ana! The young man stooped over her,
leaning on the gory sword. Great drops of cold sweat stood out on his
forehead. A shout came from without. "In his lordship's name! Open, or
force will be used." Why had the summons for the day been anticipated?
The unhappy ravings of O'Hana flashed to his mind. Iemon no longer
reasoned. A cunning insane light was in his eyes. Softly he made his way
to the _amado_ fronting on the garden. No one was without. In the rain
and storm he might escape. Traversing the darkness he noted, however,
the man posted at the gate in the rear. Springing on the roof of the
shed he looked over into Teramachi. It was deserted. With the bloody
sword he hacked off the sharp points of the bamboo stakes. They now
aided his flight over the wall. He cast the weapon aside. In a few
minutes he disappeared in rapid flight down the street. When Katada
Tatewaki, accompanied by his men, at last broke down the stout
resistance offered by the outer door of Tamiya he found the house empty,
except for the dead body of O'Hana, lying in its pool of blood. She was
still warm. He took it for mere murder, giving more urgent directions
for immediate pursuit. Methodically he searched the house, down to the
very rubbish pile. The seal of Tamiya was secured. This meant much. With
sceptical smile he handled the broken bamboo stick found in a closet. He
did not show the discovery to his men.

Where did Iemon go? The unhappy man himself could not have told what
happened in the intervening days. He came to consciousness in the
darkness of a spring night, just before the dawn. The stars were
beginning to pale in the East. The landscape had the livid eerie light
in which it is uncertain whether day or night is to be the issue. With
surprise Iemon looked around him; then shuddered. The stagnant waters of
Warigesui's filthy stream lay beneath him. He had found rest on the
bank, at the very place where Cho[u]bei had died under his hand.

"The Sanzugawa--without hills or bridges;
On highway traversed by the dead, flowers there are none."[38]

The _yama_ ([yama]) refers to Yamada Cho[u]bei; the _hashi_ ([hashi]) to
Takahashi Iemon; the _hana_ ([hana]) to O'Hana, the wife of Iemon. Such
was the then interpretation of the old poem.

Iemon could go no further. His course was run. He knew it; but how end
life? At heart he was an arrant coward. Determined to cut belly he drew
the dagger he had kept with him. A shudder went through