Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/193

Rh O-Somé. O-Mitsu on the other hand was speechless with joy.

"Aha, I see!" said Kyūsaku smilingly. "You are both too bashful to answer, I suppose. Of course you agree. I will at once tell the old woman of this, and make her happy. Come with me to her sick-room, Hisamatsu. Meanwhile O-Mitsu, you must dress your hair, and prepare a dish or two for the wedding feast."

Thereupon the old man and Hisamatsu went into the inner room.

When O-Mitsu was left alone, she immediately set about cooking. While her hand was busy with a kitchen knife, her heart was overflowing with thoughts of a happy married life. The spell of her blissful reverie was suddenly broken by a girl's voice sasring: "Is this Kyūsaku San's house? If so, has a young man named Hisamatsu called?"

O-Mitsu opened the door to see who it was. She was surprised to see that the visitor was a supremely beautiful girl, dressed in the latest fashion of Ōsaka. She was evidently the daughter of a good family. The truth flashed across O-Mitsu's mind. She concluded that the girl must be the much-talked-of O-Somé, the daughter of