Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/398

320 that their enemy Gōsuké would surely pass Hakoné the following morning, with Hōjō Ujimasa's retinue.

There was no time for delay, so the three of them, making necessary preparations, started for the summit of the Hakoné mountains, to lie in wait for Gōsuké.

In the meantime, Hōjō Ujimasa and his large retinue were now passing in a procession along the plain on the summit of the Hakoné Mountains. As they were proceeding on their way, Katsugorō and his assistants suddenly sallied forth from a bush near by. They quickly attacked a palanquin in which the enemy was believed to be riding. The numerous samurai, who guarded the palanquin, resisted them violently. Katsugorō and Fudesuké cut and hewed at them with all their strength. Ujimasa and his retainers were so alarmed at their mighty strokes, that they fled in all directions. Gōsuké, waiting his opportunity, had stepped out of the palanquin, and was about to flee after his comrades, when Fudesuké caught him by the arm, and cried: