“Your father, who was Ando Goro’s karo, or first counsellor, saw his master’s substance melt away under this system of extortion which he did not dare oppose, while as yet there was no pretence on the part of Taka Suke of even looking into the merits of the case, much less of rendering a decision. The ducal treasury was exhausted; the many rare and costly articles accumulated by generations of the Duke’s ancestors, and the whole of your father’s private fortune, had been swallowed up by this fellow’s greed. There was absolutely nothing left to give, when Ando Goro in strong terms and angry words, more than hinting at Hōjō misrule, demanded judgment. This just suited the wily arbitrator. Carefully selecting time and place and company so as to be cruelly effective, with coarse taunt and jeer he insulted the Duke and goaded him to madness. Regardless of policy and of the chances against him, regardless of the advice and remonstrance of his trusted karo, Ando Goro planned a revolt. His movements, however, had been carefully watched, and his plans were allowed to ripen sufficiently clearly to demonstrate his guilt. When this point was reached he was seized and thrown into prison. In this case judgment was not delayed; within ten days his territory was confiscated, and he himself paid the penalty of his life. His wife shared her husband’s fate; his two infant sons were seized, and disappeared, no one knowing how or where; and all his principal retainers were severely punished, some suffering death, some imprisonment and some exile.
A KARO (CHIEF COUNSELLOR).
“Only one man seemed to remain exempt from persecution, and he was the karo. He had arranged his affairs, and expected, hour after hour, day by day, to be summoned to prison and death; but no summons came. Your father was a man who had commanded honor and respect second to none where he had lived. Untouched by even a breath of suspicion in his high and responsible position, with rare physical and mental graces, and incomparable in all manly accomplishments, the inhabitants of the province, high and low, looked up to him with a respect amounting to reverence. But the times were corrupt, and his long years of faithful service failed to make men believe that he had remained true to his trust, when day after day continued that strange immunity from arrest while every one else belonging to his master’s house had suffered. Too many were only over-ready to sell themselves to the Hōjō; and although in this instance it seemed utterly incredible, yet men equally high in position and character had before been won by Hōjō purses and Hōjō promises.
AN EXECUTION.
“Your father’s nature was delicate and sensitive, in spite of his physical prowess and of the outwardly cold equanimity of his character. Loyal as loyalty itself, conscious of the rectitude of his actions and thoughts, he met those who had once bowed down to the ground in his presence, and who now had only a scornful glance for him, with equal scorn and pride, which only went to confirm their suspicions of what they considered his shameless desertion. Never did a samurai look more anxiously for decree of promotion and advancement than did your father for the order which should consign him to the grave. At first, when with every minute he was expecting his doom, he had no thought of kataki-uchi; and even later on he saw no possible way of breaking single-handed through the cordon of guards and satellites which protected his and his late lord’s enemy. When, however, fifteen days had elapsed, during which he had, as it seemed, been utterly ignored, he publicly registered a vow that whenever chance or his own exertions should bring him into the presence of Taka Suke, he would kill him, or perish in the attempt. He had recorded his vow in the usual manner, taking care, however, to give it the greatest possible publicity, so that he against whom it was directed could not pretend to be ignorant of it.
“Your father succeeded apparently in forcing notice upon himself; for the same day, as evening came on, a posse of soldiers entered his house. His swords and weapons were taken from him, and his arms pinioned; but this was not done in the coarse, brutal way in which prisoners generally are treated, the leader of the soldiers showing all possible consideration, and even apologizing for what he did. A large and convenient nori mono (palanquin) had been brought to the door, and in this Mutto was carried more like a chief followed by his retainers than a disgraced rebel prisoner. His captors took him directly to the castle, into the presence of Taka Suke, when all retired, leaving the two men alone.