The 47 Ronin Story by John Allyn

appeared. Oishi had indeed been followed and the "priest" had again taken

    Chapter Six
    up his position across from the house. Oishi felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as they went out to watch him through the sHt in the wall and speculate about his purposes. Whatever they were, he had seen that there was a gathering at the Reikoin Temple and he was bound to report this to his superiors.
    While they were watching him, another so-called komuso, identically dressed, took the first man's place. It was obviously time for the changing of the guard and Kataoka pleaded with Oishi to let him follow the first man so that they could learn the identities of their enemies.
    "If we know their faces, Oishi-dono, we will recognize them without their disguises. Otherwise, we will remain in the dark."
    "Very well, then, go. But promise you'll take no action on your own. Any overt act against a spy will be reported to Edo and the countermeasures which could be taken against us would ruin our chances of ever surprising Kira."
    Kataoka promised and they withdrew into the house where the monkey-faced man put on a dark cloak. Then he left by a rear door and circled the house to come out on the road at a point where he was shielded from view of the man on guard. The first spy had the advantage of a head start, but there was only one road from Yamashina to Kyoto, and Kataoka had no trouble picking up his trail in the bright moonlight?
    As it turned out, he had only a short distance to go. The man was staying at an inn on the outskirts of Kyoto, and Kataoka drew his breath in sharply as he watched him take off his basket head-covering and drop it with his long wooden flute in the bushes outside the entrance. No one inside would be able
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    to identify him as a "priest" in case there should be any questioning.
    The man, who was tall and thin and had the aloof air of a samurai, now quickly entered the inn and Kataoka drew as close as he dared to watch and listen. Fortunately it was a warm night and the shoji were open all around the building. He saw his man disappear up some stairs and dashed into a side garden to watch him enter a room on the second floor. Kataoka, who was monkeylike in more ways than one, climbed to the roof of an adjoining shed, from which he was able to jump quietly into the corner of a small balcony outside the room. There were two others present and he held his breath as he watched the men's shadows move on the balcony beside him.
    The thin one he had followed wasted no time in telling the others about Oishi's activities. He had a deep bass voice that Kataoka tried to identify but could not. As he listened, he was impressed with the man's thoroughness; he even knew the names of all the men who had gathered at the temple. He also reported that he may have been spotted as a spy because of the roundabout route taken by Oishi after he left the temple, but he did not think this would do any harm. If the ex-followers of Asano knew they were being watched, there was that much more reason to think they would not behave rashly.
    Now the spy dropped his priest's robe and took off his //^on jacket. As he looked for a place to hang it he told the others that he would send a note to Edo by messenger that night. The meeting at the Reikoin Temple was the first tangible thing he had to report in all the weeks he had been watching Oishi, and he was anxious that his superiors get the message at

    Chapter Six
    once. Then he walked to the balcony and flung the coat across the railing almost in Kataoka's face. The monkey-faced man froze as the thin man's feet nearly brushed his own, but he was invisible in the shadows and the spy stepped back into the room without noticing him.
    The others now began to comment on the report and by their voices Kataoka was able to identify one as a regular worker in Oishi's household. The other man was unknown to him, but it was apparent that both were in the service of the tall, thin one. Deciding that