ot to the taste of either.
Then, as now, a ferry not far from the Adzuma bridge crossed to the
pretty sounding "Eight hundred Pines." _Yashiki_ then surrounded, a
palace to-day covers the site. They watched the ferryman pushing off
into the river's darkness. Then hand in hand they strolled up the bank
of the stream, under the gloomy trees, seeking the favoured spot of
their undoing. Suddenly O'Some stopped; sank at the feet of Masajiro[u].
His hand sought the handle of the dagger. The weapon raised he was about
to plunge it into the tender neck. Then a shout startled his ear. "Rash
youths--Wait! Wait!" A powerful grasp was on his arm. With a shiver he
came to consciousness. O'Some, the river, the bag of gold in his bosom,
all had disappeared. He was lying on the steps of the Jizo[u]do[u],
surrounded by the _yakunin_. All had been a dream!

With open mouths the _yakunin_ in the court looked at each other. Lo!
They had nabbed a mere dreamer. How would his lordship take it? One more
quick witted and thirstier than the rest answered for all--"Ha! Ah! A
wretched fellow! Not only thief and firebug, but murderer also!" To the
astonished and stammering protest of Masajiro[u] there was the answering
scowl of a very Emma Dai-O[u] on the bench. "Miserable wretch! What is
in the heart at best comes to the lips. This matter is to be sifted to
the dregs, the witnesses examined. For offence so far disclosed he can
take the lash. Then off with him to the jail." Masajiro[u], his back
torn to ribbons and bloody with the fifty blows, was supported out of
the court. Then the wine cup was condescended to the energy and
acuteness of his captors. Enlivened by the morning's entertainment and
his own big cup Aoyama Shu[u]zen rose and departed.

CHAPTER XVII

EMMA DAI-O[U] GIVES JUDGMENT

Great was the excitement and lamentable the experience of the Aizawaya.
The matter of O'Some had been under discussion with the Iwakuniya.
Beyond good words and cold courtesy little satisfaction could be
obtained; nor could it be expected. The offence had been the work of a
fox, and the jewel of a girl's reputation had been trodden in the mire.
Returned to the saddened home, the nurse of O'Some was found awaiting
them. At the news she had hastened from the country to console her old
mistress and to take her one time charge in her arms. "Alas! Alas! Is
the matter so beyond remedy? Surely with a good dower the
Iwakuniya...."--"'Tis no such affair," an