"Hush!" she hissed through the closed door. "Oda Yorimoto
sleeps. It is his wish that he be not disturbed."
For a moment there was silence beyond the door, and then
the woman grunted, and Barbara heard her turn back, muttering
to herself. The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief--she
had received a brief reprieve from death.
Again she turned to the window, where, with the short
sword, she commenced her labor of enlarging it to permit the
passage of her body. The work was necessarily slow because
of the fact that it must proceed with utter noiselessness.
For an hour she worked, and then again came an interruption
at the door. This time it was a man.
"Oda Yorimoto still sleeps," whispered the girl. "Go away
and do not disturb him. He will be very angry if you awaken
him."
But the man would not be put off so easily as had the
woman. He still insisted.
"The daimio has ordered that there shall be a great hunt
today for the heads of the sei-yo-jin who have landed upon
Yoka," persisted the man. "He will be angry indeed if we do
not call him in time to accomplish the task today. Let me
speak with him, woman. I do not believe that Oda Yorimoto
still sleeps. Why should I believe one of the sei-yo-jin? It may
be that you have bewitched the daimio," and with that he
pushed against the door.
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