then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone between its
teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert.



None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He seemed
to be quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the nearest
attendant, who, with a wooden dipper, poured water over the blade from haft
to point, and then carefully wiped the steel several times with sheets of
soft paper... And thus ended the ceremonial part of the incident.



For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in ceaseless
fear of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the promised
vengeance would come; and their constant terror caused them to hear and to
see much that did not exist. They became afraid of the sound of the wind in
the bamboos,-- afraid even of the stirring of shadows in the garden. At
last, after taking counsel together, they decided to petition their master
to have a Segaki-service (2) performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit.


"Quite unnecessary," the samurai said, when his chief retainer had uttered
the general wish... "I understand that the desire of a dying man for
revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is nothing to
fear."


The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask the
reason of the alarming confidence.