"What," said the prime minister, with squeaking voice and expressionless face, "would you have us do? Change our course now that the storm drives at our front and the breakers rise behind us? Would you at mid-stream change this good old ship, that has weathered the storm of ages, for one that is new and untried? No; a thousand times no! and may such men as Maido, Saigo, Katsu, Tetsutaisho, and--if I may be permitted--Ikamon, live to helm her safely into port. Iyesada, brave captain that he is, cannot afford to man his ship with other than the skilled and experienced, and where else can he find them but at the post of duty? This is the plan which I propose, and I call upon every loyal citizen, every adherent of the august shogun, and every lover of the divine mikado, to rally to my support." They came; the victory was his; and the shogun more than ever in his power. Katsu was soon thereafter placed at the head of the navy, and Tetsutaisho advanced to the command of the army. It was the reward his friends had given him for his loyalty, and he took the advancement as a matter of course, not even deigning to return thanks or offer a promise. So far as he was concerned his friends were his fortune, and even the law of the land had no place as between him and them. Under Ikamon's domination Tetsutaisho was relieved of the necessity for any particular state activities, while his promotion had placed him socially at the head of the samurai, as had his marriage to Nehachibana raised him in esteem among the nobility and given him standing at court. The state furnished him with luxuriant quarters, where he domiciled his family, under the immediate sway of his fault-finding mother, with Nehachibana as her patient, industrious slave. Time passed leisurely, and as he had long ago forgotten his desperate resolve he was wont more than ever to make regular calls at his father-in-law's house. As these visits grew in frequency, the length of his stay became less guarded; and Takara, at first looking upon his coming as a pleasing incident, recurring now and then in her monotonous life, welcomed him, then looked for him, and now, that his had come to be her only true companionship, longed for his coming. "You will come to-morrow, will you not, Tetsutaisho?" said she, with pleading, wistful eyes, as he was about to leave her on a warm, inviting night in June. "Yes, Takara," answered he, softly and earnestly. "I will come over, and together we will watch the second sailing of Perry's fleet, the departure of the first man who ever dared profane our soil. I understand the arrant braggart has finally wrung from the shogun certain privileges that are not less dangerous than disgraceful. As he came, he will go out: booming his noisy guns. It will be a showy thing, and possibly worth our seeing. I shall certainly come, my lady, especially that it pleases you to have me. And now, good-night, and pleasant dreams."