chi before, and
said, "I never heard of such a thing! Why, I thought you were some
respectable person; and you have the impudence to tell me that your
name is Chokichi, and that you're one of those accursed Etas. To think
of such a shameless villain coming and asking to be friends with me,
forsooth! Get you gone!--the quicker, the better: your presence
pollutes the house."

Chokichi smiled contemptuously, as he answered, "So you deem the
presence of an Eta in your house a pollution--eh? Why, I thought you
must be one of us."

"Insolent knave! Begone as fast as possible."

"Well, since you say that I defile your house, you had better get rid
of O Koyo as well. I suppose she must equally be a pollution to it."

This put Sazen rather in a dilemma; however, he made up his mind not
to show any hesitation, and said, "What are you talking about? There
is no O Koyo here; and I never saw such a person in my life."

Chokichi quietly drew out of the bosom of his dress the letter from
Sazen to Kihachi, which he had picked up a few days before, and,
showing it to Sazen, replied, "If you wish to dispute the genuineness
of this paper, I will report the whole matter to the Governor of Yedo;
and Genzaburo's family will be ruined, and the rest of you who are
parties in this affair will come in for your share of trouble. Just
wait a little."

And as he pretended to leave the house, Sazen, at his wits' end, cried
out, "Stop! stop! I want to speak to you. Pray, stop and listen
quietly. It is quite true, as you said, that O Koyo is in my house;
and really your indignation is perfectly just. Come! let us talk over
matters a little. Now you yourself were originally a respectable man;
and although you have fallen in life, there is no reason why your
disgrace should last for ever. All that you want in order to enable
you to escape out of this fraternity of Etas is a little money. Why
should you not get this from Genzaburo, who is very anxious to keep
his intrigue with O Koyo secret?"

Chokichi laughed disdainfully. "I am ready to talk with you; but I
don't want any money. All I want is to report the affair to the
authorities, in order that I may be revenged for the fraud that was
put upon me."

"Won't you accept twenty-five riyos?"

"Twenty-five riyos! No, indeed! I will not take a fraction less than a
hundred; and if I cannot get them I will report the whole matter at
once."

Sazen, after a moment's consideration, hit upon a schem