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what course to pursue. He was in fact utterly innocent of the charge now to be made against him. But he had nevertheless obtained the purse and its contents under circumstances so peculiar that every senti ment of honor and gratitude forbade him to reveal the facts at the present time. Sokichi had been, like his fathers before him, a dealer in second-hand clothes. The family had never been anything but poor, and as Sokichi's parents had died when he was quite a child, he and his sister had been brought up by the grandparents, who in their turn were now utterly dependent on him. The day came at last when Sokichi was compelled to raise money by disposing of the one remaining treasure of the house, till now left religiously untouched. On the second night before his arrest he had been returning home with the money (fifty ryo gold) in his pocket, when he was set upon by two men, and robbed of it all. The greater part of the money had been intended for a miserly blind money-lender, who had of late been threatening in his demands, and Sokichi now saw before him the disgrace of the family name and the life of a ruined bankrupt. He speedily unwound his sash, climbed a wayside tree, and fastening one end to his neck and the other to a branch, precipitated himself into mid-air. But the branch was rotten, and the sudden shock broke it short off and let Sokichi to the ground, stunned and half-choked. As he lay there in a stupor, footsteps approached, a pair of hands lifted him to his feet and began to adjust his dress, inquiring the cause for a resolution so plainly indicated by his appearance. Sokichi told him the story of his misfortunes. The man heard it with ex pressions of sympathy, and at its close took out a purse, embroidered with wisteria, and, pressing it quickly into his hand, went off into the darkness. Sokichi called and ran after him to learn the name and abode of his benefactor, but he had disappeared. It was when Sokichi, rejoicing in his replen

ished resources, had gone to the pawn-shop to settle a long-standing account, that he had been pounced upon by Kohachi; and the result found him a prisoner of the law on a charge of which he was entirely in nocent. But the true explanation seemed clear enough to Sokichi, and to his mind there was but one course open to him. To betray his benefactor, to throw the crime on the true offender, would be the act of one dead to all sense of honor and gratitude; for Sokichi never doubted that the man who had given him the purse was the real robber and murderer, and his suspicious haste in avoiding identification served to remove all doubt. Sokichi, then, if necessary, would confess to crime and let Oka do with him what he pleased, but he would in no way do anything to reveal the guilt of his gener ous benefactor. Such was Sokichi's philos ophy, and when he came up for examina tion he loyally stood by it. Oka had made inquiries as to his history and reputation, and what he heard had con firmed the good impression he had received of Sokichi's honest face. He had made up his mind that the man was not the real offender; and it was an entire surprise to him when Sokichi, at the first question, con fessed his guilt, begging only that the news might in some way be kept from his grand parents, who would be heart-broken to know of his great disgrace. " How did you kill these men?" said Oka. " With a carvingknife," said Sokichi, for he knew Oka would not believe that he, a tradesman, had killed two samurai with a sword, the professional weapon of the samurai. " But the wounds," said Oka, " are over a foot long; you could not have made them with a knife. Where was it you attacked them?" " Inside the Gate of the New Bridge," said Sokichi, for he had heard the rumor of the murder. " That is curious," responded Oka, " for the bodies were found without the Gate." At length, Sokichi kept silence, for he only entangled