Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/437

Rh into the river. When she was thus freed from her antagonist, the girl seized the scabbard of the dirk, and beat the drum continuously. Tombei rowed and rowed with all his strength, and Rokuzō, being a powerful swimmer, in spite of his wound, swam skilfully across the swift current toward the opposite shore. In the meantime, O-Funé's strokes on the drum became weaker and weaker, until she fell to the mat utterly exhausted, and a moment later, breathed her last.

Tombei soon reached the shore, and leaping up the bank, ran fast. Yoshiminé, who was hiding behind a bush, suddenly rushed out with a drawn sword in his hand and cried: "Prepare for death, murderer of my brother!"

The old man was undaunted, and took up the challenge, and they closed in desperate single combat. But very soon Tombei accidentally stumbled, and Yoshiminé held him down, with the intention of cutting off his head. At this moment Rokuzō ran up, and catching Utena who was standing near, by the hair, cried: "Yoshiminé, if you kill my master, I will take revenge on this woman!"

Yoshiminé was quite taken aback at this threat