The Curse of Koshiu Part 7

"Let be, men! Sheathe your blades! The man labours under a mistake, and will know better by-and-by. Grant me his life, my brother!"

"Why, of what parentage art thou?" exclaimed No-Kami, with a gesture of scorn. "He dubbed thee liar! Well, well! A drop of low peasant blood mingled with the best envenoms the entire stream. Yet am I ashamed, that thou, who art said to have done deeds of exceeding prowess, should tamely accept such insolence! And yet--and yet! I see now that I was wrong, precipitate. So mean a target is not worth your arrows. Fear not, my sober brother, I will myself avenge thee. Stand forth thou, and hear thy sentence. Whereas thou--audacious and stiff-necked--hast set thyself up as a champion and head of the villagers; and whereas thou hast dared to make light of me, thy feudal lord, by pet.i.tioning the Emperor directly; and whereas thou hast been guilty of conspiracy--three heinous crimes--it is decreed that thou shalt be taken in chains to Tsu, in a litter covered with a net of shame, and there suffer death by crucifixion. Thy wife will suffer likewise. Thy children shall merely be beheaded. The girl--what is her name? Mine--alone shall live, since I have bestowed her as a boon upon my brother."

The samurai knelt down and rested their foreheads on the gra.s.s, clasping their hands in token of admiration and respect; Sampei covered his glowing face with quivering fingers; the farmer turned ashen grey. A thunderbolt hurled down to annihilate a family. For himself he cared not: his life he had known was forfeit. But wife and innocent babes! Gennosuke, the st.u.r.dy little lad; and pretty Sohei, and Kihachi, who could barely toddle! The unexpected blow was paralysing--stupefying with overwhelming sweep; and No-Kami, who saw with delight that the bolt went home, motioned for the condemned to be removed. Sampei felt stunned,--torn between horror, and the instinct of blind loyalty to his chief, his creed--the creed in which he had carefully been nurtured. The innocent and the guilty involved in one common doom. It was horrible--unjust! Less vindictive by-and-by, the Daimio would repent him of his severity. Sampei saw clearly that the man must go. That could not be helped: he had brought on himself his punishment. But the wife and children! Sampei had hurried hither to endeavour to rescue the man, and on behalf of the innocent had not found a word of protest. Thank goodness that, owing to a mistake, Mine at least was safe. As to the wife and children, he and O'Tei must combine ere the sentence was carried out, and make a strenuous effort.

There was no help to be looked for from the weak Mikado. What a pity that he was such a feeble creature! But then, had he been more formidable, he would have shared the fate of the others long ago. The Hojo looked so surly, that Sampei felt the moment unpropitious for remonstrance. Incensed as my lord now was, prayers would but aggravate him further. Sampei seemed, therefore, to acquiesce in the decision of the Daimio, and turned to another topic.

"A new eye sees things," he remarked, as they strolled under the trees, "which escape the ken of him to whom surrounding objects are familiar. Powerful as you are, swaying with a nod affairs of state, you strike me as less secure than was our father."

"He governed, as was necessary, with an iron hand, and so do I,"

retorted No-Kami.

"His was not so wet with blood," suggested the other gently.

"Can this be indeed the successful soldier?" asked the Daimio, stopping in amaze. "More like that puling wife of mine. A pity you did not wed her!"

Sampei started and winced. Could his brother guess. There was no trace of suspicion on his visage. His secret was safe. It was only a stray shot.

"The daimios," he observed quietly, "hate you, and they are treacherous."

"The daimios always hate him who is in power," replied the other with composure, "and burn to oust him. And people say that all j.a.panese are treacherous. They must be curbed by fear. Hence my severity just now.

Nay, do not speak or waste your breath and anger me. On that my mind is fixed. I was too mild and compa.s.sionate with those elders, and look on the result! A stupid blunder, due to over-kindliness. The new-born arrogance of those tillers of the soil must be sternly checked.

Clemency would be construed into a sign of weakness. He who rules with the sword must not be afraid to use it."

"I would warn you to mistrust Nara," observed Sampei, after a pause of thought; "he does not wish you well."

"Nara!" echoed the Daimio. "He who our astute father selected as my special counsellor! You are too suspicious. For Nara I have nothing but contempt--for him as for his counsel. He a.s.sumes sapient airs, and beneath them is a coward and a fool. Sometimes, in sport, I press down my heel on him, and he affords no sport, for he does not even writhe.

Since you are a man of valour--the hero of the hour, though I vow you are more like a girl--furbish up your arms, and drill your cohorts, and leave policy to me. Drill your troops for my protection, most doughty of Hojos. As for statecraft, believe me, meddle not with a complicated tangle which you have not the skill to unravel. Your arm is more exercised than mine, but of heads, mine is the better."

CHAPTER VIII.

DESTINY IS BUSY.

When the slow procession of armed men with a guarded litter in its midst was discerned approaching Tsu, great was the curiosity excited, for though none spoke of him, the absent farmer, devoted to a forlorn hope, was uppermost in the minds of all. A vague report gained ground that he had actually been permitted to see the face of the Sublime One, who, as just as he was holy, had listened to the tale of wrong.

The stricken people, accustomed to adversity, were dazed by the gleam of fortune. Buddha had hearkened at last unto their groaning, had pitied their misery! The Hojo was not so bad after all, for the extra weight of taxes would doubtless be removed; the elders had returned forgiven; Koshiu was coming in triumph to his home, where a fitting reception should be accorded him. The listless men rose up upon their feet, the hammer and the gong resounded once again, amid blessings on the name of Koshiu.

The only one who was not joyous was Kennui, the farmer's faithful wife. She had heard so much from her spouse about the wickedness of the Hojos, that unconsciously she echoed his words, shaking her head as she muttered, "The Hojos know not mercy!" As the approaching procession became clearer to the view, defiling with clank of iron down the street, she gave a wild shriek, and fell swooning; for in the litter, under the fatal net, she had recognised the grizzled head and burly shoulders of him she loved best on earth. Awe-stricken, fearing they knew not what, the town turned out _en ma.s.se_ and silently followed the procession, until, crossing the bridge that led over the outer moat of the castle, the ponderous doors closed upon it and the prisoner. For, strange and incomprehensible as it appeared, there was no doubt that Koshiu was a prisoner. The net and chains, and scowling escort told as much. Why? Was the report a false one? Had he not succeeded in communicating with the Sublime One? Sure he who was the Fount of Honour had not spurned the humble prayer! If he had been gracious, why was the victim brought to his home with sinister pomp and circ.u.mstance? While the crowd in scattered knots were discussing the enigma, the gates opened again, a band of samurai rushed forth, and presently returned with--wonder of wonders!--Kennui and her little children, who, driven at point of spear, like the farmer vanished.

Curiosity and impatience were getting the better of alarm, and some of the elders were about to cross the bridge, and knocking, make inquiries, when again the door swung upon its hinges, a man posted up a paper, and the gate was again shut to. A thrill of horror and consternation shivered over the crowd, as some one, mounting on a riding block, read aloud the proclamation. Crucifixion for the patriot and his innocent wife--the annihilation of his family and name! The injustice and brutality of such a sweeping sentence cried aloud to Heaven. j.a.pan should ring with it. Come what might, the elders would remonstrate,--would lift up their voices in supreme protest against the iniquity of the cold-blooded tyrant.

The head men of the town and surrounding villages a.s.sembled, one hundred and thirty in number, and drew up an appeal, affixing thereto their seals, and Rokubei and Zembei, whose consciences smote them somewhat, travelled with it themselves to Ki[^y]oto. There the streets were in commotion, business was put aside, and men sat on the mats in groups discussing the darkening future. In whispers, with furtive glances over the shoulder, they murmured that there must be an end of it; anything was preferable as a change to such a life as No-Kami prepared for the people. Submission was making matters worse instead of better. Letters must be sent to the surrounding provinces. They must shake off sloth, and rise as one to free themselves and their Mikado.

Sampei, riding to the Golden House, told his brother of the hubbub. As he heard, the brow of the despot darkened; his eyeb.a.l.l.s became bloodshot, like those of the demon Razetsu, as in obstinate fume he gnashed his teeth.

"What?" he cried. "Oh, girl in man's attire, I have borne too long with your puling! You dare to come hither, and take the part of the sc.u.m against me, your feudal lord! A shivering coward, who calls himself a soldier! Not a word more, or, despite the army at your back, I'll have you seized and scourged, and your head flung to the jackals."

Hot words rose in Sampei's throat, but the mournful face of his pale love rose before him, and he choked them down. His brother was distraught with pa.s.sion,--knew not what he said. His feudal lord! Yes, that much was true. If danger was brewing, his place was by the side of his brother, to save him, if might be, from the consequences of the wickedness instilled by demons; if not, to a.s.sist him in his death.

The silence and sullen submission of the young General irritated the Daimio to frenzy. He cursed and growled like some savage animal, became the more furious from the conviction that in this matter he had been precipitate and wrong,--had been guilty of a mistake in state-craft,--of over-harshness. And yet it would never do to give to the sc.u.m the victory--to the low mechanics, and mean, unarmed artificers, who were a.s.suming a threatening att.i.tude. What would the other daimios say, who were eagerly watching the next move, if the ruler were again to give way,--to succ.u.mb like a woman before the outcry of a few rustics? The prestige of the Hojos would be gone for ever, and the bearer of the name would be sucked under and drowned by the torrent which would a.s.suredly break loose. Give way! That, by the crown of Buddha, he swore he never would; and yet, perceiving too late the danger, in his heart he longed for a compromise. Hearing that Rokubei and Zembei, venerable elders, had dared to come pestering, and that a deputation of priests, headed by the bonzes of Tsu, awaited his pleasure, he smothered his rage, and bade Sampei admit them. He even deigned to summon his father's friend, and solicit counsel, placing the case before him.

Concealing his exultation under an air of sympathy, Nara arrived with prompt.i.tude, and, true to his tactics, gave advice which was calculated to undo his enemy.

"The peril is extreme," he said, "so I will speak plainly. 'Tis easier to raise a storm than quell it."

"If you are here to talk plat.i.tudes, begone," interrupted No-Kami.

"Be patient, my almost son, and attend," the malicious Daimio responded, with inward laughter. Like a bear in the toils his foe was caught, and it should be no fault of his if he became not more closely enmeshed. "You are right in this," he continued. "It will not do to lower the proud standard of the Hojos before the rabble; and yet you must provide them with a sop. Let the sentence stand. What is decreed should be irrevocable; but grant the boon in the memorial. Remove the obnoxious taxes. So will you seem clement, as well as stern and strong. They will fear you more than ever, while compelled to praise your bounty."

The advice jumped with No-Kami's inclination The more he considered it, the more crafty it appeared; but, true to his principle of blood-letting and tyrannising over the weak, he slightly improved on it. He would pretend to have known nothing of these taxes, and, as an example, would bring to condign punishment the bailiffs and tax-gatherers who had so harshly oppressed his va.s.sals.

A master-stroke worthy of his sapient father this. A touch of genius.

He accordingly harangued the deputations; declared his surprise as well as sympathy and love with such a.s.surance that they scarce could believe their ears. The sentence, if somewhat harsh, must stand, he said, for 'twas a grievous crime in a va.s.sal to hold up to obloquy his feudal lord. The property of the offending farmer should, however, not all be confiscated, but a part would be handed over to the girl Mine, who was spared, thanks to his brother's pleading. He a.s.sured his amazed listeners that he grieved over the rapacity of his officers--of whom he would make an example--in that they had invented new imposts on their own account, to the detriment of their lord's repute. He was sorry that the full details of the case had not reached him before.

The town councillors of Tsu would be dismissed from their posts. Four district governors and three bailiffs would be banished to the northern island. The chief bailiff of Tsu and one particularly-sinful officer would be invited to perform harakiri. The objectionable taxes were abolished.

With this, while his audience stood aghast and dumb, my lord waved his fan with courteous condescension, in token of dismissal, and retired, flattering himself that he had got extremely well out of rather an awkward hobble.

The news which the deputations brought back with them to Tsu was received with mixed feelings. It was sad that the farmer's family must perish, but Koshiu would know that they had not died in vain. For the public good he and his were made a sacrifice. Many litanies should be chanted in the temples; the martyr should be canonised, enrolled on the list of saints.

One who was inconsolable was Mine. Spurned by him at whose feet she had cast herself--for Sampei had never deigned to inquire after her--she was compelled to admit that her father was right in his estimate of the reigning family. If he whom she elected to worship as a hero had not been as cruel as his brother, he would not stand by--he, a powerful general in command of many soldiers, while so wicked a sentence was promulgated. Father, mother, brothers--all. And she had loved this man! Distracted, she rushed to the castle, and braving the obscene jests of the samurai, implored to be admitted to her parents. She had done wrong, and must die heartbroken if deprived of their forgiveness.

A soldier, softened by the maiden's anguish, carried her entreaty, and returned with the message that her father refused to see her. She who was the chattel of a Hojo was no child of his, he had declared. Three beloved sons were his, but no daughter. Mine battered with weak hands upon the closing door. Her father had judged too harshly, for--alas!

to confess such infamy--the Hojo had repulsed her. She was not his mistress,--had never even seen him since he sallied forth to war. The samurai laughed loud at the confession, and gibed at the hapless maid, bandying foul pleasantries. A likely story. Since, owing to the General's intervention, she was to have the property, she would doubtless find some one to pick up that which my lord Sampei had tossed into the mire. How much would she be worth? Would she set herself up to auction? By-and-by she could purchase for herself a husband, if not now a messenger. Her father declined to see her, so if yet she had a shred of shame left she had best depart, and quickly. If not, the soldiery would take her in, and for their own delectation keep her there. In terror she sped away, nor stopped till she reached the temple; and when in the gloaming the spectral line of nuns and Abbess entered for the evening prayer, Masago lifted the exhausted and fainting girl, and pressing cold lips upon her brow, bade her take rest and comfort. Henceforth she was theirs and Buddha's.

To show that, although clement, he was not to be intimidated, No-Kami resolved to make of the prospective execution a wholesome precedent, and to that end journeyed to Tsu in person. He was determined that the spectacle should abide in the minds of those who were privileged to witness it, as an ineffaceable lesson and an awful memory. It should take place within the castle boundaries, he decreed, in the presence of the Daimio and his suite, in gala robes, and all and sundry were invited to attend this new and engaging form of public festival.

As the fatal day approached, the fiery temper of the despot was severely tried, and grew hotter under the trial; for although the truculent retinue applauded, and looked forward with glee to a rare frolic, there was hanging over the land a shadow that might be felt.

Men spoke together in isolated knots, scudding away like hares if the gallop of my lord's escort was heard returning from the chase. This showed a wholesome and gratifying fear; but there were some who took no pains to cloke their insolence. The friends of the tax-gatherers and others who had been condemned, raised an outcry, vowing that they had obeyed to the letter their lord's behest, and that 'twas hard to suffer for being only too faithfully obedient. No-Kami increased the number of his personal attendants, daring no longer to go forth alone, lest haply some wailing relative should cling to his stirrup, and decline to be beaten off. Even behind the bristling defences of the castle he was not secure. Masago and her nuns arrived in solemn procession at the gate, and the soldiers, hardened though they were, were afraid to refuse them entrance. The austere Abbess was not to be browbeaten. Calm and cold, with inflexible mien she looked No-Kami in the eyes, and in presence of his warriors, in the name of her dead lord his father, dared him to fulfil his purpose. Solemnly she warned him of divine rancour. She had had a dream, and, as all the world knows, the soul during sleep is in active communication with the departed. Even now, at the eleventh hour, she urged that there was still time to avert the vengeance of the G.o.ds. The growing anger of Buddha might be appeased by pilgrimage and prayer, self-humbling, and precious gifts.

But Masago might as well have preached to the lotuses. Her speech was met with uneasy ribaldry, and smouldering ire.

"Bah! Threats from a troop of women! A made-up ghost to affright children with. Ye are hungry for the good things of this world,"

snarled the Daimio, "like all the priesthood. Be off! I care not for nuns or bonzes, self-appointed messengers from Heaven. Chatterers, get you gone while ye have time, or despite your garb your bodies shall feel the whip."

With that he bade the doorkeepers open wide the gate, that his guards might drive forth the emba.s.sage.

The unfortunate chatelaine, although none of the castle denizens cared to know it, was the one who was most hardly stricken by her husband's culminating sin. When the sad procession arrived with in its midst the patriot, she was boating outside the walls, deftly guiding her shallop with a slender pole through the luxuriant floating greenery. The elders having been spared at her written request, the horizon seemed less black. This was a first step towards the reclaiming of No-Kami--by-and-by, little by little, she would by tact and persistent effort regain over him the influence which at first she had too quickly abdicated. As she pondered, she blamed herself for lack of patient perseverance.

What was her own petty pride to the people's good? She had misjudged No-Kami, for on receipt of her letter he had given way at once. So he would again, and yet again, till drawn out of himself by tenderness, he would cast aside his wicked self like a foul garment, and live a cleanly life. Then she fell a-weaving of plans for a.s.suaging the misery of her people, and all at once there fell the thunderbolt, and her new calm was rudely broken.

This horror was worse than all. Retiring to her bower, and dismissing her maidens, she cast herself upon the floor, and, numbed by despair, remained inanimate for hours. Had the G.o.ds no pity for such frail things as she? The contemplation of her husband, of the man who could deliberately plan and execute so vile an atrocity as this, caused her flesh to creep, her soul to shudder. He proposed, moreover, to accomplish the dreadful deed _here_, within the precincts of her house. The smell of the blood would never fade, its stain might never be effaced; and she was doomed to endure its constant presence for long years, unless the G.o.ds were clement. Some rail at the brief span of life. To some it seems too short, to others interminable. How earnestly, lying p.r.o.ne, did O'Tei entreat release. A long vista of grim dreadful years. No, at bay, she would revolt against the nightmare, would leap into the waves, and make an end of it. Since men may relieve themselves with the dirk of a too heavy existence, might not women seek relief in the embrace of the blessed sea?

He was coming here soon, her husband, to superintend the shocking details. He would touch, perhaps clasp her in his arms. Oh, no! And yet, why not? Clutched by him, pressed to the hard heart of the monster, inhaling the poison of his breath, she must surely wither; and if her soul were freed, what signified the horror of the means?

Sinking into a condition of dull lethargy, she went forth no more, but brooded in the quiet of her chamber, from which she could see the hill crowned by the temple groves. Dim and distant, like the roar in a sea-sh.e.l.l, she heard the noise of arrival, the neighing of steeds, and clank of iron, the braying of hoa.r.s.e throats, the shouts and laughter at carousal. With sick apprehension she awaited the dreaded footsteps which soon must cross the threshold. But time went on and it came not, and she thanked the G.o.ds for that. He had inquired for her, the maidens said, and they had replied that their lady was ill. He had said no more, and had seemed satisfied. Truth to tell, he was as much relieved as she at the postponement of a meeting. For, worried and annoyed by the abominable behaviour of the sc.u.m, he was in no mood for whining, and instinct whispered that on such an occasion as the forthcoming festival the degenerate O'Tei would whine. When it was past and over, she would know better than to whimper, since what is done is done; and once resolved, no whining of silly women-folk should turn him from his purpose. Whilst dreading the creak of one footfall, she listened wistfully for another. Where was Sampei, her childhood's friend? Sure, he would sympathise, for his kind heart would tell him of the direful condition of his sister. Had he, disgusted with his brother, deserted him? It was likely; and yet not so, for Sampei--who should know better than she?--was loyal and true. He had arrived with my lord; the maidens had seen and admired him, and had grieved to perceive that he was dejected, the n.o.ble young hero. How strange then that he should not visit his old playmate.