III
"—TO FIGHT—"
Her purification began at the great temple of Asakusa. I cannot stop to tell what it cost—of penance and travail. But at the end the bonzes assured her that she was again without sin. They had never seen the evil she accused herself of—prayed for. To them she had done no wrong. But for the repose of her soul they humored her—the gentle priests. Now she was without sin, they said. So she meant always to remain. As she went from them for the last time, they burnt incense upon her, and, with smiles, gave her the blessings of all the gods.
Ji-Saburo had disappeared at Ping-yang. He was with the first army-corps that led the attack on the front. He had planted the flag of his regiment upon the first rampart in the very face of the enemy. The army called his courage that of the young devil. The world knows the fury of the Chinese to dislodge that emblem of alien authority.
