His thoughts were carried back to the gloomy subject; one by one his doubts and misgivings returned with them, and a longing after some friend to whom he might communicate his fears and whom he might consult with absolute confidence.

As he was thus pondering and walking on, slowly and more slowly, he saw at some distance two men climbing up toward where the cave-dwellings of the Water clan lay.

One of them was his father; he recognized him at once.

Who was his companion?
He stopped and looked.

It was his father's brother, Hayoue; and with this it seemed as if a veil had suddenly dropped from his eyes.