which had aroused him--"Danna
Sama! Danna Sama! Wakadono! At once! At once! Deign to hasten!" Kibei
rushed into the next room. In fright Kakusuke pointed to the mosquito
net. A figure stood upright within it, swaying, gesticulating,
struggling. It was a figure all black and horrible. "Un! Un!" grunted
Kwaiba. He was answered by a mincing, gnawing sound. "Father! Have
courage! Kibei is here." He rushed at the heavy stones, to toss them to
one side and enter the net. The swaying figure within suddenly toppled
over in a heap. With his sword Kibei tore and severed the cording of the
net. The black mass of rats scattered to the eight directions of space.
On approaching Kwaiba a terrible sight met the eye. Eyes, ears, nose,
chin, toes and fingers had been torn and eaten off. The lips were gnawed
away and exposed to view the grinning teeth. A feeble groan--and Kwaiba
had met his end. Neither Kibei nor Kakusuke dared to touch the foul
body. In their panic the two men looked in each other's faces. "Namu
Amida Butsu! Holy the Lord Buddha, Amida!" prayed Kibei, on his knees
before the corpse. "Namu Amida Butsu!" answered Kakusuke.[29]

CHAPTER XVIII

IN THE SHADOW OF THE GO-INKYO[U]

Said a neighbour next day, on meeting his fellow-gossip--"Ah! Is it
Goemon San? It is said the Go Inkyo[u] is to be congratulated." Kamimura
Goemon sniffed. He was a long man; with long face, long nose, long thin
arms, long thin legs; a malicious man, who longed to give advice to his
fellows which they much disliked to hear, and liked to see them writhe
under the infliction. In fact this epitome of length rarely spoke in
good faith or temper--"The Go Inkyo[u] is to be congratulated? Escaping
the troubles of this world, perhaps he has fallen into worse troubles in
the next." At this unorthodox reply Mizoguchi Hambei showed surprise.
Continued Goemon--"The Go Inkyo[u] died a leper, eaten by the rats. Such
an end hardly calls for congratulations." Mizoguchi gasped, with round
eyes and round face. "Extraordinary!"--"Not at all," replied Kamimura,
complacently tapping the palm of one hand with the elongated fingers of
the other. "The Go Inkyo[u] drove out O'Iwa San from Tamiya. He gave
O'Hana in her stead to Iemon as wife. Hana the harlot! Cursed by O'Iwa
in dying, he has met this frightful end. Akiyama, Natsume, Imaizumi will
surely follow. As will all those involved in the affair."--"But is O'Iwa
San really the cause of the death? The Go Inkyo[