“Sir, I am an Eta; and my name is Chokichi.  I beg to bespeak your goodwill for myself:  I hope we may be friends.”

Sazen was not a little taken aback at this; however, he put on an innocent face, as though he had never heard of Chokichi before, and said, “I never heard of such a thing!  Why, I thought you were some respectable person; and you have the impudence to tell me that your name is Chokichi, and that you’re one of those accursed Etas.  To think of such a shameless villain coming and asking to be friends with me, forsooth!  Get you gone!—­the quicker, the better:  your presence pollutes the house.”

Chokichi smiled contemptuously, as he answered, “So you deem the presence of an Eta in your house a pollution—­eh?  Why, I thought you must be one of us.”

“Insolent knave!  Begone as fast as possible.”

“Well, since you say that I defile your house, you had better get rid of O Koyo as well.  I suppose she must equally be a pollution to it.”

This put Sazen rather in a dilemma; however, he made up his mind not to show any hesitation, and said, “What are you talking about?  There is no O Koyo here; and I never saw such a person in my life.”

Chokichi quietly drew out of the bosom of his dress the letter from Sazen to Kihachi, which he had picked up a few days before, and, showing it to Sazen, replied, “If you wish to dispute the genuineness of this paper, I will report the whole matter to the Governor of Yedo; and Genzaburo’s family will be ruined, and the rest of you who are parties in this affair will come in for your share of trouble.  Just wait a little.”

And as he pretended to leave the house, Sazen, at his wits’ end, cried out, “Stop! stop!  I want to speak to you.  Pray, stop and listen quietly.  It is quite true, as you said, that O Koyo is in my house; and really your indignation is perfectly just.  Come! let us talk over matters a little.  Now you yourself were originally a respectable man; and although you have fallen in life, there is no reason why your disgrace should last for ever.  All that you want in order to enable you to escape out of this fraternity of Etas is a little money.  Why should you not get this from Genzaburo, who is very anxious to keep his intrigue with O Koyo secret?”

Chokichi laughed disdainfully.  “I am ready to talk with you; but I don’t want any money.  All I want is to report the affair to the authorities, in order that I may be revenged for the fraud that was put upon me.”

“Won’t you accept twenty-five riyos?”

“Twenty-five riyos!  No, indeed!  I will not take a fraction less than a hundred; and if I cannot get them I will report the whole matter at once.”

Sazen, after a moment’s consideration, hit upon a scheme, and answered, smiling, “Well, Master Chokichi, you’re a fine fellow, and I admire your spirit.  You shall have the hundred riyos you ask for; but, as I have not so much money by me at present, I will go to Genzaburo’s house and fetch it.  It’s getting dark now, but it’s not very late; so I’ll trouble you to come with me, and then I can give you the money to-night.”