In the corridor Otsune was talking to someone. I had not heard the voice of the other party before. It was a thin voice, a naive voice. It sounded like another new maid had come. All this happened at about seven o'clock. That was the first thing I was conscious of today.
While I was dozing, someone entered my room. "Must be the new servant," I thought to myself dreamily. I breathed softly a few times and opened my eyes slightly.
As I had thought, a round-faced girl perhaps seventeen years of age was carrying in some coal for the brazier. "She looks like Osada-san," I thought, immediately closing my eyes. Osada-san was the daughter of the man in charge of the Shibutami post office. At that time, 1903, she was, if I remember correctly, fourteen, so now she must be—that's right—already twenty. Into whose family had she married?
While pondering this question, I remembered Shichirō Kanaya. And I drifted off to sleep.