Hichirobei in the meanwhile was congratulating himself on his escape; and, little suspecting that he would be in danger so far away from Osaka, he went to a house of pleasure, intending to divert himself at his ease.  The policeman, seeing this, went to the master of the house and said—­

“The guest who has just come in is a notorious thief, and I am on his track, waiting to arrest him.  Do you watch for the moment when he falls asleep, and let me know.  Should he escape, the blame will fall upon you.”

The master of the house, who was greatly taken aback, consented of course; so he told the woman of the house to hide Hichirobei’s dirk, and as soon as the latter, wearied with his journey, had fallen asleep, he reported it to the policeman, who went upstairs, and having bound Hichirobei as he lay wrapped up in his quilt, led him back to Osaka to be imprisoned with his brother.

When Kashiku became aware of her lover’s arrest, she felt certain that it was the handiwork of Jiuyemon; so she determined to kill him, were it only that she might die with Hichirobei.  So hiding a kitchen knife in the bosom of her dress, she went at midnight to Jiuyemon’s house, and looked all round to see if there were no hole or cranny by which she might slip in unobserved; but every door was carefully closed, so she was obliged to knock at the door and feign an excuse.

“Let me in! let me in!  I am a servant-maid in the house of Kajiki Tozayemon, and am charged with a letter on most pressing business to Sir Jiuyemon.”

Hearing this, one of Jiuyemon’s servants, thinking her tale was true, rose and opened the door; and Kashiku, stabbing him in the face, ran past him into the house.  Inside she met another apprentice, who had got up, aroused by the noise; him too she stabbed in the belly, but as he fell he cried out to Jiuyemon, saying:—­

“Father, father![48] take care!  Some murderous villain has broken into the house.”

[Footnote 48:  The apprentice addresses his patron as “father.”]

[Illustration:  “GOKUMON.”]

And Kashiku, desperate, stopped his further utterance by cutting his throat.  Jiuyemon, hearing his apprentice cry out, jumped up, and, lighting his night-lamp, looked about him in the half-gloom, and saw Kashiku with the bloody knife, hunting for him that she might kill him.  Springing upon her before she saw him, he clutched her right hand, and, having secured her, bound her with cords so that she could not move.  As soon as he had recovered from his surprise, he looked about him, and searched the house, when, to his horror, he found one of his apprentices dead, and the other lying bleeding from a frightful gash across the face.  With the first dawn of day, he reported the affair to the proper authorities, and gave Kashiku in custody.  So, after due examination, the two pirate brothers and the girl Kashiku were executed, and their heads were exposed together.[49]