Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/331

Rh by his retinue, came in and urged Jirōzayémon to take the road. He accordingly changed clothes without loss of time and with a friendly farewell to Tokuyémon, set out upon his journey. But he left his heart and soul behind him at the inn. He thought of his sweetheart and thought of her only. Would he ever again, he wondered, have a chance to meet her? Bitter tears of grief and regret welled up, as it seemed, from his very breast.

Tokuyémon, looking after them as their figures lessened in the distance, said to himself: "Both those men are samurai, yet how different they are in nature! One a very rascal, and the other all kindness and compassion! What a fine character that Jirōzayémon is! But I think that, for all his kindness, these gifts for Asagao are too great a price for her trifling services to-night. I fancy there is more in this than meets the eye."

Scarcely half an hour had passed, when Miyuki again appeared at the inn. Immediately on her return from Shimizu, she had turned her steps thither, as some instinct had warned her to do.

"Oh, is that you, Asagao?" cried the old landlord. "But you come too late. That kind samurai who last night called for you, bade me