insignificance, than in the strength of outer
defences against sudden attack of those at feud with him. Part of his
tract inclosed a shrine of the Inari goddess. This had still its
worshippers. On his inspection Shu[u]zen noted the loneliness of the
building, its desolation. Yet it was clean swept and kept, and a money
box for offerings was proof of attendance at the shrine. Whether this
was of man or beast was not so easy to determine, for traces of the
latter were plain to the eye. Their tracks swarmed about the building
itself. As Shu[u]zen stood in some uncertainty, a woman of the middle
class appeared. To inquiries she admitted that the care of the shrine
was due to herself and her piety; a care gladly rendered to its
efficacy. It had returned to her a son once sent adrift to the
provinces; and to her affection a husband who had gone astray much
closer home, for the intruding female was a minor member of her own
household. Finding excuse in some domestic misdeed, the worthy cit had
sent forth the damsel into the wilderness of the world with the fruit of
her experience. The relief of this incubus, and the return of a more
rightful heir than promised, the good lady attributed to the virtue of
her prayers to the Inari Sama. She was urgent to bring support to her
views in the general opinion of all the neighbourhood, mainly of the
Ko[u]jimachi village. These corroborated what she said as to the
shrine's efficacy and petitioned for its continued support. Made the
tutelary shrine of the _yashiki_, separated therefrom by a mere
brushwood fence, this Inari Jinja of the Bancho[u] continued to exist
for the good of the public and the annoyance of the amiable Okumura
Shu[u]zen. Its _kannushi_ (Shinto priest) he could never find. The woman
and others said that he lived at Ushinakizaka. At least the money
contributions were always accounted for, although they had never seen
his face. A few days before the formal opening of the _yashiki_ the
_chu[u]gen_ Isuke and the workmen stood with puzzled faces before a hole
discovered underneath the flooring of the shrine. It led to some passage
or cave. None were in humour to investigate, perhaps to the annoyance of
the O'Inari Sama. At Isuke's direction, and with difficulty in the
cramped space, it was found possible to shove into place the massive
granite slab which fitted tightly into the aperture, and plainly
belonged to it. "A one time store house of the god," quoth Isuke. With
that h