So with sweet strains he beguiled the weariness of the long, lonely hours. Hard by was a poor fisherman’s cottage, lowly indeed, but exquisitely clean and dainty, with a whole garden of dark blue iris in the warmly thatched roof. The old fisherman and his wife became very friendly with the fallen noble, and their daughter, a lovely maiden of sixteen, would sit by the hour listening entranced by the sweetness of his music. They loved one another and were married, and she brought the light of her beauty and grace to charm into happiness the misery of his banishment. And so the months sped by until one day there came a messenger from the court to say that pity had touched the heart of the Son of Heaven and the Kugé was to be restored to his former dignities. But he was a faithful lover, and took his humble mate with him to Kiōto, where she became a great lady and they lived happily ever after. And that is the story of the harp of Suma. But this is a digression. Through the great heat we trudged along, stopping once in a while to rest in the pleasant coolness of some pretty tea-house, feasting on fragrant melons and those delicious apples which are a dainty of that countryside. Some of the inns were very attractive and the people most polite and kindly disposed; we had no reason to complain of our reception in Kaga. The Kaga Samurai is not a fierce warrior like the men of Satsuma and Tosa, nor is he an astute politician like the leaders of the Chōshiu folk. Those we met seemed to be quiet and peaceful, perhaps a little bit slow-coaches, rich and prosperous, while their Prince, who, as I have hinted before, was rather inclined to sit upon the fence, held an important position in the Empire on account of his huge wealth. Our second day’s journey lay through very pretty scenery, past Takamatsu, a picturesque fishing village on the seashore, to Tsubata, a flourishing little post-town, where we found a capital inn and spent the night refreshed by an excellent Japanese dinner. On Monday, the 12th of August, we started at 7.45 on our third day’s tramp, which was to bring us to Kanazawa, the Kaga capital. We rested in a temple at a place called Morimoto, where we had the usual feast of melons and apples. The crowds were now beginning to be enormous; our guides were anxious that we should walk into the city, the white castle walls of which were visible peering out of a glorious dark cloud of pine trees about a mile away.