be in the service of a daimyo;
and my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women
and wine too well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly.
My selfishness brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the
death of many persons. Retribution followed me; and I long remained a
fugitive in the land. Now I often pray that I may be able to make some
atonement for the evil which I did, and to reestablish the ancestral
home. But I fear that I shall never find any way of so doing.
Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by sincere
repentance, and by helping as afar as I can, those who are unfortunate."

Kwairyo was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said
to the aruji:--

"My friend, I have had occasion to observe that man, prone to folly in
their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In
the holy sutras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can
become, by power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do
not doubt that you have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune
will come to you. To-night I shall recite the sutras for your sake, and
pray that you may obtain the force to overcome the karma of any past
errors."

With these assurances, Kwairyo bade the aruji good-night; and his host
showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made ready.
Then all went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the sutras
by the light of a paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued to read
and pray: then he opened a little window in his little sleeping-room,
to take a last look at the landscape before lying down. The night was
beautiful: there was no cloud in the sky: there was no wind; and the
strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows of foliage, and
glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of crickets and
bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of the
neighboring cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyo felt thirsty as he
listened to the noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo
aqueduct at the rear of the house, he thought that he could go there
and get a drink without disturbing the sleeping household. Very gently
he pushed apart the sliding-screens that separated his room from the
main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the lantern, five recumbent
bodies--without heads!

For one instant he stood bewildered,--imagining a crime. But in another
moment he perceived