CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| Ungo-Zenji | [3] |
| The Loyalty of a Boy Samurai | [25] |
| Katsuno’s Revenge | [37] |
| A Wedding Present | [85] |
| The Heroism of Torii Katsutaka | [117] |
| The Wrestling of a Daimio | [143] |
| The Story of Kimura Shigenari | [167] |
| Honest Kyūsuké | [205] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| “A warrior burns incense into his helmet when he is determined to die on the field” | [Frontispiece] |
| “May I ask you to explain the place of honour given to a garden geta?” | [18] |
| “I caught these sparrows quite of my own accord” | [30] |
| She filled Hachiya’s cup to the brim | [52] |
| Terumasa took hold of the man’s collar and twisted his face upwards | [108] |
| He raised his voice so that every word rang clear and distinct | [138] |
| Gonshirō threw him by a supreme effort down on to the mats | [153] |
| “Whose hat is that?” | [217] |
UNGO-ZENJI
IT was snowing fast.
Already as far as eye could see the world was covered with a vast silvery sheet. Hill and dale, tree and field, all alike clothed in virgin white.
Caring nothing for the bitter cold, but loving the beautiful, Daté Masamuné determined to go out to enjoy the scene. Accordingly, accompanied by a few attendants, he wended his way to a pavilion set on a low hill in the castle grounds whence an extensive view, embracing the whole of his little fief of Osaki, could be obtained.
In later life Masamuné distinguished himself by signal service rendered to the state, eventually becoming one of the greatest daimios in Japan, under Iyeyasu, the first Shogun, but at this time Osaki was his sole estate, and his income did not exceed 100,000 koku of rice a year.