The Curse of Koshiu Part 6

A furtive glance at the dull weak face of the Emperor was not comforting. There was vacillation in every line of it. A gleam from No-Kami's wrathful eyes and he would shrivel up. Was it indeed the duty of his elder brother to stand forward and attempt to stay his junior's downward course? 'Tis a terrible thing when two of the same kin hold swords at one another's throats. And languishing O'Tei, what of her, whom he had secretly sworn to guard and cherish? Perhaps, by slaying her husband, he would be doing her a service as well as freeing the oppressed; but that husband his brother! To slay his brother! As the picture appeared upon his mental retina, Sampei shuddered; and then the thought flashed on him with vivid clearness that the stroke which slew his brother would delve for aye an impa.s.sable chasm 'twixt himself and her he loved. The young man heaved a sigh of relief, and raised his head. He was rescued from temptation for the time being, O'Tei the saving talisman. And then, his eye falling on the pet.i.tion, he grew sorely perplexed. Was the old man right? Was it his bounden duty to interfere between the tyrant and his victims? What good would come of interference? Had he not intervened already for the behoof of the unlucky elders? It was not likely that the head of his house would brook incessant meddling. Slow-witted at the best, Sampei, the more he pondered, grew more wretched and uncertain. Nara marked with approving eye the extent of his uncertainty, and cast a keen glance of intelligence at his master. The poison instilled would slowly work, or Nara had mistaken his man. The seed was sown--must be left to swell and burst. Enough was done for the present.

Obedient to the signal of his most trusted counsellor, the Mikado graciously dismissed his General, with hope revived in the future. But the hope was short-lived. Scarcely had he emerged with lightened heart from out the tent, and, summoning the kuges together, had commanded the shutters to be closed, that the pet.i.tion might be privately considered, than the sound of the awful footstep was heard on the creaking boards, and the soul of the hapless Emperor died within him.

He writhed and turned scarlet under the insult, when, pushing back the shutter with a crash, No-Kami unannounced strode in.

"What is this?" he cried, in a harsh voice, omitting the customary obeisance. "I should not believe it, if I did not see you shivering there, red with conscious guilt. Leniency to the sc.u.m is worse than a crime--it is a fault. It was to please your daughter, Nara--that she should condescend to plead for such insolent vermin, says little for her rearing--that I forgave those villagers. And no sooner have I committed that insensate act, than I am most justly punished for it.

Where is he--he who presumed to present to you a paper? He shall never present another."

The trembling Mikado looked piteously at Nara, who, stolid, and apparently both deaf and blind, moved no muscle.

"My lord No-Kami--" began the Emperor, but was quickly silenced.

"I ask no explanation," remarked the tyrant sternly, waving away argument. "I demand the paper and the man. He is my va.s.sal and my chattel: where is he?"

"Here, under my protection. You forget yourself, my lord!" cried the Emperor, who, deserted by Nara, was stung to a poor show of self-a.s.sertion. "Under this roof he is safe."

No-Kami raised his brows slightly, and with stiff politeness said,--

"Since when may peasants enter where knights and samurai may not?

These be new manners that we can scarce approve. You, my lord Nara, I believe took charge of the man. I thank you for your courtesy, and herewith reclaim my own."

To the consternation of the Emperor, who expected that now, at least, the one to whom he pinned his faith would speak boldly, the Daimio of Nara gravely bowed, and said,--

"If such is the pleasure of our master, be it so."

Put to the test, then, Nara was a windbag that had burst! The Mikado groaned in spirit.

"You will promise that he shall not be injured," stammered he, as, wincing under the basilisk eye, and seeking support in vain, the poor boy grew sick and giddy.

"You see, Lord Nara, that 'tis our master's wish," responded No-Kami bluntly. "I make no promises. My time is valuable, and my retinue without is waiting. See that the wretch is handed over instantly for immediate transport to my _yashiki_." And with this the Hojo turned and strode away, without deigning to await an answer.

The cup was full. The Fountain of Honour overflowed in a torrent of brackish tears. To be insulted thus before all the court; to be treated like a child; to be bearded with such dour disdain! The fate of his three predecessors, in their tranquil monastery, was preferable to his, alone upon the rack in the midst of empty grandeur. When Nara attempted to instil words of comfort, he turned on him with the swift, unreasoning vituperation of the weak.

"You on whom I leaned," he sobbed,--"who are ever prating of the wondrous things that you are going to do! Before him you tremble more than all the rest, and sit mumchance! The man will be tormented, and I thereby eternally disgraced, since I took him under my protection.

When they hear of it, what will my people say, seeing me that monster's puppet?"

"They, will pity you," replied Nara quietly, "as they pity the other three. I am not so craven as you think. What if the man be tortured?

He is but a boor of little consequence, and will be none the worse for martyrdom. Let be, let be--a little patience only. The more scurvily the man is treated, the better in the end; the deeper the universal execration for him we all detest. A little time, a little time, and all will be well, believe me. We have but to sit with hands devoutly folded, and wait; for the Hojo is preparing his own undoing,--carving out his own destruction!"

CHAPTER VII.

THE FARMER'S SENTENCE.

Perhaps the Daimio of Nara was right in his prognostications of the probable. Although the lives of a few peasants are to j.a.panese patricians of but small account, there had been considerable excitement among the daimios over Hojo's high-handed treatment of the village elders, a tornado of lamentation among the lower and unarmed cla.s.ses. Had the action of the despot been voted orthodox, had he unwaveringly pursued his course, the other lords would have done the same as he with joy, to wring out additional sums for pleasant uses; but as No-Kami gave way with little pressing, and thereby stultified his action, there was a general chorus of disapproval. If, excited and cruel, he were now to inflict signal vengeance on the unfortunate farmer, there would be still further uproar; and each fresh demonstration tended to a universal rising, for the destruction of the terrible octopus. Nara was old enough to have learned that the waiting game is generally best in the end, and preached sage wisdom to his master, who wept, being foolish, and young, and also uneasy in his mind.

No-Kami was frantic with wrath when he considered Koshiu's sin. What a deplorable precedent was this! A petty farmer, little better than the common labourer, who strews the paddy field with filth, and grubs on hands on knees like a pig in the mud when the young rice begins to sprout; this abject, well-nigh four-footed, grovelling creature had absolutely, erect upon hind legs, dared to approach the head of the state--the nominal head--with a writing wherein he, the reignina Hojo--the real head of the state--was impeached and accused of misdemeanours,--even of deeds called CRIMES! Such audacity to the most nimble imagination was all but inconceivable. It was no less preposterous and ludicrous than if the brisk and too sprightly flea were, with his tiny mandibles, to a.s.sault the elephant. As he revolved the circ.u.mstance, the Daimio was so tickled that, as he paced a path in his garden outside Ki[^y]oto, he laughed a hard and grating cachination, that was half a snort, and shouted for a cup of warm sake, the which was brought, with the humblest of genuflections; for my lord's laugh clanked like rusty chains, and was precursor usually of bloodshed. But this was really too amusing, or would have been, if not so impudent. As he drained cup after cup of wine, my lord's mind became more active, the heat of his resentment more whitely glowing.

What punishment was severe enough for such a caitiff? What was mere death, even the slowest, with ingeniously long-drawn agonies, but absurdly insufficient. The doom of the farmer must be something calculated to appal,--to spread terror broadcast, or his pestilent example might be followed by other swine. He would be a good riddance, this Koshiu, for he had always been a dangerous character,--one who dared to think for himself, actually to think, and frame views and theories of an independent and subversive kind. Oh for some brilliant idea, some happy thought, startling and awe-inspiring,--something at which the ordinary mind would revolt, then shrink down cowering!

Decidedly this was an occasion on which the culprit must be made a genuine "example;" and as he paced the garden path, the brain of No-Kami was much exercised to find some awful sentence worthy of his reputation and his name.

His heart was so hardened by schemes of revenge that the scene around was powerless to calm his ruffled soul; and yet his villa without Ki[^y]oto, known as the Golden House (it exists to this day), was a spot where loving nature had freely given of her best.

On the plain between the city and the mountains is a wood, some three miles square, wherein branching umbrella pines and lofty cryptomerias and black-pointed cypresses are mingled in calculated confusion with the ensanguined foliage of the maple, and a luxuriant shrub covered with yellow blossoms, which has a scent resembling that of the apricot. The underbrush being carefully removed, the feet of the trees stand clear, rising from a tumbled surface of rich moss and rock and knoll, through which meander crystal streams shaded by gra.s.s and ferns. In a secluded portion of the wood is a large oblong pond, half-covered with dense reeds, and full offish and tortoises. In this, between the reed-beds, is mirrored a fairy cot--very small, as suitable for fairies--with the usual heavy roof and posts, and with windows inlaid with oyster sh.e.l.l. The peculiarity of the villa, at the time which occupies us, was that inside and out it was entirely gilt, which, against the sombre green background, in the limpid atmosphere, gave it the aspect of an enchanted dwelling. The rooms were of the smallest, and as naked and uncomfortable as j.a.panese rooms always are; and yet, in miniature, there was naught neglected. There was the porter's lodge, wherein lounged the armed retainers, and where upright, clean, and ready were the three formidable instruments designed to entangle, throw down, and pin a quarrelsome or unwelcome visitor. Stout quarter staves were also ready wherewith to belabour a struggling wight. There were bows and arrows in plenty, while in a row hung wooden tickets inscribed with the names of the soldiers in residence, which, were handed to the keeper of the gate, in token of absence, as the men pa.s.sed out. In one corner was a bath--a mere rude tub--wherein, after the Daimio had bathed, others might be allowed to plunge; while further on, in the _tokonoma_, or recess of honour, were ranged in glittering state, ready always for use, the armour of my lord--his cuira.s.s and greaves, helmet, chainmail, and swords.

As he paced up and down under shadow of the trees, No-Kami had an inspiration; and summoning his favourite samurai, he bade him produce the prisoner. With arms crossed on his broad chest, and a mien of sullen defiance, Koshiu emerged, and having approached, stared hard into his oppressor's eyes with such undaunted boldness that Hojo felt almost sorry. It was a pity to have to annihilate so bold a varlet; and yet the independent ways of these same bold varlets are pestilent,--dangerous to the lords who are set over them.

"What hast thou to say--what excuse to make?" demanded the imperious No-Kami.

"The performance of duty calls for no excuse," replied the bluff farmer.

"Duty!"

"Yes, duty,--to myself, to my fellow-sufferers, to the sublime Mikado, who, unless told, knows naught--for he dwells apart--of the wicked such as thee."

"By Buddha's crown, but thou art mad! instead of suing for mercy, aggravating thy offence."

"The Hojos never knew mercy--thou least of all--and I expect none."

"Will none make a lid for this rascal?" cried the Daimio, his small stock of patience ebbing. Then, seeing half a score of bright blades flashing in the sun, he waved them back into their scabbards. "Nay, nay," he grumbled; "sully not your steel."

"The Hojos were ever bad," observed Koshiu, without blenching. "Thou and thy brother are the worst."

"Sampei!" exclaimed No-Kami, in surprise. "Why he is half of thy caste himself, and is adored by the populace. What evil hath he done to thee?"

"He robbed me of my eldest child, whom I held dear. She has vanished, seduced by him."

No-Kami laughed long and loud, that very ugly laugh.

"So, so. The General is sly, and keeps his counsel, and hath done thee and thine far too much honour, ingrate! See, here he comes to answer for himself."

It was indeed Sampei, who, in extreme haste and heat, was crashing through the ferns. How unfortunate that the Emperor should not have detained him ten minutes longer. He would have expostulated with his brother then and there, in the Imperial presence,--have entreated the Fountain of Honour not to give up the captive. For in Hojo's greedy desire to obtain possession of him there was lurking something sinister. No-Kami's temper was so warm. For his sake, and the name they both bore, he must be prevented from going to extremities. Thanks to the G.o.ds, he was in time, for there the man stood, unharmed as yet.

Ere he reached the spot where the two were standing, with retainers grouped in a circle, Sampei cried out, in his strong voice,--

"No-Kami, my brother, give me this man's life!"

"Again," laughed No-Kami. "What a glutton for the lives of prisoners.

Not this one; no, his is a special case; but I'll give thee his little wanton."

"What wanton?" And then of a sudden the young soldier remembered his mother's news which had so startled him. This was the father of the maid whose heart he had unconsciously captured, and whose parent had five years ago denied to him his doors. It was with a whimsical smile that he shrugged his shoulders, and said,--"Mine' is no wanton that I know of. She is as pure for me as Fugi, the holy and snow-capped mountain."

"Liar!" shouted Koshiu. "What have Hojos to do with truth?"

Whereupon, with a low growl, the retainers drew their dirks and pressed close round.

Sampei grew a shade paler, but, controlling himself, quietly said,--