Hall, he beheld her in his
slumbers, as he wished, but at the same moment the terrible face of
the woman that he had seen on that fearful evening in Rokjio again
appeared before him; hence he concluded that the same mysterious being
who tenanted that dreary mansion had taken advantage of his fears and
had destroyed his beloved Yugao.

A few words more about the house in which she had lived. After her
flight no communication had been sent to them even by Ukon, and they
had no idea of where she had gone to. The mistress of the house was a
daughter of the nurse of Yugao. She with her two sisters lived there.
Ukon was a stranger to them, and they imagined that her being so was
the reason of her sending no intelligence to them. True they had
entertained some suspicions about the gay Prince, and pressed Koremitz
to confide the truth to them, but the latter, as he had done before,
kept himself skilfully aloof.

They then thought she might have been seduced and carried off by some
gallant son of a local Governor, who feared his intrigue might be
discovered by To-no-Chiujio.

During these days Kokimi, of Ki-no-Kami's house, still used to come
occasionally to Genji. But for some time past the latter had not sent
any letter to Cicada. When she heard of his illness she not
unnaturally felt for him, and also she had experienced a sort of
disappointment in not seeing his writing for some time, especially as
the time of her departure for the country was approaching. She
therefore sent him a letter of inquiry with the following:--

"If long time passes slow away,
Without a word from absent friend,
Our fears no longer brook delay,
But must some kindly greeting send."

To this letter Genji returned a kind answer and also the following:--

"This world to me did once appear
Like Cicada's shell, when cast away,
Till words addressed by one so dear,
Have taught my hopes a brighter day."

This was written with a trembling hand, but still bearing nice traits,
and when it reached Cicada, and she saw that he had not yet forgotten
past events, and the scarf he had carried away, she was partly amused
and partly pleased.

It was about this time that the daughter of Iyo-no-Kami was engaged to
a certain Kurando Shioshio, and he was her frequent visitor. Genji
heard of this, and without any intention of rivalry, sent her the
following by Kokimi:--

"Like the green reed that grows on high