Chapter Thirty Three.A Formidable Party.Fortunately for the travellers a glorious moonlight night followed the glowing evening, and they reached in safety a mountain village, where, awed by their appearance and display of arms, the rather surly people found them a resting-place.For days and days after this their way was on and on, among the mountains, deeper and deeper in the grand wild country. Sometimes they encountered good and sometimes surly treatment, but the beauty of the scenery and the wonderful remains of ancient occupation recompensed the professor, while Mr Burne in his snappish manner seemed to be satisfied in seeing Lawrence’s interest in everything around him, his relish for the various objects increasing every hour.For the change was unmistakable; he was making rapid progress back to health; and instead of the rough life and privations of hunger, thirst, and exposure having a bad effect, they seemed to rouse up in his nature a determination that rapidly resulted in vigour.“What are you going to show us to-day, Yussuf?” asked the lad, one glorious autumn morning, when the little party were winding along one of the many mountain tracks, so like others they had passed that they might have been repeating their journey.“Before long we shall reach the great ruins of which I have so often spoken,” replied Yussuf, smiling at the boy’s eager look.“At last!” cried Lawrence. “I began to think that we were never going to get there. But is there nothing to see to-day?”“Yes,” replied Yussuf. “We are approaching a village now. It lies yonder low down in this rift—where the cedars are half-way up on that shelf in the mountain side.”“Yes; I see,” replied Lawrence; “but what a place! Why, they must be without sun half their time.”“Oh, no, effendi,” said Yussuf; “certainly they are in shadow at times, but though the village seems to lie low, we are high up in the mountains, and when it is scorching in the plains, and the grass withers for want of water, and down near the sea people die of fever and sunstroke, up here it is cool and pleasant, and the flowers are blossoming, and the people gather in their fruit and tend their bees.”“And in the winter, Yussuf?” said the professor, who had been listening to the conversation.“Ah, yes, in the winter, effendi, it is cold. There is the snow, and the wolves and the bears come down from the mountains. It is a bad time then. But what will you?—is it always summer and sunshine everywhere? Ah! look, effendi Lawrence,” he cried, pointing across the narrow gorge, “you can see from here.”“See what?” cried Lawrence. “I can only see some holes.”“Yes; those are the caves where the people here keep their bees. The hives are in yonder.”“What, in those caves?”“Yes; the people are great keepers of bees, for they thrive well, and there is abundance of blossom for the making of honey.”“But why do they put the hives in yonder?”“In the caves? Because they are out of the sun, which would make the honey pour down and run out in the hot summer time, and in the winter the caverns are not so cold. It does not freeze hard there, and the hives are away out of the snow, which lies so heavy here in the mountains. It is very beautiful up here, and in the spring among the trees there is no such place anywhere in the country for nightingales; they till the whole valley with their song. Now, effendi, look before you.”They had reached a turn in the valley, where once more a grand view of the mountain chain spread before them, far as eye could reach, purple mountains, and beyond them mountains that seemed to be of silver, where the snow-capped their summits.But among them were several whose regular form took the professor’s attention directly, and he pointed them out.“Old volcanoes,” he said quietly.“Where?” cried Lawrence. “I want above all things to see a burning mountain.”“You can see mountains that once burned,” said the professor; “but there are none here burning now.”“How disappointing!” cried Lawrence. “I should like to see one burn.”“Then we must go and see Vesuvius,” cried Mr Burne decisively. “He shall not be disappointed.”“I think the young effendi may perhaps see one burning a little here,” said Yussuf quietly. “There are times when a curious light is seen floating up high among the mountains. The peasants call it a spirit light, but it must be the sulphurous glare rising from one of the old cones, above some of which I have seen smoke hanging at times.”“Why, Yussuf, you are quite a professor yourself, with your cones, and sulphurous, and arguments,” cried Mr Burne.“A man cannot be wandering all his life among nature’s wonders, effendi, and showing English, and French, and German men of wisdom the way, without learning something. But I will watch each night and see if I can make out the light over the mountains.”“Do, Yussuf,” cried the professor eagerly.Yussuf bowed.“I will, excellency, but it is not often seen—only now and then.”They began to descend the side of the defile, and before long came upon a fine grove of ancient planes, upon some of whose leafless limbs tall long-necked storks were standing, placidly gazing down at them unmoved; and it was not until the party were close by that they spread their wings, gave a kind of bound, and floated off, the protection accorded to them making them fearless in the extreme.“Stop!” cried the professor suddenly, and the little party came to a stand by a rough craggy portion of the way where many stones lay bare.“Well, what is it?” cried Mr Burne impatiently, “I’m sure those are natural or live stones, as you call them.”“Yes,” said the professor; “it was not the stones which attracted me, but the spring.”“Well, we have passed hundreds of better springs than that, and besides it is bad water; see, my horse will not touch it.”“I thought I was right,” cried the professor dismounting. “Look here, Lawrence, that decides it; here is our first hot spring.”“Hot?” cried Lawrence, leaping off and bending over the spring. “Why, so it is.”“Yes, a pretty good heat. This is interesting.”“It is a volcanic country, then,” said Lawrence eagerly. “Oh, Mr Preston, we must see a burning mountain.”“It does not follow that there are burning mountains now,” said the professor smiling, “because we find hot springs.”“Doesn’t it?” said Lawrence in a disappointed tone.“Certainly not. You would be puzzled to find a volcano in England, and yet you have hot springs in Bath.”“Effendi, be on your guard. I do not like the look of these people,” said Yussuf quickly, for a party of mounted men, all well-armed, was seen coming from the opposite direction; but they passed on scowling, and examining the little group by the hot spring suspiciously.“A false alarm, Yussuf,” said the professor smiling.“No, effendi,” he replied; “these are evil men. Let us get on and not stop at this village, but make our way to the next by another track which I know, so as to reach the old ruined city, and they may not follow. If they do, I think they will not suspect the way we have gone.”There seemed to be reasons for Yussuf’s suspicions, the men having a peculiarly evil aspect. A perfectly honest man sometimes belies his looks, but when a dozen or so of individuals mounted upon shabby Turkish ponies, all well-armed, and wearing an eager sinister look upon their countenances, are seen together, if they are suspected of being a dishonest lot, there is every excuse for those who suspect them.“’Pon my word, Preston,” said Mr Burne, “I think we had better get off as soon as possible.”“Oh, I don’t know,” replied the professor; “the men cannot help their looks. We must not think everyone we see is a brigand.”“You may think that those are, effendi,” said Yussuf in his quiet way. “Let us get on. You go to the front and follow the track beyond the village—you can make no mistake, and I will hang back and try and find out whether we are followed.”“Do you think there is danger, then?” whispered the professor.“I cannot say, effendi; it may be so. If you hear me fire, be on your guard, and if I do not return to you, hasten on to the next village, and stay till you have sent messengers to find an escort to take you back.”“Yussuf! is it so serious as that?”“I don’t know, effendi. I hope not, but we must be prepared.”
Fortunately for the travellers a glorious moonlight night followed the glowing evening, and they reached in safety a mountain village, where, awed by their appearance and display of arms, the rather surly people found them a resting-place.
For days and days after this their way was on and on, among the mountains, deeper and deeper in the grand wild country. Sometimes they encountered good and sometimes surly treatment, but the beauty of the scenery and the wonderful remains of ancient occupation recompensed the professor, while Mr Burne in his snappish manner seemed to be satisfied in seeing Lawrence’s interest in everything around him, his relish for the various objects increasing every hour.
For the change was unmistakable; he was making rapid progress back to health; and instead of the rough life and privations of hunger, thirst, and exposure having a bad effect, they seemed to rouse up in his nature a determination that rapidly resulted in vigour.
“What are you going to show us to-day, Yussuf?” asked the lad, one glorious autumn morning, when the little party were winding along one of the many mountain tracks, so like others they had passed that they might have been repeating their journey.
“Before long we shall reach the great ruins of which I have so often spoken,” replied Yussuf, smiling at the boy’s eager look.
“At last!” cried Lawrence. “I began to think that we were never going to get there. But is there nothing to see to-day?”
“Yes,” replied Yussuf. “We are approaching a village now. It lies yonder low down in this rift—where the cedars are half-way up on that shelf in the mountain side.”
“Yes; I see,” replied Lawrence; “but what a place! Why, they must be without sun half their time.”
“Oh, no, effendi,” said Yussuf; “certainly they are in shadow at times, but though the village seems to lie low, we are high up in the mountains, and when it is scorching in the plains, and the grass withers for want of water, and down near the sea people die of fever and sunstroke, up here it is cool and pleasant, and the flowers are blossoming, and the people gather in their fruit and tend their bees.”
“And in the winter, Yussuf?” said the professor, who had been listening to the conversation.
“Ah, yes, in the winter, effendi, it is cold. There is the snow, and the wolves and the bears come down from the mountains. It is a bad time then. But what will you?—is it always summer and sunshine everywhere? Ah! look, effendi Lawrence,” he cried, pointing across the narrow gorge, “you can see from here.”
“See what?” cried Lawrence. “I can only see some holes.”
“Yes; those are the caves where the people here keep their bees. The hives are in yonder.”
“What, in those caves?”
“Yes; the people are great keepers of bees, for they thrive well, and there is abundance of blossom for the making of honey.”
“But why do they put the hives in yonder?”
“In the caves? Because they are out of the sun, which would make the honey pour down and run out in the hot summer time, and in the winter the caverns are not so cold. It does not freeze hard there, and the hives are away out of the snow, which lies so heavy here in the mountains. It is very beautiful up here, and in the spring among the trees there is no such place anywhere in the country for nightingales; they till the whole valley with their song. Now, effendi, look before you.”
They had reached a turn in the valley, where once more a grand view of the mountain chain spread before them, far as eye could reach, purple mountains, and beyond them mountains that seemed to be of silver, where the snow-capped their summits.
But among them were several whose regular form took the professor’s attention directly, and he pointed them out.
“Old volcanoes,” he said quietly.
“Where?” cried Lawrence. “I want above all things to see a burning mountain.”
“You can see mountains that once burned,” said the professor; “but there are none here burning now.”
“How disappointing!” cried Lawrence. “I should like to see one burn.”
“Then we must go and see Vesuvius,” cried Mr Burne decisively. “He shall not be disappointed.”
“I think the young effendi may perhaps see one burning a little here,” said Yussuf quietly. “There are times when a curious light is seen floating up high among the mountains. The peasants call it a spirit light, but it must be the sulphurous glare rising from one of the old cones, above some of which I have seen smoke hanging at times.”
“Why, Yussuf, you are quite a professor yourself, with your cones, and sulphurous, and arguments,” cried Mr Burne.
“A man cannot be wandering all his life among nature’s wonders, effendi, and showing English, and French, and German men of wisdom the way, without learning something. But I will watch each night and see if I can make out the light over the mountains.”
“Do, Yussuf,” cried the professor eagerly.
Yussuf bowed.
“I will, excellency, but it is not often seen—only now and then.”
They began to descend the side of the defile, and before long came upon a fine grove of ancient planes, upon some of whose leafless limbs tall long-necked storks were standing, placidly gazing down at them unmoved; and it was not until the party were close by that they spread their wings, gave a kind of bound, and floated off, the protection accorded to them making them fearless in the extreme.
“Stop!” cried the professor suddenly, and the little party came to a stand by a rough craggy portion of the way where many stones lay bare.
“Well, what is it?” cried Mr Burne impatiently, “I’m sure those are natural or live stones, as you call them.”
“Yes,” said the professor; “it was not the stones which attracted me, but the spring.”
“Well, we have passed hundreds of better springs than that, and besides it is bad water; see, my horse will not touch it.”
“I thought I was right,” cried the professor dismounting. “Look here, Lawrence, that decides it; here is our first hot spring.”
“Hot?” cried Lawrence, leaping off and bending over the spring. “Why, so it is.”
“Yes, a pretty good heat. This is interesting.”
“It is a volcanic country, then,” said Lawrence eagerly. “Oh, Mr Preston, we must see a burning mountain.”
“It does not follow that there are burning mountains now,” said the professor smiling, “because we find hot springs.”
“Doesn’t it?” said Lawrence in a disappointed tone.
“Certainly not. You would be puzzled to find a volcano in England, and yet you have hot springs in Bath.”
“Effendi, be on your guard. I do not like the look of these people,” said Yussuf quickly, for a party of mounted men, all well-armed, was seen coming from the opposite direction; but they passed on scowling, and examining the little group by the hot spring suspiciously.
“A false alarm, Yussuf,” said the professor smiling.
“No, effendi,” he replied; “these are evil men. Let us get on and not stop at this village, but make our way to the next by another track which I know, so as to reach the old ruined city, and they may not follow. If they do, I think they will not suspect the way we have gone.”
There seemed to be reasons for Yussuf’s suspicions, the men having a peculiarly evil aspect. A perfectly honest man sometimes belies his looks, but when a dozen or so of individuals mounted upon shabby Turkish ponies, all well-armed, and wearing an eager sinister look upon their countenances, are seen together, if they are suspected of being a dishonest lot, there is every excuse for those who suspect them.
“’Pon my word, Preston,” said Mr Burne, “I think we had better get off as soon as possible.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” replied the professor; “the men cannot help their looks. We must not think everyone we see is a brigand.”
“You may think that those are, effendi,” said Yussuf in his quiet way. “Let us get on. You go to the front and follow the track beyond the village—you can make no mistake, and I will hang back and try and find out whether we are followed.”
“Do you think there is danger, then?” whispered the professor.
“I cannot say, effendi; it may be so. If you hear me fire, be on your guard, and if I do not return to you, hasten on to the next village, and stay till you have sent messengers to find an escort to take you back.”
“Yussuf! is it so serious as that?”
“I don’t know, effendi. I hope not, but we must be prepared.”
Chapter Thirty Four.A Startling Check.Yussuf’s suspicions seemed to be without reason, for the rest of that day’s journey was finished without adventure, and the party reached a village and found good quarters for the night.So comfortable were they that the scare was laughed at, and it seemed to all three that Yussuf was rather ashamed of his timidity.Contrary to their experience of many nights past they found the head-man of the village civil and even bumble; but it did not excite the suspicion of the travellers, who congratulated themselves upon their good fortune.The only drawback to their comfort was the fact that Lawrence was suffering somewhat from the shock of his descent from the rocky shelf.At first he had merely felt a little stiff, the excitement of the whole adventure tending to keep his thoughts from his personal discomfort; but by degrees he found that he had received a peculiar jar of the whole system, which made the recumbent position the most comfortable that he could occupy.It was no wonder, for the leaps which the pony had made were tremendous, and it was as remarkable that the little animal had kept its feet as that Lawrence had retained his seat in the saddle.The next morning, a memorable one in their journey, broke bright and clear; and Lawrence, after a hearty breakfast of bread, yaourt, and honey, supplemented by coffee which might have been better, and peaches which could not have been excelled, mounted Ali Baba in the highest of spirits, feeling as he did far better for his night’s rest. The sun was shining gloriously and lighting up the sides of the mountains and flashing from the streams that trickled down their sides. Low down in the deep defiles there were hanging mists which looked like veils of silver decked with opalescent tints of the most delicate transparency, as they floated slowly before the morning breeze.Their host of the night wished them good speed with a smiling face, and they were riding off when Lawrence happened to look back and saw that the man had taken off his turban and was making a derisive gesture, to the great delight of the group of people who were gathered round.Lawrence thought it beneath his notice and turned away, but this once more seemed to give strength to Yussuf’s suspicions.But a bright morning in the midst of the exhilarating mountain air is not a time for bearing in mind suspicions, or thinking of anything but the beauty of all around. They were higher up in the mountains now, with more rugged scenery and grand pine-woods; and as they rode along another of the curious shelf-like tracks by the defile there was constantly something fresh to see.They had not been an hour on the road before Yussuf stopped to point across the gorge to an object which had taken his attention on the other side.“Do you see, effendi Lawrence?” he said smiling.“No.”“Yonder, just to the left of that patch of bushes where the stone looks grey?”“Oh, yes; I see now,” cried the lad—“a black sheep.”“Look again,” said Yussuf; and he clapped his hands to his mouth and uttered a tremendous “Ha-ha!”As the shout ran echoing along the gorge the animal on the farther slope, quite two hundred yards away, went shuffling along at a clumsy trot for some little distance, and then stopped and stood up on its hind-legs and stared at them.“A curious sheep, Lawrence!” said Mr Preston, adjusting his glass; “what do you make of it now?”“Why, it can’t be a bear, is it?” cried Lawrence eagerly.“Undoubtedly, and a very fine one,” said Mr Preston.“Let’s have a look,” said Mr Burne; and he too focussed his glass. “Why, so it is!” he cried—“just such a one as we used to have upon the pomatum pots. Now, from what gardens can he have escaped?”The professor burst out laughing merrily.“It is the real wild animal in his native state, Burne,” he said.“Then let’s shoot him and take home his skin,” cried Lawrence, preparing to fire.“You could not kill it at this distance, effendi,” said Yussuf; “and even if you could, it would be a day’s journey to get round to that side and secure the skin. Look!”The chance to fire was gone as he spoke, for the bear dropped down on all-fours, made clumsily for a pile of rocks, and Mr Preston with his glass saw the animal disappear in a hole that was probably his cave.“Gone, Lawrence!” said the professor. “Let’s get on.”“I should have liked to go on after him,” said Lawrence, gazing at the hole in the rocks wistfully; “there’s something so strange in seeing a real bear alive on the mountains.”“Perhaps we shall see more yet,” said Yussuf, “for we are going into the wildest part we have yet visited. Keep a good look-out high up on each side, and I daresay we shall not go far without finding something.”“Right, Yussuf,” cried the professor; “there is another of those grand old watch-towers. Look, Burne!—just like the others we have seen planted at the corner where two defiles meet.”“Ah, to be sure—yes,” said the old lawyer. “What! an eagle’s nest?”“And there goes the eagle,” cried Lawrence, pointing, as a huge bird swept by them high up on rigid wing, seeming to glide here and there without the slightest effort. “That’s an eagle, is it not, Mr Preston?”“A very near relative, I should say,” replied the professor. “The lammergeier, as they call it in the Alpine regions. Yes, it must be. What a magnificent bird!”“We shall see more and finer ones, I daresay,” said Yussuf! quietly; “but the time is passing, excellencies. We have a long journey before us, and I should like to see the better half of a difficult way mastered before mid-day.”Their guide’s advice was always so good that they continued their slow progress, the baggage-horses ruling the rate at which they were able to proceed; and for the next hour they went on ascending and zigzagging alone; the rugged mountain track, with defile and gorge and ridge of rock rising fold upon fold, making their path increase in grandeur at every turn, till they were in one of nature’s wildest fastnesses, and with the air perceptibly brisker and more keen.All at once, just as they had turned into the entrance to one of the most savage-looking denies they had yet seen, Yussuf pointed to a distant pile of rock and said sharply:“Look, there is an animal you may journey for days without seeing. Take the glass, effendi Lawrence, and say what it is.”The lad checked his pony, adjusted his glass, an example followed by the professor, while Mr Burne indulged himself with a pinch of snuff.“A goat,” cried Lawrence, as he got the animal into the field of the glass, and saw it standing erect upon the summit of the rock, and gazing away from them— “A goat! And what fine horns?”“An ibex, Lawrence, my boy. Goat-like if you like. Ah, there he goes. How easily they take alarm.”For the animal made a bound and seemed to plunge from rock to rock down into a rift, and then up an almost perpendicular wall on the opposite side higher and higher until it disappeared.“It is no wonder, excellency,” said Yussuf as they rode on along the narrow path, “when every hand is against them, and they have been taught that they are not safe from bullets half a mile away, and—Why is Hamed stopping?”They had been halting to gaze at the ibex, and all such pauses in their journey were utilised for letting Hamed get well on ahead with his slow charge. Experience had taught them that to leave him behind with the necessaries of life was often to miss them altogether till the next morning.In this case he had got several hundred yards in advance, but had suddenly stopped short, just at the point of a sharp elbow in the track, where they could see him with the two horses standing stock-still, and staring straight before him.“Let’s get on and see,” said the professor, and they pressed on to come upon a spot where the track forked directly after, a narrower path leading up a rift in the mountains away to their left, and the sight of this satisfied Yussuf.“Hamed thinks he may be doing wrong,” he said, “and that perhaps he ought to have turned down here. All right, go on!” he shouted in his own tongue, as they rode on past the wild passage among the rocks.But Hamed did not stir, and as they advanced they could see that he was sheltering himself behind one of his horses, and still staring before him.The way curved in, and then went out to the shoulder upon which the baggage-horses stood, doubtless bending in again directly on the other side. Hence, then, it was impossible for Yussuf and his party to see what was beyond; neither could they gain a sight by altering their course, for their path was but a shelf with the nearly perpendicular side of the gorge above and below.They were now some eighty or ninety yards from the corner, and Yussuf shouted again:“Go on, man; that is right.”But Hamed did not move hand or foot, and Yussuf checked his horse.“There is something wrong, effendis,” he said quietly; and he thrust his hand into his breast and drew out his revolver. “Get your weapons ready.”“What, is there to be a fight?” said Mr Burne excitedly.“I hope not,” said Mr Preston gravely, as he examined the charge of his double gun, an example followed by Lawrence, whose heart began to beat heavily.“You had better halt here, excellencies,” said Yussuf. “I will go forward and see.”“No,” said Mr Preston; “we will keep together. It is a time for mutual support. What do you think it is?”“The man is timid,” said Yussuf. “He is a good driver of horses, but a little frightens him. The country is wild here; there may be wolves or a bear on the track which he would not dare to face, though they would run from him if he did.”They all advanced together with their weapons ready for immediate use, and Lawrence’s hands trembled with eagerness, as he strained his eyes forward in expectation of a glimpse at bear or wolf, and in the hope of getting a good shot.“Why don’t you speak? Are you ill?” continued Yussuf as he rode on forward. But Hamed did not stir; and it was not until the guide could almost touch him that he was able to see what was the cause of his alarm, and almost at the same moment the others saw it too.“We must keep a bold face and retreat,” said Yussuf in a quick low tone. “You, Hamed, take the bridle of that horse and lead him back; the other will follow.”“No, no, no; they will fire.”“So shall I,” said Yussuf, placing the muzzle of his pistol close to the man’s ear. “Obey me; or—”Hamed shuddered and began to implore, but Yussuf was rigid.“Go on back,” he said forcing himself round the foremost horse, closely followed by the professor, though there was hardly room for their steeds to pass, and there was a fall of several hundred feet below, while, pressed like this, Hamed began to whimper; but he obeyed, and led the horses past Lawrence and Mr Burne, who now went forward, eager and excited to know what was wrong, and upon joining their companions it was to find themselves face to face with a gang of about twenty fierce-looking men, all mounted, and who were seated with their guns presented toward the travellers’ heads.
Yussuf’s suspicions seemed to be without reason, for the rest of that day’s journey was finished without adventure, and the party reached a village and found good quarters for the night.
So comfortable were they that the scare was laughed at, and it seemed to all three that Yussuf was rather ashamed of his timidity.
Contrary to their experience of many nights past they found the head-man of the village civil and even bumble; but it did not excite the suspicion of the travellers, who congratulated themselves upon their good fortune.
The only drawback to their comfort was the fact that Lawrence was suffering somewhat from the shock of his descent from the rocky shelf.
At first he had merely felt a little stiff, the excitement of the whole adventure tending to keep his thoughts from his personal discomfort; but by degrees he found that he had received a peculiar jar of the whole system, which made the recumbent position the most comfortable that he could occupy.
It was no wonder, for the leaps which the pony had made were tremendous, and it was as remarkable that the little animal had kept its feet as that Lawrence had retained his seat in the saddle.
The next morning, a memorable one in their journey, broke bright and clear; and Lawrence, after a hearty breakfast of bread, yaourt, and honey, supplemented by coffee which might have been better, and peaches which could not have been excelled, mounted Ali Baba in the highest of spirits, feeling as he did far better for his night’s rest. The sun was shining gloriously and lighting up the sides of the mountains and flashing from the streams that trickled down their sides. Low down in the deep defiles there were hanging mists which looked like veils of silver decked with opalescent tints of the most delicate transparency, as they floated slowly before the morning breeze.
Their host of the night wished them good speed with a smiling face, and they were riding off when Lawrence happened to look back and saw that the man had taken off his turban and was making a derisive gesture, to the great delight of the group of people who were gathered round.
Lawrence thought it beneath his notice and turned away, but this once more seemed to give strength to Yussuf’s suspicions.
But a bright morning in the midst of the exhilarating mountain air is not a time for bearing in mind suspicions, or thinking of anything but the beauty of all around. They were higher up in the mountains now, with more rugged scenery and grand pine-woods; and as they rode along another of the curious shelf-like tracks by the defile there was constantly something fresh to see.
They had not been an hour on the road before Yussuf stopped to point across the gorge to an object which had taken his attention on the other side.
“Do you see, effendi Lawrence?” he said smiling.
“No.”
“Yonder, just to the left of that patch of bushes where the stone looks grey?”
“Oh, yes; I see now,” cried the lad—“a black sheep.”
“Look again,” said Yussuf; and he clapped his hands to his mouth and uttered a tremendous “Ha-ha!”
As the shout ran echoing along the gorge the animal on the farther slope, quite two hundred yards away, went shuffling along at a clumsy trot for some little distance, and then stopped and stood up on its hind-legs and stared at them.
“A curious sheep, Lawrence!” said Mr Preston, adjusting his glass; “what do you make of it now?”
“Why, it can’t be a bear, is it?” cried Lawrence eagerly.
“Undoubtedly, and a very fine one,” said Mr Preston.
“Let’s have a look,” said Mr Burne; and he too focussed his glass. “Why, so it is!” he cried—“just such a one as we used to have upon the pomatum pots. Now, from what gardens can he have escaped?”
The professor burst out laughing merrily.
“It is the real wild animal in his native state, Burne,” he said.
“Then let’s shoot him and take home his skin,” cried Lawrence, preparing to fire.
“You could not kill it at this distance, effendi,” said Yussuf; “and even if you could, it would be a day’s journey to get round to that side and secure the skin. Look!”
The chance to fire was gone as he spoke, for the bear dropped down on all-fours, made clumsily for a pile of rocks, and Mr Preston with his glass saw the animal disappear in a hole that was probably his cave.
“Gone, Lawrence!” said the professor. “Let’s get on.”
“I should have liked to go on after him,” said Lawrence, gazing at the hole in the rocks wistfully; “there’s something so strange in seeing a real bear alive on the mountains.”
“Perhaps we shall see more yet,” said Yussuf, “for we are going into the wildest part we have yet visited. Keep a good look-out high up on each side, and I daresay we shall not go far without finding something.”
“Right, Yussuf,” cried the professor; “there is another of those grand old watch-towers. Look, Burne!—just like the others we have seen planted at the corner where two defiles meet.”
“Ah, to be sure—yes,” said the old lawyer. “What! an eagle’s nest?”
“And there goes the eagle,” cried Lawrence, pointing, as a huge bird swept by them high up on rigid wing, seeming to glide here and there without the slightest effort. “That’s an eagle, is it not, Mr Preston?”
“A very near relative, I should say,” replied the professor. “The lammergeier, as they call it in the Alpine regions. Yes, it must be. What a magnificent bird!”
“We shall see more and finer ones, I daresay,” said Yussuf! quietly; “but the time is passing, excellencies. We have a long journey before us, and I should like to see the better half of a difficult way mastered before mid-day.”
Their guide’s advice was always so good that they continued their slow progress, the baggage-horses ruling the rate at which they were able to proceed; and for the next hour they went on ascending and zigzagging alone; the rugged mountain track, with defile and gorge and ridge of rock rising fold upon fold, making their path increase in grandeur at every turn, till they were in one of nature’s wildest fastnesses, and with the air perceptibly brisker and more keen.
All at once, just as they had turned into the entrance to one of the most savage-looking denies they had yet seen, Yussuf pointed to a distant pile of rock and said sharply:
“Look, there is an animal you may journey for days without seeing. Take the glass, effendi Lawrence, and say what it is.”
The lad checked his pony, adjusted his glass, an example followed by the professor, while Mr Burne indulged himself with a pinch of snuff.
“A goat,” cried Lawrence, as he got the animal into the field of the glass, and saw it standing erect upon the summit of the rock, and gazing away from them— “A goat! And what fine horns?”
“An ibex, Lawrence, my boy. Goat-like if you like. Ah, there he goes. How easily they take alarm.”
For the animal made a bound and seemed to plunge from rock to rock down into a rift, and then up an almost perpendicular wall on the opposite side higher and higher until it disappeared.
“It is no wonder, excellency,” said Yussuf as they rode on along the narrow path, “when every hand is against them, and they have been taught that they are not safe from bullets half a mile away, and—Why is Hamed stopping?”
They had been halting to gaze at the ibex, and all such pauses in their journey were utilised for letting Hamed get well on ahead with his slow charge. Experience had taught them that to leave him behind with the necessaries of life was often to miss them altogether till the next morning.
In this case he had got several hundred yards in advance, but had suddenly stopped short, just at the point of a sharp elbow in the track, where they could see him with the two horses standing stock-still, and staring straight before him.
“Let’s get on and see,” said the professor, and they pressed on to come upon a spot where the track forked directly after, a narrower path leading up a rift in the mountains away to their left, and the sight of this satisfied Yussuf.
“Hamed thinks he may be doing wrong,” he said, “and that perhaps he ought to have turned down here. All right, go on!” he shouted in his own tongue, as they rode on past the wild passage among the rocks.
But Hamed did not stir, and as they advanced they could see that he was sheltering himself behind one of his horses, and still staring before him.
The way curved in, and then went out to the shoulder upon which the baggage-horses stood, doubtless bending in again directly on the other side. Hence, then, it was impossible for Yussuf and his party to see what was beyond; neither could they gain a sight by altering their course, for their path was but a shelf with the nearly perpendicular side of the gorge above and below.
They were now some eighty or ninety yards from the corner, and Yussuf shouted again:
“Go on, man; that is right.”
But Hamed did not move hand or foot, and Yussuf checked his horse.
“There is something wrong, effendis,” he said quietly; and he thrust his hand into his breast and drew out his revolver. “Get your weapons ready.”
“What, is there to be a fight?” said Mr Burne excitedly.
“I hope not,” said Mr Preston gravely, as he examined the charge of his double gun, an example followed by Lawrence, whose heart began to beat heavily.
“You had better halt here, excellencies,” said Yussuf. “I will go forward and see.”
“No,” said Mr Preston; “we will keep together. It is a time for mutual support. What do you think it is?”
“The man is timid,” said Yussuf. “He is a good driver of horses, but a little frightens him. The country is wild here; there may be wolves or a bear on the track which he would not dare to face, though they would run from him if he did.”
They all advanced together with their weapons ready for immediate use, and Lawrence’s hands trembled with eagerness, as he strained his eyes forward in expectation of a glimpse at bear or wolf, and in the hope of getting a good shot.
“Why don’t you speak? Are you ill?” continued Yussuf as he rode on forward. But Hamed did not stir; and it was not until the guide could almost touch him that he was able to see what was the cause of his alarm, and almost at the same moment the others saw it too.
“We must keep a bold face and retreat,” said Yussuf in a quick low tone. “You, Hamed, take the bridle of that horse and lead him back; the other will follow.”
“No, no, no; they will fire.”
“So shall I,” said Yussuf, placing the muzzle of his pistol close to the man’s ear. “Obey me; or—”
Hamed shuddered and began to implore, but Yussuf was rigid.
“Go on back,” he said forcing himself round the foremost horse, closely followed by the professor, though there was hardly room for their steeds to pass, and there was a fall of several hundred feet below, while, pressed like this, Hamed began to whimper; but he obeyed, and led the horses past Lawrence and Mr Burne, who now went forward, eager and excited to know what was wrong, and upon joining their companions it was to find themselves face to face with a gang of about twenty fierce-looking men, all mounted, and who were seated with their guns presented toward the travellers’ heads.
Chapter Thirty Five.Brought to Bay.The strangers were some fifty yards away, and thoroughly blocked all further progress. What they were was not open to doubt; but, though they sat there presenting their guns, they did not attempt to fire, nor yet to advance, contenting themselves by barring the travellers’ way.“Do you think they are enemies, Yussuf?” said Mr Preston calmly.“There is no doubt of it, effendi,” was the reply.“But had we not better ride boldly forward? They will not dare to stop us. Besides, if they do, we are well-armed.”“They are twenty and we are only two, effendi, for we cannot depend upon three of our party. It would be no use to attack. We must retreat steadily, and get back to the village; they will not dare to follow us so far.”“What do you propose doing, then?”“For one of us to remain here facing them, till the others have got fifty yards back. Then one is to turn and face the scoundrels till I have ridden in, and on with the others another fifty yards or so, when I face round, and the one on duty rides in, and so on by turns. If we keep a bold front we may hold them off.”“A good plan,” said the professor; “but would it not be better for two to face them, and two to go forward—I mean, to retreat?”“No, effendi; there is not too much room for the horses. Do as I ask.”Mr Preston obeyed on the instant, and with Hamed in front the retreat was commenced, all retiring and leaving Yussuf on the projecting corner, weapon in hand, and a sword hanging from his wrist by the knot.Then, at about fifty yards, Mr Preston halted and faced round, with gun presented, and as the others still rode on, Yussuf left his post and joined the professor, passing him and riding on another fifty yards behind, where he faced round in turn.As the professor made his horse face about and rode on, he had only just reached the guide, when a clattering of horses’ hoofs behind him made him look sharply round.The enemy had advanced, and about half a dozen men had taken up the vacated position at the elbow of the track.There they stopped, looking menacing enough, but making no advance, merely watching the progress of the little party as they retreated round the curve towards the other corner which they had passed on their way.“Had we not better get on faster?” said the professor.“No,” replied Yussuf; “we must go slowly, or they will close in; and your excellency does not want blood to be shed. Our only chance is by keeping a bold front, and retreating till we can get help. They will not dare to attack us if we keep on like this, for they do not care to risk their lives.”“Go on then,” said the professor; and the retreat was kept up for about ten minutes, and then came to a stop, for Hamed, on reaching the other corner with his baggage-horses, stopped short suddenly, and on Lawrence trotting up to him, the professor saw him too stop, and present his gun.“We are trapped, effendi,” said Yussuf sadly.“Trapped!” cried Mr Preston sharply. “What do you mean?”“The dogs have another party who have been hidden in that side track, and they have come out as soon as we passed. We are between two fires. What shall we do?”It was plain enough, for the next minute Hamed and Lawrence were seen to be driven back, and a party similar to that upon the first corner stood out clearly in the morning air—a gang before, and one behind, and the precipice above and below. It was either fight or yield now, and Yussuf had asked the question, what was to be done.Shut in as they were completely, the little party closed up together on the curved path, Hamed requiring no telling, while the enemy made no attempt to advance.Mr Burne took out his box, had a large pinch of snuff, and then blew his nose so outrageously that the horses pricked their ears, and Ali Baba snorted and looked as if he would try another of his wonderful leaps if that kind of thing were to be continued.“Well, Yussuf,” said the professor, “what is to be done?”The guide sighed deeply and looked full in his employer’s face.“Excellency,” he said softly, “I feel as if all my bones were turned to water.”“Oh, indeed, sir,” cried Mr Burne sharply; “then you had better turn them back to what they were.”“What is to be done, Yussuf?” continued the professor. “If we make a stout resistance, shall we beat them off?”“No, effendi,” said Yussuf sadly; “it is impossible. We might kill several, but they are many, and those who are left do not value life. Besides, effendi, some of us must fall.”“What are these people, then?”“Brigands—robbers, excellency.”“Brigands and robbers in the nineteenth century!” cried Mr Burne angrily; “it is absurd.”“In your country, excellency; but here they are as common as they are in Greece.”“But the law, sir, the law!” cried Mr Burne. “Confound the scoundrels! where are the police?”Yussuf shrugged his shoulders.“We are far beyond the reach of the law or the police, excellency, unless a little army of soldiers is sent to take or destroy these people; and even then what can they do in these terrible fastnesses, where the brigands have hiding-places and strongholds that cannot be found out, or if found, where they can set the soldiery at defiance?”Mr Burne blew his nose again fearfully, and created a series of echoes that sounded as if old men were blowing their noses from where they stood right away to Constantinople, so strangely the sounds died away in the distance.“Then why, sir, in the name of common sense and common law, did you bring us into this out-of-the-way place, among these dirty, ragged, unshaven scoundrels? It is abominable! It is disgraceful! It is—”“Hush! hush! Burne; be reasonable,” said the professor. “Yussuf has only obeyed orders. If anyone is to blame it is I, for I wished to see this ruined fastness of the old Roman days.”Yussuf smiled, and gave the professor a grateful look.“Humph! It’s all very well for you to take his part. He ought to have known,” grumbled the old lawyer.“Travellers are never free from risk in any of the out-of-the-way parts of the country,” said Yussuf quietly.“And of course we knew that, and accepted the risk,” said the professor. “Come, come, Burne, be reasonable. Yussuf is not to blame. The question is, What are we to do—fight or give up?”“Fight,” said Mr Burne fiercely. “Hang it all, sir! I never give in to an opponent. I always say to a client, if he has right upon his side, ‘Fight, sir, fight.’ And that’s what I’m going to do.”“Fight, eh?” said the professor gravely.“Yes, sir, fight, and I only wish I understood the use of this gun and long knife as well as I do that of a ruler and a pen.”“Look here, Yussuf, if we fight, what will be the consequences?”“I will fight for your excellencies to the last,” said the Turk calmly; “but I am afraid that we can do no good.”“Confound you, sir!” cried Mr Burne; “if we give in they will take off our heads.”“No, no, excellency, they will make us prisoners, and strip us of our arms and all that we have of value.”“Humph! Is that all?”“No, excellency. They will demand a heavy ransom for your release—so many Turkish pounds.”“Then we’ll fight,” cried Mr Burne furiously. “I never would and I never will be swindled. Ransom indeed! Why, confound it all, Preston! is this real, or is it a cock-and-bull story told in a book?”“It is reality, Burne, sure enough,” said the professor calmly; “and I feel with you, that I would sooner fight than give up a shilling; but, cowardly as it may seem, I fear that we must give up.”“Give up? Never, sir. I am an Englishman,” cried the old lawyer.“But look at our position. We are completely at their mercy. Here we are in the centre of this half-moon curve, and the scoundrels hold the two horns in force.”“Then we’ll dash up the mountain.”“It is impossible, excellency,” said Yussuf.“Then we’ll go downwards.”“To death, Burne?” said the professor smiling.“Confound it all!” cried Mr Burne, “we are in a complete trap. Here, you, Yussuf, this is your doing, and you are in league with these rascals to rob us.”“Excellency!”“Oh, Mr Burne!” cried Lawrence, with his face scarlet; and he leaned towards Yussuf, and held out his hand to the Turk, who sat with angry, lowering countenance upon his horse.“Mr Burne is angry, Yussuf,” said the professor in a quiet, stern manner. “He does not mean what he says, and I am sure he will apologise as an English gentleman should.”Yussuf bowed coldly, and Mr Preston continued:“I have the most perfect confidence in your integrity, sir, and as we are brothers in misfortune, and you know these people better than we—”“Of course,” said Mr Burne, with an angry ejaculation.“I ask you,” said Mr Preston, “to give us your advice. What had we better do—fight or give up?”Yussuf’s face brightened, and he turned to the old lawyer.“Effendi,” he said gravely, “you will know me better before we part, and you will tell me you are sorry for what you have said.”“I won’t, sir! No, confound me, never!” cried the old lawyer; and he blew his nose like a challenge upon a trumpet.“I am deeply grieved, effendi,” continued Yussuf, smiling as he turned to the professor, “for this is a terrible misfortune, and you will be disappointed of your visit to the old city. But it would be madness to light. We should be throwing away our lives, and that of the young effendi here, who has shown us of late that he has a long and useful life to lead. It is our fate. We must give up.”“Never!” cried Mr Burne, cocking his gun.“Don’t be foolish, my dear Burne,” said the professor. “I would say, let us fight like men; but what can we do against fifty well-armed scoundrels, who can shelter themselves and pick us off at their ease? Come, keep that gun still, or you will shoot one of us instead of an enemy.”“Now, that’s cruel!” cried Mr Burne with an air of comical vexation. “Well, I suppose you are right. Here, Yussuf, old fellow, I beg your pardon. I was only in a savage temper. I suppose we must give in; but before I’ll pay a shilling of ransom they shall take off my head.”Yussuf smiled.“Confound you, sir, don’t grin at a man when he’s down,” cried Mr Burne. “You’ve got the better of me, but you need not rejoice like that.”“I do not rejoice, excellency, only that you believe in me once more.”“Here! hi! you black-muzzled, unbelieving scoundrels, leave off, will you! Don’t point your guns at us, or, by George and the dragon and the other champions of Christendom, I will fight.”He had looked at the two points of the half-moon road, and seen that about a dozen men were now dismounted, and were apparently taking aim at them.“Well, Yussuf, we give up,” said the professor. “Perhaps, after all, they may be honest people. Will you go to them and ask what they want with us?”“They are brigands, excellency.”“Well, ask them what they will take to let us continue our journey in peace,” cried Mr Burne. “Offer ’em five shillings all round; I suppose there are about fifty—or, no, say we will give them ten pounds to go about their business; and a precious good day’s work for the ragged jacks.”“I will go forward,” said Yussuf. “Excellency,” he continued to the professor, “trust me, and I will make the best bargain I can.”“Go on, then,” said the professor; “but is there any risk to yourself?”“Oh, no, effendi, none at all. I have no fear. They will know I come as an ambassador.”“Go on, then,” said the professor; and the Turk rode slowly forward to the men, who blocked their way, and who still held their guns menacingly before them as if about to fire.
The strangers were some fifty yards away, and thoroughly blocked all further progress. What they were was not open to doubt; but, though they sat there presenting their guns, they did not attempt to fire, nor yet to advance, contenting themselves by barring the travellers’ way.
“Do you think they are enemies, Yussuf?” said Mr Preston calmly.
“There is no doubt of it, effendi,” was the reply.
“But had we not better ride boldly forward? They will not dare to stop us. Besides, if they do, we are well-armed.”
“They are twenty and we are only two, effendi, for we cannot depend upon three of our party. It would be no use to attack. We must retreat steadily, and get back to the village; they will not dare to follow us so far.”
“What do you propose doing, then?”
“For one of us to remain here facing them, till the others have got fifty yards back. Then one is to turn and face the scoundrels till I have ridden in, and on with the others another fifty yards or so, when I face round, and the one on duty rides in, and so on by turns. If we keep a bold front we may hold them off.”
“A good plan,” said the professor; “but would it not be better for two to face them, and two to go forward—I mean, to retreat?”
“No, effendi; there is not too much room for the horses. Do as I ask.”
Mr Preston obeyed on the instant, and with Hamed in front the retreat was commenced, all retiring and leaving Yussuf on the projecting corner, weapon in hand, and a sword hanging from his wrist by the knot.
Then, at about fifty yards, Mr Preston halted and faced round, with gun presented, and as the others still rode on, Yussuf left his post and joined the professor, passing him and riding on another fifty yards behind, where he faced round in turn.
As the professor made his horse face about and rode on, he had only just reached the guide, when a clattering of horses’ hoofs behind him made him look sharply round.
The enemy had advanced, and about half a dozen men had taken up the vacated position at the elbow of the track.
There they stopped, looking menacing enough, but making no advance, merely watching the progress of the little party as they retreated round the curve towards the other corner which they had passed on their way.
“Had we not better get on faster?” said the professor.
“No,” replied Yussuf; “we must go slowly, or they will close in; and your excellency does not want blood to be shed. Our only chance is by keeping a bold front, and retreating till we can get help. They will not dare to attack us if we keep on like this, for they do not care to risk their lives.”
“Go on then,” said the professor; and the retreat was kept up for about ten minutes, and then came to a stop, for Hamed, on reaching the other corner with his baggage-horses, stopped short suddenly, and on Lawrence trotting up to him, the professor saw him too stop, and present his gun.
“We are trapped, effendi,” said Yussuf sadly.
“Trapped!” cried Mr Preston sharply. “What do you mean?”
“The dogs have another party who have been hidden in that side track, and they have come out as soon as we passed. We are between two fires. What shall we do?”
It was plain enough, for the next minute Hamed and Lawrence were seen to be driven back, and a party similar to that upon the first corner stood out clearly in the morning air—a gang before, and one behind, and the precipice above and below. It was either fight or yield now, and Yussuf had asked the question, what was to be done.
Shut in as they were completely, the little party closed up together on the curved path, Hamed requiring no telling, while the enemy made no attempt to advance.
Mr Burne took out his box, had a large pinch of snuff, and then blew his nose so outrageously that the horses pricked their ears, and Ali Baba snorted and looked as if he would try another of his wonderful leaps if that kind of thing were to be continued.
“Well, Yussuf,” said the professor, “what is to be done?”
The guide sighed deeply and looked full in his employer’s face.
“Excellency,” he said softly, “I feel as if all my bones were turned to water.”
“Oh, indeed, sir,” cried Mr Burne sharply; “then you had better turn them back to what they were.”
“What is to be done, Yussuf?” continued the professor. “If we make a stout resistance, shall we beat them off?”
“No, effendi,” said Yussuf sadly; “it is impossible. We might kill several, but they are many, and those who are left do not value life. Besides, effendi, some of us must fall.”
“What are these people, then?”
“Brigands—robbers, excellency.”
“Brigands and robbers in the nineteenth century!” cried Mr Burne angrily; “it is absurd.”
“In your country, excellency; but here they are as common as they are in Greece.”
“But the law, sir, the law!” cried Mr Burne. “Confound the scoundrels! where are the police?”
Yussuf shrugged his shoulders.
“We are far beyond the reach of the law or the police, excellency, unless a little army of soldiers is sent to take or destroy these people; and even then what can they do in these terrible fastnesses, where the brigands have hiding-places and strongholds that cannot be found out, or if found, where they can set the soldiery at defiance?”
Mr Burne blew his nose again fearfully, and created a series of echoes that sounded as if old men were blowing their noses from where they stood right away to Constantinople, so strangely the sounds died away in the distance.
“Then why, sir, in the name of common sense and common law, did you bring us into this out-of-the-way place, among these dirty, ragged, unshaven scoundrels? It is abominable! It is disgraceful! It is—”
“Hush! hush! Burne; be reasonable,” said the professor. “Yussuf has only obeyed orders. If anyone is to blame it is I, for I wished to see this ruined fastness of the old Roman days.”
Yussuf smiled, and gave the professor a grateful look.
“Humph! It’s all very well for you to take his part. He ought to have known,” grumbled the old lawyer.
“Travellers are never free from risk in any of the out-of-the-way parts of the country,” said Yussuf quietly.
“And of course we knew that, and accepted the risk,” said the professor. “Come, come, Burne, be reasonable. Yussuf is not to blame. The question is, What are we to do—fight or give up?”
“Fight,” said Mr Burne fiercely. “Hang it all, sir! I never give in to an opponent. I always say to a client, if he has right upon his side, ‘Fight, sir, fight.’ And that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Fight, eh?” said the professor gravely.
“Yes, sir, fight, and I only wish I understood the use of this gun and long knife as well as I do that of a ruler and a pen.”
“Look here, Yussuf, if we fight, what will be the consequences?”
“I will fight for your excellencies to the last,” said the Turk calmly; “but I am afraid that we can do no good.”
“Confound you, sir!” cried Mr Burne; “if we give in they will take off our heads.”
“No, no, excellency, they will make us prisoners, and strip us of our arms and all that we have of value.”
“Humph! Is that all?”
“No, excellency. They will demand a heavy ransom for your release—so many Turkish pounds.”
“Then we’ll fight,” cried Mr Burne furiously. “I never would and I never will be swindled. Ransom indeed! Why, confound it all, Preston! is this real, or is it a cock-and-bull story told in a book?”
“It is reality, Burne, sure enough,” said the professor calmly; “and I feel with you, that I would sooner fight than give up a shilling; but, cowardly as it may seem, I fear that we must give up.”
“Give up? Never, sir. I am an Englishman,” cried the old lawyer.
“But look at our position. We are completely at their mercy. Here we are in the centre of this half-moon curve, and the scoundrels hold the two horns in force.”
“Then we’ll dash up the mountain.”
“It is impossible, excellency,” said Yussuf.
“Then we’ll go downwards.”
“To death, Burne?” said the professor smiling.
“Confound it all!” cried Mr Burne, “we are in a complete trap. Here, you, Yussuf, this is your doing, and you are in league with these rascals to rob us.”
“Excellency!”
“Oh, Mr Burne!” cried Lawrence, with his face scarlet; and he leaned towards Yussuf, and held out his hand to the Turk, who sat with angry, lowering countenance upon his horse.
“Mr Burne is angry, Yussuf,” said the professor in a quiet, stern manner. “He does not mean what he says, and I am sure he will apologise as an English gentleman should.”
Yussuf bowed coldly, and Mr Preston continued:
“I have the most perfect confidence in your integrity, sir, and as we are brothers in misfortune, and you know these people better than we—”
“Of course,” said Mr Burne, with an angry ejaculation.
“I ask you,” said Mr Preston, “to give us your advice. What had we better do—fight or give up?”
Yussuf’s face brightened, and he turned to the old lawyer.
“Effendi,” he said gravely, “you will know me better before we part, and you will tell me you are sorry for what you have said.”
“I won’t, sir! No, confound me, never!” cried the old lawyer; and he blew his nose like a challenge upon a trumpet.
“I am deeply grieved, effendi,” continued Yussuf, smiling as he turned to the professor, “for this is a terrible misfortune, and you will be disappointed of your visit to the old city. But it would be madness to light. We should be throwing away our lives, and that of the young effendi here, who has shown us of late that he has a long and useful life to lead. It is our fate. We must give up.”
“Never!” cried Mr Burne, cocking his gun.
“Don’t be foolish, my dear Burne,” said the professor. “I would say, let us fight like men; but what can we do against fifty well-armed scoundrels, who can shelter themselves and pick us off at their ease? Come, keep that gun still, or you will shoot one of us instead of an enemy.”
“Now, that’s cruel!” cried Mr Burne with an air of comical vexation. “Well, I suppose you are right. Here, Yussuf, old fellow, I beg your pardon. I was only in a savage temper. I suppose we must give in; but before I’ll pay a shilling of ransom they shall take off my head.”
Yussuf smiled.
“Confound you, sir, don’t grin at a man when he’s down,” cried Mr Burne. “You’ve got the better of me, but you need not rejoice like that.”
“I do not rejoice, excellency, only that you believe in me once more.”
“Here! hi! you black-muzzled, unbelieving scoundrels, leave off, will you! Don’t point your guns at us, or, by George and the dragon and the other champions of Christendom, I will fight.”
He had looked at the two points of the half-moon road, and seen that about a dozen men were now dismounted, and were apparently taking aim at them.
“Well, Yussuf, we give up,” said the professor. “Perhaps, after all, they may be honest people. Will you go to them and ask what they want with us?”
“They are brigands, excellency.”
“Well, ask them what they will take to let us continue our journey in peace,” cried Mr Burne. “Offer ’em five shillings all round; I suppose there are about fifty—or, no, say we will give them ten pounds to go about their business; and a precious good day’s work for the ragged jacks.”
“I will go forward,” said Yussuf. “Excellency,” he continued to the professor, “trust me, and I will make the best bargain I can.”
“Go on, then,” said the professor; “but is there any risk to yourself?”
“Oh, no, effendi, none at all. I have no fear. They will know I come as an ambassador.”
“Go on, then,” said the professor; and the Turk rode slowly forward to the men, who blocked their way, and who still held their guns menacingly before them as if about to fire.
Chapter Thirty Six.Good out of Evil.“We’ve brought our pigs to a pretty market,” grumbled Mr Burne, as they sat watching Yussuf ride up to the brigands. “It means ruin, sir, ruin.”“There’s no help for it, Burne,” said the professor calmly; “it is of no use to complain.”“I am an Englishman, sir, and I shall grumble as much and as long as I please,” cried the old gentleman snappishly; “and you, Lawrence, if you laugh at me, sir, I’ll knock you off your horse. Here, what was the use of our buying weapons of war, if we are not going to use them?”“Their conversation has been short,” said the professor. “I suppose it is settled. So vexatious too, when we were quite near the ancient stronghold.”“Bah! you’ve seen old stones and ruins enough, man. I wish to goodness we were back in London. Well, Yussuf, what do they say?”“That if your excellencies will surrender peaceably, you shall not be hurt. There is nothing else for us to do but give up.”“And you advise it, Yussuf?” said the professor.“Yes, your excellency, we must give up; and perhaps if you are patient I may find a means for us to escape.”“Hah! that’s better,” cried Mr Burne; “now you are speaking like a man. Come along, then, and let’s get it over. Can the brutes speak English?”“No, excellency, I think not. Shall I lead?”“No,” said Mr Burne. “I shall go first, just to show the miserable ruffians that we are not afraid of them if we do give up. Come along, Preston. Confound them! how I do hate thieves.”He took a pinch of snuff, and then rode slowly on with an angry contemptuous look, closely followed by his companions, to where the brigands were awaiting them with guns presented ready to fire if there was any resistance.As they advanced, the party behind closed up quickly, all being in the same state of readiness with their weapons till the travellers found themselves completely hemmed in by as evil-looking a body of scoundrels as could be conceived. Every man had his belt stuck full of knives and pistols, and carried a dangerous-looking gun—that is to say, a piece that was risky to both enemy and friend.One man, who seemed to hold pre-eminence from the fact that he was half a head taller than his companions, said a few words in a sharp fierce manner, and Yussuf spoke.“The captain says we are to give up all our arms,” he said; and the professor handed his gun and sword without a word, the appearance of the weapons apparently giving great satisfaction to the chief.“Here, take ’em,” growled Mr Burne; “you ugly-looking unwashed animal. I hope the gun will go off of itself, and shoot you. I say, Preston, you haven’t given them your revolver.”“Hush! neither am I going to without they ask for it. Yussuf is keeping his.”“Oh, I see,” said the old lawyer brightening.Lawrence had to resign his handsome gun and sword next, the beauty of their workmanship causing quite a buzz of excitement.After this, as Lawrence sat suffering a bitter pang at losing his treasured weapons, the chief said a few words to Yussuf.“The captain says, excellencies, that if you will ride quietly to their place, he will not have you bound. I have said that you will go.”“Yes,” said the professor, “we will go quietly.”The chief seemed satisfied, and the prisoners being placed in the middle, the whole band went off along the mountain path, higher and higher hour after hour.There was no attempt made to separate them, nor yet to hinder their conversation; and the brigands seemed less ferocious now that the business of the day had had so satisfactory a finish, for they were congratulating themselves upon having made a very valuable haul, and the captives, after a time, began to look upon their seizure as more interesting and novel than troublesome. That is to say, all but the professor, who bemoaned bitterly the fact that he should miss seeing the old ruined, stronghold in the mountains, which was said to be the highest ruin in the land.“It seems so vexatious, Yussuf,” he said towards evening, after a very long and tedious ride through scenery that was wild and grand in the extreme; “just, too, as we were so near the aim of all my desire.”“Bother!” said Mr Burne, “I wish they would stop and cook some dinner. Are they going to starve us?”“No, excellency; and before an hour has passed, if I think rightly, we shall have reached the brigands’ stronghold. They will not starve you, but you will have to pay dearly for all you have.”“I don’t care,” said Mr Burne recklessly. “I’d give a five-pound note now for a chop, and a sovereign a-piece for mealy potatoes. This mountain air makes me ravenous, and ugh! how cold it is.”“We are so high up, excellency,” said Yussuf; and then smiling, “Yes, I am right.”“What do you mean?” said the professor.“I did not like to speak before, effendi,” he said excitedly, “for I was not sure; but it is as I thought; they have now turned into the right road. Everything points to it.”“Look here,” grumbled Mr Burne, “I’m not in a humour to guess conundrums and charades; speak out, man. What do you mean?”“I mean, excellency, that I have been wondering where the brigands’ strong place could be, and I believe I have found out.”“Well, where is it? A cave, of course?”“No, excellency; and you, effendi,” he continued, turning to the professor, “will be delighted.”“What do you mean, my good fellow?” said the professor warmly.“That you will have your wish. There is no other place likely, and it seems to me that this band of men have made the old ruined stronghold their lurking-place, and you will see the ruins after all.”“What?” cried Mr Preston excitedly.“I am not sure, excellency, for they may be only going to pass them on our way elsewhere; but we are now journeying straight for the grand old remains we sought.”“Then, I don’t care what ransom I have to pay,” said the professor eagerly. “Lawrence, my dear boy—Burne—this is not a misfortune, but a great slice of luck.”“Oh! indeed! is it?” said the old lawyer sarcastically. “I should not have known.”It proved to be as Yussuf had anticipated, for, just as the sun was sinking below the mountains, the shelf of a path was continued along by the brink of a terrible precipice which looked black beneath their feet, and after many devious windings, it ended as it were before a huge pile of limestone, at the foot of which rocks were piled-up as if they had suddenly been dashed down from some tremendous tremor of the mountains.“Where are we going?” said the professor.“Up to the top of that great pile,” said Yussuf.“But are the ruins there?”“Yes, effendi.”“And how are we to set there?”“You will see, excellency. It is quite right. This is the robbers’ home, where they could set an army at defiance.”“But we can’t get up there,” said Lawrence, gazing at the dizzy height.As he spoke, the foremost horseman seemed to disappear, but only to come into sight again, and then it became evident that there was a zigzag and winding path right up to the top of the huge mass of rock which towered up almost perpendicularly in places, and, ten minutes later, Lawrence was riding up a path with so awful a precipice on his right that he closed his eyes.But the next minute the fascination to gaze down was too strong to be resisted, and he found himself looking round and about him, almost stunned by the aspect of the place. But the sure-footed Turkish ponies went steadily on higher and higher round curves and sharply turning angles and elbows, till at last at a dizzy height the foremost horseman rode in between two masses of rock surmounted by ruined buildings. Then on across a hideous gap of several hundred feet deep, a mere split in the rock bridged with the trunks of pine-trees, but awful to contemplate, and making the travellers hold their breath till they were across, and amid the gigantic ruins of an ancient stronghold.“Stupendous!” cried the professor, as they rode on amidst the traces of the former grandeur of the place.“How bitterly cold!” said the professor.“We are to dismount here,” said Yussuf quietly, “and go into this old building.”They obeyed, glad to descend from their horses, which were taken away, and then they were ushered to a great stone-built hall where a fire was burning, which seemed cheery and comfortable after their long ride.There were rugs on the floor, the roof was sound, and the window was covered by a screen of straw which made the place dark save for the warm glow of the fire, near which a little Turkish-looking man was seated, and a largely proportioned Turkish woman reclined on a rough kind of divan.“These are to be our quarters, effendi,” said Yussuf, after a brief colloquy with the chief, who had accompanied them, “and these are our fellow-prisoners. But he warns me that if we attempt to escape we shall be shot, for there are sentries on the watch.”“All right,” said Mr Burne approaching the fire; “tell him not to bother us to-night, only to give us the best they’ve got to eat, or else to let us have our baggage in and leave us to shift for ourselves.”Just then an exclamation escaped the big Turkish woman, who sprang to her feet, and ran and caught the professor’s hand.“Mr Preston!” she cried. “Do you not know me?”“Mrs Chumley!” cried the professor. “You here!”“Yes, we’ve been prisoners here for a month. Charley, you lazy fellow, get up; these are friends.”“Oh, are they?” said the little Turk, rising slowly. “Well, I’m jolly glad of it, for I’m sick of being here. Hallo, young Lawrence, I’ve often thought about you; how are you? Getting better? That’s right. See you are. How do, Preston? How do, Mr Burne? I say! Ha-ha-ha! You’re all in for it now.”“For shame, Charley, to talk like that,” cried the lady. “Come up to the fire all of you. I am very glad to see you here.”“Oh, you are, eh, madam?” said the old lawyer sharply, as he warmed his hands over the blaze.“Well, I do not mean that,” said the lady; “but it is always pleasant to meet English people when you are far from home.”Just then the robber chief nodded, said a few words to Yussuf, and the prisoners were left alone.
“We’ve brought our pigs to a pretty market,” grumbled Mr Burne, as they sat watching Yussuf ride up to the brigands. “It means ruin, sir, ruin.”
“There’s no help for it, Burne,” said the professor calmly; “it is of no use to complain.”
“I am an Englishman, sir, and I shall grumble as much and as long as I please,” cried the old gentleman snappishly; “and you, Lawrence, if you laugh at me, sir, I’ll knock you off your horse. Here, what was the use of our buying weapons of war, if we are not going to use them?”
“Their conversation has been short,” said the professor. “I suppose it is settled. So vexatious too, when we were quite near the ancient stronghold.”
“Bah! you’ve seen old stones and ruins enough, man. I wish to goodness we were back in London. Well, Yussuf, what do they say?”
“That if your excellencies will surrender peaceably, you shall not be hurt. There is nothing else for us to do but give up.”
“And you advise it, Yussuf?” said the professor.
“Yes, your excellency, we must give up; and perhaps if you are patient I may find a means for us to escape.”
“Hah! that’s better,” cried Mr Burne; “now you are speaking like a man. Come along, then, and let’s get it over. Can the brutes speak English?”
“No, excellency, I think not. Shall I lead?”
“No,” said Mr Burne. “I shall go first, just to show the miserable ruffians that we are not afraid of them if we do give up. Come along, Preston. Confound them! how I do hate thieves.”
He took a pinch of snuff, and then rode slowly on with an angry contemptuous look, closely followed by his companions, to where the brigands were awaiting them with guns presented ready to fire if there was any resistance.
As they advanced, the party behind closed up quickly, all being in the same state of readiness with their weapons till the travellers found themselves completely hemmed in by as evil-looking a body of scoundrels as could be conceived. Every man had his belt stuck full of knives and pistols, and carried a dangerous-looking gun—that is to say, a piece that was risky to both enemy and friend.
One man, who seemed to hold pre-eminence from the fact that he was half a head taller than his companions, said a few words in a sharp fierce manner, and Yussuf spoke.
“The captain says we are to give up all our arms,” he said; and the professor handed his gun and sword without a word, the appearance of the weapons apparently giving great satisfaction to the chief.
“Here, take ’em,” growled Mr Burne; “you ugly-looking unwashed animal. I hope the gun will go off of itself, and shoot you. I say, Preston, you haven’t given them your revolver.”
“Hush! neither am I going to without they ask for it. Yussuf is keeping his.”
“Oh, I see,” said the old lawyer brightening.
Lawrence had to resign his handsome gun and sword next, the beauty of their workmanship causing quite a buzz of excitement.
After this, as Lawrence sat suffering a bitter pang at losing his treasured weapons, the chief said a few words to Yussuf.
“The captain says, excellencies, that if you will ride quietly to their place, he will not have you bound. I have said that you will go.”
“Yes,” said the professor, “we will go quietly.”
The chief seemed satisfied, and the prisoners being placed in the middle, the whole band went off along the mountain path, higher and higher hour after hour.
There was no attempt made to separate them, nor yet to hinder their conversation; and the brigands seemed less ferocious now that the business of the day had had so satisfactory a finish, for they were congratulating themselves upon having made a very valuable haul, and the captives, after a time, began to look upon their seizure as more interesting and novel than troublesome. That is to say, all but the professor, who bemoaned bitterly the fact that he should miss seeing the old ruined, stronghold in the mountains, which was said to be the highest ruin in the land.
“It seems so vexatious, Yussuf,” he said towards evening, after a very long and tedious ride through scenery that was wild and grand in the extreme; “just, too, as we were so near the aim of all my desire.”
“Bother!” said Mr Burne, “I wish they would stop and cook some dinner. Are they going to starve us?”
“No, excellency; and before an hour has passed, if I think rightly, we shall have reached the brigands’ stronghold. They will not starve you, but you will have to pay dearly for all you have.”
“I don’t care,” said Mr Burne recklessly. “I’d give a five-pound note now for a chop, and a sovereign a-piece for mealy potatoes. This mountain air makes me ravenous, and ugh! how cold it is.”
“We are so high up, excellency,” said Yussuf; and then smiling, “Yes, I am right.”
“What do you mean?” said the professor.
“I did not like to speak before, effendi,” he said excitedly, “for I was not sure; but it is as I thought; they have now turned into the right road. Everything points to it.”
“Look here,” grumbled Mr Burne, “I’m not in a humour to guess conundrums and charades; speak out, man. What do you mean?”
“I mean, excellency, that I have been wondering where the brigands’ strong place could be, and I believe I have found out.”
“Well, where is it? A cave, of course?”
“No, excellency; and you, effendi,” he continued, turning to the professor, “will be delighted.”
“What do you mean, my good fellow?” said the professor warmly.
“That you will have your wish. There is no other place likely, and it seems to me that this band of men have made the old ruined stronghold their lurking-place, and you will see the ruins after all.”
“What?” cried Mr Preston excitedly.
“I am not sure, excellency, for they may be only going to pass them on our way elsewhere; but we are now journeying straight for the grand old remains we sought.”
“Then, I don’t care what ransom I have to pay,” said the professor eagerly. “Lawrence, my dear boy—Burne—this is not a misfortune, but a great slice of luck.”
“Oh! indeed! is it?” said the old lawyer sarcastically. “I should not have known.”
It proved to be as Yussuf had anticipated, for, just as the sun was sinking below the mountains, the shelf of a path was continued along by the brink of a terrible precipice which looked black beneath their feet, and after many devious windings, it ended as it were before a huge pile of limestone, at the foot of which rocks were piled-up as if they had suddenly been dashed down from some tremendous tremor of the mountains.
“Where are we going?” said the professor.
“Up to the top of that great pile,” said Yussuf.
“But are the ruins there?”
“Yes, effendi.”
“And how are we to set there?”
“You will see, excellency. It is quite right. This is the robbers’ home, where they could set an army at defiance.”
“But we can’t get up there,” said Lawrence, gazing at the dizzy height.
As he spoke, the foremost horseman seemed to disappear, but only to come into sight again, and then it became evident that there was a zigzag and winding path right up to the top of the huge mass of rock which towered up almost perpendicularly in places, and, ten minutes later, Lawrence was riding up a path with so awful a precipice on his right that he closed his eyes.
But the next minute the fascination to gaze down was too strong to be resisted, and he found himself looking round and about him, almost stunned by the aspect of the place. But the sure-footed Turkish ponies went steadily on higher and higher round curves and sharply turning angles and elbows, till at last at a dizzy height the foremost horseman rode in between two masses of rock surmounted by ruined buildings. Then on across a hideous gap of several hundred feet deep, a mere split in the rock bridged with the trunks of pine-trees, but awful to contemplate, and making the travellers hold their breath till they were across, and amid the gigantic ruins of an ancient stronghold.
“Stupendous!” cried the professor, as they rode on amidst the traces of the former grandeur of the place.
“How bitterly cold!” said the professor.
“We are to dismount here,” said Yussuf quietly, “and go into this old building.”
They obeyed, glad to descend from their horses, which were taken away, and then they were ushered to a great stone-built hall where a fire was burning, which seemed cheery and comfortable after their long ride.
There were rugs on the floor, the roof was sound, and the window was covered by a screen of straw which made the place dark save for the warm glow of the fire, near which a little Turkish-looking man was seated, and a largely proportioned Turkish woman reclined on a rough kind of divan.
“These are to be our quarters, effendi,” said Yussuf, after a brief colloquy with the chief, who had accompanied them, “and these are our fellow-prisoners. But he warns me that if we attempt to escape we shall be shot, for there are sentries on the watch.”
“All right,” said Mr Burne approaching the fire; “tell him not to bother us to-night, only to give us the best they’ve got to eat, or else to let us have our baggage in and leave us to shift for ourselves.”
Just then an exclamation escaped the big Turkish woman, who sprang to her feet, and ran and caught the professor’s hand.
“Mr Preston!” she cried. “Do you not know me?”
“Mrs Chumley!” cried the professor. “You here!”
“Yes, we’ve been prisoners here for a month. Charley, you lazy fellow, get up; these are friends.”
“Oh, are they?” said the little Turk, rising slowly. “Well, I’m jolly glad of it, for I’m sick of being here. Hallo, young Lawrence, I’ve often thought about you; how are you? Getting better? That’s right. See you are. How do, Preston? How do, Mr Burne? I say! Ha-ha-ha! You’re all in for it now.”
“For shame, Charley, to talk like that,” cried the lady. “Come up to the fire all of you. I am very glad to see you here.”
“Oh, you are, eh, madam?” said the old lawyer sharply, as he warmed his hands over the blaze.
“Well, I do not mean that,” said the lady; “but it is always pleasant to meet English people when you are far from home.”
Just then the robber chief nodded, said a few words to Yussuf, and the prisoners were left alone.
Chapter Thirty Seven.A Question of Ransom.“Nice state of affairs this, Mr Preston,” said the little prisoner holding out his arms. “Here’s a dress for a gentleman;” and he displayed the rags of Turkish costume he wore. “Chaps saw me at my club now.”“Charley, will you hold your tongue,” cried his lady angrily. “How am I to explain our position if you will keep on chattering so?”“But, my darling—”“Will you be quiet, Charley. Look here, Mr Preston,” she continued, “it’s just three weeks ago, as we were travelling in this horrible country at least ten miles away, we were seized by these horrid men, and brought here. They’ve taken everything we had, and given us these miserable clothes, and every night they come to us and say—”“They’ll cut off our heads to-morrow morning.”“Will you be quiet, Charley,” cried the lady, stamping her foot. “How am I to explain? Am I not always telling you what a chatter-box you are.”“Yes, my dear, always.”“Silence, sir! Mr Preston,” she continued, as her little husband went softly to Lawrence, and drew him aside to go on whispering in his ear—“Mr Preston, no one knows what we have suffered. As I was saying—I hope you are listening, Mr—Mr—Mr—Mr—”“Burne, ma’am,” said the old lawyer bowing.“Oh, yes, I had forgotten. Mr Burne. I beg your pardon. As I was saying they come every night, and say that to-morrow morning they will cut off our heads and send them to Smyrna as an example, if our ransom does not come.”“Your ransom, madam?” said the professor.“Yes. Five thousand pounds—three for me and two for poor Charley; and though we have sent for the money, it does not come. Isn’t it a shame?”“Scandalous, madam.”“And you can’t tell how glad I am to see you here. Have you brought the money?”“Brought the money, ma’am? Why, we are prisoners too.”“Oh, dear me, how tiresome!” cried the lady. “I thought you were at first; and then I thought you were sent with our ransom. What are we to do? Mr Burne,” she continued, turning to him, “you said you were a lawyer. Pray, send for these people at once, and tell them that they will be very severely punished if they do not set us at liberty.”“My dear madam,” said the old lawyer, “I am only just getting myself thawed, and I have had nothing but snuff since breakfast. I must have some food before I can speak or even think.”Meanwhile little Mr Chumley was whispering to Lawrence on the other side of the fire, and relating all his troubles. “Taken everything away, sir,” he said—“watch, purse, cigars, and I actually saw the scoundrel who is at the head of them smoking my beautifulpartagasthat I brought with me from England. I say, what had we better do?”“Try and escape, I suppose,” said Lawrence.“Escape! Look here, young man; are you a fly, or a bird, or a black beetle?” whispered the little man.“I think not,” said Lawrence laughing.“Then you can’t get away from here, so don’t think it. Why, it’s impossible.”Just then the fierce-looking chief entered, followed by a man carrying a great smoking dish, and as the leader drew near the fire, Lawrence bit his lip, for he saw that the tall ruffian was wearing his sword, and carrying his handsome gun in the hollow of his arm.The chief turned to Yussuf, who was seated in one corner of the room, and said a few words to him.Yussuf rose and addressed his little party in a low voice.“The brigand captain says, excellencies, that you are to be prepared to send in one of his men to-morrow morning as messenger to your agent where you like. You are to write and say that, if injury is done to the messenger, you will be killed. The messenger is to bring back six thousand pounds—two for each of you—as a ransom, and that, upon the money being paid, you will be set free.”“And if the money be not paid, Yussuf, what then?” said the professor quietly.“The chief says no more, excellency.”“But he will to-morrow or next day,” cried Mr Chumley. “He’ll say that if the money is not paid he’ll—”“Will you be quiet, Charley?” cried his wife. “How you do chatter, to be sure! Are you going to send for the money?”“I don’t know yet,” said the professor smiling. “I must think over our position first.”“But, Mr Burne!” cried the lady.“My dear madam,” said Mr Burne, “I can say nothing till after supper. Here is a dish of fowl and rice to be discussed before we do anything else. Here, Snooks, Brown, Hassan, Elecampane—what’s your name?—lay the cloth and bring some knives and forks.”The man addressed did not stir. He had placed the smoking brass dish upon a stone near the fire, and with that his duties seemed to be ended.“They won’t give you any knives or forks,” said little Mr Chumley.“Will you be quiet, Charley?” cried his lady. “No, gentlemen, you will have to sit down all round the dish like this, and eat with your fingers like pigs.”“Pigs haven’t got any fingers,” whispered little Chumley to Lawrence. “Come along.”“What is he whispering to you, Master Lawrence?” said the lady sharply. “Don’t take any notice of what he says. He talks too much and thinks too little. If he had thought more and said less we should not be in this predicament.”The chief and his follower had passed silently behind the great rug stretched over the doorway, and, led by their hunger, the prisoners all sat down round the dish “like this,” to use Mrs Chumley’s words—thisbeing tailor fashion, or cross-leggedà la Turcque; and then, in very primitive fashion, the supper of poor stringy fowl and ill-cooked rice began.The food was very poor, the bread being heavy and black; but all were too hungry to be particular, and at last the dish was completely finished, and conversation respecting their position began, while Yussuf sat aside and waited patiently to be questioned.“Look here, Yussuf,” said the professor at last; “what is to be done?”“I fear, excellency,” replied the guide, “that the only way of escape is by paying the ransom.”“But, man, it is ruinous, and they dare not injure us. Why, if the English people knew of our position troops would be sent to our assistance.”“And the brigands would resent their coming by killing you and your friends, excellency.”“They would not dare, Yussuf.”“I’m afraid they would, effendi. They are utterly reckless scoundrels, the sweepings of the country, and they are so powerful, and secure here that they laugh at the law, such law as we have in this unhappy land.”“But such a state of affairs is monstrous, sir,” said Mr Burne. “I am a lawyer, sir, and I ought to know.”“It is monstrous, excellency,” said Yussuf; “but these men are outlaws. You see what a stronghold they have if it came to a fight; but your friends or the government would not dare to let it come to a fight, for if they did they would be slaying you.”“Tchah!” cried Mr Burne; “this is about the knottiest case I ever did meet. I say, you, Lawrence, a nice position you have placed us all in.”“I, Mr Burne!” cried the lad wonderingly.“Yes, sir, you. If you had only been quite well, like a reasonable boy of your age, we should not have come out here, and if we hadn’t come out here we should not have been in this mess. There, I’m too tired to talk. Good-night.”He threw himself down upon one of the rugs and was asleep directly, while the professor walked to the doorway, and found two fierce-looking sentries outside, one of whom menacingly bade him go back.He spoke in the Turkish language; but his manner made his meaning plain, so Mr Preston went back to the fireside, and sat talking to the Chumleys and Lawrence till the latter fell fast asleep; and at last, in spite of the peril of his position, the professor grew so weary that the account of the Chumleys’ troubles began to sound soothing, and, what with the long day’s work, the exposure to the keen mountain air, and the warmth of the fire, he too fell asleep, and silence reigned in the ancient structure that had been made their prison.
“Nice state of affairs this, Mr Preston,” said the little prisoner holding out his arms. “Here’s a dress for a gentleman;” and he displayed the rags of Turkish costume he wore. “Chaps saw me at my club now.”
“Charley, will you hold your tongue,” cried his lady angrily. “How am I to explain our position if you will keep on chattering so?”
“But, my darling—”
“Will you be quiet, Charley. Look here, Mr Preston,” she continued, “it’s just three weeks ago, as we were travelling in this horrible country at least ten miles away, we were seized by these horrid men, and brought here. They’ve taken everything we had, and given us these miserable clothes, and every night they come to us and say—”
“They’ll cut off our heads to-morrow morning.”
“Will you be quiet, Charley,” cried the lady, stamping her foot. “How am I to explain? Am I not always telling you what a chatter-box you are.”
“Yes, my dear, always.”
“Silence, sir! Mr Preston,” she continued, as her little husband went softly to Lawrence, and drew him aside to go on whispering in his ear—“Mr Preston, no one knows what we have suffered. As I was saying—I hope you are listening, Mr—Mr—Mr—Mr—”
“Burne, ma’am,” said the old lawyer bowing.
“Oh, yes, I had forgotten. Mr Burne. I beg your pardon. As I was saying they come every night, and say that to-morrow morning they will cut off our heads and send them to Smyrna as an example, if our ransom does not come.”
“Your ransom, madam?” said the professor.
“Yes. Five thousand pounds—three for me and two for poor Charley; and though we have sent for the money, it does not come. Isn’t it a shame?”
“Scandalous, madam.”
“And you can’t tell how glad I am to see you here. Have you brought the money?”
“Brought the money, ma’am? Why, we are prisoners too.”
“Oh, dear me, how tiresome!” cried the lady. “I thought you were at first; and then I thought you were sent with our ransom. What are we to do? Mr Burne,” she continued, turning to him, “you said you were a lawyer. Pray, send for these people at once, and tell them that they will be very severely punished if they do not set us at liberty.”
“My dear madam,” said the old lawyer, “I am only just getting myself thawed, and I have had nothing but snuff since breakfast. I must have some food before I can speak or even think.”
Meanwhile little Mr Chumley was whispering to Lawrence on the other side of the fire, and relating all his troubles. “Taken everything away, sir,” he said—“watch, purse, cigars, and I actually saw the scoundrel who is at the head of them smoking my beautifulpartagasthat I brought with me from England. I say, what had we better do?”
“Try and escape, I suppose,” said Lawrence.
“Escape! Look here, young man; are you a fly, or a bird, or a black beetle?” whispered the little man.
“I think not,” said Lawrence laughing.
“Then you can’t get away from here, so don’t think it. Why, it’s impossible.”
Just then the fierce-looking chief entered, followed by a man carrying a great smoking dish, and as the leader drew near the fire, Lawrence bit his lip, for he saw that the tall ruffian was wearing his sword, and carrying his handsome gun in the hollow of his arm.
The chief turned to Yussuf, who was seated in one corner of the room, and said a few words to him.
Yussuf rose and addressed his little party in a low voice.
“The brigand captain says, excellencies, that you are to be prepared to send in one of his men to-morrow morning as messenger to your agent where you like. You are to write and say that, if injury is done to the messenger, you will be killed. The messenger is to bring back six thousand pounds—two for each of you—as a ransom, and that, upon the money being paid, you will be set free.”
“And if the money be not paid, Yussuf, what then?” said the professor quietly.
“The chief says no more, excellency.”
“But he will to-morrow or next day,” cried Mr Chumley. “He’ll say that if the money is not paid he’ll—”
“Will you be quiet, Charley?” cried his wife. “How you do chatter, to be sure! Are you going to send for the money?”
“I don’t know yet,” said the professor smiling. “I must think over our position first.”
“But, Mr Burne!” cried the lady.
“My dear madam,” said Mr Burne, “I can say nothing till after supper. Here is a dish of fowl and rice to be discussed before we do anything else. Here, Snooks, Brown, Hassan, Elecampane—what’s your name?—lay the cloth and bring some knives and forks.”
The man addressed did not stir. He had placed the smoking brass dish upon a stone near the fire, and with that his duties seemed to be ended.
“They won’t give you any knives or forks,” said little Mr Chumley.
“Will you be quiet, Charley?” cried his lady. “No, gentlemen, you will have to sit down all round the dish like this, and eat with your fingers like pigs.”
“Pigs haven’t got any fingers,” whispered little Chumley to Lawrence. “Come along.”
“What is he whispering to you, Master Lawrence?” said the lady sharply. “Don’t take any notice of what he says. He talks too much and thinks too little. If he had thought more and said less we should not be in this predicament.”
The chief and his follower had passed silently behind the great rug stretched over the doorway, and, led by their hunger, the prisoners all sat down round the dish “like this,” to use Mrs Chumley’s words—thisbeing tailor fashion, or cross-leggedà la Turcque; and then, in very primitive fashion, the supper of poor stringy fowl and ill-cooked rice began.
The food was very poor, the bread being heavy and black; but all were too hungry to be particular, and at last the dish was completely finished, and conversation respecting their position began, while Yussuf sat aside and waited patiently to be questioned.
“Look here, Yussuf,” said the professor at last; “what is to be done?”
“I fear, excellency,” replied the guide, “that the only way of escape is by paying the ransom.”
“But, man, it is ruinous, and they dare not injure us. Why, if the English people knew of our position troops would be sent to our assistance.”
“And the brigands would resent their coming by killing you and your friends, excellency.”
“They would not dare, Yussuf.”
“I’m afraid they would, effendi. They are utterly reckless scoundrels, the sweepings of the country, and they are so powerful, and secure here that they laugh at the law, such law as we have in this unhappy land.”
“But such a state of affairs is monstrous, sir,” said Mr Burne. “I am a lawyer, sir, and I ought to know.”
“It is monstrous, excellency,” said Yussuf; “but these men are outlaws. You see what a stronghold they have if it came to a fight; but your friends or the government would not dare to let it come to a fight, for if they did they would be slaying you.”
“Tchah!” cried Mr Burne; “this is about the knottiest case I ever did meet. I say, you, Lawrence, a nice position you have placed us all in.”
“I, Mr Burne!” cried the lad wonderingly.
“Yes, sir, you. If you had only been quite well, like a reasonable boy of your age, we should not have come out here, and if we hadn’t come out here we should not have been in this mess. There, I’m too tired to talk. Good-night.”
He threw himself down upon one of the rugs and was asleep directly, while the professor walked to the doorway, and found two fierce-looking sentries outside, one of whom menacingly bade him go back.
He spoke in the Turkish language; but his manner made his meaning plain, so Mr Preston went back to the fireside, and sat talking to the Chumleys and Lawrence till the latter fell fast asleep; and at last, in spite of the peril of his position, the professor grew so weary that the account of the Chumleys’ troubles began to sound soothing, and, what with the long day’s work, the exposure to the keen mountain air, and the warmth of the fire, he too fell asleep, and silence reigned in the ancient structure that had been made their prison.