"Supposin'," continued Ward, "that we let two o' your men
an' two o' ourn under Mr. Divine, shin up them cliffs back o'
the cove an' search fer water an' a site fer camp--the rest o'
us'll have our hands full with the salvage."
"Good," agreed Theriere. "Miller, you and Swenson will
accompany Mr. Divine."
Ward detailed two of his men, and the party of five began
the difficult ascent of the cliffs, while far above them a little
brown man with beady, black eyes set in narrow fleshy slits
watched them from behind a clump of bushes. Strange, medieval
armor and two wicked-looking swords gave him a most
warlike appearance. His temples were shaved, and a broad
strip on the top of his head to just beyond the crown. His
remaining hair was drawn into an unbraided queue, tied
tightly at the back, and the queue then brought forward to
the top of the forehead. His helmet lay in the grass at his feet.
At the nearer approach of the party to the cliff top the
watcher turned and melted into the forest at his back. He was
Oda Yorimoto, descendant of a powerful daimio of the Ashikaga
Dynasty of shoguns who had fled Japan with his faithful
samurai nearly three hundred and fifty years before upon the
overthrow of the Ashikaga Dynasty.
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