“Not for twanty thousand pounds would I follow him,” said Mac, gurgling at the flask. “He’s in ither hands than ours.”
And, indeed, not for a very great sum would Leslie have gone up that desolate gorge to see the finish of the tragedy.
“Let’s go on,” said Leslie, “and don’t let’s speak of it again. I want to forget it—ugh!”
CHAPTER V
THE TEA HOUSE OF THE TORTOISE
It was at the next turn that Nikko broke upon them, a long way off, lying in its valley amidst the high hills, hills fledged with greenery to their summit.
There are sights that strike the eye and the heart at the same time, and the sight of Nikko where the Shoguns sleep, Nikko the beautiful in the silent valley, amidst the silent hills, is one of these.
The delicate colors, the exquisite tracery of the temple roofs, the crystal clearness of the air through which the eye can pick out detail after detail, the atmosphere of tranquillity of the mountains, and the green cryptomeria trees, make up a picture, leaving little for the heart to desire, or the imagination to conceive.