Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/131

Rh "Say! There's danger! Climb to the lookout!"

Hearing the alarm, Ano-no-Tsuboné rushed out with a halberd in her hand. "Rammaru! Rammaru!" she cried. "Here is a great danger to our lord! Look out at once!"

She ran to the entrance of the temple. Rammaru heard her cry and, starting up, rushed up the balcony. He cast his eye round in every direction. The night was black, but from his observations in the darkness he made sure that Mitsuhidé's troops were advancing. He ran down and reported it to Nobunaga. "What! Treason on the part of Mitsuhidé?" exclaimed Nobunaga in astonishment. "Your warning was wonderfully prophetic. I deeply regret that I did not listen to it. But regrets are useless. Our only course is to defend ourselves as well as possible."

"Yes, that's most important, my lord," answered Rammaru. Unfortunately Nobunaga's retinue numbered scarcely more than three hundred. It was quite impossible for his tiny band to make any headway against a large army. When the lord and retainer thought of this they gnashed their teeth in mortification.