The fires were then lighted in the rooms all around them. Shibata and Asai, his wife and only hope, withdrew into an inner chamber. The floors had beencovered with straw, and the flames leaped up—Yodogima turned to go, and two faces, one hideous, the other smiling, greeted her.
A cross and an image bore they—thence duty called her; the purpose stood revealed.
With her eyes thus opened, mysticism disappeared: the elements crackled, and out of consciousness there arose a determination to survive any test that might be imposed. All her tender life had been surrendered faithfully and uncompromisingly to the harsher edicts of conventional man; and stern realism had bidden her renounce every impulse; there had seemed no alternative to save honor—the gods demanded it, the family claimed it, and self had not dared deny death its sole reward.
Then, as womanhood arrived, barely kissed fain consciousness, in one stolen rapport, just an unguarded moment, the godlight once shone in, had seized upon her, made it seem as if there was a heaven, as if God himself had touched her very soul and the blessed come to earth—a little thing as insignificant as any worm or bird or animal, only a fox, had come between her and what she might have had for the taking; and that, too, without disturbing as she believed her fathers plans in the least or suffering the pain of being left in the world to do penance for a thing that she knew to be wholly beyond the reach or concern of her own insignificant little self.
Yodogima had been cast out, degraded, and left to makeshift, but not defeated. In that one moment ofutter helplessness she had resolved to meet the world as found, and to make of life what God intended—an abiding faith in that we know and not a conjured reach toward something fancied.
Ieyasu had promised her protection—his love he had given her—and she believed him capable and true; that she had renounced Katsutoya and accepted Ieyasu rightly, though against every obligation that she knew developments had proven beyond peradventure. Her father had anticipated an impossibility, asked her to stultify every moral consideration on her part to gratify an ambition of his, that proved at the first test to be utterly groundless and without the shadow of a compensating hope. Accident or will had denied her the privilege of an explanation; fate alone, for all she knew, had interposed to lay bare the secret of her heart at an inopportune moment, and a fancied code had sought to crush her beneath its ruthless dictum at a time when the very heart-chords of repentance called loudest for pleasing atonement.
It seemed as if the same god who had torn her therefrom must save her unto himself; and her heart bled for him alone.
Ieyasu, cried she, more confident than ever.
Her voice seemed to die close underneath the angry elements; but quickly—all this had crowded upon her instantly—strong arms, others than she had allowed, gathered her up, together with her two sisters, younger than she, and placing them in chairs madetheir way through the charred, falling remnants of all that had been so dear to her, toward the woodland, not far distant, to the southward.
The glare of the lights and the lamentations of the populace startled her, and she would have turned if only in some small way to their relief, but the bettos (carriers) ran on, heeding neither her pleadings nor their own safety so long as they might serve—their employer, Sakuma, who led the way.
They had gone some distance and almost beyond danger from the burning city before Yodogima had discovered him or knew who it was that planned and directed her flight. It gave her confidence, and she did not call out lest her interference might disturb him; nor did she fear thereafter the course they took, though it seemed a strange direction and an ominous exit—there was one, lurking behind, however, following their every movement, dodging from corner to corner and street to street, who knew better than she just what to expect and where to intercept them.
All these doings were as a blank to Yodogima, whose only thought now was of Ieyasu. That soon she should reach him, was at that very moment on her way thither, and that he, strong and virile, should make due atonement for this, that she had suffered, would forthwith claim her as his own, and after all make life worth the living was the sole consciousness that bore her onward. Duplicity, with its cold, futile aims, as barren in the end as Ieyasus waiting mightprove disastrous, were a thing wholly beyond her knowledge or comprehension.
They had not gone far into the woods, however, till the confiding princess had good reason to witness, if not apprehend, something of the clashing motives that underlay her further progress. Sakuma had led them to the right, toward the thick of the forest, and Yodogimas pulse then began to slacken and her throat filled and choked her; she knew that Ieyasus domain lay to the left, over the mountains, through Mino, in the southward, and supposed him there, as reason would dictate. They were now travelling northerly, into the west, where Hideyoshi might be expected to be found scouting or encamped: it grew dark and difficult of going: Yodogima wondered and conjectured, till fear seized hard upon her.
Presently the bettos halted, and resting the poles upon their staffs breathed heavily, the while speculating among themselves as to their further task. These fellows, then, did not know where they were to go, and the probabilities multiplied in Yodogimas mind.
Sakuma had gone on, into the dark, as if in search of an outlet; then a sudden whipping and snapping of twigs, at one side, distinctly heard only by Yodogima, apprised her of the swift running of someone, apparently past them and after Sakuma. Directly a low gurgling, and hard thud upon the ground startled her once more into bare apprehension.
Yodogima uttered not a word, but listened; thebettos talked on; no other sound reached her ears; then the brush rattled, and it occurred to her that somebodys clothing had been changed; she waited; a man tramped along, not close enough to be scrutinized, but within hearing distance—whose outline appeared a trifle taller than Sakuma—till directly opposite, when he commanded the bettos to change their course and follow him.
They had gone back into the open, turning again toward a course to the southward; bearing a little to the west, along the well-travelled roadway that led directly into the main pass over the mountains through Mino, for Mikawa, Ieyasus domain; where stood Okazaki castle, his birthplace and inherited fortress. To this place, enchanted as it now seemed to her, Yodogima would have gone a willing slave to its masters caprice and otherwise still a devoted helpmeet in the rendering of an established and expansive, if cruelly submissive order.
It was yet dark, but the bettos pattered along at a lively gait; a trifling advance promised in their wage had allayed any misgivings that they might have had as to a possible change of leaders; and glad, moreover, of the less burdensome or hazardous going now confronting them, their progress became as rapid as the escape seemed propitious.
The way lay through a richly cultivated and thickly inhabited valley, bespeaking a prosperous and friendly environment. Yet it was dark, and these things were not discernible—no lingering light shone forth, nor belated dweller accidentally peered—save for an occasional howling round some dismal corner, or the hard, smooth-worn curbstones welcome reply. Yodogima leaned restfully back in the chair; Jokoin, heryoungest sister, yet innocent and fair, had gone to sleep, contentedly: only Esyo, next older, with cold, penetrating look, and rigid, exacting manner, sat upright, wrangling with this one or that the probable outcome of such daring do.
You are a winsome, headstrong thing, threatened she, of Yodogima, as their chairs came close together, in a broadened stretch of road, where the bettos were wont to gossip in venturesome consultation about a possible rest. Only for you, I might have been permitted—as any true daughter should be—a more logical, if not less unbecoming, situation. Here it is, dead of night; and Shibata, a lord daimyos whole bevy most uncomfortably trudging through goodness knows what; and all to no purpose, I am sure.
Be quiet, Esyo, commanded Yodogima, not the least bit impatient; you shall soon enough find it convenient, if not agreeable, to discuss till content some of the urgencies: the proprieties had best take care of themselves—for the present, it would appear, to your faithful, if unworthy, sister.
Who said that you are unworthy? Come, Yodogima; dont be unreasonable.
Please do not get excited.
I am not excited, I tell you; and had you my temper you should not have fallen in love with that Ieyasu; nor would you have so forgotten yourself as to wholly disregard better discretion by clinging to him—why didnt you tell father it was a myth, theface a mysticism, and his decision most unreasonably mystifying—
Oh, sister; how you talk; in that case you shouldnt have been here, or anywhere; and, Ieyasu is very real.
Quite like all the rest: a pack of them—all of them, every one like the other.
And I am not so sure but Esyo, herself, might prove to be the best quarry among us: take care that you do not give me further cause, to suspect as much; more I dare not.
They had travelled a long time, it seemed months to Yodogima, when, without warning, in the dawning light, their leader, with uncovered face, thrust his head into Yodogimas presence, cautioning her:
Trust me, Yodogima; I have given proper instructions to the bettos; I must now leave you.
Yodogima drew back with alarm, too frightened to make answer or to comprehend him; it was Katsutoya she recognized.
Thus leaving his charge to fare as best they might, under the instructions given, Katsutoya sped on, into the distance, purposing to reach and advise Ieyasu if possible of what he had done toward saving Yodogima from the clutches of Hideyoshi; who in parting with Ieyasu had done as promised: returned the bundle to where Ieyasu had found it. Sakuma, however, did not reappear as expected; instead there came another, also disguised; and equally taken aback, as well as penetrating, both Hideyoshi and Katsutoyafor once blundered expediency to gain some sort of intended advantage.
Katsutoya, therefore, and not Sakuma, had saved the princess, and with all his energies now sought to advise Ieyasu, in whose service he believed he would fare safer and welcome. It proved to be a long and a hard run to Fuchu, where Ieyasu yet remained, waiting. Squads of Hideyoshis troops and scouts already infested the country, and the by-ways and brush-covered hills proved hard of traversing, yet Katsutoya faithfully and hopefully pressed on, reaching his destination exhausted and sore.
What brings you here, and at this time? inquired Ieyasu, coldly; when confronted by the messenger, eager and positive.
I would do you a service, though I am but an outcast, as you see, replied Katsutoya, earnestly.
As others have done—more discreetly. Go. I have no confidence in pretence. Ieyasu shall, hereafter, select his own assistants. Sakuma, at least, taught me a lesson.
And Katsutoya shall teach you a better one, though you do refuse me. Hideyoshi shall have hunted out and claimed your Yodogima long before Ieyasu has made up his mind to do more than wait. And to show you that Katsutoya is your friend and not a rival, as you have it, I lend you my disguise, that you may find a way home; there to pander to jealousy and defend your life. Greatness lies rather in aggressiveness. Good-day, sir.
So saying, Katsutoya disappeared, before the astonished Ieyasu had fairly recovered his breath. Those words, however, burned deeply into his consciousness, and he would have run after his supposed rival had he dared venture, undisguised, beyond the confines of his friend Maedas protection.
Ieyasu knew only too well that he had been tricked by Hideyoshi; that his recent bravado and promised alliance had been feigned for immediate effect; that his troops were at that very moment scouring the country, he himself fully believed without even a suggestion from Katsutoya or anyone else; that his own neck were in danger he was wholly aware—from political motives, however, and not as a result of any clashing of love interests; in his dull mind, Hideyoshi had no more thought of taking a defeated daimyos daughter to himself than Katsutoya had of befriending a successful rival. His household seemed already full enough.
Hideyoshi in love, and a wife and some three hundred, now? Bosh! muttered he, to himself, though donning the disguise and preparing for flight. Thanks, however, to Hideyoshis cleverness, we shall see no more of Katsutoya, vain wretch—Yodogima is still alive; he just as well as said so, and the gods shall see that Ieyasu gets his due. I can wait, yet go I must.
Ieyasu set out unattended and forlorn; while the bettos were landing Yodogima, hopeful if not happy, at an appointed tea-house in the rugged mountainscapping an upper arm of the valley through which they had climbed. Here, Katsutoya had directed her to remain; it was secluded, and not far distant from the main highway over which her lover must make his exit, through the otherwise almost impassable range.
It had grown warmer with the rising sun and a sheltered environment, yet Yodogima waxed the more eager and became less tolerant. She knew the locality well enough, but somehow could not bring herself to believe Katsutoya bent upon anything but downright betrayal. They were sitting in the open, at the rear of a large room, on the second floor, overlooking a deep gorge below and the broad valley farther on in the distance. Jokoin chafed under the restraint, and Esyo scolded.
I can see no harm in going below, and into a public room—we are daughters of Shibata, and there is a man down there; I hear his voice.
Jokoin! What is to be done with you? We are alone, and outcasts— began Esyo, half intended for Yodogima.
The more the need of cultivating someones friendship, retorted Jokoin.
But we have no means of an introduction, and do not know that it is a gentleman.
Let us forget form: I hear a sword rattling.
Yodogima made neither protest nor comment; she was content to let Esyo wrestle it out with Jokoin, whose good sense she believed quite the better of herindiscretion. Therefore, when Jokoin finally led down the stairs, with Esyo close after, their eldest sister, sitting back upon the soft-matted floor, turned her thoughts far away, and to things beyond the staid comprehension of the one or above the emotional reach of the other.
All these things around her, men and women had called real; but to her they seemed very unreal. She had been brought into the world and set down among them without a voice or a hand in the making. Reality, this? Far from it. Why, the very food they ate was not what it seemed, the roof overhead but a creation, and for all she knew her own clothing might be the merest makeshift as against a real, a truly penetrating eye. These, then, were but resulting products, and of what? Ideality?
Her own soul cried aloud for something better, purer, and more certain than all these sordid trappings of mans little endeavor. There must be an ethereal, a state transfixed—of earth, but infinite—and could she only resolve its quantity the elements had afforded a way; the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and all that there is upon it were but the atoms of an endless progression, fixed and apportioned by the same compelling, abiding agency that had touched her and bound her when confronted with a natural and unhindered attraction.
The mountain-top hung high above: she wanted to get there, to some place far away from vulgar witnessing, and there seek communion with the spiritthat seemed so near yet nowhere within reach. Man had brought forth nothing not deceptive, failed utterly of conception—a province wholly within the grasp of woman, the more her reason.
Having at last resolved to press the quest alone and untrammelled, Yodogima ran out and along the narrow veranda to the long, smooth-worn steps that wound up and around the mountain-side to its summit in the background. The climb was not a hard one, and as she went she remarked the usefulness to which the hand of man really had been put. Yet there seemed a want of guidance, and upon arriving at a deserted temple the poverty of his understanding became the more painfully apparent.
History recorded ages and cycles of crowding and striving and yet how much had been done to show that anything more than nature had inhabited this earth? A few houses, here and there a crooked, stumbling highway, now and then a ship at sea, all temporary, and so little of beauty! Really it seemed a pity that so much good rich blood and vain high sounding words had been expended upon nothing more than barely living: then, approaching the summit, nearer and nearer, his track or touch began to disappear, presently became extinct, and no such delight had entered her heart, save once before. Heaven, limitless and real, encouraging the utmost within her, seemed a thing of consequence; and the earth receding and vanishing and lost, with its humdrum and vanity but an atom engulfed, were as if a memory-disappearingand forgotten over against the invisible grind of a molten, seething yesterday.
Sitting down upon a clean-washed, sun-dried and nature-fashioned rock, there waiting—no vulgar thing or mad intellect had touched it—Yodogima looked all around, then fastened her eyes upon a blushing bluebell that tenderly upturned its sweetened lips in token of the message she sought. A cuckoo flew also there, perching itself in defiance: Yodogima whispered:
Sing to me.
The bird listed mute and wanting.
Ill help the cuckoo to sing, replied she, vouchsafing to waft her melodies on the light, over-sounding air.
The little thing answered her, only as it could—but out of its song there arose the voice of—
The bush rattled at her back, and springing to her feet, and turning quickly round, Yodogima shrieked:
Hideyoshi!
Yes; it is he—and you need not start at my presence. I hear that I am, by some, called vulgar; by many, said to be cruel; I know only that I am human: that the touch of your garment would rouse in ordinary man a passion fiercer than the flames: that I myself would make you queen; yet you are as safe from harm in my possession as he—the man you just now fancied more than manly—is impotent to render in the least a real consolation or a substantial aid. That you may realize fully that I am true and not false, I tender you the only instrument that ever made or unmade god or man. Do with it and with me as you like; you are both strong of arm and quick to see, urged Hideyoshi, approaching and tendering with much reverence the hilt of his unsheathed, if vain, resolver of ethics.
Yodogima frowned. All the womanhood within her revolted at such boasted display of wanton cowardice. That man never is right till might has made him so, she could well believe; that might is right in the eyes of the gods were as incomprehensible to her as it seemed satisfying to him.
Look me in the face, demanded she, without lifting a foot.
Hideyoshi colored, and bowed only the lower: his eyes shifted about reluctantly, and useless.
Shame! threatened she, advancing a step.
I am advised of no better means than— began Hideyoshi, cold with suspense.
A bluff? How often have you practiced this sort of ennui upon others, perhaps more tolerant? I would set a better example, interposed Yodogima, snapping his weapon against the ground and casting the fragments away.
Well done, promised he, recovering somewhat his composure. But havent you oversaid yourself, a bit? The tables turned, however, may be more becoming; I can prove my valor: a broken heart is less easily mended. I need not suggest, of course, that you yourself might name—the terms?
No, no, gasped Yodogima, as the possible fate of Ieyasu flashed into mind.
Then it is really quite unnecessary to arrange it—yet I had sooner meet a worthy man than fall begging of a pretty woman. Come; I shall take you whether you will or not, with or without the means, before or after the test, temptation or provocation. Let us be off, to Azuchi, where the muses hold their tongues and order wins fairly the heart.
Captivity implies compulsion—in some instances; but our lords behavior convinces me that I might have fallen into less—considerate hands.
Hideyoshi led the way down along the winding incline and back into the very place which she had but a short hour thence deserted; in a more hopeful, if less certain, mood. The same walls enclosed thefront and sides, the outlet at the rear had not changed at all; humanity seemed continuing its blind rush toward an ideal bolstered with ten thousand times ten thousand conjured notions: the breath of ages smelled as sweet and wholesome as it did before she had quitted there and gone to the mountains crest: her heart beat as warmly for her own chosen lord as ever; but something within, a silent mover of the senses and regulator of the mind, told her that were that love to ripen and shed its fruit something better than waiting and a thing more potent than might must intervene to stay the hand of probability—and together with consciousness came the sting.
Then the will arose, calling loudly upon the often fickle, but now most worthy, God of Constancy to lead her truly and deliver her aright unto the man she believed incapable of design; much more, fully competent to make the rescue.
I do love you—I know it now—O Ieyasu—my love, my faith, my hope.
The men and trappings rattled and tramped on the outside; preparations were making for the march, and Hideyoshi now more than ever scolded the lines and spruced his bearing. The fortunes of war had made him master of central Japan, had given him the capital and placed him in possession of the emperor, but the wiles of a woman taxed more heavily his energies.
Whether to overawe with guards and poltroonery or to encourage by liberties granted and confidences bestowed, were to him, now, under the circumstances,and in this case, quite as vital a matter as had been in ordinary times the choice between tweedledee and tweedledum.
The princess, herself, had made light of his own puerile methods; he had purposely refrained from demanding, as was the custom, the head of his old-time rival, Shibata, her father, solely in the hope of soothing and inspiring her: had he failed also in that? Ieyasu had been allowed to escape, that terror should not drive his coveted love to a last extremity; but seemingly all his plans had miscarried, placing him now at the brink of a still more vital blunder—and win he would: if unfairly, none the less manly, for that.
Her two sisters had disappeared—Takiyama had laid siege to the one, and the other scolded the way along to keep her company and see that Hideyoshis second best general proved a diligent escort.
The roads were smooth, withal their crookedness and the rugged aspect of the country through which they entered to pass. An occasional rabbit jumped away, into the thicket, none the wiser for a strange, harmless fright, and Yodogima marvelled the dextrousness of his small endeavor. Could she likewise defeat or escape harm? No; civilization had reduced her to less agile and more hardened methods. And for what? They had gone into a thickened cluster of stragglingly growing pines with drooping, needle-laden branches and no dry leaves or fallen limbs to rattle and crackle underneath. It was now gettingdark again, and the probabilities of the occasion caused her to peer and listen with more than ordinary anxiety, yet no spook had ever roused in her so much as a possible thought.
The advance had gone on, rapidly, and were by this time far in the lead. Hideyoshi had remained well behind, bringing up the rear and keeping the whole under observation with as little inconvenience or damage as likely; as he was wont to do under all circumstances and in much less trying situations than this, the proudest homecoming in his hard, eventful career. That part of the cavalcade in which Yodogimas chair constituted the principal charge had strung out along the roadstead in single file, and as there seemed no possible chance for escape in either direction the guards sang their way along in front or lagged behind in contemplation of the uncertainties foreshadowing a visit with their mothers or sweethearts at home.
Directly they had reached the darkest place, rounding a sharp curve, the princess leaned forward, staring vacantly into an ominous opening, covered and narrow, through the limbs and brush, at the lower side of the roadway. The same bettos that rescued her from the conflagration at Kitanoshi had been at her especial solicitation grudgingly retained for her further use upon this particular part of the renewed journey. They knew full well the reason—Yodogima slid carefully down from the chair and as cautiouslyentered the gloomy place on which her eyes had all but riveted.
Yodogima? whispered a voice, that quickly set at rest her anxiously pulsating self, as to what it was and who it were so subtlely attracting her attention.
Yes, Ieyasu—but you must not be discovered here. Let me go, and save yourself. The escape you propose would ill afford either of us the relief sought.
Can you trust me, Yodogima?
I do.
Then go; and, depend upon it, I shall recover you; your good sense convinces me of an abiding sincerity.
Ieyasu again slunk off into the wilderness, and Yodogima, his love pledged anew, softly climbed back into the chair, without so much as attracting a concerned witness. To constancy there had been added assurance, and thence the heart waxed light and the mind clear—the will had sooner halted at no bounds.
He shall have me, and I will know no other; poor, weak, insignificant woman that I am, resolved she, as the bettos at first slowly, then more rapidly, stretched forward to recover the small ground lost.
At Azuchi, to Yodogimas surprise—agreeable as it was—and Hideyoshis chagrin, there developed at once much confusion and not a little bickering. Most of the three hundred or thereabout female court and household attendants already there took the matter of an additional three, though respectively young andknowing and pretty, with something of indifference; arrayed against curiosity, of course; but there happened to be one among them, the lord daimyos lawful wife and always best helpmeet, Oyea, who looked upon the introduction of three such princesses—whose character and former standing she had had, already, abundant opportunity as well as occasion to know and understand—with something more than ordinary concern if not outright suspicion.
This Oyea happened to be, as she herself well knew, the second wife of the rapidly rising Hideyoshi; the first one had been set aside early for no other reason than personal felicitation; and though Oyea had proven constantly his best adviser as well as most companionable personage she now held, perhaps not altogether without cause, some reasonable doubt about the future. Her husband had won his spurs, such as they were, with no other appreciable aid than her own good counsel, and now stood in a position to do pretty much as he pleased, political or otherwise, especially socially. His lordship was getting more restless, seeking new fields to conquer. She judged him rightly; had failed to render him an heir; and was she really, after all, to lose him, or his love?
Neither Jokoin nor Esyo caused her so much as a heart pang; the one frivolous, the other intrusive, could be of no other use to her husband than to serve some political necessity or trading convenience—in fact were forthwith adopted by him for those expresspurposes. But Yodogima! Here came a victim who stood in the light of a possible intruder.
Take her away, commanded Oyea, understanding her liege lord from the beginning and deigning to set her foot down only as she knew how and why.
You wouldnt have me turn the princess, Shibatas daughter, out, would you? Come; let us be more charitable; the reason need not deter you, in the least; Oyea denies not to others traits she herself most admires.
The princess, finally admitted, upon terms—thanks to Oyea—more pleasing to her than satisfying to the would-be traducer, had gained from their parley more than a knowledge of just what to expect and how best to demean herself; she had not only won with modesty the friendship of his wife but thenceforth knew better than any other the weakest spot in Hideyoshis hitherto unreadable make-up. Here at least the great daimyo had really halted in the enforcement of his will. No man had yet checked or escaped him in his onward rush toward the goal of an ardent ambition, but one woman, and that, too, his wife, had called a halt upon desire; perhaps a far more difficult thing of controlling than any mere mental trait. Oyea had temporarily interceded, though, without any other hold than mentality; why not herself, if she must, master him; having at least something more potent, with which to begin?
Nor had she long to wait for an opportunity to pit herself against him: as well, her sister Esyo. Inthe final allotment of stations in the household, Jokoin and Esyo had been assigned quarters and allowed service befitting a younger and an elder daughter; but Yodogima fared in some respects better: in fact, was at once provided with attendance more elaborate and attention no less sumptuous than it had been theretofore the good wifes privilege to enjoy.
Oyea knew only too well what this meant in reality; but she had also measured the limit of her influence and sought by compromise to ease the burden of having ultimately to bear both the chagrin and the sorrow of tolerating under one and the same roof the fruits of a regularly established first-in-rank concubine.
She had made no mistake in Yodogima, however, and surmised from the first that would Hideyoshi succeed he must not only hold his own against outside influences but should find it necessary to combat not any the less at home the combined energies of two heads, both feminine and bent upon a common purpose.
Esyo reasoned differently. She was cold and negative by nature. Jokoin had gathered round herself all the available chivalry at the castle, leaving her less ardent sister to worry and resolve rather a more studied diversion. And jealousy soon developed an opportunity. She wrought accordingly.
Thus ensconced in time as satisfactorily as possible under the circumstances, Hideyoshi thought it best to let the women wrangle out among themselves theordinarily necessary little adjustments of so vital a beginning; hence, without much ado, and little encroachment upon the liberties or patience of Yodogima, set off toward Ozaka fully determined upon providing the young princess with a place and environment all her own. This important old fortress city—wrested in former years by Nobunaga from the turbulent monks—not only occupied one of the strongest natural sites for offensive and defensive purposes but offered as well some most advantageous prospects for residential beautification and enjoyment. The property already fallen into his hands, Hideyoshi forthwith gave instructions for the building of a castle that should outstrip anything of a like kind theretofore attempted.
I mean to do this for Yodogima, and for her alone, said he, to Oyea, who called him to task for such intended prodigality, in consideration of the benefits bestowed upon me by her dear father in the performance of harakiri (suicide). You need have no fears, nor she any misgivings.
The men were set at work, and Esyo began planning; she could not bear the slight, yet knew that her only prospect lay in Ieyasu.
Dispatching forthwith a message (duly intercepted, of course) in which all of the facts were related with as much imagination as she could bring to bear upon the subject, Esyo deliberately set herself the task of undoing all that Yodogima had suffered to accomplish.
Depend upon what I say, she has no thought orintention of keeping or remembering her obligations to your own dear self or to any one else, not even her own abused and neglected sisters, wrote she, at length, winding up with the admonition that would he save himself harm he should act at once.
Having sooner made without any success several attempts at communicating with Yodogima, this first missive of an avowed friend—whom he believed to be turned somewhat practical and not at all sentimental—quite overcame Ieyasu, wholly upsetting the meager plans that he had evolved for the at least temporary subversion of a prospective antagonist and the immediate recovery of his truly dearer than ever sweetheart. Conscious of the pitfalls with which she must be surrounded, yet he could not believe her untrue: realizing the dangerous ground upon which he must tread, still he would not for that refrain from attempting a personal visit; Yodogima had advised him: she, if recovered at all, must be released by some subtler art than war—Hideyoshi held it in his power to crush him, and was he any less a diplomat?
Hitherto Ieyasu had held peace to be well gained at any price, but now that love possessed him, burned and coaled deep into the heart-chords, he had given up the future, sold his soul for the loan of a force with which to fight reasonably a single combat. Recalling the occasion, he would have thrust Hideyoshi through at the cost of a bushido: remembering Katsutoyas warning, the barest conception of a laggard witstartled him into the first really energizing confession that he had ever made:
I am unworthy of her.
Everywhere around, men with less opportunity were rising as if metalled to accomplish anything. He, too, must do something to prove himself worth the confidence of a true love—why not trust Esyo? Designing to poison him against Yodogima, she had paved the way only to a more questionable undertaking—that of betrayal. Ieyasu answered the message kindly, inclosing therewith another to Yodogima (also intercepted), informing her of his intentions and asking that she make ready.
Upon the arrival of the letter, Yodogima said:
I am going to confide in you, Esyo; you are a sister—next to me—and have never proven false: I just must have the confidence of someone; it is killing me, this terrible suspense. Will you listen, dear?
Esyo nestled close to Yodogimas side, and looking submissively into her face, begged:
Let us trust each other, Yodogima; otherwise how can we bear the awful burden of this horrid place?
Ieyasu is coming; he has arranged it, and I am going away from here, to be his wife, never to part again.
How nice that will be—but the castle! Had you forgotten that?
Yes; it shall then be yours; and you, a more gracious queen.
The bare thought of gaining such preferment onlyat the will of a much sought after sister, and that, too, for the sake of serving rather her convenience, stung Esyo as no words could have done. She would fight out, now, the course sooner determined upon; hence Hideyoshi, on the very next day, found it agreeable to dispatch, without any compunction upon his part, an invitation to Ieyasu forthwith to come to Azuchi, there to pay respects and claim his intended bride.
Other advice went along, however, as Jokoin well knew, which was neither intercepted nor answered, advising him to do no such thing, but to prepare himself at once for defense.
In the meantime Ieyasu had concluded it wise to listen to the proposals of Nobukatsu, his nearest neighbor at the west and the eldest living son of Nobunaga: pretender to the fathers estates and brother to Nobutaka, a recently defeated ally of Shibata.
This young mans prospects had been effectively shattered, in consequence of the fall of the latter and the removal of Ishida, his supporter, to Mino; still he searched everywhere in the hope of finding some daimyo minded and able to espouse his cause against the now only too patently determined usurper, Hideyoshi. Ieyasu based small reliance upon any strength or power to be gained by as doubtful an arrangement, but wanted more some plausible excuse for the making of so unequal a stand; as had been prematurely forced.
Nobukatsu was generally looked upon as the rightful successor to his fathers rank and place, hence any friendship shown to him should in one way or another develop some greater claim to popularity. It had also come to be considered by neighboring daimyos as little less than heroic even to dare attempt any sort of armed defense against the up-to-that-time invincible Hideyoshi. All these reasons were wholly patent to Ieyasu—young, able, and perhaps ambitious. True he had not given any especial thought to the future,save only the immediate relations growing out of an endowed situation, and—Yodogima. Love, with all its soothingly absorbent benefactions, remained uppermost in his mind: was the goad that directly spurred him to undreamed energies and unlikely undertakings, would risk his life and fortune for the pleasures of a single, transcendent joy.
Yet underneath this younger development there may have lurked the ecstacy of a sub-conscious determination to loom large in the more sordid events then subtlely approaching. Ieyasu bore the blood of the Minamoto; those giants of old, whose daring alone had curbed and clipped the Taira: with such a prestige, and so potent a cross, the temporarily humbled prince of Mikawa, Ieyasu, may have inwardly harbored, without any apparent conviction or consciousness, the possibilities of a posterity acknowledging none other for father than Ieyasu and for mother Yodogima.
And along with forced opportunity came the determination. Nobukatsu once in his power would also serve a ready means of compromise, in case of necessity. The two armies were therefore consolidated, and Ieyasu commanding assumed adroitly the defensive.
Never for a moment underestimating Ieyasus strength of purpose and force of character, Hideyoshi made no less careful preparations, nor lost any time in hurling his combined strength against him. Hidenaga, his half-brother, forthwith recalled from Tamba, was placed at the head, outranking bothKuroda, the Shintoist, and Takiyama, the Christian, respectively at the head of the two main divisions of the army and between whom vital differences had arisen; one of the reasons ostensibly for the introduction of a new leader and centralized authority—not, in fact, because Hideyoshi himself at all times and in every instance assumed absolute control and personal direction: also anticipating as punctiliously the possibilities of defeat, he would have someone upon whose shoulders to shift the blame and the odium, hence the second reason, for calling in Hidenaga, at this particular time.
Do not, under any circumstances, allow some temporary success to induce you to follow up the enemy, enjoined Hideyoshi, against his departing generals, as they marched off to war Ieyasu into submission, or death—perhaps, in truth, if possible, the latter.
For the first time in his life, Hideyoshi remained behind. No doubt he, too, had, in his way, conceived the idea of a direct line, based also upon the progeny of none other than Yodogima—and himself. To do this he should not only crush Ieyasu in the East, but must insure Yodogima against the dangers of intrigue at home.
He could trust Oyea; she had never failed him when treated fairly, and he believed her by this time fully cognizant of the motive and utterly disdainful of the effect that any such laudable undertaking might wreak upon their sole relations; amicably settled, hence reasonably sure of lasting countenance.
It was Esyo more than any other who caused him uneasiness. True he had read the correspondence and listened to her declarations without so much as a doubt about the consequences or a suggestion that could in any manner enlighten her, but what effect would these, to him seemingly childish hazards have upon Yodogima, a sister; and how would she demean herself in the face of overburdening contingencies, looming in all directions?
Without doubting in the least Hidenagas ability or faithfulness, he would have personally gone to the front, immediately and without reserve: yet not alone Yodogimas safety held him back; he must know more of the natural workings of her heart, assure himself first that some hope of reciprocal regard might bless his innermost desire, for Hideyoshi would not risk the breaking of an unalterable law: would rather attune expediency to the demands of necessity, so threw himself headlong into the merciless throes of a self-willed, if far fetched, coquetry.
I am interested to know more of your good self, and of your delights and aspirations, Yodogima, avowed Hideyoshi, frankly, and almost pathetically, as the two met, accidentally—it may have been intentionally—while strolling in the gardens, outside the castle buildings, and overlooking the broad, transparent waters of lake Biwa, in the distance.
Yodogimas heart fairly stopped, then beat ragingly, though her face and manner indicated no perceptible change or concern. She only looked the farther overan unbroken surface, save now and then a ripple that yellowed and ruffled in the mellowed suns rays of a cloudlessly departing mid-summer day.
You, too, seem bewitched of a prospect that always gladdens, never denies me. Let us go there, you and I, where we may have the world to ourselves, leaving the castle, with its bickerings and battles and their equations, away and behind.
Nearly crying out, the now fast discerning princess, almost overcome with eagerness, held fast hold upon the face-chords; yet no longer vainly shying, permitted a somewhat closer approach than before—if none the less dignified or becoming, at that.
For the first time, though slight the occasion, Hideyoshis heart bounded with relief. The exactions of war or the involutions of deceit no longer commanded first attention; the faintest relaxation of a hard-held and safely-guarded privilege had transfixed his whole energy, wrought a new being; though the destiny of a nation and the trend of government, henceforth and always, might evolve therefrom.
You shall not condescend to answer by word, however pleasing that might be; goddesses have only to will it thus or that, and mere man must break his neck to do it so. Shall we go?
Toward Hiyeisan? queried Yodogima, innocently, yet significantly.
No; in the opposite direction; across the lake. I know a temple there, close down at the waters edge, better rid of a kind and more select about its visitations,where we can drink deeply and no mortal shall question. Hence, Yodogima?
On one condition—but will not to-morrow do; I cannot make answer so soon? promised she, thoughtful to gain as much time as possible; having measured accurately the probabilities of Hidenagas advance.
Granted, my lady: what is it?
The condition is that my sister Esyo accompany us—Jokoin nor Oyea would be either serviceable or agreeable, as I believe, considering the purpose that you have in mind and the rebellion that pours from my heart. In as much, I have to ask you and you to grant only this: that you heed nor hold me any other or for more.
What? Have you not heard of the hostilities?
Yes; my sister told me about it.
Esyo?
Yes.
And—you have confidence in her?
The answer already on her lips, did not escape him, though Yodogima hesitated; she had read him in time to save herself—surmised that he knew more than she would express or deny—and cogitating a happier conclusion endeavored to leave him standing as near the brink of certainty as it had been his pleasure to assume.
You would have me disown a sister?
I would know you better.
Then judge me with less compassion and more of wit; I take the responsibility—
Not of war?
No; but of its cause and consequence.
I admire you all the more for that, though you leave me without a peg to stand on. Nor shall I surrender one whit the ground Ive gained, no less an opinion formed. Take the whole family along, if you like: their gadding, a virtue stands you none the less in hand; to-morrow Hideyoshi shall know—
How it is to be tricked.
Ha, ha—you think me easily done.
They sat upon the beach, in the afternoon of the following day, Hideyoshi listening with rising anticipation and Yodogima straining every wit she had, prolonging and intensifying the illusion. She did not know that Esyo had deliberately, if falsely, precipitated the conflict, nor was she aware of Hideyoshis perusal of her own correspondence with Ieyasu—all of it, excepting only the last letter, in which she had advised him to make peace at any price, save honor. Yet she was conscious that a conflict raged, was perhaps at that moment fighting to the death, between two unequal forces, in which no quarter should be asked or given, and that her own lover was desperately pitted in that struggle against the very man who held her captive, grovelled at her feet a weakling and a beggar.
Why should I not surrender, if needs be, this frail body of mine to save him? again and again rose in her mind, as often to be discarded and smothered as a thing utterly impossible.
No; Ill yet win for him by subtler means an equal chance; and when Ive done that—a woman cannot do less: should do no more.
A heron stalked by, disdaining a small crab that backed and snapped among the slime-washed rocks: Hideyoshi strained his eyes, meditating momentarily the legend of a bygone day.
A Heike? queried he, half aloud, rising to examine more closely the supposed Taira symbol.
Yodogimas throat filled, and failed of utterance.
Its only a common sort, observed he, returning with the obstreperous little thing clinging tightly to the sticks end.
Reseating himself, the conversation for once began somewhat to lag. It was too soon yet to boat round shady points or tempt strange communications from the deep, so the two remained in the shade. Esyo studied with unconcern the deeper mysteries of early dragon-fly catching and the strange cupidity with which the stupid long-bodied creatures permitted themselves to be ensnared and haled to bay. Only Oyea clung to the old temple, near by, farther up the long, sloping incline; two lions carved in stone stood sentinel there, and these she contemplated in prayer to the good god who as earnestly watched over them. Yodogima leaned forward, and for the first time induced Hideyoshi to return her look without avoidance, asking him:
Do you believe in these tales of old? conscious more of the temple than of crabs.
Perhaps—only, I might say, as occasion serves or convenience requires.
Did anybody ever deem them differently?
Hideyoshi had neither the opportunity nor any inclination to answer; a courier dashed up, breathless and expectant, presenting him with a message from the front.
Ha, ha—the fight is on, chuckled he, clapping his hands and dancing about hilariously.
The intelligence roused added interest, as it only could, but Yodogima continued in the full command of her presence. She would have gladly surrendered her life for a moments encouragement to the man she loved, yet as circumstanced would not lose her hold upon him whom she loathed.
Hideyoshi approached closer: silence alone repulsed him, the wisdom she displayed made ready the pyre, and the dignity of her conduct set the torch that lighted within a conflagration that conserved no bounds. Only such as she could appease the appetite of a true god. He must have her, let the heavens fall.
Tell them, commanded he, that Hideyoshi fights more fiercely, confronts a larger host, holds a vitaler purpose, augurs—is just now engaged at the battle of self. Go hence.
The sun had set, and their little party, four in all, sat round a repast; spread and served with hands unsoiled, neither knowing an art nor upholding a truth other than as willed them.
Oyea looked her sole lord in the face; she saw no trace of chagrin or sorrow there; all her life had been devoted to the smoothing of his pillow, the making of a god, and to the serving of some purpose—just what, she had never stopped to consider. Yodogima sat near at hand, supremely reserved, withal grandly inviting. Hideyoshi, the husband, too, was there; and should Oyea be forgiven, perhaps, in that she conceived him a little more godly for the taste and the judgment of that selection? No other God condescended to answer. She believed him more than incarnate—
Another courier arrived, more anxious than the first.
Hideyoshi grinned, this time; saying, calmly, without any exultation:
The enemy wavers, and is—
Neither had this sentence been finished, when—Yodogima said not a word nor did she show any change of color, yet the blood seemed freezing in her veins—Hideyoshi threw down the message, exclaiming:
Tell them they know not what they say; an enemy is never defeated till captured, decapitated, and discredited. Go.
Evening wore away, and none remained to render the nights artfuller subtleties but Yodogomi and her now slaving protegé; servants and others less welcome, or more discerning, had found it convenient or expedientto busy themselves in more directions than one.
Esyo, paling at the significance of that last message, no longer bandied discretion or consulted verity in the making up of her mind just what she should or would do. Ieyasu had been deceived and a sister betrayed—what mattered; she would set things right, at the cost of double-dealing—another?
Still a third courier bounded into the open room in which they sat or lounged at will.
Hideyoshi grew apprehensive as he read; and gripping the message, snarled:
Ieyasu retreats—
Without concluding also this sentence or changing his attitude, the puzzled daimyo, still blindly unconscious of his own predicament, but bitterly alive to the probability of Hidenagas speedy annihilation, turned to Yodogima, shamefully betraying, as he had never done before, the inner hopelessness of a hotly contested, fiercely grinding will determination. Her head reeled—it seemed as if all were lost—but the body responded, revealing no trace of the terrible battle she fought: on higher grounds than he had conceived or Ieyasu felt—in consequence of dreaming, no less endangered by waiting. Forced and beaten, Hideyoshi could bear the suspense no longer.
Is it possible—are you—in fact—a stoic? You appear to be unmoved—unresolved—yet—Ieyasu by retreating has won—has proven himself—to be—a greater man than—no, no; I understand; knowhow it is to be tricked! Yodogima, I have no fine speech to make or promises to render; to you, Ieyasu owes it that he lives: an humbler admirer, only that he can better respect.—Stay, you, courier; Hideyoshi goes.
Neither Hideyoshi, nor Yodogima, for the moment, took any pains to discover or to suspect the identity of that last message-bearer; though had either one observed at all only the dishevelled clothing he might have been induced to look underneath the mask, hiding too slenderly a timid, anxious face. It were enough for Yodogima to know that her lover had risen to first place in the estimation of an only rival: for Hideyoshi to realize once and for all that the price of Shibatas eldest daughter was to be something dearer than the lone bagatelle of a daimyos willing or the baser invocations of a traditional heritage.
Hideyoshi tore his way over the open road like mad. The vitalest opportunity of his life had been denied him, a victory snatched away that seemed almost within grasp, and he himself written down an ass at a time when his name should have been heralded throughout the empire as invincible—and by the doing of a woman.
Shame be upon they who think themselves sexed into heaven; it is might that makes us what we are—right or wrong, male or female, man or his kind. Then beware! threatened he, as the dust rolled in the wake of his ride toward the field.
Nor was Yodogima less conscious of a dawningrespect for Hideyoshi. The knowing princess had expected harsher treatment, if not more subtle means, at the hands of her captor; who had, after all, proven himself a respecter of ability if not an admirer of virtue; and what if he should vanquish Ieyasu and, in fact, carry out his ideas about total extermination? The very thought of such a possibility deadened every reason.
Esyo, too, had gone; she had devised less and reasoned more, conjured her sister ambitious and charged Hideyoshi with ungratefulness; she had witnessed, become conscious of the latters growing regard for Yodogima in the face of all that she had done to check it—to further her own designs—and now turned to a newly devised, though less hopeful, expediency: overcoming with difficulty the distance, soon found herself in the bosom of Ieyasus command; a crooked purpose put to straights, knowing no rest and once off, she did not lag so much, in fact reached her destination before Hideyoshi had sighted his.
Thus abandoned by the only sister apparently left to her—without some hint or even a surmise as to the cause or purpose—and with a determined suitor speeding toward the destruction of the only one she loved, and with her own hands tied, and she powerless to succor him, Yodogima turned to composure alone for consolation—presumably a little body, unexpected and unmindful, careless and happy, as if an angel from heaven, tripped lightly into her presence, and throwingdown a big, ungainly mask, bantered, rather provokingly, if happily:
You didnt know me at all, did you?
Jokoin! gasped Yodogima.
Yes; and Hideyoshi, with all his eyes, never saw a thing. What stupid people.
How did you find the way, Jokoin; and—what brings you?
I came to tell you—I just couldnt wait; they are such a poky lot, those captains and generals and would-be gallants—and it isnt any trouble, at all, to go anywhere one wants to go—how did you like my disguise?
I hadnt thought about that—it looks a bit scant—but where have you been?
Oh, Ive had lots of fun; went to the front—but Takiyama is a bore; cant think of anybody or talk about anything save someone, said to have lived sometime, called Christ—oh, but theyre a pesky lot, these Christians!
Jokoin! How you talk!
Its their way and—quite catching, you know; they say, there are a lot of them, already—in Hideyoshis service, though.
Please do not, Jokoin; I cannot bear it—to hear you use such language.
Well, I gave them the slip, all right, and here I am—but where are the men? Is Hideyoshi the only one you had?
Sister, you shock me; I cannot understand you!
Oh, yes, you can. Just take a tumble. Turn a somersault—you have no idea how easy it is; and how stimulating, withal. I wouldnt be in love with only one man, at a time, as you are, right now, this very minute, for anything. It doesnt pay, at all, to be sentimental.
Yodogima did not answer, at once; she could not at first, for want of composure; afterwards, perhaps, because her own ideals seemed the harder to encourage in the face of such light-heartedness; but finally, that joy which is wrought only in the crucible of a convicted enlightenment opened wider still the floodgates of confidence, bidding her say:
Jokoin, let me tell you that to love is a sacred thing; and if you care to win and hold a mans regard, then learn to use your tongue, but keep in hand the heart.
As you did with Ieyasu. Poor fellow. They say he is about to croak from distraction.
I do not know what you mean; your speech has become quite unintelligible. Someone must have exercised a strange influence upon you.
Its the newfangled religion—Ive got it, Ill admit—though its the worst sort of a makeshift and good only for those who need it, who practice it, and who believe in it. Why, Yodo, under it, you can do anything, then take a bath, bend the knee, and shout for Christs sake: hell do the rest.
Horrors, sister; I do believe you are possessed!
So are you, Yodogima, and all the rest—everybody,dead or alive, born and unborn; only you dont know it, and for that must suffer: they say, go to—well I cant just recall the name, and its such a bad place I wont startle you with mentioning it.
Please do not; I shouldnt comprehend it—but what of Ieyasu? Why distracted?
Because of your advice, and Esyos treachery; she fibbed on both of you to the one, and tried to inspire the other wrongly: between the two of you he has taken a tumble—as I but a moment ago said you might find it advisable or convenient to do. The whole enemy is afraid of him, their reports are all a pack of lies, and nothing less than Hideyoshis presence can save Ieyasus doing about as he pleases, in these parts. Take courage, sister, and bet your boots on—the winner; I am going to return, for the fun, and if you wish shall give your love to—which one, Yodogima?
Jokoin ran away, without giving her sister a chance to answer had she possessed the courage or the patience to do so; Yodogima loved too deeply, held life, that she knew, as against death, its natural consequence, too seriously revealed in the underlying humanities of an established conduct, to bandy truth for the sake of bolstering courage or lightening the burdens of an ordered continuity.
Oyea proved a better counsellor, more a comforter, and together they reconciled their returning, though weary it was, toward the castle whence they had departed so shortly, more hopeful, if less doubtful.