Letter Found in a Cement Barrel 193
“What’s this?” he wondered vaguely, but he could not let curiosity slow down the pace of his work. Hurriedly he shovelled the cement on to the measuring frame, emptied it into the mixing boat and then began shovelling out more cement again.
“Wait a minute!” he muttered to himself. “Why the hell should there be a box inside a cement barrel?”
He picked up the box and dropped it into the front pocket of his overalls.
“Doesn’t weigh much, damn it! Can’t be much money in it, whatever else there is.”
Even this slight pause had made him fall behind in his work and now he had to shovel furiously to catch up with the cement mixer. Like a wild automaton, he emptied the next barrel and loaded the contents on to a new measuring frame.
Presently the mixer began to slow down and eventually it came to a stop. It was time for Matsudo Yoshizō to knock off for the day. He picked up the rubber hose that was attached to the mixer and made a preliminary attempt at washing his face and hands. Then he hung his lunch box round his neck and trudged back to his tenement. His mind was absorbed with the idea of getting some food into his stomach and, even more important, a powerful cup of distilled rice wine.
He passed the power plant. The construction work was almost finished: soon they would be having electricity. In the distance Mount Keira towered in the evening darkness with its coat of pure white snow. The man’s sweaty body was suddenly gripped by the cold and he began to shiver. Next to where he walked the rough waters of the Kiso River bit into the milky foam with a barking roar.
“Damn it all!” thought Matsudo Yoshizō. “It’s too much. Yes, it’s too damned much! The old woman’s pregnant again.”
He thought of the six children who already squirmed about their tenement room, and of the new child who was going to be born just as the cold season was coming on, and of his wife
