Ryoma : Life of a Renaissance Samurai by Hillsborough, Romulus

Of Sorrow and Celebration
Another one of Ryoma s close friends was dead. But despite the hardships fate cast his way, he was determined to carry on. "I can't help but feel more than ever that human life is truly a dream," Ryoma would write to his family, lamenting the loss of his comrades, while alluding to the unpredictability of life, and the untimeliness of death, which now, even more than the Bakufu, or the threats of civil war and foreign subjugation, pursued the Dragon on his perilous quest for freedom.
Ryoma was now anxious to get to Kameyama Company headquarters, to investigate the details of Chojiro's death. "If you must go, I'll arrange for a ship to take us to Nagasaki," Saigo offered his distraught friend. "But I would like you to come with me to Kagoshima." More than anything Saigo was determined to keep Ryoma out of harm's way. And what safer place, he reasoned, than his beloved Satsuma? "After what you've been through over these past few months, you need rest. And I know you will enjoy the hot springs in the mountains of Satsuma. Whenever a Satsuma man has something ailing him, he goes to the hot spring baths, even before seeing a doctor. Come with me to Kagoshima and I'll have your hands and spirit completely healed in no time."

Ryoma, however, was not as eager to hide from the Bakufu as Saigo was to hide him. "What Saigo is suggesting," he thought, "is exile." But aware that Saigo himself had twice met such a fate, Ryoma found it difficult to speak these thoughts, much less refuse the great man's kindness. "I appreciate it, Saigo-san. But all I can think about right now is Chojiro. First I must investigate the circumstances of his death."

"If you'll forgive my selfishness," Saigo persisted, "the real reason I want you to come to Kagoshima is to help me convince our lord to support our campaign against the Bakufu." Despite his sincerity, the Satsuma military commander was not beyond bending the truth, if he could rationalize that it was for the common good; and keeping Sakamoto Ryoma alive, he reasoned, was certainly for the common good. "Now that we're allied with Choshu, I have to convince Lord Hisamitsu and his council of the necessity of overthrowing the Bakufu." This was not entirely untrue, and Ryoma knew it. Ryoma was, in fact, aware that the hereditary Satsuma elite had never opposed the Bakufu, with the exception of Hereditary Councilor Komatsu Tatewaki. And although Saigo, Okubo and Komatsu were indeed the de facto leaders of Satsuma, they preferred to have the full support of the entire han, particularly that of Lord Hisamitsu.

"I see, Saigo-san." Ryoma spoke as if in a daze, possessed by one thought only: finding out why Chojiro had killed himself.

"Then we'll leave as soon as I can arrange for a ship to take us," Saigo said.

On the following day Ryoma and Oryo were sitting alone in the garden behind the estate, under a plum tree, its branches shrouded with blossoms of pale purple. "I wish," Ryoma said, picking up a fallen blossom and carefully plucking the tiny petals one by one, "that you could meet my family in Kochi, especially my sister Otome."

"So do I, Sakamoto-san."

"Wait a minute!" Ryoma smiled. This was the first time Oryo had seen him smile since they had heard the news of Chojiro's death. "Even if we can't go to Kochi, that doesn't mean we can't have a honeymoon."

"A honeymoon?" Oryo gave Ryoma a puzzled look. Indeed, she had no idea what he was talking about.

"A trip to celebrate our marriage. That's the custom in Europe and America."

"A trip to Nagasaki? That would be wonderful."

"Not Nagasaki."

"Where will we go?"

"We'll stop at Nagasaki, but just long enough for me to take care of some urgent business." Ryoma was, of course, referring to finding out the circumstances of Chojiro's death, which he preferred not to discuss with his bride-to-be. "Then, we'll go down to Satsuma to the hot spring baths that Saigo's been talking about. That way he'll be happy, and so will we."

At the end of February Ryoma and Oryo were officially married in the presence of Saigo and Nakaoka, before the four left Kyoto for Osaka to board a Satsuma steamer with Kurata, Miyoshi, Komatsu and Yoshii. The group arrived at Nagasaki via Choshu on the morning of March 8, minus Miyoshi and Nakaoka, whom they had left in Shimonoseki. (At home Miyoshi received a hero's welcome. He was praised, promoted and rewarded with extra income by the Choshu government for his valor in the fight at the Teradaya, without which Sakamoto Ryoma would surely have been killed.)

As Saigo was anxious to return to Kagoshima, Ryoma left his new bride aboard ship, which had temporarily dropped anchor at Nagasaki, and hurried with Kurata to Kameyama Company headquarters, in the hills overlooking the bay from the east.

Ryoma found all six of his men present. "Ryoma-san," Sonojo said, running to the front of the house to meet him. "We were so worried about you."

Ryoma responded with grim silence.

"Ryoma-san," Taro hollered, patting his uncle on the shoulder, "I've never been so happy in my life to see anyone."

Still Ryoma did not answer, drawing distraught looks from all six men.

"You've lost weight, Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke offered, a worried look in his eyes.

"Yes," Ryoma said gruffly. "Let's skip the small talk." He gave each of them a hard look. "Now, Sonojo," he singled out this old friend with whom he had fled Tosa four years before, "I want to hear what happened to Chojiro."

"Chojiro died like a true samurai," Sonojo said assertively.

"Idiot!" Ryoma roared, stunning his men as they stood in a circle around him. "Chojiro was a commoner. Now tell me why he died," he demanded.

Sonojo looked downward to avoid Ryoma's angry stare. "As punishment for breaking company rules. He was planning to..." Sonojo was silenced by a punch to the jaw.

"Idiots!" Ryoma exploded, his face red from anger, his eyes bulging. "The whole bunch of you are idiots. Chojiro had more talent than all of you put together, and that's why you were out to get him since we first came to Nagasaki. Now he's dead, damn you all." Ryoma ceased his tirade, and the room was suddenly silent. "But I guess it's my own fault for leaving him here in the first place," he muttered, as if speaking to himself. "If I'd have kept him with me, he'd be alive now." Tears welled in Ryoma's eyes. "Now, Sonojo," he said calmly, sitting down on the tatami floor, "tell me exactly what happened."

Since returning to Nagasaki with Ryoma in the previous December, Chojiro had been plagued by guilt for having lost command of the Union to the Choshu naval office. These feelings were exacerbated by the jealousy of the others for the favor he had earned among Choshu and Satsuma samurai for his success in procuring weapons and a warship. But now his comrades in Nagasaki were eager to cover up their petty jealousy with contempt for his failure in losing the command of the ship; and as a result, the bean jam bun maker's son's sense of inferiority over his humble lineage now weighed heavier upon him than ever.

But in his resourcefulness, Chojiro had devised a way out of his predicament. Since the days he had studied Western culture under Kawada Shoryo in Kochi, he had dreamed of going abroad. During the months that he had been working with Ito and Inoue to procure weapons for Choshu, he had discussed with them on several occasions the possibility of his studying in England. Since both Choshu men had recently returned from England themselves, they were able to offer him advice on how to arrange such a trip, but were as of yet unable to guarantee him the necessary funds. "However," Inoue had promised, "if we do get the rifles and at least one warship, I will personally see to it that you receive enough money for your trip." Chojiro's eventual success in procuring the weapons and ship not only won him praise from the Lord of Choshu, but as Inoue had promised, the Choshu government rewarded him with a substantial amount of gold, which he kept secret from his comrades in Nagasaki.

At the beginning of January, not long after Ryoma had left Nagasaki, Chojiro heard from Inoue that the arms merchant Thomas Glover would soon be sailing to England aboard a British steamer. Secretly the two men visited the Scotsman at his mansion overlooking the Port of Nagasaki, where they requested passage to Europe for Chojiro aboard the British steamer on the afternoon of January 14, while Ryoma prepared to set sail with Miyoshi aboard the Satsuma ship from Shimonoseki to Kobe. And just as the storrnj weather had delayed Ryoma's journey, rough seas postponed the departure of the British vessel until the following day.

"Maybe I should remain on board in case the others discover my plans," he thought, but immediately discarded the idea. "I'm a samurai," he told himself, "and must live according to the code."

The unwritten code of the samurai demanded that a man of the swords never cower in the face of danger; and as Chojiro was determined to prove to himself and others that he was as worthy of the two swords as anyone else, he would not, and could not, remain on board ship. This is not to say that Chojiro was anxious for trouble; for although he assumed that the others were still unaware of his plans, he was cautious enough to ask Glover's permission to stay the night at his home, instead of returning to company headquarters, or even to the small house in town that the company had procured as an office. That evening as he lay in bed in a guest room at Glover's house, listening to the steady pelting of the rain against the glass windowpane, and hoping beyond hope for the prompt arrival of a tomorrow that he would never see, he was startled by a loud banging at the front door downstairs.

"Yes, who's there?" Chojiro heard Glover's servant say.

"We're from the Kameyama Company," a voice answered. "We've heard that one of our men, Kondo Chojiro, is staying here." Recognizing Sonojo's voice, Chojiro was overcome by fear, as he realized that his dream of studying abroad was now shattered. "How did they find out?" he muttered aloud, put on his clothes which were still soaked from the rain, and remembering his resolve not to run from danger, slowly walked down the banistered staircase to face Sonojo and Taro.

"Let's go, Chojiro," Taro said, and the three men proceeded silently on a short downhill walk to the company office in town.

"Come in and sit down, Chojiro," Yonosuke greeted him with exaggerated goodwill. "We've been waiting for you."

Chojiro nodded in an attempt to conceal his terror, then entered the small room. The light from a European glass lantern illuminated the faces of six angry men, as he sat down among them, and thought bitterly that although they had been influenced by Kaishu and Ryoma, not one of them had completely shed their xenophobic convictions. After a short, awful period of silence, during which Chojiro regretted ever having left his father's shop in Kochi, Sonojo began speaking in a slow, deliberate voice. "As you all know, it has been the policy of our company from the very start that all of us have an equal share in the benefits and the hardships of our undertakings. And you also know that it is our policy to act only after obtaining consensus from the entire group." Sonojo paused, looked straight at Chojiro, who was less eager to return the favor. "Anyone who ignores this and takes arbitrary action is obligated under oath to die by his own sword." Sonojo paused again, shot another piercing glance at Chojiro, who felt his stomach drop. "Unfortunately, however, there is one among us who seems to have forgotten this oath." All six men glared at Chojiro, who sat silently, his head hung low.

"And that person is none other than Kondo Chojiro," Sonojo screamed, as if pronouncing a sentence of death.

Chojiro's face was the color of chalk as he tried to speak, but before he could get the words out Sonojo shouted at the top of his lungs, "There are no explanations necessary. If you ever deserved to wear those two swords, then prove it tonight."

A long silence ensued, as a cold draft blew through a crack in the wall, causing the flame in the glass lantern to flicker. "If only Ryoma were here," Chojiro thought, then looked up to face the others. "Please leave me to myself," he muttered in a voice barely audible. "I need to be alone."

As Sonojo finished speaking, Ryoma stood up slowly, a look of remorse on his face, then grabbed his sword as if to leave.

"So you see," Sonojo placated, "it was Chojiro's own decision. We left the house as he requested, and when we came back an hour later he had done

it."

"And he performed the seppuku very bravely," Taro added. "Cut a perfect cross into his belly."

"I can't believe that you actually let him do it without a second to assist him." Ryoma grimaced as he thought of the excruciating pain he imagined Chojiro had experienced during his last moments in this world.

"But Sakamoto-san," Toranosuke said indignantly, "you make it sound as if we were the ones who broke company rules, and planned to go to England with money that belonged to the company."

Ryoma groaned, sat down again. "I'm not blaming any of you for what you did. I know you had no choice, and even acted correctly. It's your motivation that bothers me, and the animosity you always had for Chojiro. And you, Sonojo, what makes you think you have the right to say Chojiro died like a samurai, when you've forgotten one of the basics of the warrior's code?" "Which is?" Sonojo asked sheepishly.

"Mercy." Ryoma paused, drew the pistol which Saigo had given him to replace the one he had lost at the Teradaya. "If only I'd have been here," he muttered sadly, shaking his head.

"Ryoma-san," Kurata broke the gloomy mood, "it's time to return to the ship. Saigo is waiting, and..."

"Yonosuke," Ryoma interrupted, "when will the Werewolf be ready?" The Werewolf'was the sailing schooner that the Kameyama Company had recently purchased from Glover, with the financial assistance of Satsuma.

"I can't say for sure," Yonosuke said. "Right now it's being repaired at Yokohama."

"I see," Ryoma said gruffly. "Before I leave, I want you all to know that I brought Kura here specifically to serve as an officer aboard the Union, while we still have it, and after that, on the Werewolf when it's ready."

"But Ryoma-san," Kurata strongly objected, "I hardly have any sailing experience." He was painfully aware that he was the only one among the group who had not trained under Katsu Kaishu.

"Sailing experience will come with sailing," Ryoma said. "But let me ask you something, Kura. How many times have you been in actual combat?" ^

"Nine times," Kurata answered bluntly.

"And how many times have you been wounded?"

"None."

"And," Ryoma shot a hard glance at the others, "didn't you tell me that i during all those battles you never once hit the dirt after the shooting started, •; even though the others around you did?"

"Yes."

"You remained standing and called out your orders, right?" ;

Yes." :

"And you're proud of that, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"As you should be."

"I see." The younger man, beside himself with pride, struggled to hide his feelings.

"Now," Ryoma continued, "is there anyone else here who can say that,? because I can't." Ryoma eyed the others, none of whom answered. Then; turning to Kurata he said, "With a combat record like yours, don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not worthy of commanding a warship." Ryoma paused, grinned widely. "Or at least fighting against the Bakufu aboanj one."

"I see." Kurata nodded slowly, unable to suppress a smile.

"Good!" Ryoma turned to Taro. "Now that that's settled, I have to get bacfe to the ship." He thrust his pistol into his sash, under his faded black kimono, "Saigo is anxious to get back to Kagoshima. While I'm away, I want yoi$ men to pick up that shipment of rice in Shimonoseki that Katsura's promised Saigo, and bring it down to Satsuma on the Union. I'll be waiting for you in Kagoshima. From there we can return the Union to Shimonoseki, as I'ri sure that Choshu will be needing it a lot more than we will, when the fighting starts."

"When will that be?" Taro asked.

"Anytime now. The Bakufu armies have already surrounded Choshu."

"No," Taro interjected. "I mean when will the rice shipment be ready?" a

"Soon, I expect." Ryoma removed a small pouch from his kimono, opene$, it to see how much money he had. "Yonosuke," he said, "what would it cost to get my picture taken at that place down by the river?"

"You mean the studio of Ueno Hikoma?"

"Yes."

"Two silver coins, which is enough to buy a girl and drink all night af Maruyama," Yonosuke said in a monotone.

Ryoma snickered. "As usual, Yonosuke, you learn the important thing*,

quickly. Anyway, that means it would cost one ryo for two of us." ;l

"Are you and Oryo-san..."

"No," Ryoma interrupted. "Yonosuke give Kura and I each a white navjj hakama. We're going to have our pictures taken before I leave Nagasaki."

"But," Umanosuke cut in, "I thought you said that Saigo was waiting for you."

"He is. With my wife."

"Your wife?" Taro blurted in surprise, his mouth open wide.

"Yes. I was married at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto to the girl who saved my life at the Teradaya."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I've had a million things more important to worry about. Anyway, I want to take that picture for Oryo before I leave. You can bring it to me when you come to Kagoshima."

Soon Ryoma and Kurata reached the front gate of the home of Japan's first commercial photographer, Ueno Hikoma, who four years earlier had opened a studio in his house, located along the Nakajimagawa river, at the foot of the hills on the east side of the city. "How do they feel?" Kurata asked, looking down at a pair of black leather boots Ryoma had just purchased at a shop along the way.

"Alright, I guess. But I wouldn't want to wear them all the time." Ryoma called at the front door of the house, which was opened by a younger man. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

This was Ueno Hikoma, whom Ryoma had recently heard of from Katsura and Takasugi. "We'd like our pictures taken," Ryoma said in a thick Kochi drawl.

"Please come in," Ueno smiled through intelligent eyes. By the men's white hakama he knew that they were of the Kameyama Company.

Ryoma and Kurata stepped up onto an immaculately polished wooden floor, drawing a strange look from the photographer. First of all, Ueno had never seen a samurai wearing boots; but more than that, Ryoma didn't remove them before entering.

"But your boots!" Ueno objected.

"Don't worry," Ryoma said, "they're brand-new. And anyway, I want to have my picture taken with them on."

"I see," Ueno answered taken aback, but nevertheless welcomed the business. Customers were hard to come by; not only because of the high cost of photography, but also because of a popular superstition that a person's spirit was absorbed by the camera, and imprinted on the photograph.

Ueno led the two men into his studio, where sunlight shined through a glass roof. "I'll go first, Kura," Ryoma said, "just to show you how stupid it is for you to believe in superstition." Ryoma stood beside a dark brown wooden lectern, one of many props that Ueno had in his studio, then drew his pistol from his sash.

"Are you ready?" Ueno asked from under a black hood behind the camera.

"Wait!" Ryoma pulled both arms out of their sleeves, tucked his hands inside his kimono, and with the pistol concealed in his right hand, leaned with his right elbow against the lectern. The black boots, the short sword no longer than a dagger, the soiled white navy hakama, the unkempt hair, the squinting eyes, the dark sunbaked face all combined to form the image of one of Japan's first truly modern men. "Now I'm ready," Ryoma said, looking beyond the camera, into the future.

Later that afternoon Ryoma returned alone to the Satsuma ship, which set sail soon afterward, reaching Kagoshima two days later. In Kagoshima Castletown the Tosa ronin and his bride stayed at the stately residence of Komatsu Tatewaki. The mansion of this hereditary councilor to the Lord of Satsuma was located on high ground above the castletown, backed by hills overlooking the bay, and to the front commanded a perfect view of the volcano Sakurajima, rising out of the bay, spewing white smoke into a metallic blue sky.

A few days later, Ryoma and Oryo, guided by Yoshii, set out for the hot spring mineral baths in the misty mountains of Kirishima, northeast of Kagoshima. "This place was so unusual you'd think you were in a different world" Ryoma wrote to Otome about the "misty mountains." "We stayed therefor ten days, fishing in the rivers and shooting birds with my pistol."

Ryoma and Oryo returned to Kagoshima on April 12, and when they arrived at Komatsu's home there was some very good news awaiting them.

"Sakamoto-san," Komatsu said, his eyes radiating goodwill, "we've been informed by our office in Nagasaki that a crew of your men will soon be sailing for Kagoshima, aboard the Werewolf."

"Then it's ready?" Ryoma said excitedly.

"Yes, finally!"

"Terrific!" Ryoma slapped his knee. "We finally have a ship. How can I ever thank you, Komatsu-san?"

"You already have, tenfold," assured the high-ranking Satsuma official, alluding to the alliance with Choshu.

Regardless of who was more indebted to whom, Ryoma's company finally had their own ship, to do with as they pleased. The Kameyama Company had recently purchased the wooden sailing schooner Werewolf from Glover for 6,300 ryo, a fraction of the amount Choshu had paid for the much larger steam-powered Union. Although most of this money had come from the Satsuma treasury, Ryoma's company put up a portion from the capital it had accumulated in Nagasaki over the past year.

"Sakamoto-san," Komatsu said, producing a letter, "the details are all here." According to the letter, the Werewolf, which had recently arrived in Nagasaki, would soon be leaving for Kagoshima with a crew of fifteen, whom the company had recently enlisted to sail under the command of Captain Ike Kurata. The letter stated two purposes for the trip, as reported by Ryoma's men in Nagasaki: a christening ceremony for the schooner to be held in Kagoshima; and providing the crew with actual sailing experience, as all of them, including the captain, were novices in the art of navigation. Sailing alongside the Werewolf would be the Union, carrying the shipment of rice which Choshu was sending to Satsuma, and commanded entirely now by Choshu men, save one: Umanosuke, the peasant's son.
Ryoma's initial elation over the news notwithstanding, the longer he waited in Kagoshima for the ship to arrive, the more he found himself worrying over the impending war between the Bakufu and Choshu. "Will Katsu-sensei be recalled to lead the Tokugawa fleet against us?" he agonized more times than he could recall. "Is Choshu really strong enough to hold off the Bakufu forces, let alone defeat them?" he fretted throughout many a sleepless night, as he lay next to Oryo in his room in the Komatsu mansion.

Saigo and Komatsu had informed Ryoma of a series of significant events, even as they were occurring around Japan. These reports intensified Ryoma's anxiety, until at times he thought his head might burst. On April 14, two days after he and Oryo had returned to Kagoshima, Okubo Ichizo submitted a memorial to Osaka Castle stating that Satsuma had no intention of participating in the second expedition. "The war between the Bakufu and Choshu has nothing to do with Satsuma," Okubo argued, as if the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance was not entirely apparent to the Tokugawa. Four days later, a report reached Kagoshima that one hundred Tokugawa troops had entered Dazaifu to virtually kidnap the Five Banished Nobles, and bring them to Edo as hostages. Saigo immediately dispatched thirty expert swordsmen to Dazaifu to persuade the Bakufu troops to abandon the plan. "If mere words do not suffice," Saigo had told his men, "use any means necessary. But no matter what, the nobles are to remain safe, right where they are." Since the Satsuma men were outnumbered three to one, the commander of the mission told them before arriving to Dazaifu, "If we must draw our swords, then each one of us must be sure to cut down at least three of the enemy before dying." When the Satsuma men met the Bakufu men face-to-face at Dazaifu, their resolve must have been apparent, for although they never had to actually draw their blades, they defied protocol (the Bakufu and Satsuma were still officially allies) by keeping their swords with them at all times. The Satsuma scare tactic worked, as the Bakufu men eventually agreed to abandon their plan. Their decision, however, was hastened when, soon after the arrival of the first Satsuma platoon, a train of thirty more Satsuma troops, towing a cannon at the rear, marched into Dazaifu, behooving the Bakufu men to flee the village under the cover of night.

Even if Edo could not take as hostages the five champions of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism, it was now more than ever determined to crush Choshu. In mid-April the Bakufu summoned the Choshu daimyo, his heir and the lords of three Choshu branch houses to Hiroshima. Not only were these orders ignored, but they compelled Takasugi, in Nagasaki at the time procuring guns with the help of Ryoma's company, to purchase from Glover another warship. He christened the ship the Year of the Tiger for the year 1866, before sailing her back to Shimonoseki. When Ryoma heard about this from Saigo in Komatsu's living room he groaned, "Just helping Choshu buy weapons isn't enough. I only wish the Werewolf and Union would arrive, so we can get to Shimonoseki before the fighting starts."

"You won't have to wait any longer," Komatsu said, entering the room. "The Union has just arrived."

Ryoma grabbed his sword, stormed out of the house, and literally raced through the castletown toward the boat-landing on the bay. His own ship had finally arrived, commanded by Kurata, who was like a brother to him. "I knew you'd make a great naval captain, Kura," Ryoma screamed ecstatically, as he reached a point where he had a good view of the entire harbor, the Union anchored in the glassy water, but no trace of the Werewolf. "How strange," he said aloud, then increased his pace to a sprint.

By the time he reached the boat-landing, several men had alighted the large sculling boat which had carried them from the Union. "Uma!" Ryoma called, waving his hands frantically, as he raced toward the only one of the group wearing the white navy hakama of the Kameyama Company. "Where's the Werewolf!" he hollered.

Umanosuke avoided for an instant Ryoma's anxious eyes, but soon replied in a distressed voice, "Hello, Sakamoto-san." The other men who had come off the Union with Umanosuke stood silently alongside him, each as solemn as the next. "Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke broke a short silence, Ryoma now standing in front of him, "we lost the Werewolf"

"Lost?" Ryoma stood paralyzed under the hot Satsuma sun, his mouth agape. "What do you mean 'lost'?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Sakamoto-san," offered one of the Choshu men, the captain of the Union. "The Werewolf 'sunk in a storm shortly after we set sail from Nagasaki."

"Where's the crew?" Ryoma asked in a shaken voice.

"Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke said, then paused to swallow hard, "there were only three survivors."

"Only three survivors?" Ryoma repeated in disbelief. "Out of fifteen men?" Aside from Kurata, Ryoma had never met any of these men, who had recently been hired by his company in Nagasaki. "Where's Kura?" he screamed, grabbing Umanosuke by the shoulders and shaking him hard. "Where's Kura?" Ryoma repeated frantically.

When Umanosuke was finally able to get out a reply, it was drowned out by Ryoma's wailing, "Answer me, Uma! Where's Kura?"

"Captain Ike went down with his ship," the Union's captain said, then explained in a low voice as dark as the mood of all present, that when both ships had left Nagasaki just a few days earlier, the sky was clear and the sea calm. Unlike the Werewolf, since the Union was equipped with a steam engine, it offered to tow the smaller vessel to save time. That evening, however, the weather suddenly turned stormy, and it was all the steamer could do to propel itself through the rough seas. "It was Captain Ike himself who cut the tow rope," the Choshu man said, his voice cracking. "I suppose he knew that neither one of our ships had a chance if we continued towing them in that storm. We tried to follow them, because I doubted that they'd make it in such rough seas, but soon night came, and we lost them."

"And?" Ryoma said, feeling as if his head would split in two from the pressure of too much sorrow.

"By the next morning the storm had subsided. When we went looking for them, we found part of their hull drifting near the Goto Islands west of Nagasaki. Later, when we found the three survivors, they told us that the only man who refused to abandon the ship was its captain."

"Kura hardly had any sailing experience at all," Ryoma said.

"But he died as bravely as the most experienced sea captain," the Union s captain replied.

"Went down with his ship," Ryoma moaned, not without pride, despite his great sorrow.

Once again Ryoma and his men were without a ship of their own. To make matters worse, since they had spent most of their capital on the Werewolf, their treasury was nearly empty. They were nevertheless prepared to fight for Choshu in Shimonoseki in the impending war against the Bakufu. But before sailing to Shimonoseki with the rest of his men aboard the Union, Ryoma had some unfinished business to attend to.

"Please come in, Sakamoto-san," Saigo's eyes sparkled like two black diamonds, as he greeted Ryoma at the front door of his house. "I've been expecting you."

The two men sat in Saigo's living room, where Ryoma made himself at home, sitting cross-legged on the floor and helping himself to one of several sweet potato cakes that Saigo's wife had served. "The rice for your troops in Kyoto has finally arrived from Choshu," Ryoma said, devouring a second cake, and washing it down with cool barley tea. "Twenty-five hundred bushels of it. But it's still sitting in the hold of the Union."

"Sakamoto-san, I'm sorry to say that I can't accept that rice."

"You can't accept that rice?" Ryoma leaned so far forward that his face almost touched Saigo's. "What are you saying? That rice was a gift from Katsura, as a token of his gratitude for what Satsuma has done for Choshu."

"It's not that we don't appreciate Choshu's gratitude," Saigo said, in the familiar tone, like a child being scolded, which he tended to use when talking with Ryoma, and no one else. "As samurai, it would not be honorable for us to accept the rice at this particular time, when the Bakufu army, along with troops of thirty-one clans, have surrounded Choshu on four fronts. I'm sure they can use that rice a lot more than we can."

"I see," Ryoma groaned, unable to offer an argument.

Saigo removed a handkerchief from the sleeve of his thin cotton robe, wiped his sweaty forehead. "In Choshu," he said, "the farmers and the merchants, and even the women and children, have taken up arms, and are ready to fight to the death. They're going to need every last bullet, and every last grain of rice they can get. We just couldn't take that rice from them now."

"I see," Ryoma repeated, already wondering what he would say to Katsura when he would have to return the shipment. Although it was true that he had finally gotten Choshu and Satsuma to unite, the alliance was still new, and dangerously delicate. Ryoma knew as well as anyone that the Choshu men, after the last few years of being ostracized, not only by the Bakufu and many of the clans, but even by the Imperial Court itself, were chronically suspicious.

"But, Sakamoto-san," Saigo said, "so that there is no misunderstanding on the part of the Choshu men as to why we are returning the rice, I leave it to you to handle the situation as you think best."

"Saigo-san," Ryoma released a heavy groan, "you and I both know that I've covered for you with Katsura in harder situations than this. I'll handle it," he said in a thick Tosa drawl, before taking his sword and leaving.