IN FRONT OF THE OLD CASTLE.
In the meantime how had Nattie and his party fared in their pursuit of
the wily Irishman? It will be remembered that Sumo had gone ahead as a
scout, leaving the others to follow more at leisure. This was found
necessary by the increasing difficulty of drawing the _jinrikishas_
along the primitive path.
It had narrowed in places to such an extent that only by the most
careful efforts could the vehicles be taken past. The road became
obstructed with huge bowlders, fallen from the surrounding heights, and
finally the trunk of a large tree, shattered by lightning, was
encountered.
"We will have to leave the _'rikishas_ in charge of one of the men,"
answered Nattie, regretfully.
"It will handicap us considerably," replied Mori, in the same tone. "We
cannot expect to catch up with Patrick, mounted as he is. From the speed
he has been making, though, his animal must be tired out. I think--what
is up now?"
The question was called forth by a peculiar action on Nattie's part. The
lad had been standing intently eying the fallen monarch of the forest.
Suddenly he tossed his helmet into the air with a cry of joy.
"What fools we are!" he added. "Why, this tree has been here at least a
month."
"Well, what of it?"
"Mori, I am ashamed of you. Can't you see that a horse couldn't pass
here? Look at those limbs and that mass of foliage. If Patrick is ahead
of us he must have abandoned his horse. Where is the animal?"
"By Jove! you are right. The Irishman must have doubled on us after
meeting that priest. Idiots that we are to permit a man like that to
pull the wool over our eyes. We must go back and take the other road."
Before Nattie could reply, Sumo scrambled over the tree and advanced
toward them.
"Masters, the red-bearded foreigner has deceived us. I met a man half a
_ris_ up the path. He has been working there since daylight, and he says
no one has passed him except the priest."
"That settles it," exclaimed Mori.
"Come; we must return to the crossroad."
"I have also learned that this path and the main road meet about five
_ris_ beyond this hill," continued Sumo.
The coolie's information was indeed welcome, and little time was lost in
retracing their steps. On reaching the crossroad, however, darkness,
which had been threatening for some time, settled down. The coming of
night presented a serious obstacle to the continuation of the pursuit.
"I am afraid we must put up somewhere until morning," said Mori, as the
party halted.
Nattie instantly expostulated.
"We will never be able to trace Patrick," he insisted. "No, we must keep
on, darkness or no darkness."
"And run the risk of passing him during the night, eh? If he is cunning
enough to fool us once, he'll certainly try it again. No, our best plan
is to proceed to Invoro, a small village, a couple of miles from here,
and rest until daylight. Then we can resume the pursuit with some chance
of tracking the Irishman. Anyway, we are reasonably certain his
destination is the caves at the foot of Bandai-San."
Nattie was forced to acknowledge the wisdom of his companion's plan, but
it was with a heavy heart that he gave his consent. The trip to the
village was made without incident. Accommodations were secured at a
primitive tea house, and preparations made for spending the night.
Inquiry elicited the cheering news that a foreigner such as described
had passed through the town several hours previous. He had halted to
secure food for himself and horse, and had then continued his journey.
"We are still on the right track, you see," said Mori, to Nattie. "Don't
worry, old boy. This road leads to the volcano, and all we need do is to
set out at daybreak and go straight to the caves. I am so sure that we
will find Grant there that I have dispatched a messenger to the governor
of this district asking for the assistance of the rural police."
"I don't place much faith in them," replied Nattie, doubtfully. "I think
we had better proceed alone until we are thoroughly sure Ralph Black and
Grant are at the caves. Then we can send for reinforcements. A large
body of police would only give the alarm, and probably drive them
somewhere else in search of a hiding place."
"All right; I will leave word to hold the gendarmes here until we call
for them. Now try to get a little sleep. You will tire yourself out and
retard the recovery of that shoulder."
The lad protested that he could not close his eyes, but nature demanded
her meed of rest, and he slumbered soundly until the party was called at
the first signs of day. After a brief breakfast the chase was resumed,
all feeling remarkably refreshed by the night's rest.
"I feel like a new man," announced Mori, quaffing huge draughts of the
brisk morning air from his _'rikisha_. "I really believe I am good for a
dozen Patricks if it comes to a tussle."
"Which it is bound to do," replied Nattie, cheerily. "You can anticipate
a fight, old fellow. Ralph Black and Willis Round will not give up
without a struggle. Why, imagine what defeat means to them! They will be
compelled to leave the country immediately."
"If we permit them to," interposed the Japanese youth, meaningly. "Yes,
you are right. With their scheme ruined, the house of Black will tumble
like a mansion built of cards. If captured, they will be brought to
trial before the English Minister and probably sentenced to a long term
in prison. They must have been desperate to resort to such a plan."
"It's gold--bright, yellow gold, my dear boy," replied his companion,
sagely. "It is only another case of man selling his liberty, if not his
soul, for the almighty dollar. The hundred thousand _yen_ profit in
those army contracts proved too much for the Englishman. And I guess
personal revenge has something to do with it."
"No doubt. Still it is hard to believe that a sane man would take such
chances. I wonder what they expected to do after the awarding of the
contracts? They surely could not hope to keep Grant a prisoner for many
months?"
"I have thought it over, and I believe Mr. Black expected to clear out
after furnishing the arms and ammunition, if he secured the prize. He
felt that his business had dwindled after the organization of our firm,
and that he might as well retire with the money realized if he could. He
did not anticipate that we would discover his plot and pursue his son."
"Well, I am glad to say that he is mightily mistaken."
The invigorating air of the early morning hours caused the _jinrikisha_
men to race along the road at their utmost speed, and it was not long
before the party arrived at the spot where the path taken the night
before rejoined the main thoroughfare.
A short rest was taken, then, with renewed strength, the pursuit was
continued. At the end of an hour a lake was sighted some distance ahead.
It was a large body of water, evidently grandly situated in a basin
formed by three hills and a lofty mountain. Pointing to the latter,
which reared its conical head twelve thousand feet above the level of
the lake, Mori said, impressively:
"The volcano of Bandai-San."
"And at its base are the caves?" eagerly asked Nattie.
"Yes, the mud caves where we hope Ralph and Mr. Round have taken their
prisoner."
"What is that on the edge of the lake? It seems to be a ruin."
"That's the _shiro_, or old castle of Yamagata. By Jove! I had forgotten
that it was here. It is a feudal pile, and has a quaint history. I will
tell you something of it as we ride along. The road passes the
entrance."
Bidding the _karumayas_ run together, Mori continued:
"It was a stronghold of an ancient _daimio_, or prince. He ruled the
country around here for many years. He was very wealthy, and spent an
immense sum of money on the castle. You can see by its extent and the
material that it cost no small amount. The walls are of stone, some of
the blocks being forty feet long by ten feet in width, and many have a
thickness of an English yard.
"Those two lofty towers were once surmounted with huge fish made of
copper, and covered with plates of gold. You can imagine the temptation
to the peasants. One windy night a robber mounted an immense kite and
tried to fly to the top of the first tower for the purpose of stealing
the golden scales, but he was caught and boiled alive in oil."
"They had an extremely pleasant manner of executing people in Japan in
the early days," remarked Nattie, with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yes, but during the same period, my boy, the English broke their
criminals on a wheel, and quartered them. It was six of one and half a
dozen of the other."
By this time the party had neared the ruined entrance to the castle.
Nattie's curiosity had been aroused by Mori's tale, and he leaned
forward to tell his _jinrikisha_ man to stop, when there came a
clattering of hoofs from the interior of the castle, and a cavalcade
rode out upon the broken drawbridge.
Hoarse cries of mutual surprise rang out, then both parties came to a
sudden halt facing each other. A wild shout of joy came from Nattie:
"Grant! Grant! I have found you at last!"