Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/438

354 and involuntarily slackened his hold. Seizing the opportunity, Tombei shook himself free from the warrior's grasp, and in his turn, held the other down. Then Rokuzō came to assist his master and struck Yoshiminé severely with a stout pole, and the hapless samurai seemed to be on the verge of destruction. But at that moment, two white-feathered arrows came whizzing through the air and lodged in the throats of the villains, who fell to the ground dead.

Yoshiminé sprang up and gazed round to see what wonderful fate had saved him from the jaws of death. He then drew out the arrows and examined them carefully. To his great astonishment and boundless joy, they proved to be the arrows "Suiha," and "Hyōha," which had been stolen from him at the Capital. A paper was tied to one of them, and holding it in the light of the moon, he read the following:

", The loss of these arrows would be a great disgrace to the Nittas. I have therefore seized them from the hands of the enemy, in order to give them back to you. From your brother, ."