us character of
the offence, the necessity of severest scrutiny. To the valued
suggestion of Tatewaki, Iga no Kami nodded assent. Iemon thought of
nothing but the murder of Cho[u]bei, the abuse of his wife O'Iwa, the
conspiracy against her life and honour. The first question paralyzed his
defence. Was he not the son of Takahashi Daihachiro[u]? The whole
terrible vista of the consequences of avowal appeared before him, once
himself a _do[u]shin_ and familiar with legal procedure. The family had
suffered _kaieki_ (deprivation of rights). It had been degraded from the
caste. Properly speaking Iemon was an intruder into the _samurai_ class.
He was an impostor. His offence was against the suzerain lord, the
Sho[u]gun. All the terrible penalties of treason hung over him. Tatewaki
had been quick to note the opportunity to take this case out of the
category of offence by a _samurai_. Iemon was a plebeian and a
charlatan. He had insulted Government. At the stumbling denial quick
order was given. A _yakunin_ seized the rope and dragged down the head
of Iemon. Others held him at the sides, to maintain the body rigid.
Stout fellows, the pick of the jailors, came forward. With ferocious
regularity the blows fell. Welts at once appeared. Soon the blood was
trickling from the torn skin. There was no sign to mitigate the severity
of the infliction. When at the seventieth blow the body collapsed in a
faint the wretched man was a terrible sight. The attendants of the jail,
witnesses of the full punishment of double the number of stripes, had
rarely seen such severity exercised. The jailors hated this smooth
fellow, this disturber of their peace. They kept a jail, not a madhouse.
Their superiors showed no sign of the mercy of renewed questioning.
Hence they would change the mad nightly ravings to the subdued groans of
the punished.

The days passed and his body had healed, though movement caused pain
and distress. Brought again before the judges at the very sight of the
scourges he screamed out confession. Questioned as to the conspiracy
against the caste, his fraudulent attempt to consummate marriage with a
_samurai_ woman--the actual fact or legality of it was ignored--his
ill-treatment and sale of her; all these in terror he denied. Once he
had looked upon banishment from Edo as the limit of his punishment. Now
decapitation would be a merciful end. He strove to secure the favour of
a quick and painless death. Again he was beaten almost