"Are you crazy?" cried the Prince. "We have spent a hard night, and a still harder day; you are wounded: and it never occurs to you to take a little rest! I confess that, if you are indefatigable, I, who am by nature very inert, feel quite exhausted." "If sleep is permitted, I shall sleep with a good will," said Raiden, laughing; "but if you thought best to start off again, I could have held out a little longer." "Where is Loo?" asked the Prince; "I lost sight of him in the thick of the fight." "He's asleep in a house on the shore, and so sound asleep that I could pick him up and carry him off without his ever knowing it. That young Samurai earned his sleep well; he snatched a gun from one of our dead comrades, and I hear that he fought like a little devil." "Is he wounded?" "Fortunately, he escaped without a scratch." "Well, go join him, and take a little repose; to-morrow, at noon, we will start." Next day Nagato went to take leave of the Kisaki. She had returned to the summer-palace, where he found her surrounded by her women. "You leave the city which owes its triumph to you so soon, and without taking time for rest?" she exclaimed. "I leave with an aching heart," said the Prince; "but an imperative duty calls me. Before the peace is signed, I must avenge the insult to my name; I must save Fatkoura, my betrothed." "Is Fatkoura in danger?" "She is the prisoner of the Prince of Tosa; a messenger brought me the news yesterday." "Such reasons admit of no reply," said the Queen. "Make haste to punish that villain; and may the God of Battles be with you." Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke: he was about to run new dangers; to expose his life,--perhaps to die. "I believe that I am invincible," said Nagato; "an all-powerful goddess protects me." The Kisaki forced herself to smile. "May you triumph, and return speedily," said she. The Prince retired. As he left the hall he fixed a last lingering look upon her; a singular feeling of disquiet chilled his blood. "Every time that I part from her I feel as if I should never see her again," he muttered. She too gazed at him, a prey to the same anguish; she pressed to her lips the tip of the fan which the Prince had given her. He tore himself from her presence. That very night he reached Osaka, and went at once to the Shogun. "Is it you!" joyfully exclaimed Fide-Yori. "I did not hope to see you so soon; your presence is a consolation to me amid the cares that overwhelm me." "What!" said Iwakura, "when we are victorious! Why are you sad?" "How can you ask me, friend? True, Yoke-Moura drove the enemy from the village that they held near Osaka; but Harounaga has just been completely routed in his retreat on Yamashiro. Two thirds of the kingdom are in the power of our foe."