Therefore he purposely abstained from calling upon his young
friend.

Months passed; and O-Tsuyu, little imagining the true cause of
Shinzaburo's neglect, believed that her love had been scorned.
Then she pined away, and died. Soon afterwards, the faithful
servant O-Yone also died, through grief at the loss of her
mistress; and the two were buried side by side in the cemetery of
Shin-Banzui-In,--a temple which still stands in the neighborhood
of Dango-Zaka, where the famous chrysanthemum-shows are yearly
held.

(1) The hatamoto were samurai forming the special military force
of the Shogun. The name literally signifies "Banner-Supporters."
These were the highest class of samurai,--not only as the
immediate vassals of the Shogun, but as a military aristocracy.


II

Shinzaburo knew nothing of what had happened; but his
disappointment and his anxiety had resulted in a prolonged
illness. He was slowly recovering, but still very weak, when he
unexpectedly received another visit from Yamamoto Shijo. The old
man made a number of plausible excuses for his apparent neglect.
Shinzaburo said to him:--"I have been sick ever since the
beginning of spring;--even now I cannot eat anything.... Was it
not rather unkind of you never to call? I thought that we were to
make another visit together to the house of the Lady Iijima; and
I wanted to take to her some little present as a return for our