against the Shin troops when he heard that To had been killed and that in every part of the country, the prospects of the Min dynasty were becoming darker and darker.  This vexed him so much that he grew sick and died. 
Even such meager details bearing on the life of SEIKO as have come down to us, are sufficient to show that he was endowed with no ordinary powers, and that, under a different set of circumstances, he would have effected something great and lasting.  He possessed that feeling of gratitude to his lord which manifested itself in so many Japanese of that day and led to such faithful adherence to a benefactor's cause even though it might be a sinking one. 
It is recorded that SEIKO'S most distinguished moral qualities were derived from his mother, who was a very remarkable woman
. 
THE CREDIBLE AND THE INCREDIBLE
ONE day, when IEYASU and some of his subordinate officers were conversing together on a variety of subjects, one of the party related a most incredible story.  After listening to it IEYASU remarked: - "In things that are related, even though they are untrue, if they have the appearance of being true, people will believe them.  And even though a thing be true, if it be something that is only known to a few, it will appear to be incredible to the majority of those to whom it is told."
 The above remarks tend to show that it is impossible to separate the credibility and incredibility of things from their truth and Falsehood, and that the credibility and incredibility ascribed to things very frequently, depends on the extent of the experience and knowledge of individuals.  The point of IEYASU'S criticism is, that it is little use repeating stories that the majority of men are agreed in considering incredible.
 The credible and the incredible are constantly changing places as knowledge advances.  What was once credible becomes incredible; and what was formerly incredible becomes credible.  Nevertheless, no one who speaks or writes to convince and instruct, can afford to ignore the distinction between statements which the minds appealed to are prepared to accept and whose that they will most certainly reject, or in other words, the distinction between the credible and the incredible. 

LOYALTY TO MEN AND LOYALTY TO WHAT 
IS RIGHT
I.
    AMONG the retainers of SAITO TATSUOKI, there was a noted man called TAKENAKA SHIGEHARU.  He was, for the age in which he lived, well versed in literature, a good fencer, and well acquainted with military tactics.  At the time of which we write, disgusted with the inefficiency and wickedness of his master, he had resigned his post in TATSUOKI'S service, and was living in retirement in the mountains. 
HIDEYOSHI knew of the existence of this man, and was very anxious to induce him to join NOBUNAGA.  He knew that it would never do to attempt to bring this about in a direct way, so, in older to effect it, he adopted the following plan. 
One evening, at sunset, he arrived at Kurihara-yama, where SHIGEHARU'S house was situated, in the garb of a ronin.  It was customary with ronin to obtain a night's lodging where they could, but they chose the houses of persons of some reputation whenever it was possible, being anxious to learn as much as possible from the conversation of their hosts.  As they were men who led lives of adventure, which they were never weary of describing, they were by no means unwelcome guests. 
When HIDEYOSHI arrived at SHIGEHARU'S door, the servant happened to be out.  So SHIGEHARU came out to the door himself.  On HIDEYOSHI'S asking to be put up for the night, SHIGEHARU replied: - "I am one who has left the world, though I have not shaved my head, and therefore I have nothing good to offer you in the way of food, but, if you are willing to put up with what you can get, I will not refuse you a night's lodging."  
"I am pretty much in the same position as you" said HIDEYOSHI: "a knight-errant who has no fixed dwelling place; nothing comes amiss to me."
 HIDEYOSHI was invited in, and when he had settled himself on the mats, he cast his eyes around the room, and noticed that everything was in excellent taste, as became the dwelling of a soldier of refinement and scholarship. "I have been wandering over the world in search of a good teacher" commenced HIDEYOSHI, "but hitherto have never been fortunate enough to find one to my liking.  I am persuaded that in you I shall find the man I am seeking.  I trust you will be kind enough to instruct me." 
"Retired from the world, living away in the mountains here what can I know about war?"  replied SHIGEHARU.  "I am not desirous of acting as a teacher to any one.  As you see, I have no pupils.  Why, may I ask, do you wish to study? " 
"That I may when well versed in letters and war serve some illustrious master, replied HIDEYOSHI. 
"If you wish to become proficient in these acquirements," replied SHIGEHARU, "personal application is all that is required.  You need not depend on me for help.  Learn for yourself, and when you become skilled, then choose a master for yourself.  This is my advice to you."  
"I thank you for the counsel you give me.  I will endeavor to act on it," replied HIDEYOSHI, and then continued: - "It seems to me, as I look around, that everything is in a disorganized state, that people are all groaning under the evils of the age, and that the only way of helping to put an end to these troubles is to choose some lord who is endowed with intelligence, wisdom, and virtue, and assist him in punishing evil wherever he finds it.  In this way, by degrees, the whole country will become subject to one virtuous man.  How is it that you do not concern yourself about the disturbances of the world?  Why have you removed yourself from its activities and taken refuge in this solitary place?  Is this acting the part of a brave man?  It is no use saying that there is not a good master to be found.  I do not pretend to know for certain, but if report be true, then, the lord of the neighboring province, ODA NOBUNAGA is a man who is no less wise than brave, and I hear that he loves bold knights and is kind to peasants, that he punishes the wicked and is loyal to the emperor in fact, that he is the sort of man likely to subdue the whole empire.  As you, Sir, are living near this lord's dominion, I have no doubt you are better acquainted with these matters than I." 
Here SHIGEHARU instantly changed countenance, and, looking fiercely at HIDEYOSHI, said: -  "You are a dog that has been sent here by NOBUNAGA.  I have no doubt that you ate the monkey-faced man of whom I have heard.  To make out that one's own master is appointed to become ruler of the whole country is a pretty audacious proceeding I must say, and that in the house of au enemy too.  If you think that by a trick of this kind you are going to move me, you are mistaken.  I am far too decided a man to be persuaded to serve the enemy of my country.  No, not even if NOBUNAGA himself, like RYU BI of old waiting on KOMEI, were to come in person three times to ask me to join him, would I go, much less when you ask me." 
"Your saying that NOBUNAGA is the enemy of your country," replied HIDEYOSHI, means that because SAITO looks on NOBUNAGA as his enemy you must in faithfulness to him needs do the same. But I should like to ask you one question.  Do you respect SAITO TATSUOKI as an upright man or not? If you think him a righteous man, why do you not do your best to help him?  If you think that he is not an upright man, then, why do you not reprove him?  If you take neither of these courses, how can you be said to be loyal to the house of SAITO what signs of such loyalty are there?  And possessing no loyal feelings to the house of SAITO, how can you say that you are the enemy of Owari?  You know that your lord, TATSUOKI, is an idle worthless man; that his retainers are estranged from him, that his peasantry dislike him, and that, therefore, nothing can save him from ruin.  "When a large house is falling, it cannot be kept up with one post; when a country is approaching ruin, it cannot be saved by one man," is a saying with which you are well acquainted.  It is useless for you to try and keep the house of TATSVOKI from ruin.  It is already too far gone.  Rather than try to save a doomed man had you not better enter the service of some worthier master?" 
Though SHIGEHARU'S wrath was somewhat appeased by these remarks, he was not prepared to yield to the persuasions of HIDEYOSHI.  So, smiling, he replied: "You are like a Chinese Yuzeika; you come here with a plausible policy, which you advocate with the eloquence of an orator.  With a man of less steadfastness of purpose than SHIGEHARU, you might succeed.  No; my mind is made up, and firm as a rock I shall adhere to my resolve.  Seeing, as you have remarked that my master was a fool, I reproved him, but my reproof had no effect whatever on him, and therefore I have ceased to waste my words on a worthless man and have retired to this out of the way place.  But though living in retirement, my fortunes shall be shared with those of the people of Mino.  My withdrawal from active life may appear as though were deficient in loyal feeling.  Such, however, is not the case.  When reproof is spurned, it is the part of loyalty to retire from office.  Men's lot is fixed for then; and it has been mine to have served an unworthy lord.  To this dispensation I must bow, and all you like to say about the advantages or disadvantages of the course I take, is lost on me.  I resign myself to my fate."
Whereupon, HIDEYOSHI burst out laughing and re plied: - "Well, well! people have told me that TAKENAKA SHIGBHARU was a very clever man and that his remarks were always exceptionally shrewd; - but goodness me!  when I come to converse with him, I find the opposite to be the case. Nothing that he says is worth listening to." 
"What do you mean by making such an assertion, you rude fellow?" rejoined SHIGEHARU.  " I will not stand your impudence any longer.  Be off with you!" 
"Do you mean to tell me," continued HIDEYOSHI, nothing discouraged, and taking no more notice of SHIGEHARU'S licensed manner than if it had been a passing breeze, "that if, as you say, you were really anxious to be loyal to the house of SAITO, you would have followed those who were the usurpers of SAITO'S rank and position and not the real heirs to his estates?  Did you not serve DOSAN that killed SAITO YAMASHIRO-NO-KAMI?  And afterwards did you not serve YOSHITATSU that killed his father?  And now are you not serving YOSHITATSU'S son TATSUOKI?  None of these three men had any right to the estates of SAITO.  You have then been serving usurpers and not lawful rulers.  You speak of loyalty to what is right, but did not loyalty to the right involve your fighting against such a man as DOSAN, and against his son YOSITATSU?  And, instead of doing this, to wait on until now, and then to talk about withdrawing from active life out of loyalty to your country and the like this it is that leads me to say that no value can be attached to your words.  Intelligence and courage are to be judged of by the way in which they are used.  A man may be brave and clever, but if he expends all his strength in supporting a set of worthless men, of what use to the world at large are his endowments?  In using the powers we have, we should seek to better the world in which we lived; and this can only be done now-a-days by assisting those warriors whose virtue gives them a claim to our help.  In aiding such men, we are helping Heaven; we are on the road to success." 
SHIGEHARU'S inconsistencies were, in this way, one by one, exposed by HIDEYOSHI.  Being utterly at a loss to know what to say in self-defense, he gave a heavy sigh, and then exclaimed: - "Were I to do what you suggest-go over to NOBUNAGA, people would all say that I forsook the weak to serve the strong, and that I was one who thought more of his own convenience and advancement than of his master's interests." 
Thus saying, and not being anxious to hear anything more, he abruptly left HIDEYOSHI'S presence and went to bed. 
HIDEYOSHI saw that SHIGEHARU'S heart was won, and that it would not take much to bring him over to NOBUNAGA.  So he left the house, and, not long after, sent a friend to SHIGEHARU, who succeeded in inducing him to accept office under the Owari baron. 
As is well known, this TAKENAKA SHIGEHARU afterwards proved to be a man of extraordinary genius.  For a number of years he was HIDEYOSHI'S right-hand man.  His mental caliber seemed in many respects superior to that of his master, and hence there are not wanting some who doubt whether the account given above of the way in which he was persuaded to join NOBUNAGA can be authentic.  Be this as it may, it is quite certain that it was through HIDEYOSHI'S efforts that SHIGEHARU was induced to join NOBUNAGA, and it does not seem improbable that some such arguments as those we have given above convinced the high-minded knight that his change of masters would be no breach of loyalty in any true sense of the word - that there are times when loyalty to virtue makes loyalty to a certain individual an impossibility. 

A  SHORT  LIFE  OF  TOKUGAWA  IEYASU
I
   TOKUGAWA IEYASU was descended from the great NlTTA family.  His ancestors had a village bestowed on them in the province of Mikawa, called Tokugawa, from which the family name was derived. His father was HIROTADA MIKAWA-NO-KAMI. 
HIROTADA married the daughter of MIZU-NO-TADAMASA, in 1541 A.D.  IEYASU was born in Okazaki the following year and was their only child.  It was customary with the TOIKUGAWA family to give the name of TAKECHIYO to all the first-born sons belonging to them.  Accordingly this was the first name the great hero received.  
When TAKECHIYO was only five years old, his lather requested IMAGAWA YOSHIMOTO to lend him some troops, to be employed in the war he was carrying on with ODA NOBUHIDE.  YOSHIMOTO granted the request, and, according to the custom of those days, demanded HIROTADA'S son as a surety. HIROTADA consented: and so, as though it was fated that TAKECHIYO should be inured to hardship and privation from his earliest childhood, he was dispatched to Suruga as a hostage when most children are enjoying the quiet and innocent amusements of early youth in their own homes. 
On the way to Suruga he was seized by order of' NOBUHIDE, who sent a messenger to HIROTADA to inform him that TAKECHIYO was his prisoner, and that therefore he had better break faith with YOSHIMOTO and join his party.
 " If you are determined to kill TAKECHIYO," replied HIROTADA, "then you must do so.  But that I should, even for the sake of saving the lire of my own son, break through the agreement that I have made with my neighbor YOSHIMOTO is altogether out of the question."
 NOBLTHIDE was very angry and made it s uncomfortable for the child as he could, keeping him a close prisoner. 
In 1549 A.D. HIROTADA died; and in the same year his great enemy, NOBUHIDE, also passed away, and was succeeded by his son NOBUNAGA, who made peace will IMAGAWA.  This enabled TAKECHIYO to return to his native place, which he lost no time in doing. 
He had not been in Okazaki more than fourteen or fifteen days before he was again sent off as a hostage.  YOSIMOTO, on the death of HIROTADA, claimed the dues on the Mikawa estates, and commanded TAKECHIYO'S retainers to send the lad to him to be kept as a surety in his castle of Miyazaki till he grew up, when YOSHIMOTO promised to return him.  
From this time YOSHIMOTO did all he could to kill or humiliate the Mikawa men.  In time of war they were always placed in the most dangerous positions, and in time of peace they were appointed to the lowest offices.  The Mikawa generals, however, said nothing.  They were glad of the experience in fighting that they gained under YOSHIMOTO, and so they fought bravely and waited eagerly for the time when their young master should be old enough to set up for himself, and they would be called upon to defend him against his numerous enemies. 
TAKECHIYO met with no better treatment than his followers.  The food and clothes supplied by YOSHIMOTO were both insufficient.  But, fortunately for the lad, there was one who befriended him. This was no other than TORI-I TADAYOSHI, a man who was appointed to collect the dues on the Mikawa lands.  He supplied TAKECHIYO with both clothes and money, and sent his son MOTOTADA to attend to his wants.
 In 1556 A.D. the Gembuku ceremony was performed on TAKECHIYO.  He received the name of MOTONOBU, and married the daughter of SEKIGUCHI CHIKANAGA.  On this occasion he requested YOSHIMOTO to allow him to return to Okazaki to worship at his father's tomb.  This was allowed.  So he returned to his native place.  
The people of Okazaki and the neighborhood, young and old, crowded out to meet their lord and welcome him back.  All the chief officers of the province came 
to the castle to greet him.  Among them there were many old men who had served under his father: they hoped that the day was not far distant when they should see their native province independent once more, and presided over by the young baron who was now in their midst.  TADAYOSHI, though a very old man, appeared amongst the rest.  Taking MOTONOBU by the hand, TADAYOSHI said: - "I am now very old, and cannot go out to war any more, but I have laid by for your use in a large number of storehouses a heap of rice as high as a mountain.  This take, and, collecting troops, make your power felt in the world.  If you do this, the great object of my lire will be realized and I shall die in peace."  
 MOTONOBU soon returned to Miyazaki, and from this time he assumed the name of MOTOYASU. One day, when MOTOYASU was conversing with YOSHIMOTOO, the latter remarked :" Western Mikawa is part of your territory, but it was gradually become subject to NOBUNAGA, why do you not go and take it out of his hands?" 
" Nothing would please me better," replied MOTOYASU. 
So, in 1558 A.D., MOTOYASU returned to Okazaki and, gathering his forces, commenced to fight. He first attacked Terabe.  They commenced the assault by setting fire to the castle, which forced the garrison to come out against them.  Their opponents sold their lives dearly, and for some time it was hard to say which side would be victorious.  But HONDA SAKUZAEMON, by an extraordinary feat of valor, turned the tide against MOTOYASU'S enemies and they were totally, defeated. 
 After his MOTOYASU returned to Miyazaki.  YOSHINOTO congratulated with on his success, gave him his own sword and three hundred kan of land. 
This same year, several of MOTOYASU'S chief retainers came to YOSHIMOTO, and asked that, a now MOTOYASU had growth up, he would do as he had promised, namely, send him back to his own territory to reside.  He agreed to do this.  But before it was carried out, YOSHIMOTO, who had designs on the government at Kyoto, attacked the province of Owari, and, taking the castle of Otaka, gave it into MOTOYASU'S hands to keep whilst he himself went on to Okehasama.  Here YOSHIMOTO fought a battle with ODA NOBUNAGA and was killed. 
When the retainers of YOSHIMOTO, who were left with IEYASU in the Otaka castle, heard that their master was dead, they fled from the castle. 
Whereupon MOTOYASU'S chief retainers came to him and said: -  " Seeing that YOSHIMOTO is dead, why should we guard this castle any longer? 
Let us go home." " Let me first know the reasons for such a course being taken," said MOTOYASU. "I am not the one to go off in such a hurry before I know what I am doing.  If we make a mistake in what we do, we shall only excite the ridicule of the world." 
Just then another messenger arrived, and reported that, on hearing of the death of YOSHIMOTO, his retainers who were guarding various other castles had one and all fled. 
"Wait a while," said MOTOYASU. " Let us be sure that what we hear is true before we act." By dispatching special messengers, he ascertained that the reports which had reached him were quite correct.  His retainers urged him to start at once, even though it was dark at the time. 
"If we do this we shall lose the way," replied MOTOYASU.  "Why be in such a hurry?  If any one comes to attack us we can defend ourselves; so there is nothing to be afraid of."  They waited till the moon rose, and then started off eastward on the road to Okazaki.  They got as far as Imamura and were about to enter the Okazaki castle, when MOTOYASU suddenly halted and said: - "While YOSHIMOTO was still alive, he said nothing about handing over the castle to me, therefore it is not right of me to take it even though he be dead." 
Forbearing to enter the castle, for three days MOTOYASU quartered his men in a temple called the Daijuji.  While they were here, the Suruga troops that had charge of the Okazaki castle all fled. 
MOTOVASU, seeing this, said: - "What they have thrown away we will pick up," and at once entered the castle.  He was in his twentieth year, when, now for the first time in his life, he felt that the castle that he occupied was his own to be defended against all comers. 
II.
Those parts of the province of Mikawa that had been subject to his father gladly submitted to his rule.  There were other parts, however, that belonged to ODA NOBUNAGA.  These he determined to subjugate.  
But just at this juncture NOBUNAGA was anxious to be at the head of affairs in Kyoto, and foresaw that MOTOYASU could assist him in various ways, so he sent ambassadors to him proposing terms of peace.  
MOTOYASU gathered his chief retainers together, and they discussed these terms. 
"Seeing that ours is a small province, with powerful neighbors both on the east and the west," said SAKAI TADATSUGV, "'it will be difficult for us to maintain our independence.  As for YOSHIMOTO'S son, UJISANE, he does nothing but drink sake and idle away his time, and makes no attempt to avenge his lather's death.  It is no use having any transactions with such a man.  Therefore we cannot do better than make peace with NOBUNAGA." 
"That is impossible," replied MOTOYASU. "How can we forget all the benefits that we have received from YOSHIMOTO and turn against his house?" 
" TADATSUGV is right," remarked two other retainers. " For YOSHIRIOTO'S friendship for us vas feigned and not real.  He seized the produce of our land, and did all he could to get rid OE us altogether. Under what obligations are we to such a man?  As regards the wife and child of our master, we can easily get them out of the hands of UJISANE.  UJISANE is anxious to keep friendly with us, and therefore will not think of injuring them in any way." 
After hearing all his retainers had to say, MOTOYASU agreed to the terms of peace proposed, and went in person to Kiyosu to see NOBUNAGA.  When MOTOYASU and his retainers approached the castle of Kiyosu, they found that a crowd of spectators had assembled to see them pass.  HONDA TADAKATSU, then only thirteen years of age, seeing that the way was thronged with people, rode in front of MOTOVASU, and, waving his halberd to and fro, said to the crowd: - "Get out of the way, you rude folks; don't you see that my master is here?" 
NOBUNAGA came out to meet his guest, and conducted him into the castle.  Contrary to custom, UEMURA YOSHIMASA, one of MOTOYASU'S retainers, followed his master into the presence of NOBUNAGA.  One of the guards found fault with him for this intrusion.  To him he replied: - " I am UEMURA YOSHIMASA.  I bear my master's sword after him, will, then do you find fault with me?" 
"I have heard the name of YOSHIIASA for a long time," interposed NOBUNAGA; allow him to enter." 
It was the possession of such faithful and fearless retainers that was in a large measure the cause of IEYASU'S great success. 
NOBUNAGA and MOTOYASU agreed to terms of peace: and more than this, they made an offensive and defensive treaty, solemnly promising that they would combine their forces and endeavor to subjugate their whole empire.  They agreed that whichever of them conquered the most territory should eventually become the lord of the other.  After being entertained most handsomely, MOTOYASU returned to Okazaki. 
In 1 564 A.D., MOTOYASU had subdued the whole of the western part of Mikawa.  And the following year the whole province became subject to him. 
 His three chief retainers, HONDA SAKUZAEMON, KORIKI YOZAEMON, and AMANO SABUROHYOE were now made le-bugyo, and MOTOYASU'S name was changed to IEYASU and he assumed the title of MIKAWA-NO-KAMI. 
In 1570 A.D., leaving taken the whole of Totmi.  IEYASU removed to the castle of Hamamatsu, situated in that province, where he resided for a number of years.  His power vas felt in all the neighborhood; in fact, he was looked on as the most influential baron of the Tokaido.  But he had one enemy whom he could not overcome, and that was TAKEDA SHINGEN, the lord of Kai, Shinano.  In A.D. 1573,SHINGEN and IEYASU had a pitched battle at Mikata-ga-hara.  IEVASU met with as severe a defeat as it was possible for a general to receive, and was within an inch of losing his life.  
 SHI'NGEN died the same year; and ten years later, just as IEYASU and NOBUNAGA had succeeded in destroying SHINGEN'S house, NOBUNAGA was killed by MITSUHIDE. 
In 1584 A.D., IEYASU supported the cause of NOBUNAGA'S son, NOBUO, and fought with HIDEYOSHI at Komaki-yama. 
On this occasion, SAKAPCIBARA YASUMASA sent a letter to various barons, urging them to oppose HIDEYOSHI; which contained the following remarks: 
" HIDEYOSHI, in that he lightly esteems all the benefits he has received from his master, is like a fiend or some poisonous insect.  He sends troops against the progeny of his lord.  Who is there that does not grind his, teeth in auger at such conduct?  Your lordships have all been employed by NOBUNAGA in the same way as HIDEYOSHI.  And how did it come about that NOBUNAGA was in a position to command your services? 
"YASUMASA intended to remind them here that they had received numerous gifts of land from NOBUNAGA, and that on that account they ought to serve his son. 
"Lord TOKUGAWA has been requested to fight against HIDEYOSHI, and has brought all the troops of five provinces to join battle with him.
 " When there is a cause so righteous as ours, victory is sure, and therefore we shall soon cut off the head of this scoundrel and make a gazing stock of it.  If you all repent of past neglect and heartily. support us in the vindication of the just and the right, then I am authorized to say that all your past remissness till be overlooked.  But if you refuse to do this, then you shall all be put to death.  Take heed that you do not act now in a way that you will be sorry for hereafter." 
They fought, and HIDEYOSHI was defeated.  Afterwards, the latter proposed terms of peace; which were accepted by IEYASU. 
III.
In 1590 A.D., under the leadership of HIDEYOSHI, IEYASU went against Hojo.  On the latter being subdued, the whole of his territory was given to IEYASU.  At this time the castle of do was enlarged, and IEYASU took up his residence in it.  Thus suddenly his power became immense. 
 It happened, one day after IEYASU had thus risen to, power, that HIDEYOSHI assembled all the chief barons subject to him.  As they were sitting around him.  HIDEYOSHI took his little child in his arms and asked him who was most to be feared among all the barons assembled there. 
The lad gazed around, and his eye rested on MORI TERUMOTO, who vas tall and fierce looking "He" said the boy, pointing to TERUMOTO "is the most to be feared."  
"No" replied HIDEYOSHI "it is not so." Then pointing to IEYASU, he continued: - "that oldish-looking dark-raced man sitting in the front row there is the most to be feared."  Then, with a view of seeing what IEYASU would say, he added: - " In war, however, there is no one equal to me."
 " There you ale right," replied the assembled barons.  "there is no one to be compared to you in war." 
But no sooner was the remark made than a dissentient voice was heard.  "There is one called IEYASU here," said the voice, "and therefore you cannot say that no one is equal to you in battle. Nobody but yourself forgets how you were beaten at Komaki-yama"
 Without answering a word, HIDEYOSHI went into an adjoining room. 
The assembled barons were very much concerned, thinking that what had occurred would be the cause of a great quarrel between HIDEYOSHI and IEYASU.  They went to IEYASU and asked: - " Was what you said just now said in jest? " 
"It was not," replied IEYASU. "Though the Taiko has the whole country beneath him, when we come to speak of fighting, I do not admit that he is superior to me.  It may make him angry to hear it, but that cannot help."  A little time after, HIDEYOSHI entered the room again and commenced to talk on other subjects, and so the matter passed. 
HIDEYOSHI died ill 1598 A.D.  After his death ISHIDA MITSUNARI, who was jealous of the power of IEYASU, espoused the cause of HIDEYORI, HIDEYOSHI'S son, and thought to overthrow IEYASU.  But ill the Sekigahara war MITSUNARI was defeated, and IEYASU became supreme.  In 1602, A.D. he assumed the title of Sei-i-taishogun.  Subsequent to this he effectually stamped out HIDEYORI'S party at Osaka.  
It was the April of the year following that which marked the conclusion of the Osaka war and the death by his own hand of HIDEYORI when IEYASU grew very ill.  Feeling he was going to die, he called his son HIDETADA and asked: - "What turn do you think things will take alter my death?" 
"They will be thrown into a great state of disorder," said HIDETADA. 
"If you think that," said IEYASU, " I die happy" Then he sent for his grandson IEMIITSU.  "You," said IEYASU to his grandson, "will govern the country later on.  The secret of government, let me tell you, is in kind feeling."  These were his last words.  He died April 17th [O.C.], A.D. 1616." 
SAN-YO sums up the character of IEYASU as follows: - 
"If IEYASU vas a man who, with a gentle and candid deposition, had a great purpose in life.  He used soldiers with the wisdom of a god.  He was fond of learning and anxious to become acquainted with the principles of government. 
"He loved his fellow-men and made good use of the advice they gave him.  In arranging affairs he took into consideration not only what was required in his own time, but what would suit tile generations that were to succeed him.  His allegiance to the emperor was all what could be desired.  He looked upon the preservation of the empire as something for which he was responsible.  He was economical, and never indulged in display of any killed.  He held farmers and peasants in high esteem, and was intimately acquainted with their affairs.  When he went out hunting, which he frequently did, he went partly for the purpose of hunting and partly to make inquiries into the state of the country and the people.  In governing, his great object was, not to crush, but to encourage the spirit, energy, and independence of thought of those beneath him.  He made it easy for men of inferior rank to speak their- minds whenever they pleased.  He discountenanced all flattery, trimming, and plausibility of speech and manner.  It is recorded of him that when he was young, some one in Owari sent him a shrike, known as the hundred-tongued bird.  He refused to accept it, remarking: - "I have heard it said that persons who expect to become leaders of men should avoid plausible things, and this hundred-tongued bird is certainly one of them.
IEYASU'S life is much less eventful, and hence, when written, much less entertaining than that of HIDEYOSHI, unless, indeed, the numerous interesting stories that are told bf the former were used as material for a biography.  The difficulty of doing this consists in the impossibility of finding out in what part of his life many of the incidents recorded of him took place.  It is for this reason that most of the tales related of the great TOKUGAWA Shogun have been given by us separately.  
Both HIDEYOSHI and IEYASU, on certain occasions, showed that they were men of violent passions, but on other occasions manifested rare self-command.  
There was less sophistry in the morality of IEYASU than in that of HIDEYOSHI, and on the whole IEYASU seems to have had a more benevolent, as well as a more refined and better disciplined, mind than that possessed by his illustrious contemporary.  The moral aspects of the characters of the two men present numerous features of interest, and would bear a more minute and exhaustive comparison than we can give them here. 
ABILITY  AND  SUCCESS.
ONE day NITTA YOSHIISADA, ASHIKAGA TADA\'OSHI, and NAWA NAGATOSHI happened to meet in the temporary residence of KUSUNOKI MASASHICE. 
Among other topics of conversation, the Gempei war came up, and YOSHISADA remarked that the most skilful warrior of those days was YOSHITSUNE. 
"YOSHITSUNE was very good in attacking an enemy," replied MASASHIGE, "but he was ignorant of military stratagem, and therefore though he might win a victory, he never knew how to make the best of it after it was von." 
"What about KISO YOSINAKA?" asked NAGATOSHI." 
"YOSHINAKA was rood in stratagem" replied MASASIGE, "and therefore he was a skilful warrior. He had the spirit of a true general and was full of forethought.  But what is most to be regretted about him is that, owing perhaps to the fact that he was totally ignorant of letters, he never seems to have known what was right and proper." 
TADAYOSHI now inquired why MASASHIGE: had said that YOSHINAKA was a skilful warrior." How could this be," he asked, seeing that he was defeated by YOSHITSUNE?" 
"Men's military ability," replied MASASHIGE, " is not to be measured exclusively by the victories they win or the defeats the)' undergo. Take, for instance, the war between Kan and So in China.  The Kan troops were defeated it over seventy battles.  Yet we cannot say that because they were thus defeated, KAN SHIN and CHO RYO were not skilful generals.  The Kan army did not lack skill, but the favorable time for the success of their arms had not arrived, and therefore they were defeated. YOSHINAKA'S being defeated by YOSHITSUNE was not caused by the former's want of skill in the art of war, but by the wickedness of his life: which wickedness made him unpopular as a man, and weakened his cause when he fought." 
YOSHISADA here replied: - "You said just now that YOSHINAKA was a general who had forethought, and now you say that he was a very wicked man.  How could this be? "  
"Forethought is, for the most part, not acquired by study.  It is born with people," replied MASASHIGE.  "If a person has an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the teaching of wise and good men, and their precepts be obeyed, then this forethought will lead to virtue.  Thieves are endowed with a good deal of forethought, or they would not be able to take the things they do, but they have not the knowledge that makes forethought conducive to a virtuous life.  And so is it with YOSHINAKA.  He was unacquainted with what is right, and therefore his forethought did not make him a righteous man.  Though he did not become a virtuous man, there are many things to show that he had virtuous tendencies which, had they been properly developed, would have led him to act very differently from what he did.  To give an instance of this: when he had conquered the TAIRA, he wished to assume the office of Kwambaku.  He was informed by a priest called KAKUMYO that unless he assumed the name of FUJIWARA he could not become Kwambaku.  To this he simply replied: -"Oh, is it so?  Then I will not become Kwambaku."  Even though he had changed his name and assumed the office, it would have been a small matter.  But, not wishing to change his name, it showed very good 
feeling on his part not to assume the office contrary to the custom of the country.  By this we may see that his was a nature which, had it been well developed, would have made him a virtuous man.  His treatment of the emperor was the result of ignorance rather than malice.  Had he been well acquainted with the way in which servants ought to treat their masters, he would not have acted as he did.  And, again, as a proof of his possessing susceptibilities to virtue that remained undeveloped, I may refer to what took place when he went to fight against YOSHITSUNE.  Thinking that a knight is one who ought not to live a sensual life, he sent away his favorite concubine TOMOE.  For the above reasons, them I consider YOSHINAKA to be superior to YOSHITSUNE." 
TADAYOSHI now asked: - "In what respects did YOSHINAKA'S endowments excel those of YOSHITSUNE? 
    "YOSHINAKA," replied MASASHIGE, " vas an illiterate man, but he had a heart that respected what was right.  YOSHITSUE; was not like this: he was well versed in literature, but he had no wish to do what was right.  Therefore it is that I affirm that the nature of YOSHINAKA was more highly endowed than that of YOSHITSUNE." 
Among the remarks which MASASHIGE is reported to have made on this occasion, none is more true than that which asserts that success is by no means to be made the sole or chief test of ability.  This is a truth that is often overlooked.  When men are unsuccessful in any enterprise, they are apt to think themselves, and others are apt to say of them, that their want of success is own to their lack of skill.  There are instances, of course, in which this is the case, but it must be borne in mind that success depends as much on favorable circumstances of various kinds as on the ability of those who superintend the carrying out of any given plan.  
The moral of all this is, that in the prosecution of any undertaking men are not to be discouraged by want of success, for the simple reason that the circumstances which are essential to its attainment are usually beyond their control.  
MASASFIICE'S remarks about YOSHINAKA'S susceptibility to virtue, his lack of the instruction to make him a virtuous man, and his defeat by YOSHITSUNE on account of his unruly life, show a deep insight into the occult causes of events, and well illustrate the fact that, not only skill and favorable circumstances, but a well trained moral nature is a sine qua non of success to him who aspires to lead and to govern his fellow-men. 
THE  USE  AND  ABUSE  OF  LEARNING.
1."LEARNING should be looked on as food to be eaten, and not as an ornament to please the eyes. 
2."Learning is often like some bad-smelling herb, which cannot be eaten until the smell is got rid of. Those who study little have a little of the smell, and those who study much have a great deal. 
3."Learning is like water that has dust on its surface; the lower part may be deep and clear, but, owing to the nature of the surface, it is unusable. 
4. "Learning appears a good or a bad thing according to the place to which it is assigned.  If a man carries his learning on the top of his nose, it looks bad ; if it be hidden in the innermost recesses of the heart, it looks well. 
5. Learning is not to be made, like the feats of an acrobat carried on above the heads of the people, something to be looked at but never attained to. "These maxims formed part of the instruction imparted by SHIN YASUSADA to his pupils.  Their meaning seems to be as follows: 
1.This remark is designed to slow that if the knowledge acquired is only used as an ornament to attract the attention of other and not made the means of strengthening and enriching the learner's own mind, it is misused. 
2.AS the simile employed here indicates, there is something very offensive to ordinary people's feelings the claims to superior scholarship put forth by some such persons smell booky, and it is only after this smell is got rid of and the information they have acquired appears as part of themselves, that their learning becomes really effective. 
3.A great deal depends on the exterior aspects of the learning a man possesses. It may be deep, but if that part of it which men see looks unpromising, they will judge of the 16wer part by the higher, of the invisible by the visible, and so will treat the whole with indifference, if not with contempt. 
4. The meaning of this remark resembles that of No. 

1.If learning is vainly displayed on all occasions without the slightest reserve, it becomes a disfigurement instead of an ornament, and loses all its north in men's eyes.  It is well known that the most valuable treasures are never found near the surface of the thing explored, but invariably concealed in its deeper parts. 
5. "Learned men are not to pretend that they are; superior to all other men, that they have reached heights to which no one call attain: rather are they to place themselves on a level with ordinary men, feeling that however much they know, they have still much to learn, and that whatever knowledge they have acquired may be acquired by any one of fair abilities who will give the time and attention necessary for its acquisition. 
AN HEICHU ON DEATH.
IN the Sengoku Period, there reigned in China, in the Kingdom of Sei, a duke called KEIKO.  One day, when walking with some of his attendants on the Ginzan mountains.  KEIKO turned towards the north, and, taking au extensive view of the country around, said to his attendants: - "What a country is this!  And how distressing to think that I must die and leave this beautiful land!  If there were no such thing as death, then I should be always here enjoying the country whose monarch I am" 
"Yes," replied the attendants, "and we should be here too enjoying your favor as we do to-day.  Your wish to live for ever is a natural one." 
AN HEICHO, who was present, laughed as he listened to these remarks. 
KEIKO, turning to him, asked why he laughed when others were more inclined to weep. 
"I laugh at the crudeness of your remarks," said HEICHU.  "You say that you wish there were no death.  But if there were no death for you, neither would there be death for others and so all the men that have lived in our country from ancient times would be living now.  In that case, those who govern it would be either the wisest or the bravest.  If the wisest, then either TAIKO or KANKO would be reigning.  If the bravest, then either SOKO or REIKO would be on the throne.  In either case, where would you be? Not walking on the Ginzan mountain with a large retinue, as you now are, but digging in yonder field-earning your living by dint of hard manual labor.  It is because death follows birth and birth death that you are now king of this country.  Is it not foolish then to mourn over an institution whose existence ha given you a kingdom? " 
Then, turning to the retainers who had all chimed in with KEIKO'S lamentation, he said: - "That all of you should so readily fall in with such senseless remarks as those that have been made and do your best to corroborate them by foolish comments-this it is that amuses me." 
The existence of death has on the whole in every country proved to be a help and not a barrier to progress.  To the individual it looks the cruelest of institutions, but to the race it has proved in many 
respects a benefactor; in that it has swept away persons who would have placed obstacles in the way of progress and development. 
A DARING CONSPIRACY.
I.
When TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI had completed the Victories which gave him absolute power over the entire empire of Japan and had retired to his castle at Osaka enjoy his well-earned repose, it was his desire that the people of his birthplace, situated in the district of Aichi, in the province of Owari, should come and settle in the wealthy city where he had taken up his residence, and there pursue their several callings: Among those who came was a certain dyer named YOSHIDA JIEMON, who was honored by having entrusted to him all the dyeing required by the court of HIDEYOSHI.  This was in the years A.D. 1573-91
On the death of HIDEYOSHI, in the 8th month of the 3rd year of Keich5 [A.D. 1598], one of his five chief ministers, ISHIDA MITSUNARI, made preparations at his castle of Sawayama (now Hikone), to commence hostilities against TOKUGAWA IEYASU.  The dyer JIEMON went to the castle of ISHIDA to dye clothes for the various banners and screens; but, the castle shortly after falling into the hands of IEYASU, JIEMON, with the rest, was taken prisoner.  On its being discovered, however, that he had taken no part in the fight, he was released.  Deprived of his patron, JIEMON wandered about from place to place, and at last settled down in the post-town of Yui, in the district of Fuji, in the province of Suruga.  As JlMON was an industrious and skilful workman, he soon laid by a little money, and, finding that he was in a position to marry, took to himself a wife, by whom he had a child born on the 5th month of the 10th year of Keicho [1605 A.D.], and whom he called FUJITARO.  In the following year the mother died. 
Now from his earliest years FUJITARO showed a great love for anything of a military nature.  When only five or six years old it was his delight, when he could obtain his father's permission, to get a number of playmates and go with them to the bank of the river, and there, constructing castles and fortresses, carry on a mimic warfare, he invariably assuming the command.  JIEMON'S wish, however, was that his son should become a priest, and at the age of seven FUJITARO was accordingly sent to a neighboring temple called Seikoji to be initiated into the profession.  Hitherto the boy had only shown his aptitude for warlike sports, but now he showed that he was also possessed of extraordinary powers of memory.  One day, shortly after his arrival at the temple, there was a debating assembly held, at which some two hundred priests were present.  FUJITARO listened attentively to all that went on, and that night astonished his guardian, the priest of the temple, by repeating to him the different views that had been expressed by the various priests on the subject under discussion.  
There happened to be living with the priest at this time a certain friend of his, a ronin named TAKAMATSU HAMBEI, who was an experienced soldier and an accomplished scholar in Chinese literature.  Under his tuition the priest accordingly placed FUJITARO, and in both branches of learning his progress was equally rapid and astonishing. 
In the nineteenth year of Keicho [1614 A.D.], IEYASU came marching through the province of Suruga at the head of an army on his way to Osaka to wage war against the son of HIDEYOSHI and his followers.  Certain old men in the village expressed great doubts whether IEYASU would be successful, as the castle of Osaka was known to be the strongest in the country and was reported to be garrisoned by something like a hundred and seventy thousand men.  This was said in the hearing of FUJITARO, who told the old gossips that they had better be going about their business of planting daikon instead of talking such nonsense.  The men were angry at hearing such remarks from a boy, but FUJITARO said: -- "NO castle, however strong, nor garrison, however numerous, can stand long if their commanders are incompetent and fools." 
This saying of the boy's proved true, for in the following year the Osaka troops were utterly defeated, and the son of HIDEYOSHI, in despair, committed seppuku. 
One day, FUJITARO asked his teacher what kind of a man HIDEYOSHI had been.  HAMBEI told him that he was nothing but the son of a farmer in the Aichi district, and that it was only by his abilities, his wisdom, and his valor that he had succeeded in becoming the first man in the country.  This set FUJITARO thinking that though he was but a dyer's son, yet if he possessed the mental power of HIDEYOSHI, there was no reason why he should not attain equally as eminent a position as that renowned warrior. 
Feeling that he needed to ally himself, at least by name, to some noble ancestry, he asked HAMBEI whom he considered the greatest general that Japan had produced.  HAMBEI replied that KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE was certainly entitled to that position, inasmuch as he combined the qualities of wisdom, valor, and benevolence.  So FUJITARO, because he had been born in the village of Yui, called himself YUI TACHIBANA SHOSETSU, MIMBUNOSUKE, thus making his family name the same as that of the illustrious general. 
Shortly after this, JIEMON was seized with a fatal illness, and, as he lay on his death-bed, he sent for FUJITARO, now called SHOSETSU, and said to him: -- "As I am about to die, I leave with you a precious heirloom, which has been in my family for many generations, having come to me from my brother JIROBEI, who was a skilful fencer."  He then produced a famous classical Chinese work in eight volumes on the art of war and military tactics, and gave it to his son as a parting gift.  He also requested that within seven days after his death the boy's head might be shaved and he be devoted to the priesthood, so that by his holy life he might atone for the sins of his ancestors and appease their spirits: he earnestly desired the priest to see that his instructions were carried out.
II. 
Three days after the death of his father it was reported that SHOSETSU had suddenly become deaf and dumb.  His guardian, the priest, took him to all the doctors of the village; but their remedies, instead of being of any service, apparently made him worse.  He seemed to have completely lost his senses.  He teased and struck the priest's child until it was nearly mad; he destroyed the sacred relics of the temple; he placed himself upon the altar among the holy idols of Buddha, and so conducted himself that the good people of the village were grieved at the sad change in one who had been noted for his good qualities and great promise, and looked upon him as one stricken by the curse of the gods.  Be that as it may, his conduct became so uncontrollable that the priest was forced to send him away from the temple, and place him under the care of his uncle, a man named SEIBEI, who was a blacksmith by trade. 
After SHOSETSU had remained some twenty days in SEIBEI'S house, his madness seemed to depart, but he still remained deaf and dumb.  When the weather was fine, he made the household understand that he wanted his midday meal prepared for him, and off he would go into the country, and return no more until night-fall.  But to this SEIBEI made no objection, for SHOSETSU could be made to render no service in the house, and this was the only way to keep him out of mischief.  This state of things lasted for five years, when, one day, SHOSETSU, coming to his uncle's side, astonished him by saying: -- "Uncle SEIBEI, it was my father's dying request that I should, seven days after his death, have my head shaved and become a priest.  Now, having heard stories of the great HIDEYOSHI from HAMBEI, my teacher at the temple, I determined that I would attempt to rival the deeds of that hero, the more so that I detested the priesthood.  For this reason I have, while living under your roof the last five years, pretended to be deaf and dumb.  But you must not think that I have been wasting these precious years.  While I have gone out into the country daily, it has not been for the purpose of fishing or idly spending my time.  I have been learning to swim, to run, and to jump with a bamboo stick.  I have been acquiring, too, a knowledge of fencing and spear exercise.  I have learned to ride, on horses left by the farmers in the fields, and every leisure moment I have employed in studying the books presented to me by my father on his death-bed.  I have also observed the country and its natural advantages in a time of war.  I now intend to go on a musha-shugyo for a period of five years, and learn the art of fencing and other military qualifications from such good masters as I shall meet during my wanderings." 
With much reluctance his uncle gave him permission to follow his desires, and, bidding him farewell, gave him a fine sword as a parting gift. 
The first step that SHOSETSU took after leaving his uncle's house was to pay a visit to a neighboring shrine.  After having performed his devotions, he wrote on one of the cherry trees growing near the following words: -- 
"Never again shall here my vows be paid, 
 Unless in richest silks I come arrayed." 
Then proceeding to the province of Kawachi, he visited the birthplace of KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE, and also the castle on Mount Honzo which the great general, with but comparatively few men, had successfully defended against the overwhelming forces of HOJO.  Thence, going to the famous temple dedicated to HACHIMAN at Tsuboi, at the root of a large pine tree at the back of the temple, he buried a banner resembling the one MASASHIGE had used, together with a family record of the great warrior which he (SHOSETSU) had made out when he was twelve years old.  This he placed in a strong box with the characters KUSUNOKI TACHIBANA MASASHIGE, KAWACHI-NO-HANGWAN.  Then, leaving Kawachi, he went to the provinces of Kaga and Echizen. 
III. 
One evening, as he was passing through a place on the sea-coast called Sabae, he found himself benighted, and was therefore compelled to enter a temple for a night's rest.  Before he fell asleep, some one came to the shrine, prayed and made an offering, and then went away.  Anxious to see what the stranger had offered, SHOSETSU arose, and found that a freshly-severed head had been placed before the altar.  He took it up and and hid it, and then went away into a corner of the temple to rest.  Without, the moon was shining brightly, but the interior of the shrine was shrouded in darkness.  Shortly after, the stranger returned, and, finding the head that he had offered was no longer where he had placed it, commenced to search for it on hands and knees over the floor of the temple.  SHOSETSU, making no sound, remained crouched in his corner.  At last the stranger approached the spot where he was, and, touching him with his hands, commenced feeling him to see what kind of a being he was.  SHOSETSU bore the inspection without a movement for a moment or two, but finally, unable to restrain himself any longer, burst into a loud laugh.  The astonished stranger hurriedly demanded who he was and what was his business in the temple, and both went out into the moonlight.  SHOSETSU then told him that his name was YUI, that he was a descendant of the famous KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE, and that he was now traveling on a musha-shugyo. 
In reply to the inquiries of SHOSETSU, the stranger replied that he was a ronin, formerly a retainer of the house of HOJO, by name KANAI HAMBEI.  SHOSETSU then asked him for what reason he had offered the head.  He replied that he himself was also on a musha-shugyo, and that the head was in pursuance of a vow to make kubitsuka. 
SHOSETSU at once challenged HAMBEI, saying: -- "We are both pursuing the same end, the attainment of military skill; let us see which is already the better man."  The challenge was at once accepted, and each drew his sword.  There they stood face to face, these two youths, the bright moonlight flashing on their skillfully wielded blades, whose clashing alone disturbed the silence of the lonely place.  For several minutes the combat was waged desperately; when at last HAMBEI, receiving a slight wound, lowered his sword and said: -- "Sir, I yield the victory to you.  I am by a great deal your inferior.  In future I shall consider myself as your pupil and retainer."  SHOSETSU at once put up his sword, saying: -- "Now we must go each his separate way, but some day or other we shall meet again in Edo."  Thus they parted. 
SHOSETSU now made his way southward, going to Shikoku.  Thence he crossed to Kyushu and went on to the island of Amakusa, everywhere taking lessons in fencing from whatever famous masters of the art he might meet, or trying his skill against those who had achieved distinction in swordmanship.  After a while, crossing again to the mainland, he went to the province of Kii, and made the acquaintance of SEKIGUCHI HAYATO, in the castle-town of Wakayama, who was the most renowned fencer in the whole province.  SHOSETSU lost no time in having a trial with him, and succeeded in holding his own against him.  HAYATO according engaged him as his chief assistant, and by the time he had held that position for a year or two, his fame became so great that the lord of the province desired to enroll him as one of his retainers.  On account of some jealous interference, however, the intentions of the lord were frustrated, and SHOSETSU, leaving Wakayama, turned his steps northward.  As he was passing across the plain of Aono, in the province of Mino, he met a young man dressed as a komuso. 
Entering into conversation with each other, SHOSETSU proposed that they should sit down on a stone by the wayside for a while and rest.  There not being room for both on the stone, the young komuso bent his left hand over a young tree which grew by the roadside, and rested himself upon it while he related his history; which was, briefly, that he was a ronin from Osaka named KATO ICHIEMON, whose father had been killed by SAKAI SANUKI-NO-KAMI, but as SANUKI-NO-KAMI now held the office of regent of the Shogun, he had been unable to avenge his father's death.  At one time, when SAKAI went as representative of the Shogun to preside at a festival at the Zojoji in Shiba where only women were permitted to be present, he had disguised himself as a woman, and gone to the festival with the intention of avenging his father's death by slaying his murderer, but he had been discovered and barely escaped with his life.  His intention now was to perfect himself in swordmanship during his travels through the country, and to seize the first favorable opportunity of executing vengeance on his foe. 
SHOSETSU was in no slight degree moved by what the youth told him, and said: -- "I see that you are no ordinary man.  You are quite right in thus pursuing the object of your revenge.  I, too, have certain wishes to fulfill.  Let us have a bout together and see how we stand in respect of skill.  He that wins shall be master, and he that loses shall be follower; but however the match may end, we will both promise to assist each other in accomplishing our plans."
ICHIEMON agreed to this, and, breaking branches from the tree to serve in the place of swords they set to.  SHOSETSU overcame his adversary, and the latter acknowledging himself his follower, they traveled on together for three days.  SHOSETSU was now informed by his companion that a certain KUSUNOKI FUDEN, a lineal descendant of the hero KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE, was the most famous military tactician of the day.  The two parted company, promising to resume their acquaintance at Edo on some future occasion. 
IV. 
SHOSETSU pursuing his journey northward, was passing over Iyahiko-yama, when he was attacked by a band of robbers numbering some seven or eight men.  He managed to disarm five of them without, however, doing them much harm, when they begged for mercy, which was granted them.  One of their number then stepped forward and said: -- "My name is KUMAGAI SABUROBEI.  I was formerly a retainer of the house of TAKEDA, the Earl of Kai, but I am now a ronin and the chief of a band of highwaymen, who number three hundred and eighty."  SHOSETSU advised them all to return to some honest calling and proceed to Edo, where he promised to find employment for them all. 
SHOSETSU then set out for Edo, where, on his arrival, he immediately called upon KUSUNOKI FUDEN, the famous military professor of whom ICHIEMON had told him, at his residence at Ushigome, and found that he had about three thousand pupils, many of whom were sons of daimyo or samurai of influence and position.  He introduced himself, saying: -- "I am YUI SHOSETSU, of such and such a province.  Having heard of your great fame during my travels, I have for some years past been desirous of being numbered among your pupils, and hence on my arrival in the capital, have come at once to apply for any vacant position, however humble, to which you may be pleased to appoint me."
FUDEN replied that no one was allowed to take up permanent residence in his house without a surety, but that if he wished he might remain under his roof a few days and rest from the fatigues of his journey.  SHOSETSU, determined to let no opportunity slip, gratefully accepted the offer, and did whatever was required of him in the most diligent and skilful manner.  So much so, indeed, that by the time he had been a week in the house, FUDEN, recognizing his splendid abilities, told him that he might remain in his school, and that he would in his case waive the question of surety. 
SHOSETSU therefore applied himself to his studies with extreme diligence, so that in a few years he surpassed his master's most famous pupils.  During that time FUDEN introduced him to most of the barons and men of rank, informing them that SHOSETSU was equal in all respects to himself both in literature and warlike accomplishments, and that henceforward their sons could receive their lessons from him.  Indeed, in a short space of time the impression became general that SHOSETSU was superior to his master. 
FUDEN had many years before lost his wife, who had left him with an only child, a daughter named KOMAN, who was now sixteen years old, and a girl of great beauty, and who, in accordance with a wish expressed by her mother, was betrothed to her cousin WADA MONDO, a nephew of her mother. 
Now SHOSETSU increased daily in favor with the barons at whose mansions he taught, and being made much of by persons of rank and wealth, permitted himself to be carried away by the evil spirit of ambition, and pondered how he should succeed to the position of his master FUDEN and become the owner of a family inheritance of extreme value.  Day by day the idea took possession of him, until at last he determined to carry it out even though crime might be necessary to its fulfillment.  Not that he desired to possess himself of the wealth of his master's family or to become the husband of the beautiful KOMAN, as might well have been supposed.  His sole wish was to have absolute control over the whole military school, and to obtain possession of two objects that were guarded in the family with the greatest care, which were the original copies of imperial decrees issued by the Emperor GODAIGO and his son Prince OTO, which had come down to FUDEN through many generations, from the hands of his ancestor KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE.  For SHOSETSU, who never for a moment lost sight of the great object of his life, the rivaling of the deeds of the hero TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI, knew full well that if he could induce people really to believe that he was an actual descendant of FUDEN'S noble ancestor, he would stand a greater chance of accomplishing his wishes and of commanding the services of a powerful and influential body of men in his pupils.  He saw that he must have recourse to treachery to obtain what he desired, and we now proceed to relate how he set about gaining his ambitious ends. 
In FUDEN'S house there dwelt at this time a young samurai who had fallen deeply in love with his master's pretty daughter, but he managed thus far so successfully to conceal his passion that no one but she whom he loved -- and loved in vain -- suspected its existence.  SHOSETSU, however, keen sighted and cunning as he was, soon saw and understood all.  One day he took the young fellow, KUROEMON by name, aside, and told him in the most serious manner that he had something of the greatest importance to disclose to him, and that although the matter was of an extremely delicate nature, he trusted that their long intimacy might excuse his speaking about it.  KUROEMON, greatly astonished, begged that he would speak unreservedly and tell him what had happened.  SHOSETSU then proceeded to tell him that their master FUDEN had discovered that his daughter KOMAN, who was engaged to another man, was in love with some one in the house with whom she had been carrying on an intrigue, and that as he considered it a disgrace that his daughter should be in love with some one who was no better than a servant, he had determined to slay the man, and save the honor of his family.  SHOSETSU, then asked if it was he, KUROEMON, who was in love with KOMAN.  KUROEMON replied that it was true, but he knew not whether his love were returned or no, as, although he had written to her, no answer had been vouchsafed to his letter. 
SHOSETSU immediately remarked that it must have been the letter which had betrayed the secret, and that he had little doubt that KOMAN returned his passion, but that she had not dared to send a reply to his letter, from fear of her father discovering that she was in love with one of his retainers.  KUROEMON said that in that case he would use every effort to obtain her in marriage, and SHOSETSU, having thus worked on the poor fellow's feelings, told him that he would do everything to aid him in carrying out his wishes, but that he must promise to act as he should suggest.  KUROEMON willingly gave his promise, and SHOSETSU then said that the first thing to be done was to get rid of FUDEN, and MONDO, the girl's betrothed. 
KUROEMON, entirely blinded by his passion, and believing that SHOSETSU was swayed by no other motive than a desire to aid him through feelings of friendship, replied that he would permit nothing to stand in the way of obtaining KOMAN. 
V. 
After much consideration, SHOSETSU told KUROEMON to go and tell MONDO that FUDEN had said that although his daughter was engaged to him (MONDO), he had no intention that she should marry him, for MONDO showed no attention to him or his daughter, but was a man of weak mind, spending his time solely in idleness and debauchery.  He had therefore determined to marry his daughter to SHOSETSU, who should inherit all his estates.  At the same time, as the engagement could not well be broken off, he could only see one way out of it, which was to get rid of MONDO, and he had therefore determined upon his death. 
KUROEMON did exactly as he was told, and repeated the whole story to MONDO, who was utterly confounded, but whose rage was, as SHOSETSU had desired, directed entirely against the innocent FUDEN, who had not even known that anything had passed between his daughter and one of his retainers. 
On the 11th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of Kan-ei [1632 A.D.], FUDEN said to SHOSETSU: -- "Tomorrow is the day on which I usually invite my friends to drink tea with me; but as I am called away and shall not return until late in the evening, postpone the party until the 13th.  SHOSETSU promised that he would do so, and, immediately seeking KUROEMON, told him to go at once to the residence of MONDO and tell him that the gathering had been postponed until the 13th, on which occasion FUDEN had determined to poison him.  He was also to hint that FUDEN would probably pass a lonely spot at a certain hour, and that as he had made up his mind to MONDO'S destruction, the latter would do well to be beforehand, and, lying in wait there, to kill him as he passed.  When MONDO heard this, he said to himself: -- "There can be no wrong in my slaying the man who is treacherously seeking to take my life."  So he determined to act upon the hint thrown out to him. 
At about ten o'clock, FUDEN, in ignorance of the treacherous plot laid for his destruction, was returning, accompanied by the trusted SHOSETSU, when, as they approached the fatal spot, SHOSETSU stopped, under pretence of adjusting his sandal.  Just as FUDEN was turning a corner, he was assailed by MONDO, and, before he could defend himself, fell pierced to death by a spear.  SHOSETSU, drawing his sword, ran forward, and crying: -- "What coward dares assail my master?" with one cut laid MONDO dead at his feet.  Then, running to the house, he told how the dastardly MONDO had attacked and slain his revered master, and that in his rage he (SHOSETSU) had cut the fellow down and killed him on the spot.  At this announcement the whole household was overwhelmed with grief for the loss of the master whom all had loved so well, and loud were the praises showered on SHOSETSU for his courage in taking such a swift revenge. 
Now as FUDEN, and MONDO, who was to have been his successor, were both dead, the question arose as to who should inherit the estates.  The relatives and principal pupils having consulted together, concluded that SHOSETSU was the only one who was competent to carry on the school which had been founded and conducted with such ability by their late master.  So on the 16th of the month he was installed in the place of FUDEN.  But the poor girl KOMAN was so shocked by the terrible fate of her father and lover that she refused all comfort, and becoming a priestess, retired to the nunnery of Kamakura to spend the rest of her life in works of devotion. 
SHOSETSU told KUROEMON that he had done all in his power to aid him, even to sacrificing both his beloved teacher and the unfortunate MONDO, but that KOMAN was so overcome by these misfortunes that it was impossible to induce her to listen to any proposal of marriage, and thus the scheme had failed.  He warned him, however, that if the tale should ever leak out he would be punished as one of the principals, and then presenting him with a small estate at Koji-machi, part of his ill-gotten spoils, and the sum of a thousand ryo, told him to settle down upon it and to hold his peace with regard to the whole proceeding. 
SHOSETSU was now the actual master of FUDEN'S school, whose numbers had increased greatly since he first joined FUDEN in its management.  He was also the possessor of the coveted manuscripts, so that now no one could doubt that he was the actual descendant of the great warrior KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE.  Not forgetful of his promises, he called to him the ronin and the band of highwaymen with whom he had met during his travels.  KANAI HAMBEI, KATO ICHIEMON, KUMAGAI SABUROBEI, one and all responded to his invitation, and with their numerous followers came to his residence in Edo. 
SHOSETSU found, however, that he could not keep so many men at his own house and at his own expense.  Moreover he feared that the presence of such a powerful and reckless body of followers might arouse suspicion and bring him into discredit with the authorities.  He therefore used the influence which he had acquired with various barons and rich families to get them engaged as teachers, and his patrons, feeling sure that SHOSETSU would recommend no one who did not possess the necessary ability, were eager to engage their services, and thus he obtained employment for nearly the whole of them.  Neither did he forget his uncle SHOBEI, who had befriended him in former days, but establishing an ironworks shop in connection with his school, put him in charge of it.  He also set up an armorer's shop, at the head of which he placed the son of a famous armorer who had been sent away from his home for misconduct and who had applied for and obtained the protection of SHOSETSU.  In these shops he found employment for a number of pupils and followers. 
In acting thus he had a two-fold object: namely, to keep his men constantly at work, so that no feeling of discontent might be allowed to arise among them, and also that, when he should find it convenient to cause a disturbance, he might have a body of followers perfectly qualified to make and provide weapons and warlike appliances.  So that no suspicious of his intention might be aroused, he opened a number of small shops in the neighborhood of the school for the sale of firearms, spears, swords, armor, and such like; and, calling the attention of the various barons to the excellence of the articles manufactured under his own superintendence, requested that they would honor him by purchasing from him whenever they required supplies.  In consequence he received from them large orders, and so extensive did this business become and so judiciously was it conducted that in the space of three years he found that he had amassed between twenty and thirty thousand ryo from the profits of his trade alone. 
Now there was a certain young man named MARUBASHI CHUYA, a son of the Earl of Tosa, who had turned ronin in consequence of his father having been deprived of all his estates after his defeat by TOKUGAWA IEYASU.  He was but a child when his father was ruined, and had fled with his mother to Yamagata in the northern province of Dewa, where he was brought up.  He was now a full-grown, powerful young fellow, well-skilled in the use of the sword, and having heard of the fame of SHOSETSU, came to Edo with a friend named OKUMURA, an archer of renown, and together they called upon SHOSETSU, who, willing to see what skill they really possessed, allowed them a trial, but found that they were no match for him in either the use of the sword or the bow.  Burning to avenge his father's wrongs, CHUYA remained in Edo awaiting a favorable opportunity to take part in a rising against the Shogun's Government, but of his designs he had hitherto said nothing to SHOSETSU.  One day, when SHOSETSU was on a visit to him, in the course of conversation CHUYA asked him about his family, and learned that he was a descendant of KUSUNOKI MASASHIGF; CHUYA then told him who he was, of the sad fate of his father and the loss of his estates, and they were thus led on to speak of their designs.  They mutually agreed that no time must be lost, but that they would at once arrange some plan of action, and each bound himself by a solemn pledge to assist the other.  From this time forth they held frequent consultation, at which a friend of CHUYA named SHIBATA, of Yamagata, a man of great bodily strength, was invited to assist, but their plans were never made known to OKUMURA, whom they knew to be loyal to the Government. 
One day, during the 15th year of Kan-ei [A.D. 1638], SHOSETSU said in the presence of a large number of his pupils, that he had had a wonderful dream the previous night, in which it seemed that a warrior in courtdress had appeared to him, and, addressing him, said: -- "You are my lineal descendant, and if you require a proof of this, dig at the root of the great pine tree behind the temple of HACHIMAN at Tsuboi in Kawachi."  SHOSETSU, however, laughingly remarked that, although the dream was so vivid as to have caused a deep impression, he looked upon all dreams as senseless kind of things. 
Some of the pupils said, however, that the dream might have some meaning, and offered to go and see if what had been told to SHOSETSU could possibly be true.  Accordingly they went to the place spoken of, and there, to their astonishment, they found an old box, evidently buried in the ground many years before, which contained the flag of the mighty warrior and the pedigree of the house of KUSUNOKI.  Not in the least suspecting that SHOSETSU could in any way be concerned in its having been placed in the spot where it was found, they returned in great haste with the precious emblems, and announced in what miraculous manner the revelation of their existence had been made.  By this scheme the fame of SHOSETSU was greatly enhanced, and he obtained increased influence over his followers.  From this time he commenced to take a few of his most trusted pupils into his confidence, and to make known to them his secret designs.  At the same time he set about his preparations for the outbreak that was to decide his fate. 
He had now arrived at the age of thirty-six, but would entertain no idea of marriage, for he well knew the risk that he was running and the uncertainty of his future, and wished to leave behind no family who might be disgraced by his failure. 
VI. 
It is now necessary to go back a year or two in the narrative, to the commencement of the 13th year of Kan-ei [A.D. 636].  At this time YOMOSAKU, an industrious, simple-minded farmer, who made his living by his daily toil in cultivating the small portion of land that he owned, was hard at work with his two daughters MIYAGINO and SHINOBU, the eldest of whom was about thirteen years old, weeding the newly-sown rice field close to their dwelling in the village of Sakato in Oshu.  Along the road that passed the field where they were at work was coming a samurai named SHIGA DANSHICHI, a man of about twenty-seven years of age, a powerful fellow, and one of the most noted fencers among the retainers of KATAKURA KOJURO, a vassal of the Earl of Sendai, whose estate at the castle-town of Shiraishi was not far distant.  Little SHINOBU, having her back turned towards the road, and not suspecting that anyone was passing, happened to throw behind her some weeds that she had just pulled up, which, as ill luck would have it, struck the samurai's trousers.  The fellow, enraged at what he chose to consider the insult of having dirt thrown at him by a peasant, threatened to kill the girl.  The terrified father prostrated himself before the samurai praying that his child's life might be spared, but the bully's anger was not appeased, and, with one stroke of his sword, he severed the peasant's head from his body, leaving the two poor children to mourn over the corpse of their murdered parent.
Returning home, the children told their dreadful tale to their mother, who was lying seriously ill at the time.  The poor woman was so horrified by the news that she died in a few hours.  The orphans were accordingly taken to the house of their aunt, who offered to adopt them; but, after a few days, the girls requested that they might be permitted to go in search of some employment, as they did not wish to be dependent on their relatives.  At first the aunt refused, but as the girls persisted in their request, she at last gave an unwilling consent.  Accordingly, collecting together a few clothes, and taking the little money that their parents had saved, they left their aunt's house and went out alone into the world.  It was not, however, employment that they were going to seek, but revenge.  Young as they were they could appreciate the shameful wrong they had suffered by their father's murder and were determined to seek redress.  After many a weary day's journey, sustained by their determination, they at last reached Edo. 
The first thing these two friendless children did was to set about finding out who was the most famous teacher of sword and spear exercise in the capital.  With this intention they frequented the most crowded places, such as Ryogoku-bashi and Asakusa, and listened attentively to the conversation of the samurai and students who resorted there.  The man whose praises seemed in everyone's mouth was someone called SHOSETSU.  He appeared to be the greatest teacher of fencing in the city.  Finding out where he lived, they mustered up courage to call on him at his residence at Ushigome; and, being received, related to him the whole of their sad story: how they had seen their father murdered, and how their mother had died of grief, and that, though young in years, they had determined on revenge; that they were entirely ignorant of the use of weapons; but that, strengthened by their filial love, they had ventured to call on him, the greatest master in the country, and entreat him to instruct them.  
SHOSETSU was greatly moved by their story, and not only promised to teach them, but said that he would take them entirely under his protection.  He took them into his house for a term of three years, and placed them under the special care of his mistress.  They were instructed in the use of the sword, the spear, the sickle, and the dirk known as the shuriken.  They applied themselves with great diligence and made rapid progress.  When the term of three years had expired, SHOSETSU told them to continue their studies one year longer.  At the end of that time he matched them against his ordinary pupils.  The girls in most instances came off victorious, often beating even those who had been practicing for a number of years.  SHOSETSU was delighted at this result of his pains, and told them that they might now go back to their native province and seek their revenge with a certainty of obtaining it if skill could avail. 
Of the two sisters who had thus given such extraordinary evidence of their prowess, the elder was most skilled in the use of the sickle and in dirk-throwing, while the younger could better wield the naginata, or halberd.  SHOSETSU, therefore, presented them with these weapons when they were about to leave his house, as a means by which they might avenge the murder of their father.  He also furnished them with the clothes they would require for their journey, and ordered three of his stalwart followers, MATSUDA, SHIBATA, and TSUBONAI to escort them on their road.  The lastnamed of these men had been one of that body of highwaymen who attacked SHOSETSU years before in the mountain-pass in Echigo. 
The five travelers, being fully equipped, started on the road towards the famous town of Sendai.  On their arrival at Shiraishi, they petitioned KATAKURA KOJURO, the vassal of the Earl of Sendai, that the two girls MIYAGINO and SHINOBU, might be allowed to challenge to mortal combat his retainer SHIGA DANSHICHI, for the dastardly murder of their father four years before. 
KATAKURA referred the request to DATE MASAMUNE, the Earl of Sendai, and on receiving favorable reply granted the required permission. 
Preparations were made for the combat to take place in public, a space of two hundred feet square being fenced off with bamboo for the purpose.  On the day appointed, MASAMUNE, attended by KATAKURA KOJURO and seventy of his chief vassals, appeared on the scene to witness the fight, and from far and near so large a number of people flocked in, that the services of three hundred foot-soldiers were required to keep the ground. 
Punctually to the hour named, DANSHICHI entered the lists at one end, and, with his drawn sword in his hand, advanced to meet the little SHINOBU, who had entered at the opposite end, and who was armed only with the spear which SHOSETSU had given her.  An officer whose duty it was to see that the combatants were properly accoutered, discovered that DANSHICHI had taken the cowardly precaution of wearing chainarmor under his clothes, and as this was directly in contravention of the rules of a duel a outrance, it was stripped off him by command of MASAMUNE, amidst expressions of scorn and contempt from the spectators. 
The combatants were then placed opposite each other and the signal given to begin the fight. Cautiously they commenced, and for a time neither obtained any advantage.  The lookers-on turned and hardly trusted themselves to draw breath as SHINOBU lost ground, but relief was felt as she put forth all the energy of which she was capable, and, dexterously managing her weapon, forced her foe to retreat before her and so recovered the advantage she had previously lost.  An interval for rest was then called, when it was discovered that both combatants were slightly wounded.  On the renewal of the contest SHINOBU'S place was taken by her elder sister MIYAGINO, who was armed with the sickle and a few dirks.  A desperate fight ensued, and at last MIYAGINO succeeded in planting a dirk in each of the eyes of her opponent.  Blinded by this, DANSHICHI struck wildly in every direction with his sword, until MIYAGINO entangled his right arm with the chain attached to her sickle, and then with one blow cut off both his arms.  Calling SHlNOBU, she directed her to sever the head of their foe from his body, which was at once done, to the admiration of all present.  Thus was the girls' long desired revenge accomplished. 
Both the girls were sought in marriage by members of high families in the neighborhood, and received numerous offers of adoption, but declined all, saying that though they had accomplished their cherished purpose, it had necessitated the shedding of blood, which only a life of retirement and devotion could expiate.  They therefore retired at once to Kamakura where they took the vows of nuns.  This event occurred in the 17th year of Kan-ei [A.D. 1640], and caused the name of SHOSETSU to ring throughout the land.  Everywhere his kindness was extolled as equal to his well known wisdom and prowess. 
About this time SHOSETSU commenced to take active steps towards the carrying out of his deep-laid plans.  First of all he made a close imitation of the seal of the wealthy Earl of Kii, by the use of which he was enabled to collect large sums of money; but he took the precaution of making this imitation differ from the real seal in some minor particulars which would escape casual observation, for reasons which will appear later on. 
SHOSETSU then called together the principal men among his party, and a consultation was held as to the course to be pursued, when the following steps were decided upon.  One ARITAKE was to undermine the powder-magazines within the Shogun's castle at Edo, working from without the moat.  A train thus laid would be fired at a given signal and the magazines blown up, while some of his accomplices were to set fire at the same time to other parts of the city.  During the confusion which would ensue, three hundred men disguised in dresses bearing the TOKUGAWA hollyhock crest, under the leadership of SHIBATA, were to enter the castle in a body as though they desired to render assistance to or insure the safety of the Shogun, and, taking advantage of the opportunity thus afforded, seize the person of the Shogun and bear him off at once to Nikko.  To secure a safe retreat, MARUBASHI CHUYA, at the head of one thousand men, was to follow SHIBATA to Nikko, and after crossing the river at Kurihashi, break down the embankments and flood the country, so as to prevent pursuit by the Shogun's troops.  KATO ICHIEMON and KUMAGAI SABUROBEI were to proceed to Kyoto at the head of a large force, and on hearing that Edo and Sumpu, in Suruga, were in flames, were to immediately attack the Imperial palace, seize the person of the Mikado, confine him in a temple on Hieizan, and there compel him to issue a decree for the chastisement and deposition of the TOKUGAWA Shogun.  KANAI HAMBEI and YOSHIDA KATSUEMON were to proceed to Osaka and there incite the ronin to join their enterprise, and hold themselves in readiness to render assistance to their fellow conspirators at Kyoto if necessary.  In the meantime SHOSETSU, at the head of his remaining followers, was to advance to Suruga, capture the castle of Sumpu, and, having taken up a strong position on Kuno-zan, be prepared to support the force at either Kyoto or Osaka.  Nikko was decided upon for their head-quarters. 
In the first year of Keian [A.D. 1648], some business or another took CHUYA over Benkei-bashi, where he could not help stopping to examine well the castle and the moat, while he pondered how best he would be able to cross the latter in making an attack on the castle.  While so occupied, MATSUDAIRA IZU-NO-KAMI, who had been appointed Regent during the illness of the Shogun, passed by and noticed CHUYA'S fixed attention.  Calling to him an official of the Bakufu named AMANO YAGORO, who happened to be passing at the time, he demanded if he knew who the man was that was so attentively scanning the castle.  AMANO replied that the man in question was MARUBASHI CHUYA, the noted fencer. 
On hearing this, IZU-NO-KAMI ordered YAGORO to approach him, and address him as follows: -- "You have the appearance of a man who is plotting some mischief.  I will not order your arrest now, but remember, if ever an outbreak occurs you will be the first whose arrest I shall secure." 
IZU-NO-KAMI then proceeded on his way, telling CHUYA, in addition, that he had heard of his great skill in the use of the spear, and that in consequence he would receive him at his residence whenever he chose to call upon him. 
In the 4th month of the 4th year of Keian [A.D. 1651], the third Shogun of the TOKUGAWA line, IEMITSU, died.  SHOSETSU and CHUYA decided that the time had now arrived for carrying their plans into execution; so they called a meeting of the leaders of their party for the 25th of the month, at Dokan-yama, a noted place of entertainment between Ueno and Asuka-yama, in Edo, to discuss the steps which should be taken.  It was then decided that those who were to proceed to Kyoto and Osaka should set out for their destinations at once, and that SHOSETSU should secretly supply them with funds. 
So, the day following, KATO ICHIEMON and KUMAGAI SABUROBEI left for Kyoto, and KANAI HAMBEI and YOSHIDA KATSUEMON for Osaka, the men under their command getting out of Edo so as to escape observation, and in an equally cautious manner taking up their quarters in the neighborhood of the cities of Kyoto and Osaka.  SHOSETSU provided them with money as he had promised, and these bands, as they quietly waited until the time for action arrived, gradually increased their force by persuading large numbers of ronin in the neighborhood to join them. 
SHOSETSU handed to CHUYA the sum of five thousand ryo, but the latter, however, deemed it insufficient to cover the expenses of his party at Edo, and being averse to apply to SHOSETSU for further assistance, set about trying to collect more money on his own account.  From an arrow-maker named TOGORO he borrowed two hundred ryo, telling him that he would repay this sum on the 13th day of the 7th month. 
VII. 
So far matters progressed favorably, but it was not long before events occurred which delayed the plans of action which had been agreed upon.  News arrived from Kyoto that KUMAGAI SABUROBEI, the chief of the band of robbers who had attacked SHOSETSU among the mountains of Echigo years before, and who was now appointed to a command in the conspiracy, had been led into such extravagant expenditure at Kyoto that shame at the consequences of his imprudence had caused him to desert.  Then CHUYA was taken ill with fever, and was in danger of discovering the plot: for, becoming delirious, he imagined he was leading an attack, and called out in a loud voice: -- "SHIBATA, take the Shogun to Nikko, set the city on fire," and such like; so that SHOSETSU had hard work to keep him quiet. 
When CHUYA had fully recovered and SHOSETSU'S preparations were considerably advanced, the latter called another meeting of his party on the night of the 18th of the 7th month at Dokan-yama.  Two thousand eight hundred of his followers then mustered, and it was resolved that a simultaneous attack should be made on the castles of Edo and Sumpu on the 26th of that mouth, and that as soon as the news of these attacks should be received at Kyoto and Osaka, their partisans should put into immediate operation the plans which had been already agreed upon. 
All being thus arranged, SHOSETSU left Edo on the 21st of the 7th month, the one thousand men who were to act immediately under his command having left the city in small bodies, so as not to attract attention, and shortly afterwards assembling at the rendezvous in the neighborhood of Sumpu as agreed upon.  To cover his expenses, SHOSETSU had continued to raise considerable sums of money by means of the forged seal of the Earl of Kii. 
Immediately after the departure of SHOSETSU, SHIBATA commenced his operation of undermining the powder-magazine in the castle, and laying plans whereby the city could be fired in numerous quarters at a given signal.  As to MARUBASHI CHUYA, he still considered it requisite to raise additional funds, not with the intention of betraying or thwarting SHOSETSU'S plans, but because he felt convinced that the more money he could obtain the more effectually could he carry his plans into execution.  Imbued with this notion, he set off on the evening of the 23rd day of the 7th month to the house of a wealthy merchant named MATABEI, with whom he had become slightly acquainted, and tried to borrow of him five hundred ryo, stating as his reason for asking such a sum, that he had taken service with the Earl of Kaga, and required the money for his traveling expenses.  He added that his appointment would enable him to repay the sum he desired to borrow in a very short time.  This tale had no effect on the merchant, who declined to lend the money on such security.  At last CHUYA, thinking that an admission of the real purposes for which the money was required would secure its being supplied, thus addressed the merchant: -- "Now, to tell you the truth, the reason why I wish you to lend me the money is this.  I am about to engage in a plot, the plans for which, having been laid for years, are now in course of being carried out at Sumpu, Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo.  At the present moment there is no obstacle to success but the want of money, so I therefore beg you to lend me the sum I require, and when success has crowned our attempt, I will return you ten times the amount I now wish to borrow from you.  MATABEI was greatly alarmed at what he heard, though he did not allow his face to betray his apprehension, but promised that by the next day he would place three thousand ryo at CHUYA'S disposal. 
As soon, however, as CHUYA retired, MATABEI hastened to impart the information he had thus obtained to a mutual friend named OKUMURA.  This OKUMURA accompanied CHUYA from Yamagata to Edo when they first visited the capital, but being himself loyal, had not been invited to join the conspiracy. 
OKUMURA decided that the Bakufu should without loss of time be made acquainted with the whole affair, and accompanied MATABEI at once to the residence of the Regent, MATSUDAIRA IZU-NO-KAMI, to whom they related the circumstances of CHUYA'S confession. 
Now ever since the meeting on the Benkei-bashi, IZU-NO-KAMI had doubts about CHUYA.  On hearing the report of the informants, he at once suspected that some dangerous plot was about to be put into execution.  His suspicions were confirmed when the arrowmaker soon after appeared, and with fear and trembling informed him that CHUYA had shortly before borrowed money from him, which was to have been repaid on the 13th of that month, but that on application to CHUYA, not only was the money not forthcoming, but that he (the arrow-maker) had been forced to pledge himself that he would join the conspiracy in which CHUYA was engaged. 
VIII. 
IZU-NO-KAMI was now convinced that a great danger threatened the State, and that prompt steps must be taken to meet it, so he went at once to the Bakufu, and giving out that the Shogun was dangerously ill, summoned the Earls of Mito and Owari to present themselves in council without delay.  On their arrival a consultation was held, and orders at once issued to all the barons in Edo to place the city under the strictest guard, while messengers were immediately dispatched to the Governors of Sumpu, Kyoto, and Osaka, informing them of the discovery of a plot, and advising them to take prompt measures to prevent its outbreak. 
IZU-NO-KAMI next ordered ISHIYA-SHOGEN, the Governor of Edo, to dispatch seventy constables to the residence of MARUBASHI CHUYA and there arrest him at once. 
By the morning of the 24th day of the 7th month every part of the city was closely guarded by the retainers of the various barons.  When the Bakufu officers arrived at CHUYA'S house, he was in bed, sleeping off the effects of an over-indulgence in sake, yet, as soon as one of the officers incautiously approached too near him, he sprang up in his bed, seized his sword, and made the poor wretch feel the full force of that strength for which he was so notorious, a second officer similarly paid for his temerity with his life, and a concerted attack by two others was easily repelled.  A rush was then made by all the officers on CHUYA.  One after another they fell, but eventually their numbers proved too much for the conspirator, who, seeing that further resistance was vain, attempted to commit suicide, but was prevented, seized, bound, and carried off, together with his wife and children, for examination before the Governor.  A large sum of money that was discovered in his house, was also taken possession of.  SHIBATA escaped to Suruga, but upwards of three hundred and seventy arrests were made that day in Edo.  Barrels of gunpowder were discovered in various parts of the city, with trains ready laid, so that at a given signal the city would have burst into flames in numerous quarters. 
When the Bakufu's order to arrest SHOSETSU reached OKUBO GENBA-NO-KAMI, the Commandant of the Castle of Sumpu, he immediately collected a force of one hundred and fifty warriors, and then summoned SHOSETSU to appear before him.  SHOSETSU'S followers urged their leader to appeal to arms, as no other alternative was left him, but SHOSETSU dissuaded them from such rashness, saying: -- "If there was any chance that the desire I have for so many years cherished could be attained and my faithful and beloved followers rewarded for their devotion, I would not hesitate to lead you to battle, but I foresee that any such attempt would now end in failure.  It would be but the means of unnecessary bloodshed, and would also entail undeserved misery and hardship on many.  It is better, therefore, that I should die, and cause as little suffering as possible to others."  These words concluded, SHOSETSU committed seppuku, and his example was immediately followed by his principal officers.
On the 29th day of the 7th month ITAKURA SUO-NO-KAMI and KUKI HIZEN-NO-KAMI, the Governors of Kyoto, sent seventy detectives and three hundred constables to arrest the conspirators there, and, after desperate fighting, KATO ICHIEMON and others were captured and put to death, after being subjected to cruel torture in order to induce them to confess.  A strict search was made for KUMAGAI SABUROBEI, who had previously deserted from KATO'S party, but his whereabouts could never be discovered, and it is not known even to this day what became of him. 
Now at Osaka both HAMBEI and YOSHIDA KATSUEMON were in a great state of anxiety when they heard that SABUROBEI had deserted from KATO, and, receiving no good news from the north, YOSHIDA set off in that direction in order to see if he could pick up any information on the road.  At Yamazaki he encountered HORI NIZAEMON, the Governor of Arima, at the head of one hundred men, who had been dispatched to capture the Osaka conspirators.  By them he was arrested, and eventually put to death.  On receipt of this sad news KANAI HAMBEI made his escape, but committed suicide on the 3rd day of the 8th month. 
To return once more to Edo.  MARUBASHI CHUYA was subjected to the most cruel torture by stone, fire, and water, but would not confess one iota, declaring that he would not utter a word to implicate others even if boiled in oil.  His wife and two children were then brought into his presence, and he was informed that they would be made to undergo the same torture that had been applied to him if he still refused to confess.  Strong-minded as he was, CHUYA was not proof against this abominable cruelty, and confessed that SHIBATA was implicated in the plot.  Beyond this he would say nothing, and on the 19th day of the 8th month was crucified, together with his two little innocent boys, aged respectively five and twelve years.  Of the others arrested, thirty of the most prominent suffered a similar shameful death at Suzugamori. 
On hearing of the wretched fate which had befallen their generous benefactor, the two women MIYAGINO and SHINOBU, left Kamakura and hastened to Suruga.  On their arrival at the city of Sumpu they ascertained that the head of their former master, YUI SHOSETSU, was subjected to the disgrace of public exposure, together with the heads of eleven of his followers.  An application to the authorities to be allowed to take the head away was refused, on the ground that it was to remain exposed seven days, but that the body would be given up to them if they so desired.  These brave and determined women, who had not forgotten their master's past kindness, resolved to abstract from its disgraceful position the head which was more precious to them than anything else in the world, and bury it decently.  They succeeded in their design that very night, and reverently interred the head of their benefactor at Abekawa, one ri south of Sumpu, or Shizuoka, as the town is now called.  Together they took up their residence at Murokuji-cho in the former place, so that they could conveniently watch for the rest of their lives over the grave which contained what was so dear to them. 
The Earl of Kii was at first under suspicion of complicity in the plot, on account of the use SHOSETSU had made of his forged seal; but one of the conspirators declaring that SHOSETSU had purposely made an alteration in one of the characters of the seal by which the innocence of the baron could be established, the impressions of the two seals were closely compared, and the truth of this confession was confirmed and the loyalty of the Earl established. 
In reward for the energy and promptness which IZU-NO-KAMI had shown in discovering and overthrowing the most extensive plot ever known in Japan, he was rewarded with an estate producing five thousand koku of rice per annum.  The merchants MATABEI and OKUMURA were requited by receiving an annual pension of three hundred koku of rice each; nor was the service rendered by the arrow-maker in giving information of what he knew overlooked: he also received a pension.

TOKIWA'S FLIGHT. 
TOKIWA stole across the garden and, passing out by a wicket at the back of a thickly wooded hill, gained the main road in safety.  Here her progress was not at first as difficult as she had expected, for though the wind, blowing from behind, sometimes almost whirled her from the path, and sometimes pushed her with irresistible force into treacherous and hidden ruts, its strength was on the whole more friendly than obstructive, so that, ready to gather comfort from any happy accident, the unhappy lady began to consider her prospects with more attention than she had hitherto dared to bestow on them. 
Her intention was to seek an asylum at the house of a friend in Fushimi.  The route thither would oblige her to pass before the gates of KIYOMORI'S headquarters at Rokuhara; but this very fact, if only it did not induce detection, was calculated to baffle pursuit.  Her husband's flight, too, had been directed northwards, while hers would lead her south of the capital, and if either diverted attention from the other, it were no inconsiderable gain.  Moreover, although the perils and hardships of this midnight journey obliged her to leave her mother behind at Susaka, she was unwilling to add distance to the difficulties of their reunion.  Therefore she made Fushimi her goal, not indeed because each of these arguments presented itself to her judgment clearly and in detail, but because the love of a mother, the devotion of a wife, and the tenderness of a daughter instinctively became her guides when reason was paralyzed by dismay. 
But Fushimi was fully eight miles distant, and it was weary work plunging through the snow, and looking vainly for some landmark to record the result of efforts growing each moment more painful and less successful.  The eldest boy seemed to have comprehended that this cruel exposure to the icy blast, this hopeless passage from darkness to darkness, and these profitless exertions ending only in exhaustion, were miseries beyond present help.  He never from the first uttered protest or complaint, but trudged along as best he might, unconscious that his patient fortitude made his mother's heart bleed doubly for his sufferings.  And when at last the brave little fellow's breath came quicker and quicker, when, grasping his mother's hand with both his own, he drew his feet more and more slowly from the deepening drift and staggered more and more under the merciless blows of the storm; when, although his voice was silent, TOKIWA knew that his tears were falling fast, and when, too, the piercing cold began to wring from the baby she carried on her back that most pitiful of all human sounds, a child's subdued sobbing, mingled at times with feeble wails of suffering; then in truth, for all her stout heart and fathomless affection, the woman had well nigh yielded to the despair that was fast chilling her heart.
Scarcely a tithe of her journey was achieved, and yet she had already begun to fancy its difficulties insurmountable.  Of bodily fatigue, indeed, she had no perception.  Delicate nurture and natural frailty lost their ability to disable in proportion as her sympathy for her children's sufferings grew more intense.  But in the intervals that separated the low menace of the distant blast from the furious violence of its presence, the darkness itself seemed to deepen over her and crush her, and a passionate impatience grew up within her heart as she listened to her baby's moaning and remembered that this was but the beginning of her troubles. 
Unconsciously she slackened her pace and suffered her thoughts to wander so far from the present that a circle of light, slowly growing amid the darkness ahead, had attracted her attention for some moments before it began to excite her interest.  At first the aspect of this brightness only inspired unreasoning hopes; but when she observed that it was gradually coming nearer and resolving itself into a number of smaller lights, which from their peculiar motion she recognized to be the lanterns carried by mounted men at their girdles, there was no longer any room to doubt that to all her difficulties was about to be added the crowning peril of an encounter with the men that sought her children's lives.  
The road at this point ran along a ledge cut in the face of a hill that almost overhung the river.  On the left was a steep scarp, half rock, half marl, while on the right, the debris cast down from the cutting formed a little bank overgrown with reeds and alders.  How far the river had encroached upon this bank, or whether, indeed, it did not entirely surround it, there was no possibility of determining in the darkness. 
Into this tangled mass of reeds, so interlaced by the eddying wind that the snow flakes, powerless to penetrate their interstices, had grown into a sea of white billows above them, TOKIWA gazed irresolutely for a moment, unable to commit her children and herself to such a doubtful shelter.  But when she turned back, half-unnerved, the horseman were so near that she could distinguish the coat of arms on their lanterns.  That coat of arms was KIYOMORI'S.  Another instant's hesitation would have deprived her of the power to choose, so, with a throbbing heart and a half-uttered prayer, she leaped blindly down into the gloom. 
So vividly had fancy portrayed the possibilities this leap might entail that TOKIWA could scarcely believe her senses when she found herself standing safely below.  It was in truth no trivial good fortune that her encounter with her husband's pursuers -- for such indeed these soldiers were -- should have fallen out at this particular place, for not only did she find firm footing among the reeds, but, by creeping a little farther down the bank, she was completely concealed from the road.  Almost immediately afterwards she heard the tramp of horses overhead and saw the gleam of lanterns sweep over the slow current at her feet. 
II. 
TOKIWA did not emerge from her hiding-place until the clank of the bridle chains and the thud of the heavy stirrups beating the horses flanks as their riders urged them to fresh speed, had entirely ceased to be audible.  She felt, on resuming her journey, that the chances of escape were now considerably increased, for if, as she suspected, Susaka was the destination of the soldiers, it was more than unlikely that they would return to seek a fugitive on the road they had but just traversed.  But though the comfort in this hope served for a time to lighten fatigue, wayfarers so feeble and so little capable of any protracted effort were soon glad to seize any opportunity of shelter and rest offered by a chance gable or tenantless porch, and it was during one of these brief pauses that TOKIWA, looking back, again observed a light in the distance; a light feebler than the first, but inspiring alarm from the earliest moment of its discovery, since it emerged from the darkness into which so formidable a peril had but lately disappeared. 
She watched the gradual approach of this with a feeling of terrified fascination.  Its progress was not uniform; now it seemed to remain stationary, now to pass from side to side of the road, and once it was even carried back a short distance as though its bearer feared to overlook the object of his search.  Such an incident could have but one signification for the unhappy lady.  Snatching up her eldest boy, she fled blindly and breathlessly away. 
How far she might have proceeded on her headlong course, or whether any bodily suffering could have stayed her, it is impossible to say.  Certain it is that though she had run a distance sufficient to exhaust many a strong man, her speed remained unabated when her progress was arrested at a point where the river crossed the road in a wide stream, the ruins of a wooden bridge hanging suspended over its margin.  Here a temporary ferry had been established; but the boat was nowhere to be seen, and the ferryman's hut was apparently untenanted, for the door stood open and the snow found unobstructed ingress.  When, therefore, she saw before her this dark expanse of swiftly flowing water, and heard the wind moaning among the desolate marshes on either side, she uttered a despairing cry and fell senseless across the threshold of the hovel. 
In this position she was discovered a few minutes afterwards by the bearer of the light that had caused her so much alarm.  He was no other than an old vassal of the Earl, by name ISHIURI, who, so soon as TOKIWA'S flight was known, had followed with the intention of assisting and protecting her as best he might.  He was a man of the humblest position, being in fact a petty farmer, illiterate, content to be subordinate and unambitious, but none the less full of that active sympathy and resolution which a life of toil and hardship begets in noble natures.  So it happened that among all the vassals and retainers at Susaka, he alone felt constrained to be faithful when the arrival of KIYOMORI'S soldiers disclosed the fact that the Earl was a proscribed rebel and his countess a friendless fugitive. 
Despite the deserted appearance of the ferryman's hut, some bundles of withered leaves and faggots of pine branches were found stacked in a corner, and these, by the aid of a few charcoal embers that still smoldered among the ashes of the brazier, were speedily converted into a blazing fire.  It was not a time to shrink from any danger of attracting attention or leaving behind evidences that might direct pursuit; for TOKIWA lay in a deathlike swoon, and to restore her to the power of continuing her journey was a paramount necessity.  She was, therefore, carried in and laid within reach of the fire's genial warmth, where the caresses of her children, aided by the old man's earnest efforts, succeeded after a time in restoring animation. 
So soon, however, as his mistress' immediate condition had ceased to be alarming, ISHIURI went in search of the absent ferryman, whose disappearance from his post was no less unaccountable than embarrassing.  Even the improbability of traffic at such an hour and in such wild weather seemed an insufficient explanation, and the old farmer's first thought was that the swollen river had resented a rashly attempted passage by carrying away the boat and boatman.  But he saw immediately, on reaching the bank, that though the stream dashed down impatiently and angrily enough, it was not sufficiently turbulent to be dangerous, and failing any other supposition, it then flashed across his mind that the absence of the boat was in some way connected with the soldiers' pursuit of the Earl.
Startled by this idea and the still more disturbing conjectures that accompanied it, he had almost determined to return and counsel a change of route to his mistress, when, in the hollow of an arm that stretched out into the stream below the ferry, he thought he detected some dark object swayed backward and forward by the eddies.  He made his way to the spot, not without difficulty, and there discovered the ferry-boat entangled among the reeds, and tilted over as though some heavy weight was suspended from the prow.  The darkness prevented him from immediately perceiving the cause of this, but when he had drawn the boat to the shore, he found the ferryman's body hanging over the gunwale, and his head lying in a pool of blood at the stern.  Judging from the thin shroud of snow that covered the murdered man, ISHIURI understood that his death must have occurred just about the time the soldiers had passed the river, and seeing fresh grounds for alarm in this confirmation of his suspicions, he has hastened back to urge his mistress' immediate departure. 
III. 
TOKIWA had now quite recovered and was not a little gladdened by the discovery of a trusty friend in her supposed pursuer.  The measure of aid an unarmed peasant might render in any season of serious peril, by no means expressed the immediate value of his escort and services to two feeble women already well nigh worn out by the fatigues of a journey scarcely half accomplished -- a journey, indeed, which, without this man's assistance, must have ended finally at the impassable river.  When, therefore, the ferry had been safely crossed, and ISHIURI, carrying two of the children -- one on his back and the other in his arms -- both snugly wrapped up and sleeping soundly, set sturdily out to guide the fugitives, and with the confidence of long familiarity, chose subtle by-paths and improbable short-cuts, where even the storm, baffled in its pursuit, seemed to be replaced by a lull of security, TOKIWA found no difficulty in persuading herself that escape was more certain than doubtful. 
Yet it was with a feeling of almost uncontrollable dread that she presently saw herself approaching Rokuhara.  There was something terrible in the silence and desertion of the places which, but a few hours before, had been crowded with armed men and ringing with cries of onset or agony.  As they drew nearer and nearer the site of KIYOMORI'S headquarters, her agitation grew more and more disturbing.  The thought that many of her husband's most trusted friends and bravest vassals lay, perhaps within call, perishing from wounds and exposure; the idea that under the snow on which she walked, the road, might be red with blood; and the dread that behind the walls she was approaching, her enemies might be waiting to tear her children from her and murder them before her eyes, all these fancies so completely unnerved her that she had well nigh lost the power of thought or motion.  Had she been alone she might even then have turned back on her path, but her companion spared no pains to encourage her by word or mien, and she passed finally before the guard-house at Rokuhara, without encountering anything to increase her alarm. 
After this the journey to Fushimi was accomplished without accident.  Here, although not certainly anticipating a permanent asylum, TOKIWA did not contemplate the possibility of immediate repulse.  She had mistrusted the fealty of her own attendants sufficiently to conceal her designs from them all, but a nature so loyal as hers was little competent to measure the true strength of friendship assailed by self interest.  The ties of consanguinity, the obligations of gratitude, and the memory of old fellowship, these were the sources of the welcome she looked to find at Fushimi, and they were surely sufficient to justify her confidence.  For the rest there was not much need to explain her errand.  The battle at the palace, KIYOMORI'S victory, and its influence upon the fortunes of the Earl of Harima were already well known to her hosts, and they received her with demonstrations of sympathy and commiseration.  Neither food, change of clothes, nor any service that might minister to present wants was withheld, but none the less she soon perceived that this reception was only adapted to a passing visit.  Everything that might invite longer stay was carefully avoided, and her host at last told TOKIWA that it was impossible to count on finding an asylum at his house, for, being himself under political surveillance, he was subject to daily visits from the officials.  Offers of aid he did not spare, but these TOKIWA unhesitatingly declined, for she judged the abandonment of her hopes and prospects less painful than the humiliation of accepting unwilling assistance. 
But now, whither might she fly, on whom depend?  Strange it appeared that among so much which had once been prosperous and powerful nothing capable of averting present danger remained.  TOKIWA'S father had died when she was still a child, and after this, living alone with her mother, or separated by court etiquette from the world of politics and intrigue, she had formed no acquaintance nor solicited any patronage until her marriage; and she well knew that any succor she might now seek from her husband's partisans would be in itself a source of danger and detection.  There remained to her then but one hope of asylum.  More than a hundred miles away in the province of Iga, she had a cousin, YAMATO TARO, a man whom she had not seen for years, but whose name was associated in her memory with many traits of genial kindness and unselfishness.  Could she but reach him, she might be sure of faithful assistance; but how to traverse the apparently interminable distance that separated his home from .Kyoto -- this was a question she scarcely dared to propose to herself: and yet the conviction that in her cousin lay her only resource had grown up simultaneously with the idea of appealing to him. 
While she doubted and despaired, she found herself once more following ISHIURI through the night and the storm.  The old man probably divined her perplexity, for, without any inquiry or semblance of hesitation, he led the way to a little hostelry in the suburbs of Fushimi, a place far removed from the main thoroughfare and frequented only by pilgrims or travelers who sought to be retired rather than fashionable.  Here TOKIWA was easily persuaded to rest awhile; for the day was now breaking, and she understood that her journey could only be resumed with safety at nightfall. 
IV. 
They were so fortunate as to be the only guests at the inn, nor did the time of their arrival excite any surprise, for the hostel was wont to be visited at all hours and in all weathers by devotees whose religious vows included midnight pilgrimages or vigils at moonrise.  Yielding then to the influences of solitude, stillness, and utter weariness, TOKIWA slept long and soundly, and waking at sunset, found that the snow and the storm had ceased together and that the frost's calm breath was creeping in shadowy vapors across the moonlight.  ISHIURI had disappeared, and for a moment his absence filled TOKIWA with sharp disquietude that taught her how much she valued his services; but he returned presently bearing a number of rough, warm garments such as might be worn by peasants on a journey.  Dressed in these, her head enveloped in a thick hood, and her hands covered by padded gloves, TOKIWA'S disguise would have been entirely impenetrable but for her eyes, and these could neither be concealed nor their glance encountered without perception of the beauty they completed. 
As yet no allusion had been made to their projects, so that, when the landlord came in with his account, while they were preparing for departure, ISHIURI, foreseeing that some question about their destination was inevitable, listened with no little interest. 
After the receipt of his money and the usual polite depreciation of his hostel and its fare, the landlord respectfully inquired whither they were bound, casting as he spoke an astonished glance at the refined grace of this supposed country-woman. 
"We have still about four leagues to travel along the Yamato road," TOKIWA replied, "but we desire to make a midnight visit to one or two shrines on our way." 
"I hope you may accomplish your journey safely," said the landlord with a bow.  "The country is so disturbed; there is no security for peaceable travelers." 
"But surely there is nothing to apprehend on the Yamato route?" TOKIWA asked. 
"Well," answered the landlord, "the Lord Constable's troops are scouring all the country, I believe, in search of the Earl of Harima, who is said to be concealed somewhere in this neighborhood." 
At this unlooked for mention of the Earl's name ISHIURI raised his eyes anxiously to his mistress' face, but no shadow of emotion was visible there. 
"I should not care to be either the pursuers or the pursued in this weather," she said, raking together the charcoal in the brazier as she spoke, "unless, indeed, they find such good cheer on their route as your inn affords, Mr. Landlord." 
"You are very kind, Ma'am," replied the sleek landlord with a gratified smile, "but there are some folk by all accounts who make little of the wildest weather.  The Countess of Harima, for example.  They say she traveled twelve leagues through the storm last night before she was taken prisoner." 
"That was a wonderful exploit for a lady," TOKIWA remarked.  "It was hard that she should be caught after all, was it not?" 
"Yes, indeed," replied the landlord, "but I suppose it was her fate.  She must be a woman of marvelous strength and bravery, for she cut her way, I hear, through the soldiers sent to arrest her, and got off without a wound." 
"And how was she taken after all?" asked ISHIURI, anxious to relieve his mistress from the necessity of carrying on such a conversation. 
"Well," the landlord answered, "it appears that the ferryman at Yanagi-no-tsuji refused to put her across, so she cut his head off and poled the boat herself, but, instead of landing at once, followed the stream for some distance, and then, going ashore, made her way right through the city to the temple of Kongo.  The priests, however, not only refused her refuge, but sent information to the Lord Constable, who dispatched a troop of cavalry in pursuit, and she was taken at a place some seven or eight leagues farther west." 
"Why," said ISHIURI with surprise he had no need to feign, "she must be an extraordinary woman.  I never heard she was so strong." 
"She's a full head taller then either of us, comrade," said the garrulous landlord, "and she can cut a man's body through with one blow.  Of course a poor innkeeper's opinion is not worth much, but if eyesight be evidence, I can vouch for the way she sits on a horse and handles a sword." 
"You've seen her then, I suppose?" asked ISHIURI, with difficulty suppressing a smile. 
"Well," said the landlord, sententiously, "the less information a man can give these times the better, so I wont say whether I have or haven't, but I tell you she's a lady you wouldn't forget if you'd seen her once." 
"We're not likely to see much of her at any rate, Mr. Landlord, if she has fallen into the Lord Constable's hands," replied ISHIURI, "but we'll say a prayer for her to-night at the shrine of HACHIMAN.  It were strange if so brave a lady found no help in the gods." 
"I'm afraid she'll soon be past help," said the other, as he aided ISHIURI to tie one of the children on his back.  "And her little ones too," he added, "though it's a cruel thing that an infant should suffer for the deeds it might do after it grows up.  Better be born a country bumpkin like me, Ma'am, after all.  People living so high up are liable to terrible falls at times." 
Closely scrutinizing the direction taken by his guests, the landlord returned to his inn, not, however, to continue there the role of the placid, chatty host, but to gird up his loins, tie on his sandals, and hasten off towards the guard-house at Fushimi with all the speed of eager purpose. 
Meanwhile the fugitives proceeded stoutly on their way.  ISHIURI, guided by the information TOKIWA had given the landlord, and purposely avoiding any unnecessary question, lest his inquisitiveness should seem to imply anxiety, chose the Yamato route, and followed it for some time, patiently waiting till it should please TOKIWA to take him into her confidence.  Observing however, or fancying he observed, some hesitation in her manner, he at last broke the silence by saying: -- "If everybody we meet on the road knows your ladyship as well and is as ready to impart his knowledge as the landlord, we may hope to reach our destination, however far it be, without much interference."
"Yes," TOKIWA replied, "though it struck me once or twice his description was intentionally absurd."
"That may be so," said the old man thoughtfully, "but I doubt whether he has sense enough to be dangerous.  Perhaps, under any circumstances, it would have been wiser to keep our route secret." 
"Such was my own idea, ISHIURI," replied TOKIWA, "for, in truth the only sure refuge that remains is in Iga, with my cousin TARO.  I named this Yamato route on purpose to deceive the landlord, and with the belief that your knowledge of the country would enable us to strike the Iga road farther on.  But," she continued, stopping and looking earnestly at the old man, "I dare not hope that you will consent to accompany me to Iga.  My cousin's house is nearly a hundred miles away, and neither he nor I can possibly recompense your devotion.  To you alone I owe whatever chance remains of saving my children's lives, but let me at least not add to my unhappiness the knowledge that I have involved you in my fate." 
The words were bravely spoken, but the tones that uttered them were shaken by a passion of appeal. "My Lady," the old man replied, "to the Earl, your husband, I owe my own life and the preservation of my daughter's honor.  Will you not complete these benefits by, permitting me to show my gratitude for them?" 
Many a man of gentler breeding might have made a less delicate offer of his services.  TOKIWA understood that thenceforth reserve or doubt would be at once unjustifiable and unkind. 
V. 
About a league beyond Fushimi, the road entered a large valley traversed by a rivulet with high banks and here and there a lonely line of stunted willows.  Sometimes following the sinuosities of the stream, sometimes creeping along the ridges of the rice field, a path, scarcely distinguishable in the sunshine, and now almost totally obliterated by the night and the snow, led towards the Iga road.  When the travelers had descended from the highway to this path, though themselves more or less concealed by a shadowy mist that clung to the bottom of the valley, any object moving on the road they had left was distinctly visible, for the moon was at its full, and the depths of the clear frosty sky were filled with soft luster.  Thus it fell out that, when one of the many windings of the track obliged them almost to retrace their steps, they suddenly found themselves apparently face to face with a body of men-at-arms who had just entered the valley by the main road.  The vicinity of the soldiers, in itself sufficiently perilous, was rendered doubly alarming by the fact that at their head marched the old landlord of the Fushimi inn, evidently a willing guide.  He had indeed advanced three or four paces before his companions, and it was easy to conjecture from his hurried mien and eager scrutiny that he believed himself to be near the object of his search. 
Not only then had they been recognized and betrayed by this man, but his strange misstatements and perversions proved that the real circumstances of their flight from Susaka were well known.  No conceivable incident could have been equally ominous.  ISHIURI, understanding its full import, grasped TOKIWA'S arm and led her swiftly away under the shadow of the bank. 
Just before them, at the foot of the bank, stood a little group of willows with sheaves of rice-straw stacked about their stems.  Crouched behind these until the soldiers had passed, the fugitives then sped away with swift feet across the valley, for it was always possible that the men-at-arms, finding that they did not overtake the objects of their pursuit within a reasonable distance, might bethink themselves of this by-path. 
But such a mischance at least was averted, for each furlong they traveled unsuccessfully over the road rough with frozen snow and through the biting breath of the frost, weakened the soldiers' faith in their guide's story, until at last they turned back disgusted, leaving the landlord so disabled by buffets of sword hilts or cuffs of iron gauntlets that before he had crawled back painfully to his inn, the intended victims of his treachery were safely lodged in a farm-house six leagues beyond Fushimi. 
Every mile that separated the fugitives from the capital diminished the danger of recognition. Nevertheless they were careful to keep aloof from inns or public places, making long detours to avoid the passage of streets, and devising various expedients to procure lodging in peasants' houses or secluded temples.  These precautions, added to the stratagem of approaching and setting out from their halting-places in a direction opposite to their real route, so disarmed suspicion that, traveling by night and resting by day, they reached Iga safely on the sixth morning of their journey. 
TOKIWA'S estimate of her cousin's good faith was not ill-founded.  A hearty and unquestioning admission of her title to refuge and protection enabled her at once to forget that she was a suppliant, while at the same time her host's simple-hearted loyalty disdained any protestations that might have embarrassed without reassuring.  Moreover, the unostentatious circumstances of his life and his homely habits had long removed him beyond the range of public observation, so that men took no note of his goings and comings, and TOKIWA'S presence at his house had ceased to be novel before it began to be discussed. 
Added to these fortunate conditions was the exceptionally favorable position of YAMATO'S residence.  Hidden itself from the highway and the village by an environment of hills clothed with oak-coppices and bamboo-grasses, the pines shading its portals masked a valley in the deepest recess of which lay a house that became TOKIWA'S retreat.  This valley though small enough to be called the garden of YAMATO'S residence, was yet of almost illimitable extent to one untutored in its mysteries, for some catastrophe of bygone ages had rolled a labyrinth of rocks into its bosom, and planted in their interstices elms and cedars, the distorted trunks and interlaced branches bearing witness to the convulsions among which they had been born.  Amidst these crags and entanglements the path, ceasing to have any apparent purpose, wandered hither and thither at hazard, so that confidence in the issue of its vagaries could only be acquired by the familiarity of old acquaintance; while at the last the dell to which it led was itself the point of convergence of other paths, some trodden by the feet of bears and deer, some traced by the flow of winter rivulets, but each giving access to ravines or thickets where concealment was as easy as search would have been hopeless.  In truth no effort of art could have contrived so perfect a refuge, for it was well nigh impossible that any dread of intrusion or surprise should exist in a solitude to which only the sunbeams penetrated unerringly, and where one might live from spring to winter unvisited by any sound save the restless rustle of the withered leaves in their grottoes and prisons or the patter of snow slipping from bent branches. 
The sudden change from hourly anxiety and the constant companionship of a terrible danger to such complete security and stillness, converted the early days of TOKIWA'S sojourn at Uji into a dreamlike unreality from which both past and present seemed to have receded to an immeasurable distance.  Not wholly confident nor yet sensibly uneasy, she shrank most from any scrutiny of the truth, content for a time to rest in the uncertain twilight that glimmered between the two darknesses of evil imminent and evil endured -- a twilight neither brightening into the glow of hope nor deepening into the gloom of despair. 
F. BRINKLEY.
THE END.