Shibata responded to the call, and all the daimyos recently subservient to the dead chief were there. Others came in person, or sent suitable representatives; the common people under Hideyoshi's immediate sway rallied in numbers; samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants alike responded: such a gathering of wealth and power, rags and poverty, never before had assembled to do reverence. Daitokige temple had been designated by Hideyoshi as the most suitable place for the ceremonies and workmen rendered it into a veritable dreamland. Flowers and bunting and gold and purple contrasted significantly with the white gowns and mourning hoods worn by the rich and the poor alike. Shibata and his suite had been purposely assigned to the place of honor. Nowhere were Hideyoshi and his followers to be seen--they had apparently vanished as if of the past or in the spirit world, along with Nobunaga, their fallen chief. Yodogima sat in the center, surrounded by her maids and friends, with their costumes of white or regalias of gold, banked against a background of wealth and refinement. Far up the hillsides and all round in front and to the rear, sat or trod, mingled and stared, solid masses of straggling groups of knighted chevaliers or gaping underlings, fair maidens and rosy-cheeked damsels. Presently the huge gong sounded and everybody there bowed reverently: the bonzes (priests), kneeling round the sepulchre said their prayers, and Shintoism, Buddhism, and Christianity alike awaited God, conjured a Spirit, bade the Overman speak. Hideyoshi, with the infant heir, Samboshi, Nobunaga's grandson, in his arms, stood forth; whence, no one knew. A voice, amid silence, read from the tomb the order of the day. Calmly facing the shrine and beckoning the multitude, Hideyoshi then spoke: "I, Hideyoshi, protector of the throne and conservator of the peace, command that you and each of you, loyal subjects, give heed unto Nobunaga's will; here and thence to you voiced by the good and great Yamato-Dake (god of war). Let be what I proclaim." Thereat two white falcons spread their wings and flapped away into space. A loud roar and din as of horses trampling and speeding issued from the temple. Armed guards sprang forward everywhere--out of the temples, behind the gates, into the streets, around the palace, amid the hills--and Kuroda stood ready to strike down the lowliest and the highest who dared raise a hand or voice. Shibata slunk back, and amid the confusion an old woman seemingly, clad in black with drawn hood, carrying a strange bundle, whispered in Yodogima's ear. In a twinkling the knowing princess had donned the disguise and with no other apparent escort made her way toward Kitanoshi, safely tucked away behind the mountain range in the distance. CHAPTER III