"Which shall we take?" he asked, scratching his head in perplexity.
"That is the question," replied Nattie, ruefully. "Confound it! we are just as apt to take the wrong one as not. If we could run across some person who has seen Patrick we would be all right."
"Here comes a yamabushi, excellency," spoke up Sumo, pointing his claw-like finger up the path.
"It is a priest," exclaimed Mori, a moment later. "Perhaps he can enlighten us."
Presently a tall, angular man emerged from the narrower road and slowly approached them. He was clad in a peculiar robe embroidered with mystical figures, and wore his hair in long plaits. In one hand was carried a bamboo staff, with which he tapped the ground as he walked.
Mori saluted him respectfully.
"Peace be with you, my children," said the priest, mildly.
"May your days be long in good works, and your soul as lofty as Fuji San," replied the Japanese youth, with equal politeness. "Pray tell us, father, have you seen aught of a red-bearded foreigner traveling by horse?"
"I passed him two ris back. He was a barbarian, and beat his animal with severity. Which is against the teachings of——"
The good man's words were lost in the distance. Nattie and Mori, with their 'rikishas and attendants, darted past him and scurried up the path at their utmost speed. It was scurvy repayment for the information, but the news that Patrick had been seen within four miles acted as a spur.