All the servants made violent signs to impose silence on the new-comer. Loo rushed towards him and stopped his mouth with the rag with which he was polishing the mirror; but the man pushed him roughly away. "What does all this mean?" he said. "Are you crazy? I want to speak to the lord whom you serve, the very illustrious daimio who rules over the province of Nagato. Go and tell him, and stop your monkey tricks." "He is asleep," whispered a servant. "We cannot wake him," said another. "He is frightfully tired," said Loo, with his finger on his lip. "Tired or not, he will rejoice at my coming," said the stranger. "We were ordered not to wake him until a few moments before the hour for the council," said the old woman. "I sha'n't take the risk of rousing him," said Loo, drawing his mouth to one side.-- "Nor I," said the old woman. "I will go myself, if you like," said the messenger; "moreover, the hour of the council is close at hand. I just saw the Prince of Arima on his way to the Hall of a Thousand Mats." "The Prince of Arima!" cried Loo; "and he is always late!" "Alas!" said the old woman; "shall we have time to dress our master?" Loo pushed aside a sliding partition and opened a narrow passage; he then softly entered Nagato's bedroom. It was cool within, and a delicate odor of camphor filled the air. "Master! master!" said Loo in a loud voice, "the hour has come; and besides there is a messenger here." "A messenger!" cried Nagato, raising himself on one elbow; "what does he look like?" "He is dressed like a samurai:[1] he has two-swords in his sash." "Let him come in at once," said the Prince, in a tone of agitation. Loo beckoned to the messenger, who prostrated himself on the threshold of the room. "Approach!" said Nagato. But the messenger being unable to see in the dark hall, Loo folded back one leaf of a screen which intercepted the light. A broad band of sunshine entered; it lighted up the delicate texture of the matting which covered the wall and glistened on a silver stork with sinuous neck and spread wings, hanging against it. The messenger approached the Prince and offered him a slender roll of paper wrapped in silk; then he left the room backwards. Nagato hastily unrolled the paper, and read as follows: