at him. The young
fellows of the house, several of them, stood round the entrance,
ostensibly occupied, but with one eye on the scene. As Cho[u]bei sought
the _banto[u]'s_ aid, the man raised a long lean leg and gave him a
violent kick in the breast. Strong hands seized him as he rolled over
and over to the edge of the platform, to land in the arms of the
enthusiastic _wakashu[u]_. The next moment, and Cho[u]bei was picking
himself up out of the mud and snow of the street. The lattice of the
house entrance closed noisily.

In his confusion of mind by force of habit Cho[u]bei turned round and
bowed with ceremony toward the place of his unceremonious exit--"The
time is inopportune. Cho[u]bei intrudes. He will call again." The
opening of the wicket gate, the peering, scowling face of the _banto[u]_
recalled the past scene to mind. With all the haste his tottering gait
allowed Cho[u]bei sprang off northward to the Adzumabashi and home. As
he sped, swaying along, his active mind was making calculations.
"Ryo[u]gokubashi, the last home of the outcast beggar--other than the
river which flows beneath it!" He shuddered at the prophecy. "Bah! One
rascal loses; another gains. Toemon loses twenty _ryo[u]_. From Iemon
San ten _ryo[u]_ was the commission. Ito[u] Dono gave five _ryo[u]_ and
asked no questions. The total to Cho[u]bei sums up thirty-five _ryo[u]_.
For a year the affair of O'Iwa has fattened Cho[u]bei; with something
still left." His foot struck a stone in the roadway. He looked up and
around to find himself before the Genkwo[u]ji. About to enter on the
maze of temple grounds and _yashiki_ separating him from the bridge his
gaze fell on the stagnant squalid waters of the canal. It was in the
dirty foulness of this North Warigesui that O'Iwa had disappeared.
Cho[u]bei pulled up short. A dead cur, copper hued, with swollen
germinating sides and grinning teeth, bobbed at him from the green
slime. Cho[u]bei slewed round--"A vile ending; but after all an ending.
Iemon profits; Cho[u]bei gets the scoldings. Ah! If it was not that
Ito[u] Kwaiba is engaged in this affair; Tamiya should pay dearly. There
is a double ration to share with Cho[u]bei--and not to be touched!
Ito[u] Dono is no man to trifle with. There was that affair with Isuke;
and now, as he says, Iemon is a very son to him." A memory seemed to
touch Cho[u]bei. His pace became a crawl. "Why hasten? Cho[u]bei rushes
to the fiend--that demon Taki. Cho[u]bei would rat