CHAPTER XIX.
THE WEB IS WOVEN.
Typhoon was the best charger in the Daimio's stable, and worthy of hisname; but this was his last journey. He was so hard pressed by hisfrantic master, that at the castle gate he sank and died.
The sudden arrival of my lord, a fugitive, without a single follower,created within the fortress a commotion which was no little aggravatedby the news of which he was the bearer. How swift was the cumulationof events. My lord of Nara and his heiress murdered. A siege inimmediate prospect, and after that--what? A long course of excess andidleness had sapped the discipline of the braves, and instead ofhailing the coming fray with the joy that becomes heroes, they showedsigns of sullen discontent. No-Kami had slain in a secret manner,without witnesses, the venerable Nara, the esteemed friend of the HolyMikado.
This was going too far, even for so overbearing a despot. Even thesamurai of Tsu were aware that Japan at bay would arise and shake offits incubus. The castle would be invested by the foes of Hojo, whowere legion. Look where he would, there was no single ally who couldbe counted on for succour. There was but one consummation possible. Aniron wall would hem the fortress, and all within would perish. Underthese circumstances, the warriors (privately discussing the situation)were divided in opinion. Would it be well to accept the inevitable andbow the neck at once, suing for mercy; or would it perchance bebetter to baulk the foe, to act as the celebrated forty-seven roninsdid--revered for ever by the Japanese--namely, to perform harakiri inconcert? Thus it will be seen that the glamour of evil fortune hadwrapped the castle like a mist. Even the bold retainers of thecrumbling family lost heart, and if they prepared to show anyresistance at all, it was owing to the presence of Sampei, the heroicsubduer of Corea.
Even Sampei, whilom bravest of the brave, showed no enthusiasm. He hadstumbled along the stony road of the Valley of the Shadow of Death,and seemed to look down from afar upon the petty frettings ofhumanity, as you might idly watch the proceedings in an openedanthill.
The first acute bitterness waned insensibly, and he grew resigned tolife-long pain. Had it not been so, reason would have fallen from herthrone. He could think of O'Tei not as corruption but as_transformed_. The sap of a tree, the glow of a gem, the plumage of abird, contained her outward part. Nature had taken back and set toother purpose that which she had lent. As to the other, who might tellwhere it wandered? Where was her pure soul hovering?
Was the gulf that yawned in front as dark as the path already trodden?If the gods were really good, they could not but be mild to one whowas so gentle. After all, for himself it mattered not. What, to amortal so maimed as he, was a little more or less of suffering, afterthat wound from which the life-drops of his heart were slowlydripping?
He would not desert his brother, Sampei declared with quiet gravity.So long as the gods willed that he should fight, he would fight; butthe sooner suspense was over, the greater the relief for all.
The bewitching O'Kiku when, rosy and wreathed with smiles, she flewfrom her bower in the most becoming of costumes to embrace her love,was considerably disconcerted by her reception. She had carefully goneover details, and planned within her mind exactly how it was all tobe. He would be a little upset, possibly, on his arrival, to hear ofthe sudden and mysterious end of his icicle. He would pretend concern,and probably show anger, relieved all the while by her flitting. She,O'Kiku, would condole, clasp her husband--all her own now--in whitearms, and, breast to breast, divulge the delicious secret. He would beenchanted, of course. She would make herself so agreeable bringingforth the entire armoury of her blandishments for his behoof, thatmemory of O'Tei would speedily be relegated to the limbo prepared forthe ghosts of marplots. This point reached, she would summon all herskill and tact, wheedle and cajole and flatter, so as to achieve thedesired prize.
By making herself absolutely necessary to No-Kami, then turning on thetap of tears, the living wife would advance a step, be lifted to thedead one's place. And he should never have cause to regret the signalfavour. His interests would then be hers completely. No prospect inthe future, then, of being put away,--compelled, like Masago, toassume the crape. She would take her lord in hand,--be a long-headedlittle counsellor, chide his faults with gentleness, teach him to curbhis passions, help him to replace on the neck of struggling Japan theyoke that was ominously-loose. And lo! how quickly did her toy palacetumble! No-Kami looked twenty years older than when he went away.There was a haggard wildness in his face--an expression, as he glancedat the enchantress, curiously akin, if it were possible, to aversion.His hands twitched; foam gathered on his lips. When, cooing, she laidher head upon his bosom, her hair new dressed with fresh camellia oil,he pushed her so rudely from him, that, reeling, with bruised arms,she tottered against the wall.
Could it, oh could it be, that he could have ever loved that woman?Could it be that his fiery nature was consuming, torn by the pincersof remorse? Surely he could feel naught at most for an icicle but acold regret that would soon pass. Was it possible that in a revulsionof feeling he had actually come to detest the enchanting siren who soeasily had won him? Verily it seemed like it. With eyes lowered inantipathy, he seemed to avoid her gaze with loathing. And what wasthat he muttered as he so roughly threw her off. Was it _murderess?_And what a look accompanied the word. Her tongue clove to the roof ofher mouth, and though she ardently wished to repel the accusation, herlips refused their office. Did he really believe her guilty of such afoolish prank, of such a stupid blunder? She had no doubt arranged tooust the rival, to procure her expulsion from the castle; but to shedher blood and create a scandal, that would have been too foolish.Before she had time to recover from shocked surprise, my lord wasgone. He gave a few brief husky orders, then groped his way, as if indarkness, to the retired eyrie where had dwelt the vanishedchatelaine. Thither she felt that she dared not follow him. Withforebodings gathering within her breast, O'Kiku withdrew to herapartments, fearing she knew not what.
There, on the mat, where she had laid it down, was O'Tei's samisen,encrusted with gold and ivory; yonder her broidery-frame, a book ofpoems open, a hundred pathetic evidences, eloquent of her who wasgone. Far removed from the hum of preparation, No-Kami sat, dumblygazing from the casement across the river towards the sea.
And then, for the first time, there passed across the mental ken ofHojo the phantoms of a gloomy retrospect. He seemed, as they swept by,to hear a forlorn chant, with the saddest of refrains--"Too late!"
He had been given a life full of brilliant opportunities and had castthem all away. His name was a byword in the land. There was not oneliving thing that loved him, while thousands clamoured for his death.The chill of a desolation, novel and surprising, crept over his heart,as, glancing around the bower, small objects recalled the past. Whyhad they tied him to O'Tei? With one more congenial the asperities ofhis character might have softened. O'Tei, the soft and clinging, hadnever loved him; no--never--not for a single moment. Somethingwhispered now that, had he been more kind, she might have cometo like him. Then, as if stung by an adder, he sprang upon his feet,with beads of perspiration on his forehead. Fool! what spell wasthis?--what disgraceful, infatuated weakness? Had he been more kind!_Had she not loved his brother?_ The poison instilled by the geisha,dormant through the rapid passage of stirring events, throbbed throughhis veins, and he gasped and grew faint under the pain of it. Bothfalse--his wife and brother. _She_ was dead; no wonder _he_ looked soglum! Perturbed though his own mind was, No-Kami could not but noticethe change which had come over the face of Sampei. The sharp ironshare of an ineffable sorrow had passed over his features, ploughingdeep lines of grief.
On second thoughts, it was well that she was dead. She had sinned, andwas justly punished. Thus far was his honour satisfied. The murderessmust suffer also. By-and-by, when there should be breathing time. Andthe paramour as well. With staggering steps the Daimio roamed like acaged animal about the chamber, revolving direful designs. Thensuddenly stopping,
he laughed aloud and clapped his palms together.By-and-by, in the future! Was there any future except a yawning,bottomless gulf down which he and his were sliding? Honour, forsooth!He and his had as little to do with honour as with a future, or withlife.
From far away across the sunlit waters a voice whispered mockingly,"Accursed and doomed! betrayed and friendless! Oh, desolate, solitarysoul, the gods have set their brand on thee! In worlds to come anoutcast!"
Trembling, the Daimio peered around. Some one had spoken. Who? No onein the corridor without. No one beneath the window. That unearthlyjibing merriment! Two bloodshot eyes glaring from the cloudless sky.Cursed and doomed! Predestined to endless travail! Moaning, the Daimiocowered down and rocked himself in terror.
It was soon understood that, my lord being unhinged, and grievouslysick in body and mind, Sampei would assume command. So long as thegods willed it, there should be defence, the General had determined,and to that end he moved hither and thither with forced calm,arranging details by the light of a shrewd experience; steady as somestrong machine that does its work unconsciously.
The contents of the armoury were overhauled and furbished. Seasonedwood was sought throughout the town, for the making of countlessarrows; thick porous paper for dressing wounds, according to thestandard rules of rough field surgery. The ground within the innermoat was covered over with boards and canvas, to conceal what was doneinside; for an investing army is ever full of stratagems for learningthe weak points of the besieged. Lofty trees, or high peaks of rock,were sure to be occupied at once, tall towers to be erected on pointsof vantage. It was even a common thing to fly huge kites, large enoughto support a man, and so obtain a bird's-eye view of the interior ofan enemy's castle. Sampei organised a band of scouts, and sent themforth to crawl by night along the narrow causeways that intersectedthe oozy rice fields, bidding them return with earliest informationwith regard to the coming of the foe. Parties of braves weredespatched in all directions to annex the scanty stores whichoppression had left to the peasantry. All possible precautions taken,he divided his men into watches, taught each his post and duty, thenwaited for the future to unroll.
Nor had he long to wait. As though rising by magic through the ground,an army of combatants appeared, who surrounded the fortress with theirengines. From the top of the central tower, crowned with its copperroof and golden fish, could be descried a host so numerous andwell-equipped that Sampei stood marvelling how they could be here soquickly. It soon became manifest that they had no intention ofendeavouring to storm the place, at least not yet, for theymethodically set about the forming of a line of pallisades, consistingof heavy planks propped by hinged supports, behind which they couldsafely repose, and starve the foe to extremity.
There is nothing so soul-depressing to those hemmed in as a siege thuscoldly carried out. The sense of being an animal shut in a trap, thelack of incident and excitement, the feeling of being without the paleof busy humanity, damp the courage, and chill the spirits. There issomething so prosaic about a war waged against the stomach. Thesamurai of Tsu, disorganised already, their native prowess undermined,soon felt the pinch, and began to brawl and murmur. Their lord theysaw no more, for, reason rocking on its pedestal, he remained shutup, refusing consolation, within the apartments of the deceased. Butfor the prestige that clung like a halo round his brother, andenforced a surly and half mutinous obedience, the braves would havethrown open the gates, have attempted to fraternise with the host ofinvading warriors. But the stoutest among them stood in dread ofSampei,---quailed before the bluff, uncompromising severity which,without the wink of an eyelid, would have made an example of traitors.The vassals of the Hojo fought, discharging arrows and javelins,occasionally making a feeble show of a sortie: but all knew that theend was imminent, that suspense would soon be over.
O'Kiku, grasping, sly, and unheroic, fretted, as may be imagined,bitterly. How different was the present state of things from hercherished rainbow-dream. That sharp repulse, followed by utterneglect, upset her calculations. She appeared of a sudden to have lostinfluence over all her willing slaves. My lord, absorbed in his owntroubles, ignored the fact of her existence. The braves, with whom shewas once so popular--many of whom, it must be confessed, were vain atone time of being numbered among her lovers--now gnashed their teethin her face, and poured on her head twofold the obloquy that had beenthe portion of O'Tei.
And why was this? Doubtless the truculent and unlettered samuraicould scarcely be expected to be logical. Yet having witnessed thepassage-of-arms between the ladies, they must know as well as she thatthe concubine was innocent of the catastrophe. And yet somehow orother it had become plain to their obtuse intelligence that the sirenwas at the bottom of the trouble. There was no arguing the point,since none could deny that it was from her advent that the run ofdisaster must be dated. Accustomed to be pampered and petted, she wasdevoured with smouldering rage, and unreasoning hate of Tsu and Hojo,and all connected with the race, in finding herself treated like aleper. What a pity it was that, lured by a sham glitter, she shouldhave turned aside from the pilgrimage to Ise, for the gathering ofmundane baubles. What had she gained by it? Troubles anddisappointments, and illusions roughly shattered. And perhaps in thebackground something even worse was lurking; for she realised withapprehension that she was hedged round with a phalanx of enemies, whopersisted in connecting her, in spite of evidence, with the untimelydeath of the chatelaine. Was there ever anything so unreasonable, andyet fraught with graver peril? My lord was a madman, beset by absurdhallucinations; a furious tiger, accustomed to batten upon blood, asdevoid of conscience as of scruple. He had called her murderess, andin the crooked recesses of his muddy brain was concocting somefrightful retribution; There was no escape for her by flight, for shewas in the position of a kid locked in a den of lions.
In case of personal peril, to whom might O'Kiku turn for succour?Sampei was honest and upright, but on his worn face, when turned toher, was a horrible expression of icy vindictiveness. That he hadidolised O'Tei none knew better than she, and she was in somemanner connected in his mind with that most unfortunate murder. Healso was evidently brooding over some unpleasant form of reprisal.Enemies--nothing but enemies--inside and out; she their future target.At all events Sampei could be counted upon as straight and above meantreason. Gulping down the lees of offended vanity, O'Kiku resolvedto clear herself in his eyes from any complicity in the tragedy. Hewould believe her--for once in her life she would really speak thetruth--and he would stand by her if assaulted by the madman. But when,waylaying him one day, with a poor ghostly show of the old coquetry,she entered on the subject, such a wave of blank despair seemed tosweep over him that the words froze on her lips, and he was gonebefore she had recovered.
Condemned to inaction, deprived of amusement and male companionship,relegated to the uninteresting society of tire-women, the unhappygeisha pined as well as fretted. If they would only let her out,--setthe caged bird free! Dreams of ambition faded, she now desired no morethan liberty. Several times each day she climbed to the top of thecentral tower, just under the fish of gold, and gazed--oh, with whatlonging--at the cohorts of the invading host. The strictest guard waskept at the openings in the palisading, but soldiers off duty werefree to amuse themselves. She could see bands of them engaged inmilitary sports. Some went a-hunting, and returned laden. Oh, if shewere only with them, outside these horrid walls, beyond which laytantalising freedom! And what was to be the end? There was only oneend possible. All could see that now. Scanty stores, hastilycollected, were waning. What then? Gaunt famine stalked already. Wouldthose without linger inactive till the besieged were dead to a man,then march in over the corpses? or would they in a more martial spiritwait only till the braves were weak, and then take the place byescalade? It was too revolting to die thus by inches. The ideasuddenly flashed upon the wretched woman, whose moral sense, neveracute, was blunting hourly, that the key of the situation was in herown little hand. Why should she not open the postern, let in the foe,who in grati
tude would spare her life--maybe applaud and treat herwith homage as a heroine? What to her were the Hojos; theirillustrious name which was hers--that name about which the sillyMasago had preached so loftily--now that they were on the brink ofruin? She had good cause to hate the Hojos. Many a lady in the annalsof Japan has bared her breast to her husband's dirk in just such anemergency as this. When the famed Shibata knew all was lost, he gave afinal banquet, at the conclusion of which he said to his wife, "Youwomen must go, for it is time for us men to die." And what answer madeshe? With tears she thanked her lord, she, the sister of Nobunago theGreat, composed a farewell verse of poetry, and received his swordinto her bosom.
But then O'Kiku was not of noble birth, and such flights did not suither fancy. She knew herself to be still young and lovely, and full oflife, and burning for fresh fields to conquer. If all had gone well,and she had stepped into the dead one's place, she would, outwardly atleast, have been henceforth as demure as prudery could desire. Rankand honour and power and appetites pampered, form one condition ofthings. Untimely death, trapped within four walls, is quite another.It would be merciful,--a deed worthy of commendation, to let the enemyin, and put these doomed ones out of misery. My lord, a prey togoblins, was become quite too contemptible. What a delight to bepresent at the slaying of the hateful Sampei! Doubtless in yonder hostthere were many as noble as he who would, when opportunity offered,vie with one another for her favours. Her mind was made up. A fig forthe race of Hojo. She would start upon her scheme forthwith.
Changing her tactics, the geisha, braving the scowls of the samurai,became interested in military operations, and despite their new-borndislike of one whom they had come to esteem as a bad angel, it wascheering to be commended by the lips of a pretty woman. She organisedher maidens into a band of mercy for the relief of those who werewounded; helped with her own hands to prepare and carry food; filledand passed the sake-cup, declaring that wine gives strength. Sampeiobserved these proceedings with displeasure, but did not interfere.One morning when the commander was busy, and she knew herselfunwatched, O'Kiku crept to the top of the tower with her dainty bow,and discharged into the air an arrow, round which was wrapped a paper.As she marked its flight, and perceived that it fell beyond thepalisade, "So far well," she murmured. "This suspense will concludeto-night."
The weather was exceeding cold, the blood of the soldiers thin, byreason of under-feeding. Both food and drink were scrupulouslymeasured now in gradually shrinking rations. But the wily damsel had aprivate supply of _sake_, remnant of that with which she used to plymy lord before his late visit to Ki[^y]oto. She prepared and warmed apot of it, in which she distilled some seeds, and waited withphilosophic patience for the night. Then, robed in a dark soft kimono,she stole through the first gate, and round under shadow of the fatalbelt of trees, regardless of their wooing and their sighing (she wasnot one to be tricked to suicide), and thus reached unseen the cornerof the outer gate. The muffled sentinel was leaning upon his lanceagainst the parapet, and started from doleful reverie as she appearedbefore him.
"Hush," she murmured rapidly, "it is I, O'Kiku. You used to love meonce--false that you are--or told me so. See how I love you still.Risking my good name for you, I have brought you this, lest haply yoube frozen by the morning."
The man looked at her with feelings of self-reproach. Yes, he hadfancied her once, more fickle apparently than she; and as she stoodbefore him now, so small and dark, with eyes of mouse-like brightness,and ravishing dimples playing at hide-and-seek, he liked her yetagain. But she fluttered like a bird in his embrace.
"No, no," she whispered, as she passed over his rough face caressingfingers. "Remember duty, and the plight we are in. Folly is over, andstern reality is here. You wronged me in your thoughts, deeming I hadforgotten you. Admit you did. Fie, fie--for shame! There, you areforgiven! Drink!"
She held forth the sake pot, kept warm with a woollen covering. Hetook a long draught, his gaze on her the while, and she shook hershapely head in arch reproach. And then, with set teeth and no dimplesshowing now, she caught the sake-pot as it escaped from his hand, andhe fell insensible upon his back.
"Idiot!" she said, with a curl of her full lip, "lie there undisturbeduntil your foolish throat is cut," and peering cautiously around,descended quickly to the postern.
It will be remembered that the outer gate stood at right angles to theroad, for the better purpose of defence, but that there was a smallpostern in the angle facing it. In her outgoings and incomings she hadalways, as a matter of convenience, used this postern, and had keptthe key of it. How provoking were these plaguy clouds over the moon.At one moment it was dark--at another as light as day--dazzling,puzzling. She stood in the open doorway peeping forth, when a mailedman in ambush seized her by the arm, and pinched it so suddenly thatshe had much ado to suppress a scream.
"I have you!" he said; "you are our hostage. We got your billet, andare ready."
"You hurt me, sir," she answered, struggling. "Brute! let me go. Thedoor is open as I promised. Here is the key of the inner gate."
She endeavoured to shake off the iron grip and flee in the directionof liberty, but the man held her as in a vice.
"Softly, softly!" he chuckled, "or this tender flesh will suffer. Shewho can wantonly betray her people may not be trusted. You shall gobefore and lead us to the inner gate. When once we are within thecitadel you shall receive reward, I promise."
A cry of vexation and abortive spite rose in the geisha's throat, andchoked her. What hardened brutal wretches soldiers are! She whoexpected effusive gratitude for a signal favour was to be treated likea common spy. The biter was bit. The man--an officer of rank, as wasevident by the glittering badge upon his casque--took no pains toconceal his lack of consideration for the agent whom he stooped toemploy. He looked on her, it was but too evident, as on somereptile--of service for the moment, which was to be used, then crushedunder the heel. Careless of her pain, he held her soft arm as tightlyin his armoured hand as if he meant to snap the bone.
"Lead on," he threatened, "or--"
There was no help for it. With the sharpest twinge of self-upbraidingthat she had ever felt, O'Kiku turned and led the officer under shadowof the wall, under the belt of devilish trees that swayed now, andwheezed and croaked in ghastly merriment, till they reached the innermoat. She could tell by the dull thud behind that the cohorts weresilently following. One, tripping over the snoring sentinel, gave himhis _coup de grace_. The outer space within the range of huts wasblack with the ranks of the invader. Sampei, going his rounds, andhearing a strange sound, glanced over the parapet, and pressed his twohands upon his heart to still the commotion there.
It was all over then! So much the better--oh, so much thebetter--since the gods were ruthless. By treachery from within all waslost. The moment he had so yearned for was come at last, when he wouldbe freed from the bondage that was rotting him.
"My love!" he murmured, spreading wide his arms towards the stars,while tears poured down his cheeks. "Wait for me, O'Tei, upon theother bank. Be patient for a few moments more. Stretch forth thy handto me, my own; surely such love as mine should win its guerdon. In thenext life we shall be re-united."
The clouds were rent like a curtain, and the light streamed forth. Thewhole outer space was covered now by a moving army as of locusts.Sampei could detect on fluttering banners the butterfly of the Lord ofBizen, the badges of Shioshiu, and of Satsuma. The moment had arrivedfor which his soul had pined, and he was glad. But for his vigilance,mutiny would have broken out long since; and now that treachery hadunlocked the gates, resistance would be small. He knew full well thathis men would not stand for a moment against panic. There would be astampede, a massacre, unless the braves were permitted to make terms.Befall what might as to the rest, he and his must not be taken alive,for who might tell what ignominy was prepared for the fallen Hojos?Hastily summoning his captains, he pointed over the parapet, and laida hand upon his dirk with a motion understood by all.
"Act for
yourselves," he said; "and the gods, who have deserted us, bewith you, old comrades."
As he rapidly strode away towards the distant corner by the river,where dwelt No-Kami, there were tears in the eyes of the veterans. Wasthis their final parting from the bravest of the brave? Ought they notto follow, and claim participation in the rites?
"No," a white-haired warrior said. "Let his last wishes be obeyed byus who love him. Be our last task to keep the gate, in order that theymay not be interrupted. If we do not fall in the assault, and ourlives are given us, it will be time then to follow our chiefs alongthe road which they have chosen."
With quick and steady foot Sampei ascended the stair, which to him wassanctified by the abiding presence of O'Tei. Pushing back the screen,he entered, and, looking on his brother, there was upon his face anewborn tenderness.
"The moment has come," he announced abruptly. "The foe is within thegate."
A great shout went up into the stillness--a double cry--a scream offear, a yell of victory. How strangely close the air was--despite thecold, heavy and sulphurous. Now that the banks of inky cloud hadcompletely rolled away, the sky was unnaturally clear, the stars likespecks of steel, while low along the bases of the hills was a densewhite vapour rising. Sampei clasped his throat and gasped for air, forhe was suffocating. Shaking back his locks, which, untied, had driftedabout his clammy brow, he took a candle and set fire to the drywoodwork of the room, which crackled and flared, while No-Kami, in adaze, looked on.
"You will be my kaishaku?" demanded the Hojo shortly.
"Not I!" returned his brother, with strange emotion. "Each one forhimself now. You take your dirk; I mine. We will have no seconds.Quick! Each moment's golden."
"I am your feudal chief, as well as brother," No-Kami said, withsupreme haughtiness, shaking off lethargy like an ill-fitting garment,"and as such I claim obedience. Shall it be said that the last Hojopassed away without befitting rites? Would you dare to refuse the lastservice to your departing lord?"
There was a tumult in the elder's breast. No, he dared not refuse thelast offices which were claimed thus solemnly. The final tribute ofrespect due from the nearest kinsman to the head of a great house wasto act as his kaishaku or executioner. And yet, how hard! O'Tei waswaiting on the other bank. No-Kami would be there before him. Not farahead, though, for Sampei disdained a kaishaku. His brother gone, hewould not linger.
"Be it so," he said; and No-Kami nodded gratefully.
The heat of the curling flames was stifling. The air was thick withsmoke,--dense with an overpowering and scorching weight, like thefumes belched out by a volcano.
Gently the lord of Tsu took from its rack his dirk, while his brotherremoved the sleeve from his own right arm and drew his sword, and,left foot forward, narrowly watched his movements. No-Kami, withdreamy deliberation, kneeled, supporting his weight upon his heels,and allowing his upper garment to drop down, tucked the sleeves underhis knees, to save himself from falling backwards. Then, balancing thedirk, he looked on it with affectionate wistfulness, and, collectinghis thoughts, hearkened musingly to the increasing turmoil. A clash ofarms hard by; a hubbub of approaching voices; a volley of wild shoutsand guttural curses, ever nearer--nearer.
"Despatch!" cried the elder, with impatience, as he tightened the gripupon his hilt.
No-Kami glanced round at him with a slow, proud smile, in which therewas more of human softness than his features had ever worn. Then,stabbing himself below the waist on the left side, he drew the dirkwith firm and unswerving hand across, and, twisting it in the wound,gave it a slight turn upwards.
The eager eyes of his brother sparkled. A flash in the air; a heavythud; a crash. No-Kami was gone; his sin-stained soul had flown. Hisblood welled out over the floor from his headless trunk.
Sampei reeled, sick and giddy. Strange that the crisp air of a winternight should be so oppressive!
What sinister new noise was that? A low, rumbling sound, like a greattremulous sigh--a heaving as though the panting soil were labouringfor breath.
For an instant of awful silence the human storm was stilled, then in acombined shriek rose heavenward. With swimming eyes Sampei gazedforth, clinging to the casement for support. A boom, a roar, a rush ofboiling waters. A sweeping blast, a whirlwind--like a conflict ofspirits for a soul. With a groan as of a giant in pain, the hillsideopposite yawned. He beheld the wood of ancient cryptomerias, fromchildhood so familiar, slowly descend, leaving in its place a scar. Hesaw it slide down with majestic movement into the plain, turning fromits bed the river. As though propelled by hurricane force, trees androcks fell thundering, piled in heaps upon the flat, while throughopening gaps and fissures new-born streams gushed out.
Another shock, a long shuddering spasm, a wail of strong men formercy. Then with deafening din the central tower rocked and swayed andsplit from top to bottom. The huge timbers cracked like wands, andparted. The ponderous copper roofs and sculptured eaves were torn andrent, and, toppling upon the crouching multitude, rolled over into theabyss. Forked tongues of flame shot up with a wild whirl of sparks,and died; and then from a common grave there curled a dense column ofblack smoke. Of all who were within the walls of Tsu not one escaped.At the gods' behest, nature had arisen in her strength. When the hailof destruction ceased, nothing remained of the impregnable fortressbut a heap of shapeless ruin. The pride of Hojo was abased; itscherished home was become a charnel-house; its stronghold a sepulchre;a wreck its monument.
* * * * *
Thus was the prophecy fulfilled,--the death-cry of the martyranswered. Buddha was awake, the while he seemed to sleep. By grimdecree of outraged Heaven the race of tyrants was extinguished,leaving no rack behind save a loathed and dishonoured name.
THE END.
* * * * * COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
The Curse of Koshiu: A Chronicle of Old Japan Page 19
