"Condescend the honoured hearing. Kiku has plead as one no longer of this world. 'Tis true. But before now she has already taken the vow of two worlds."--"What!" said Shu[u]zen in amazement. His mind lighted up as she proceeded--"It is true. Under guise of farm hand at the village lived Wataru Sampei, a _samurai_ and _ro[u]nin_ of the Takeda House of Kai. By him there is a child--now three years old. Alas! The father lives in direst poverty. Twice in the month--the 15th day when the festival of the Ichigaya Hachiman shrine is held, the 25th day when that of the Hirakawa Tenjin Sama is held--with the child Jumatsu he is to pa.s.s. A wave of the hand--'Is it Kiku?... Is it mother?' The relationship longed for and regarded as enduring to the whiteness of the hair thus is reduced to the wave of a hand. The chaste wife suffers not the embrace of two men. Oh! Husband! Son!" Weeping O'Kiku hid her face in her sleeves as she made her plea.

Harsh and triumphant was the voice of Shu[u]zen as he pressed on this newly discovered weakness. "Then you lied; Jinnai lied, in calling you a maid. This Sampei and Jumatsu rightly are gallows-birds, doomed to the execution ground. Shu[u]zen has but to say the word. Seized they are put to the torture; the child to know the bitterness of the scourge. Such a tiny body will be cut to ribbons. Listen well! Obey the command of this Shu[u]zen. 'Tis the choice between the jewelled palanquin of the favoured mistress, or torture for these two. The kind offices of the bed for Shu[u]zen, or the rottenness of the jail for these two criminals.

The gift of Kiku's chast.i.ty secures for them oblivion.... You would ask time? To-morrow night, after the counting of the plates, the answer will be received." He ceased--to turn to Chu[u]dayu, who for a little time had stood by, as one waiting on a matter of business. O'Kiku, face white and drawn, tottered away to her room.

She had played false, and at a cast lost all. Gloomy, the long hair framing the distraught and unhappy face, she sat. "Unhappy the lot of this Kiku. The sisters left without a father's sanction, to witness the shadow on the mother's life; to know that father but as criminal ready to be sent to the execution ground; and now, by rashness of the tongue, to condemn husband and infant son to such a hideous fate! Remedy there is none. Perchance the life of this Kiku in sacrifice for both arouses kindness to pardon; or at least secures them in ignorance." Now she was all decision. Rapidly she loosed the girdle of her sash. The safety of her beloved was at stake, and no father's command held. The feet bound she seated herself before the mirror, took up the dagger and felt its keen point, then the morbid soft flesh of the neck. As she raised her arm it was seized at her side. Noiseless Chu[u]dayu had entered and acted in prevention. With a grunt he bent down and severed the sash cord which restrained her. Then holding the dagger daintily he spoke his will--"Is not this madness, O'Kiku Dono? The Tono Sama has issued his summons, and the heart does not conform. The secret thought is known to this Chu[u]dayu. Turn therefore to a friend. Safety is not to be sought by the drastic method of the steel. Look to flight. Chu[u]dayu aids--nay goes in company. Against him there can be no grudge. If Sampei and this boy exist, they are not to be met within the _yashiki_ of Aoyama Shu[u]zen--either by submission and riding in the jewelled palanquin, or by the argument of the dagger. It is an easy matter for Chu[u]dayu. An error confessed in conducting of the accounts, and with purse well lined with the gold of Shu[u]zen this _yashiki_ is abandoned. O'Kiku Dono goes in company. Between the two known connection there is none, and without the wife this Sampei and Jumatsu go unharmed. In the relationship with Jinnai the link is missing and Edo too wide a mark to pick them out. So much can Chu[u]dayu answer for."

"Ah!" At times a Buddha is met in h.e.l.l itself. With astonishment and reverence O'Kiku regarded this saintly apparition. Noting the impression made Chu[u]dayu sat close by her. A little disturbed and restive she moved away. "The words of Chu[u]dayu Dono are more than kind; never to be forgotten in this world. By such means are Sampei and Jumatsu really to be saved?"--"Most a.s.suredly," was the smooth reply. "Chu[u]dayu acts at once. Deign but the required pledge...."--"The pledge?" O'Kiku spoke now with misgiving filtering into a sinking heart. Said Chu[u]dayu with impatience--"Pledge: don't feign innocence, O'Kiku Dono. Does Chu[u]dayu sacrifice all for the mere amus.e.m.e.nt of the affair. Amus.e.m.e.nt there is indeed for him. O'Kiku must consent to accept this Chu[u]dayu. Deign to change ox for horse. Failing Sampei, it is to Chu[u]dayu she grants her favours. This is to be agreed--and right now, as pledge, a proof offered of her sincerity." Now there was no mistaking the words in invitation made plain by eye and gesture. She wrenched away the detaining hands laid upon her; sprang up. "Ah! Villainous man! You would rob your lord, deceive and betray this Kiku. Such speech is pollution to the ears; the touch of such a creature is loathsome. Chu[u]dayu has the weapon of Kiku; but Kiku can still cry out and bring the household about your ears. Beast--away from here!" Armed as he was Chu[u]dayu was afraid--"'Pollution'--'beast'? Ha! The woman's thought rises after all to the surface in her hate. For this you shall pay. Just wait." He left the room in haste, to betake himself at once to the apartments of the _okugata_. O'Kiku crouched on the _tatami_, her eyes wide open, fastened on the texture of the straw surface, saw nothing but this new and terrible position. She could not die; she could not live; and yet the tiger was at the gate, the wolf at the postern.

A maid came to summon her to Shu[u]zen's presence. Knowing her position, her feelings, the solidarity of s.e.x had veered to kindliness for this unwilling rival. The girl was shocked at sight of her. "O'Kiku Dono! Tis but for the counting of the plates--as usual." She aided her to don the ceremonial costume. In all the magnificence of her apparel, with hair dressed high, she followed after the girl. In her beauty a splendid sight, in her heart "she was as the sheep going to the butcher." Her ladyship sat close beside Shu[u]zen. Other _koshimoto_, with Chu[u]dayu and several retainers, were present. Despite the customary nature of this vicarious reverence to the spirit of the To[u]sho[u] Shinkun (Iyeyasu) there was an oppression, a suppressed interest, which seemed to fasten every eye on O'Kiku as slowly and gracefully she bore the box before her lord, made salutation. "Open;" the word from Shu[u]zen's lips came dry and harsh--"One"--"Um"--"Two"--"Um"--"Three, four"--"Um"--"Five"--"Um"--"Six, seven"--"Um"--"Eight"--"Um"--"Nine.... Oya! Oya!" Then in fright--"What shall I do!" With horror O'Kiku gazed at the fragments of the tenth plate lying at the bottom. Shu[u]zen, all moved by his wrath and excitement, leaned forward. The holly hock crest ground to powder was almost indistinguishable. Hardly able to believe her eyes O'Kiku mechanically began to finger the pile of porcelain--One, two, three ... they followed up to nine.... "What shall I do!"

The malice and ferocity of Shu[u]zen's tone sent a thrill through those present--"Vicious jade! This is a sample of Kiku's hatred to this Shu[u]zen, through him of her disloyalty to the revered House. What explanation can be offered? What expiation?" Slowly and in despair O'Kiku raised her head. She caught the triumphant glance pa.s.sed between the _okugata_ and Chu[u]dayu. All was illuminated. This was Chu[u]dayu's threatened vengeance. As of one dying her voice--"This is not the deed of Kiku. Daughter of the criminal Jinnai she holds no grudge against lord or suzerain; would but pray in this world for oblivion of those offences in a future existence. Deign, my lord to believe this Kiku.

Malice acts here. But a short time ago Chu[u]dayu...." The man sprang forward--"Lying hussy!... Tono Sama, this woman would save herself by slander. Plain has been her ill feeling against the honoured lord in refusal to obey his summons. Here lies the proof of ill intent and rebellion against the suzerain's House. Surely there is no punishment for such but death!"--"Surely there is no punishment for this but death!" The harsh voice of the _okugata_ was heard in repet.i.tion.

Shu[u]zen spoke--"'A twig broken on the flowering branch of plum, and the whole is to be cut off.' Such the words of Kuro[u] Hangwan Yos.h.i.tsune. Kiku, you are a vile, treacherous woman; undeserving of Heaven's favour and the kindness shown by Shu[u]zen. Now you lie--with the fancy tale of child and husband, in order to escape the bed of Shu[u]zen; with slanderous insinuation to throw your crime against others.... Here!" At the command the _kerai_ came forward and dragged her within reach. Shu[u]zen seized a hand. "Ten the plates: one broken, the tale destroyed. Apology is to be made. Make full confession. No? For the one, ten are due." There was a _hibachi_ close by his side. He dragged her arm over the brazier, drew his dagger--"One." At the middle joint the finger fell severed into the ashes. "Two"--"Two," faintly answered O'Kiku. "Three"--"Three"--"Four"--"Four"--"Five"--"Five."

Shu[u]zen laughed. "Kiku cannot hold grudge as being maimed. The stumps remain." Chu[u]dayu sprang forward at Shu[u]zen's sign. Roughly holding the bleeding stumps he pressed them into the harsh cautery of living coals. A suppressed wailing cry from Kiku, a shuddering and turning away of the frightened women; her ladyship laughed out loud. Kiku raised her head and gave her a long look. Shu[u]zen grasped the other arm. The punishment went on. "Six.... No confession?" One by one the remaining joints fell. Only the thumb remained. Like a demon the _okugata_ sprang forward. She s.n.a.t.c.hed away the keen weapon, and pressing down the edge of the blade triumphant raised the severed digit torn away to the wrist.

Shu[u]zen himself rose in astonishment at the act. All were in a wild excitement. The violent woman strove to shriek, but choked in her rage and utterance. They surrounded her and bore her off to her own apartment.

A wave of the hand and all but Chu[u]dayu had departed. Shu[u]zen was divided between his hate and the certainty of having been deceived.

Besides, only the body was maimed, and in the malice of his heart he would soil this woman's soul. He leaned over the helpless figure. "Your own deed, Kiku: make confession and submission. There is yet life to plead for. Ha! 'Tis true. Vicious wench, you would seek the destruction of Shu[u]zen by temptation; the grudge is to be carried to the end."

From far off came the answer--"Alas! To this Kiku are imputed the wet garments. A lie destroys her to whom life is displeasing. Aye! The grudge is to be carried to the end. Against this treacherous Chu[u]dayu, against Aoyama and his House the grudge. Remember well!" In fury Shu[u]zen sprang to his feet--"Chuu[u]dayu, take hold of this woman. Out with her to the garden!" With practised hand the chamberlain bound hands and feet. Then following after Shu[u]zen he dragged her through the snow to the old well. "'Tis here," said Shu[u]zen briefly. Removing the bucket the rope was tied under the arms of O'Kiku. "Your own act and deed, Kiku. In your punishment apology is made to the suzerain House. Go join your father Jinnai at the Yellow Fountain (Kwo[u]sen) in h.e.l.l....

Chu[u]dayu, kill her by inches." Seeing the chamberlain's hesitation Shu[u]zen gave the body a push. Swift the descent. The splash of the water was heard. "Heave up!" With eager energy Chu[u]dayu brought O'Kiku to the curb. "No confession yet?"--"Aye! Grudge the last thought; grudge against Chu[u]dayu; against this Aoyama, him and his." The long wet hair hanging about the chalk white face, the bulging glaring eyes, the disordered saturated garments of the half drowned girl, were too much for Chu[u]dayu. The man now was struck with fright. He sought to save her. "Tono Sama, is not the purpose satisfied? A request...."--"Coward!

Are you afraid of the ghost? Surely Kiku will visit the couch of Chu[u]dayu--as perhaps to his desire." But Chu[u]dayu now openly was afraid and not ashamed. "Deign to spare her, Tono Sama.... O'Kiku Dono, this is no affair of Chu[u]dayu. As ghost deign to haunt the Tono Sama.

'Tis the Tono Sama who kills you." He plead; but inexorable the whispering voice--"The grudge! Against Chu[u]dayu...." Then in terror Chu[u]dayu sought the end--"Ah! Vile b.i.t.c.h!... Tono Sama, deign to cut short the curse, and with it the breath of this hussy."--"Your act and deed, Chu[u]dayu...." Shu[u]zen took up the rest of the sentence. "Pa.s.s your sword into her belly, Chu[u]dayu; the lord's order." Chu[u]dayu hesitated. Then looking away he thrust--once, twice. There was a squishing sound, as of steel entering something soft. A heart rending scream rang through the air. It was like the ripping apart of silk.

Shu[u]zen stepped to the curb, looked into the agonized staring eyes.

Then he gave the final thrust of his dagger into the windpipe, and cast the weapon to Chu[u]dayu to cleanse. As if an automaton the man went through his task: brought the heavy stone to bind into the long trailing garment. Seeing his helplessness Shu[u]zen shrugged his shoulders with contempt. With his dagger he severed the rope. _Dobun!_ A final splash of water at the end.

CHAPTER XXV

CHU[U]DAYU WINS HIS SUIT

Chu[u]dayu's legs bent under him. "Ah! My lord! O'Kiku grasps my neck!"

A cold hand laid upon him he shrieked in fear. Shu[u]zen turned--"Fool!

'Tis a clod of snow from the tree above, fallen on your collar. Off with you to bed. Truly in these days such fellows are good for nothing." Off he strode to the _ro[u]ka_. For a moment he looked out--on the heavy flakes coming down like cotton wadding, at the figure of Chu[u]dayu staggering like a drunken man to his quarters. With a laugh he closed the _amado_, seated himself before the heated wine. Yet the woman would not get out of his thoughts. "What a fool! A matter of no import would have given her position with others and influence with this Shu[u]zen.... Ha! Ha! How frightened was Chu[u]dayu! It is not the shadowy fingers of the dead which do good or ill, but the flesh clad muscles of the living. As to your ghosts...." He snapped his fingers and drank wine in derision. Thus he spent the early hours of the night.

"What's that!" He put the bottle down at the sound of voices in excitement, of running feet. Soon an officer appeared. The _okugata_ was threatened with premature delivery. A physician was to be had at once.

Shu[u]zen shrugged his shoulders with indifference. Five months--seven months--nine months--what a matter to trouble a man with! So angry was he that they dared not tell him more. Matters were going very badly with her ladyship. In her delirium she raved over the past scene of the punishment. The tortures of this present delivery were added to an hundred fold by the disorders of the over-wrought brain. Then the child was born. The a.s.sembled women whispered to each other. A very monster had seen light: perfect in its main parts, but with the face of Emma Dai-O[u] as a foetus--with the fingers lacking on the hands. They dared not let the sick woman see it. She detected their confusion, asked to see the child. She grew more and more excited with refusal, and they were at a loss what to do. Finally the child was brought, to her distress and confusion. Then--as from the ceiling--"Shame on the House of Aoyama Shu[u]zen. A maimed child, a monster is born as its issue."

And the voice began to count, followed by the moving lips of her ladyship--"One"--"One"--"Two"--"Two"--"Three"--"Three"--monotonously it went on to--"Nine.... Ah! What shall I do! One is missing. Wa! Wa!" So lamentable the crying voice that a chill went to the hearts of all.

Again the count went on; again the failure and the lamentable cry and weeping. Her ladyship sat up. They strove to restrain her, but in her madness she shouted back in answer to the counting--"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.... Ha! One is missing! Vile s.l.u.t!

Thus to maim the child in malice." She raved and tore at the covering.

From the disordered hair streaming around face and bust looked out at them the wan face of O'Kiku. In disorder the women fled. Driven back by the necessity of their duty they found her lying dead in a pool of blood. As for the maimed and deformed monster, he took well to the nurse's breast. Such they always do.

Where was Chu[u]dayu in all this confusion? Shu[u]zen had men hunting him high and low. Angered at his absence, his own dislike and suspicion of him as possible rival grew with the night and the hours, rendered bitter by these household scenes. He would settle matters with Chu[u]dayu. "Yokubei" he had heard him called; and covetousness turns not only to gold and such like. As fact Chu[u]dayu had good excuse for absence. Much out of sorts he had betaken himself to his own rooms and the care of the old woman in charge, his only female companion in lieu of wife. Ah! What weather! The snow changed to sleet and rain drove into and chilled to the marrow those out in the storm. The _baya_ (old woman) at his entrance was all astonishment--"Danna Sama! The garments are wet through. Condescend at once to make a change." Gruffly Chu[u]dayu accepted her aid. Stripping off first one and then another of the outer garments he too grumbled in his turn--"What a fool the woman was! To lose life against the sacrifice of such a trifling thing. Ah! She was a maddening beauty; of the kind to drive the blood to boiling heat. Never again.... What's that?" Pon-pon: the sound of someone knocking ashes from a pipe into the receiver came from the inner room. The _baya_ was laughing--"Ha! Ah! The Danna Sama is a sly one. He is the one to make friends with the beauties. The lady regretted the Danna's absence, said that she would wait the honoured return.... Who? 'Tis she so sought by the Tono Sama himself; and who instead favours the Danna. O'Kiku Dono...." Before the wild stare of Chu[u]dayu, the clutch on her wrist, the old woman stopped in fright. Then from within came the counting--"One, two, three, four, five"--"Six," Chu[u]dayu mechanically joined in. "Seven"--"Seven"--"Eight"--"Eight"--"Nine"--"Nine"--the words were followed by the chilling lamentable wail of a soul in agony. "What shall I do! What shall I do!" With a yell Chu[u]dayu dashed to the _sho[u]ji_ and threw them back. No one! With astonishment and terror the old woman gazed at him as seeking an explanation which did not come.

"The lights in the Butsudan! Namu Amida Butsu! Namu Amida Butsu! Praise to Amida, the Lord Buddha!... Wine! Wine, and much of it; very hot!"

He sat, his head in hands, watching the flickering light in the altar stand. "Ha! 'A woman and a man of small comprehension: these are hard to govern.' Ko[u]shi (Confucius) says it. This Chu[u]dayu has played the fool to the Tono Sama's extravagances." The bell of Gekkeiji began to strike the hour of the watch. It came clear and mournful across the snow. "How like a woman's nature," says the native scribe.

"One"--"One"--"Two"--"Two"--"Three"--"Three." ... Chu[u]dayu went on, mechanically following the blows hammered into his brain. Then came the heart rending hopeless wail which chilled his very soul. The old woman in amazement and pain gave a howl as the hot wine ran over hands and fingers. Chu[u]dayu on his feet stupidly gazed at the bottle rolling to the end of the room. "'Tis of no import," he muttered. "Now--to get hence. Close up all. To-night Chu[u]dayu returns not."--"But Danna Sama!

Condescend to consider! The Danna Sama is not himself. Truly he will be ill. Deign the honoured couch." The couch in that room! He shuddered all over. The old woman wrung and wiped her scalded fingers, and would persuade him to seek rest. She simpered in her blandishment. "Where could she possibly have gone, for _baya_ saw no exit? Perhaps the lady comes again; and in the _yashiki_ there is no greater beauty than O'Kiku Dono. Fortunate the Danna...." Truly she thought him gone mad. "Shut up!" roared Chu[u]dayu. His eyes blazing under the heat of the quant.i.ty of his hot stimulant he thrust her, a heap huddled into a corner of the room. Trembling hands adjusted what garments he could lay eyes upon.

Over all he threw a long wool cloak with hood and eyelets against the snow. Turning to the entrance he glowered at her, hand on his dagger--"More words of that vile jade, and _baya_ joins her own beneath the stone. This Chu[u]dayu goes to Nakacho[u], to a public woman. If that O'Bake comes again.... Ha! Ha!... Let her lie with Baya.... Why!

She's not even rotten yet!" He left the old woman stupefied and quaking, himself to leap out into the storm and darkness.

Outside the gate he had a shock. In the shadow he ran into a woman standing by, who turned at his greeting. O'Kiku's face? With clenched fist he would have struck, but the vision faded. "Truly the _baya_ is not wrong. Chu[u]dayu is mad, or drunk." His knuckles had near encounter with the brazen crest fastened into the post. This brought him to himself.

Rapid was his descent of Gomizaka. At its foot was a _kago_ stand. "The Danna Sama from the Aoyama _yashiki_--he condescends the _kago_. One all closed? The Danna Sama will lie as snug as in a _koshi_ (_kwanoke_ = hea.r.s.e)." Chu[u]dayu took the joke badly. The fellow sprawled on the ground under the blow--"Is this a funeral procession? Truly the night itself is bad enough--without the joke."--"A scurvy knave," humbly explained the _kago_ chief. "A country recruit, just to hand. Deign to pardon his impertinence." He edged the fellow off, called up another man--"The Danna stands not on the fare? Truly 'tis such a night as rarely has been seen. With wind and sleet the men can barely stand. But the Danna is in haste. Surely a woman is at the journey's end.... Not a palanquin but with mats." Chu[u]dayu was neatly bundled into the litter.

The mats were lowered at the sides and covered with oiled paper. "To Nakanocho[u]; and at good round pace." He hardly heard the functionary's words. "Ah! How she hated this Chu[u]dayu! How she glared into the Tono Sama's eyes as he dealt the blow into her pap!... A vicious jade; yet a beauty. Where could such beauty be encountered? May the _kami_ (G.o.ds) grant Chu[u]dayu the same good fortune this night!" More pleasing vision soothed him. He was filled with hot wine and fast grew dazed and sleepy.

The gentle motion of the _kago_ rocked him as in a cradle. Yet he could not get sleep. Her voice was in his ears; without, in talk with the _kago_ men? He raised a corner of the mat. With surprise--"Heigh, _kagoya_! What place is this?" He was pa.s.sing the moat on his right not left; the hill sloped down, not up toward Nakano (Shinjuku). "Danna Sama, it is Suido[u]bashi."--"Suido[u]bashi! And does one go to Nakanocho[u] by Suido[u]bashi? Knaves! About with you, and to the right course as directed."

The men, after their kind, grumbled; but to themselves; and in a way their fare should hear. "Naruhodo! What a beast of a night is this!

Mate, it is to Nakanocho[u]; but Nakanocho[u] whither? The Danna Sama is testy. He is not to be questioned. He might give a cut. Jubei is lucky.

He has changed head for rear. A care there! A care there! What? Again around? What a night, and what a Danna to deal with!" The unconscious Chu[u]dayu was borne onward. Again the vinous fumes pa.s.sed off. To his amazement be saw the water on the left; but not what he sought. "Heigh!

Heigh! _Kago_ men, whither now? What place yonder?"--"Yanagibara, Danna Sama." Chu[u]dayu's voice was big with wrath. "True _kago_ men as guides! Does one go to Yanagibara to go to Nakanocho[u] of Shinjuku."--"Oya! Oya! The Danna always tells us to go this way, that way. Nakanocho[u], Nakacho[u]--is it Yoshiwara, or f.u.kagawa, or Naito[u]

Shinjuku to which the Danna goes? 'Tis but the lady at the pole who has a clear head and forces us to go this way.... Danna, never mind the fare money. Condescend to alight. It is a hard night; too hard for such a baffling task.... Here is your pretty friend again!"

Chu[u]dayu raised the mat and looked out. Vaguely outlined in the again whirling snowy darkness stood O'Kiku. With wild cry he sprang out, sword drawn. The _kago_ men dropped the litter and took to their heels. Dazed Chu[u]dayu looked around him. Ah! He was drunk with wine, and visions haunted him. Yanagibara? Let it be Yoshiwara then. Stalking through the O[u]mon he made his way to the Nagatoya, a tea house at which he was known. "Oya! The honoured Danna Sama of the Bancho[u] _yashiki_. In good season Aikawa Dono; the lady awaits the honoured _buke-sama_."--"A lady waiting? Fool! Who brings a woman to this market where he comes to purchase?" The _banto[u]_ (clerk) of the tea house insisted. "Aikawa Sama, is it not fact? She is barely of twenty years; outstripping in beauty the greatest of the Go Tayu.... Her name? O'Kiku San...." In his amazement the man rose from his kneeling salutation, craned his neck to watch the flying figure of Chu[u]dayu disappear. Perhaps the Danna had gone mad. Surely he was mad; and not one to come on foot on such a night and all the way from the Bancho[u]. He sighed at loss of such an eager customer.

Chu[u]dayu walked into the first tea house to hand when he had stopped for breath. A first visit, his tea money (_chadai_) was munificent. Such a customer deserved good treatment from the Izuzuya. Hence the attendant guided him to the Miuraya, where was bespoken the presence of the brilliant _oiran_ O'Yodo. The hour was late. The _oiran_ was detained.

Chu[u]dayu was sleepy and demanded his room. Hardly had he taken to his couch to await her presence than he was asleep. Leaving her other guest O'Yodo pushed open the _sho[u]ji_ and entered. She deserved her reputation for beauty. A splendid girl, for she was not more than woman yet. A little tall for her s.e.x; fair and with but little powder, an oval face, long trailing hair, and shapely hands and feet for all this business. _Batan-batan_ the sound of the _zo[u]ri_ (sandals). She dropped these on the outside. The stranger was asleep. Sitting beside him she gathered the folds of her c.r.a.pe night robe about her bare feet.

With a deft touch she adjusted the knot of the pink sash which confined it; then turned attention to the long silver chased pipe and the face of the sleeping man. Some feeling was aroused she could not understand.

There was much she did not yet understand in this bitter toil of hers.

Chu[u]dayu began to speak; at first in halting and broken sentences; then in a continued flood--"Ah! Ha! That look of hate! Chu[u]dayu acted most foully. 'Twas he who took the plate, to secure his safety and O'Kiku's death. Deign to pardon. It was not Chu[u]dayu; 'twas the Tono Sama who dealt the fatal blow.... What? The suffering?... Ah! But the suffering of mind.... Now she begins--one--two--three--four--five--six--seven--eight--nine....

Kiya!" The shriek rang through the room, bringing O'Yodo to her feet.

Crouched beside the _andon_ was outlined vaguely the figure of her sister O'Kiku. "Ne[e]san! Here! And what...." At the words she turned to meet the wide open frighted gaze of Chu[u]dayu. The matter of fact, gentle tones calmed him. "A first meeting with the honoured guest. Deign to pardon the awkwardness of Yodo." Chu[u]dayu came out of his sleep rea.s.sured. He had dreamed; a frightful dream. She told him so, and pressed him curiously as to why he had called out. "The honoured _samurai_ (_buke-sama_), who then favours Yodo?" He spoke, as being again himself--the military man, and no less a person than the chamberlain of Aoyama Shu[u]zen Sama, _hatamoto_ with a _yashiki_ in the Bancho[u].

"Perhaps then a serving maid called O'Kiku is known to the honoured sir."

Again Chu[u]dayu's doubts were raised at evident resemblance--to be rea.s.sured. "No kin: we knew each other well in early life. The father was a great criminal, and O'Kiku, it was heard, was condemned to be a slave for life. Entered in this business nothing has been seen of each other.

She is well--in mind and body?" The question was timid, and Chu[u]dayu did not notice the unnatural eagerness. "In Kiku's place mind and body are a.s.sured their lot; to undergo no change." Captivated by this beauty he was now eager for his good fortune. Reluctant and with misgiving she allowed him to draw her close.

CHAPTER XXVI

SAMPEI DONO

He was poor; coa.r.s.ely and scantily clad as he came on his return through the darkness and snowflakes now coming down wet and moist, whirling and twisting under the increasing gale and gradually turning into a penetrating chilling sleet against which the straw raincoat was poor protection. In this guise Wataru Sampei was the gardener, making a precarious living at which his skill was accidental and vicarious. In his shabby home he was the _samurai_, his two swords treasured, carefully wrapped and put away in the closet; struggling to live in order to bring up this boy Jumatsu in his own cult, to better times and retribution on the upstarts from the South. This night too had been part of his _samurai's_ duty, in its _sankei_ or pilgrimage to the Asakusa Kwannon. O'Kiku believed in efficacy of prayer to the G.o.ddess of mercy.

A hasty word, implied rather than spoken, as to a pa.s.ser by during the first sight of her, and the gesture of acquiescence on his part who had little faith. But the gesture was as strong in its obligation as an oath written and signed in blood.

On approaching his home with surprise he noted a woman by the door. She seemed to be in the act of coming or going. Surely he could not mistake that figure; nay, throwing the light of his lantern ahead a glimpse of the white wan face startled him. His heart leaped within him--"Is it Kiku? How comes the wife here at this hour? How has exit from the _yashiki_ been permitted?" But the woman answered not. Instead she moved away from him, into the darkness. More and more astonished Sampei called after her and followed. Always she eluded him. Thus he was led away two hundred, three hundred yards. There she was, halted beneath the willow tree on the river bank. His pace broke into a run. Now she did not move or attempt to elude him, but as he came up the figure was but a stela to point the way to a near-by shrine. Sampei pa.s.sed his hand over his brow.

Kiku was too much on his mind; this forced widowerhood with charge of a toddling boy. Ah! If pity and affection would but allow him to transfer the child to others! Better would it be for both. But how face the mother without the child--and then, the lot of one's favoured child in the house of strangers and under their cold glances? Sampei himself could not part with Jumatsu. Easy was it for him to cut belly--and leave mother and child in this desolate condition. Meanwhile his uneasiness of mind at their present outlook was driving him to delusions.

Taking off his wet outer garments he stole into the bedroom. Now it was very late in the night; he would not disturb the child. To his surprise he found him sitting up on the quilts, shivering and weeping.

"Bo[u]chan! What's gone wrong?" He took the child's hands, anxious to note any sign of distress or fever. But Jumatsu made answer in his turn--"Mother has just been here. She was crying. She said--'Bo[u], the parting is for long. Never again will the mother be seen. Grow up, Bo[u]; grow up to be a fine man.' Then she cried more than ever." A hand seemed to grasp the heart of Sampei--"Mother here, Bo[u]chan!" Surely the child could not lie, even make up the story at this age, so fitting into his own uneasy vision. Continued the little fellow mid his tears--"It was not her fault. Someone broke the holly hock plate and charged mother with the crime. Then the Tono Sama killed her. He wanted her for his concubine; and so came to hate her and easily took the tale.

It was not her fault. She said this--then went away."--"Whither?"

Sampei's tone was so abrupt and harsh to startle the child into quiescence. He pointed to the house altar on its stand--"Mother just went away; into the Butsudan.... And she hasn't come back--to Bo[u]chan." He ended in a wail and childish weeping. Ah! The hands now grasping at Sampei were of ice. Slowly he approached the Butsudan.

Startled he saw the snow within it. This wild tale was taking the hold of certainty on his mind. He lit first one light, then the other in the altar stand. Then sharply of itself rang the little bell. A cold sweat stood out on Sampei's body--"Namu Amida Butsu! Namu Amida Butsu!"

Earnest the prayer for some departed soul. Unconvinced, yet feeling the truth of the impression he pa.s.sed the night with eyes wide open. With dawn he would go forth to make inquiries at the Bancho[u] _yashiki_.