y attacked and took Kasagi, and the emperor was taken
prisoner and banished to Oki.

Connected with his exile is a story of much dramatic interest. While
Go-Daigo was being borne in a palanquin to his place of banishment,
under a guard of soldiers, Kojima, a young noble of his party, attempted
his rescue. Gathering a party of followers, he occupied a pass in the
hills through which he expected that the train would make its way. But
another pass was taken, and he waited in vain.

Learning their mistake, his followers, disheartened by their failure,
deserted him. But the faithful vassal cautiously followed the train,
making various efforts to approach and whisper hope to the imperial
exile. He was prevented by the vigilance of the guard, and finally,
finding that either rescue or speech was hopeless, he hit upon a plan to
baffle the vigilance of the guards and let the emperor know that friends
were still at work in his behalf.

Under the shadows of night he secretly entered the garden of the inn
where the party was resting, and there scraped off the outer bark of a
cherry-tree, laying bare the smooth white layer within. On this he
wrote the following stanza:

"O Heaven, destroy not Kosen
While Hanrei still lives."

The next morning the soldiers noticed the writing on the tree. Curious
to learn its meaning, but unable to read, they showed it to their
prisoner, who, being familiar with the quotation, caught, with an
impulse of joy, its concealed significance. Kosen was an ancient king of
China who had been deposed and made prisoner, but was afterwards
restored to power by his faithful follower Hanrei. Glad to learn that
loyal friends were seeking his release, the emperor went to his lonely
exile with renewed hope. Kojima afterwards died on the battle-field
during the war for the restoration of the exiled mikado.

[Illustration: LETTER-WRITING IN JAPAN.]

But another valiant soldier was soon in the field in the interest of the
exile. Nitta Yoshisada, a captain of the Hojo forces, had been sent to
besiege Kusunoki, a vassal of the mikado, who held a stronghold for his
imperial lord. Nitta, roused by conscience to a sense of his true duty,
refused to fight against the emperor, deserted from the army, and,
obtaining a commission from Go-Daigo's son, who was concealed in the
mountains, he returned to his native place, raised the standard of
revolt against the Hojo, and soon found himself at the head of a
consi