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V
THE HOUR OF THE OX. 257
sticks," may be made the teacher of delicacy and
refined manners, and indeed is, in so far, superior to
knives and forks.
"
Mrs. Sano, we are making your husband keep
irregular hours. This midnight supper reminds me
of my young and hilarious days in Osaka," said Mr.
Rai.
" O honored sir, a physician's wife is used to all
hours, for we hear the bell-stroke at the first croak
of the raven in the morning and at the last scream
of the wild geese at night; but your errand and
his in this instance are not medical," said the lady,
laughing.
" No," joined in the doctor ;
" but we are to study
a symptom of the body politic," laughed the
doctor.
" A grave one too," said Mr. Koba. " Are you
acquainted, honored lady, with the young woman
whom we expect to see at the shrine at the Hour
of the Ox?"
" Yes ; I have known her from a child. She was
always proud and high-spirited as well as beautiful.
Though a merchant's daughter, she seemed more
like a samurai lady. There are very few people in
Fukui who know that Honda Jiro made love to her
and then left her in a way that made her think he
had deserted her. What a scandal it would have
created, had it been generally known that the young
people were in love a samurai willing
"
to take his
wife from a trader's family !
"Did he desert her? Was he unreasonable or
cruel to her ? " asked Mr. Rai.