not give him a direct refusal. She was at last compelled to give a reluctant consent, but she added that the marriage would have to be postponed until she could fully persuade her daughter. This was, however, only a pretext, for she hoped that in the meantime circumstances would make it possible for her positively to refuse Sashirō's offer.
Sashirō was by no means reassured by O-Katsu's consent. He wanted so keenly to win the heart of O-Somé, that he prayed the gods and Buddha for the fulfilment of his desire. Every day he visited different temples and shrines to repeat his foolish prayer. One day he went to a great shrine called the Zama Myōjin in the city, not far from O-Somé's house, and was earnestly making hyakudo-mairi, or the "hundredfold penance," walking up and down on the long pavement between the sanctuary and the torii. Kosuké, the head clerk of the oil-shop, chanced to discover him wrapped in devotion. Kosuké was a crafty and covetous knave. He had at Sashirō's request, secretly delivered a love-letter to O-Somé, and moreover he had heard of her intrigue with Hisamatsu. He therefore evolved the dark scheme of having
