It was in reality ten miles. The oldest of my
companions said he would put me on the way.
We went together in the half light by a lane that followed the crest
of the hill, and we passed a charming thing, a little white sculpture
in relief, set up for a shrine and representing the Annunciation; and
as we passed it we both smiled. Then in a few hundred yards we passed
another that was the Visitation, and they were gracious and beautiful
to a degree, and I saw that they stood for the five joyful mysteries.
Then he had to leave me, and he said, pointing to the little shrine:
'When you come to the fifth of these the path divides. Take that to
the left, and follow it round the hollow of the mountain: it will
become a lane. This lane crosses a stream and passes near a tower.
When you have reached the tower it joins a great highroad, and that is
the road to Collagna.'
And when he indicated the shrines he smiled, as though in apology for
them, and I saw that we were of the same religion.
