er. They agreed that
it would be very disagreeable to be killed and eaten, especially with
such evidences of Kage's powers of disposition. Hence nothing was to be
said; or rather each agreed to leave the matter of report to the other.

Great was the crush and excitement on this day of the year. Long and
continuous were the processions (_gyo[u]retsu_) of _daimyo[u]_ and
_hatamoto_ making their way to and from the castle. The rule of the day
was to avoid unnecessary collision, as far as possible; not only in the
matter of precedence, but of order. Commoners, male and female, old and
young, _ro[u]nin_, _samurai_, according to their caste squatted or
prostrated themselves in reverential attitude as the palanquin of some
lord passed by. Caustic or benign, generally malicious, the comment of
the Kidahachi and Yajiro[u]bei--"O[u]kubo Hikoroku Dono; 'tis true he
possesses influence, and the roughness of Hikoza Sama, but the keen wit
of the honoured father lacks."--"Yet the lord O[u]kubo has much kindness
beneath his roughness. The latter is passport to the favour of the
suzerain." Iyeyasu Ko[u] ruled by statecraft; Hidetada Ko[u] by
benevolence; the third Sho[u]gun Iyemitsu Ko[u], by rough energy. Such
the tradition of the personality of these three men handed down in
Nippon's history. With the passage of Tadamune Ko[u], of the great
Sendai fief, heads went very low. Great his wealth, and greater still
was his influence with the Suzerain. Tadamune swept proudly on; the
future disasters represented in the boy who rode close to the palanquin,
and whose licentious life later threatened to wreck the wealth and
position of the great house.

At the dismount notice (_geba-fuda_) Okumura Shu[u]zen, accompanied by
two pages, donned _zo[u]ri_ (sandals) and betook himself to the palace.
He was a small figure in this crush of great nobles, but as _hatamoto_
had his right and duty of being present at the palace; both rigidly
enforced, and assuredly with greater regard and welcome than most of the
men of much greater rank, always regarded with suspicion. The modest
train of a four hundred _koku_ lord was squeezed into a corner of this
mass of underlings waiting the return of their masters from audience.
Close companion to his beloved and now feared Kage, the groom Kakunai
was well satisfied with his insignificance. Great was his consternation
to hear the harsh voice of his equine friend in his ear. A whisper to
Kage meant a roar to the crow