Justly set forth
In the forest between El and Gol, an old man walked every morning. Three hours each way, he traveled the same route, from his house at El's front gate to the main square of Gol, where he would spend a scant five minutes observing the townsfolk before turning back on his path. Sometimes the children of Gol would swarm around him, bothering him on his way out. However, the man's polite lack of interest, as well as their parents' scolding, prevented the children from pursuing him into the woods. Much less often, the children of El would gather to watch his return, usually standing at a distance to confer, in loudly hushed tones, about this eerie old man who was rarely seen to leave his house, aside from these daily patrols. The women of the town would also spread gossip in the streets, often with an air of pity and concern for this man whose son and daughter-in-law were known to have perished in a long-ago fire, leaving old Mr. Parish alone without any family at all. Yet, without work and without donations, he still managed to buy what little he needed, and without friends or family, he still never showed any sorrow at all.
One day, during Mr. Parish's morning stroll towards Gol, he encountered a man in a tall black hat and loose silky black coat, coming towards him from the front. At the same time a man in a matching white hat and coat caught up to him from behind. As was determined later, neither had been seen in El or Gol, nor had they arrived by any other known trail. They simply appeared in the forest.
Mr. Parish stood in front of the black-clothed man, who stopped before him, only his shoes dusty of all his strange raiment. The white-clothed man, of a similarly odd tidiness, stopped behind him also, and they spent a few moments in silence. Mr. Parish then spun around and returned back on the path to El. The two other men, arm in arm, set forth towards Gol, which they never reached.
The next day, Mr. Parish did not go out.
The third day, he went out, and went exactly along his usual path, and then briefly went shopping, just as he did every week.
And the two men were not seen again for another month or so.
One day, during Mr. Parish's morning stroll towards Gol, he encountered a man in a tall black hat and loose silky black coat, coming towards him from the front. At the same time a man in a matching white hat and coat caught up to him from behind. As was determined later, neither had been seen in El or Gol, nor had they arrived by any other known trail. They simply appeared in the forest.
Mr. Parish stood in front of the black-clothed man, who stopped before him, only his shoes dusty of all his strange raiment. The white-clothed man, of a similarly odd tidiness, stopped behind him also, and they spent a few moments in silence. Mr. Parish then spun around and returned back on the path to El. The two other men, arm in arm, set forth towards Gol, which they never reached.
The next day, Mr. Parish did not go out.
The third day, he went out, and went exactly along his usual path, and then briefly went shopping, just as he did every week.
And the two men were not seen again for another month or so.