Just  in  front  of  the  fortune-teller's  stand
he  fell  in  with  his  sweetheart  O-Som6,  who  was
strolling  about  the  Zama  Shrine,  hoping  to  meet
him.
The  young  lovers  were  rejoiced  at  meeting  each
other,  and  for  a  while  they  were  engaged  in
happy  conversation.  They  soon  found  it  incon-
venient to  talk  on  the  public  street,  so  they  entered
the  fortune-teller's  house,  from  which  the  old
man  was  fortunately  away.  There  they  were  safe
from  observation  so  they  were  able  to  talk  freely


0-SOME  AND  HISAMATSU  129

over  the  things  they  had  for  days  been  keeping
in  store.
Suddenly  their  blissful  conversation  was  inter-
rupted by  a  sound  of  loud  wrangling  and  cries  of
a  crowd,  proceeding  from  outside  the  gate.  They
were  filled  with  excitement  and  curiosity,  and
rushing  out,  they  saw,  in  the  midst  of  a  throng  of
people,  a  samurai  engaged  in  a  fierce  quarrel  with
a  merchant.  The  samurai  was  about  to  draw  his
sword.  Hisamatsu  and  O-Some  mingled  with  the
crowd,  and  were  surprised  to  see  Kosuke  there!
They  stole  quietly  away,  to  avoid  being  seen  by
him.  While  he  was  looking  at  the  quarrel,  Hisa-
matsu's  pocket  was  picked  of  his  mistress'  purse
of  money.  This  had  been  carefully  arranged  by
an  artifice  of  Kosuke's.  The  samurai  and  the
merchant  were  his  accomplices,  and  their  quarrel
was  a  mere  trick  done  to  divert  Hisamatsu's
attention.
When  he  returned  to  the  oil-shop,  Hisamatsu
was  amazed  to  discover  the  loss  of  the  purse,  but
his  regrets  were  of  no  avail.  All  his  associates
suspected  him  of  theft,  and  Kosuke  in  particular
censured  and  abused  him.
II

HISAMATSU'S  foster-father  KyQsaku  was  an
honest  old  man.  His  family  consisted  of  three
members  besides  Hisamatsu:  his  wife,  his  step-
daughter, who  was  named  O-Mitsu,  and  himself.
