The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-07

tne spot Ol llSnt WneEe tne rays tl tue
setting sun touched it into flame, he
was but little surprised to discover that
he could make out tiny figures in the
crystal For the moment this strange
thing seemed to him perfectly natural
And the movements of these little men
and women interested him so much
that the iiNity of his gaze was intenSi-
fed And SO ii was that in Few NM
utes he saw with no astonishment that
he was one of the group himself, he
himself in the rich and stately attire
Of samurai From the instav. that
Cosmo Waynetletc discovered himself
among the people whom he saw NOV
ing before him, as his eyes were fas-
tened ON the illuminated dot in the
transparent ball. he ceased to see them
as little figures and he accepted them
as of the full stature OF man. This in
crease in their size was no more a
source of wonderment to him than IL
had been to discern himself in the
midst of them. He accepted both OF
these marvellous things without ques-
ton, indeed, with no thought at all that
they were i'm any way peculiar or alb
normal Not only this, but thereafter
he seemed to have transferred his per-
sonality to the CoSmo Wayntlete who
was Japanese samurai and to nave
abandoned entirely the Cosmo Wayn-
ileta who was an American traveller,
and who had just returned to New
York that Christmas morning. so
completely did the Japanese identity
dominate that the existence OF the
American identity was wholly un-
known to him II was as though the
American had gone to asleep I'm New
York at the end of the nineteenth cen-
tury and had walked Japanese in Nip
non in the beginning Of the eighteenth
century.
With his sword by his side n Muri-
masa blade. likely to grinS bad luck TO
the wcarer sooner or lateiyThe had
walked from his own house i'm the quar-
ter of Kioto which is called Namashina
to the quarter which is called foshi-
waia. place Of i'll repute, where dwell
women of evil life and where roysterers
and drunkards come by night. lie
knew that the sacred duty of avcnging
his masters death had led him to east
off his faithful wife so that he might
pretend to riot in debauchery at the
Three SeaShores The fame of his
shameful doings had spread abroad
and it must soon come to the ears OF
the man whom he wished to take una
wares. Now he was lying prone in the
street seemingly sunk in a drunken
slumber so that men might see him and
carry the news tn the treacherous as
sassin of his beloved master AS he
lay there that afternoon he reVolved in
his mind the devices he should use to
make away with his enemy when the
hour might be right at last for the ac-
complishment Of his holy revenge. TO
himself he called the roll of his fellow
ronins. now biding their time, as he
was. and ready always to obey his or
ders and to follow his lead to the death.
when at last the sun should rise on the
day of vengeance.
So he gave no heed to the scoffs and
the jeers of those who passed along the
street, laughing him to scorn as they
beheld him lying there in stupor from
excessive drink at that in0rdinate hour
of the day. And among those who
came by at last was n man from sat
Suma who was moved to voice the re-
proaches of all that saw this sorry
sight
is not this Oishi Kuranosuke-" caid
the man from Satsuma. who was Il
councillor of Asano Takumi no Kami
and who. not having the heart to
avenge his lord. gives himself up to
women and wine" See how he lies
drunk in the public street Faithless
beast. Fool and craven. Unworthy Of
the name of a samurai."
And with that the man from Satsuma
trod on him as he lay there and spat
upon him and went away indignant
The spies of kotsuke no Suke heard
what the man from Satsuma had said
and they saw how he had spurned the
PROSTATE samurai with his foot: and
they went their way to report to their
master that he need no longer have any
fear of councillors of Asano Takumi no