Chapter Twenty.

Chapter Twenty.The Ancient Dwellings.“Look here; stop a minute,” said Mr Burne; “if we’ve got to climb up that break-neck place, hadn’t we better leave these guns and things at the bottom, so as to have our hands clear?”“No—no—no,” exclaimed Yussuf impatiently; “a man in this country should never leave his weapons out of his reach.”“Bah! what nonsense, sir! Anyone would think we were at sea again, or in a country where there are no laws.”“There are plenty of laws, Burne,” said the professor, “but we are getting out of their reach.”“Highwaymen and footpads about, I suppose?” said the old lawyer mockingly. “My dear sir, don’t put such romantic notions into the boy’s head. This is not Hounslow Heath. I suppose you will want to make me believe next that there are bands of robbers close at hand, with a captain whose belt is stuck full of pistols—eh, Yussuf?”“Oh, yes, sir,” said their guide quietly. “I should not be surprised. There are plenty of brigands in the mountains.”“Rubbish, sir; stuff, sir; nonsense, sir!”“It is true, sir,” replied Yussuf sturdily.“Then what do you mean, sir, if it is true, by bringing us into such a place as this?”Yussuf stared at him wonderingly; and Lawrence burst into a hearty fit of laughter.“Come, come, Burne,” cried the professor; “if anyone is to blame, it is I. Of course, this country is in a very lawless state, but all we have to do is to preserve a bold front. Come along; we are wasting time.”Yussuf smiled and nodded, and led the way up over the crumbling stones, climbing and pointing out the easiest paths, till they were at the first ledge, and were able to inspect the first group of cliff-dwellings, which proved to be strongly built roofless places, evidently of vast antiquity, and everywhere suggesting that the people who had dwelt in them had been those who lived in very troublous times, when one of the first things to think about in a home was safety, for enemies must have abounded on every side.For about a couple of hours the professor examined, and climbed, and turned over stones, finding here and there rough fragments of pottery, while Mr Burne settled himself down in a shady corner and had a nap.Yussuf was indefatigable, moving fragments of rock and trying to contrive ways off the giddy slope to another group of the strange old edifices, to which in due time, and not without some risk, the professor and Lawrence climbed. But there was nothing more to reward them than they had found below, only that the wisdom of the choice of the old occupants was evident, for just as the professor had come to the conclusion that the people who made these their strongholds must have been at the mercy of the enemies who seized upon the spring down below in the ravine, they came upon proof that there was plenty of foresight exercised, and that these ancient inhabitants had arranged so as not to be forced to surrender from thirst.It was Lawrence who made the discovery, for having climbed a little higher up the cliff face to a fresh ledge, he called to the professor to follow, and upon his reaching the spot, a great niche right in the cliff, deep and completely hidden, there were the remains of a roughly-made tank or reservoir, formed by simply building a low wall of stones and cement across the mouth, when it was evident that the water that came down from above in rainy weather would be caught and preserved for use.It was all intensely interesting to everyone but Mr Burne, who could not get up any enthusiasm on the subject of whom these people were, and excused himself from climbing higher on account of his back.They descended at length, and Mr Burne sighed with satisfaction; but Yussuf had more wonders of the past to show the travellers, pointing out a narrow path that ran diagonally up the side of the gully, and assuring the party that if they only made up their minds to ascend bravely there was no danger.Again it was suggested that Mr Burne should sit down and wait; but the only effect of this was to make him obstinate; and he started forward and followed Yussuf up the steep path.It was decidedly dangerous in places where the stones had crumbled away, and a slip must have resulted in a terrible fall; but all got well over the perilous parts, and at last they climbed to a platform on the side of the huge rocky mass, where the low crumbling walls showed where a kind of temple had once stood. Here they had an opportunity of gazing down into a valley that was one mass of glorious verdure, through which dashed a torrent, whose waters flashed and glittered where the sunbeams pierced the overhanging trees, and made the scene one of the most beautiful they had seen.There were more wonders yet, for the face of the rock was honey-combed with caverns which ran in a great distance, forming passages and chambers connected one with the other.These had evidently been inhabited, for there were marks of tools showing how they had been enlarged, and curious well-like arrangements which suggested tanks; but Yussuf assured the travellers that these holes in the natural rock were used as stores for grain, this being the manner in which it was stored or buried to the present day.“There,” cried Mr Burne, as they came out of the last cave, and stood once more upon the platform of rock by the ruins, and had a glorious panorama of the defile below—“there, I’ve been as patient as can be with you, but now it’s my turn. What I say is, that we must go back to camp at once, and have a rest and a good lunch.”“Agreed,” said Mr Preston. “You have been patient. What is it, Yussuf?” he cried suddenly, as he saw the guide gazing intently down at something about half a mile away, far along the winding defile.“Travellers,” said Yussuf; and in that wild, almost uninhabited region, the appearance of fellow-creatures excited curiosity.They were only seen for a few minutes before the party of mounted and unmounted men with their baggage were seen to curve round a bold mass of rock, and disappear into a narrow valley that turned off almost at right angles to that by which they had come.The descent proved more difficult than the ascent, and Mr Burne made several attempts to plunge down or slide amongst the débris instead of trusting to his feet; but these accidents were foreseen, and checked by Yussuf, who went in front, and at the first sound of a slip threw himself down and clung to the rock, making himself a check or drag upon the old lawyer’s progress.They reached the bottom at last safely, but heated and weary with the long and arduous descent.Once on tolerably level ground in the bottom of the defile, however, their progress was easy, and, with the anticipation of long hearty drinks at the clear spring, and a good meal from the store on the pack-horses’ backs, they strode on bravely in spite of the heat. The track up to the cliff-dwellings was passed; but now that they were weary, the way seemed to be twice as far as when they were going in the morning, and the defile looked so different upon the return journey that at last Lawrence asked with a wistful look whether they had missed the spring.Yussuf smiled and replied that it was below, and not far distant now, and a few minutes later they turned an angle in the defile, and came in full view of the patch of verdure that marked its presence in the sterile stony gorge.“Hah!” ejaculated Mr Burne, “it makes one know the value of water, travelling in a land like this. Only fancy how clear and cold and refreshing it will be.”He nodded and smiled, for it was his custom after having been in any way unamiable to try and make up for it by pleasant remarks and jocularity.“Yes,” said Mr Preston; “it does indeed. This mountain air, too, gives one an appetite—eh, Lawrence?”“Is that curious feeling one has appetite?” said the lad. “I fancied that I was not well.”“But you feel as if you could eat?”“Oh, yes; a great deal,” cried the boy, “and I shall be glad to begin.”“Then it is hunger,” said the professor laughing. “Eh, what?”This last was in answer to some words uttered loudly by Yussuf, who had walked swiftly on, and entered the little depression where they had left the man with the horses.“Gone, excellency, gone!” he cried excitedly, for the place was empty; the six horses and the man were not visible.The little party stood gazing wonderingly at each other.The water was there, gushing with great force from beneath the towering mass of rock; but their supply of food, their means of progression, the man whom they had engaged—where were they?Yussuf stood with his hands clenched, and his brow contracted, gazing down at the ground.Mr Preston looked down the valley in the direction by which they had come that morning.Mr Burne took out his box, partook of a large pinch of snuff, and blew his nose violently.Lawrence walked to the spring, stooped down, and began drinking, dipping up a little water at a time in the hollow of his hand.Then there was a few moments’ silence, and the professor spoke.“It is very vexatious, just when we were so hungry, but it is plain enough. Something has startled the horses. Your Ali Baba, Lawrence, has been biting them, and they have all gone off back, and Hamed has followed to catch them. There, let’s have a draught of spring water and trudge back.”“Humph! yes,” said Mr Burne hopefully. “We may meet them coming back before long.”They each drank and rose refreshed.“Come, Yussuf,” said the professor. “This way.”“No, effendi,” he exclaimed sharply; “not that way, but this.”“What do you mean?” cried Mr Preston, for the guide pointed up the ravine instead of down.“The horses have not been frightened, but have been stolen—carried off.”“Nonsense, man!” cried Mr Burne.“See!” said Yussuf, pointing to the soil moistened by the stream that ran from the source, “the horses have gone along this little valley by the side of the stream—here are their hoof-marks—and come out again higher up beyond this ridge of the mountain. Yes: I know. The valleys join again there beyond where we were to-day, and I ought to have known it,” he cried, stamping his foot.“Known? Known what, man?” cried Mr Burne angrily.“That those men, who I said were travellers, were the robbers, who have seized our horses, and carried everything off into the hills.”

“Look here; stop a minute,” said Mr Burne; “if we’ve got to climb up that break-neck place, hadn’t we better leave these guns and things at the bottom, so as to have our hands clear?”

“No—no—no,” exclaimed Yussuf impatiently; “a man in this country should never leave his weapons out of his reach.”

“Bah! what nonsense, sir! Anyone would think we were at sea again, or in a country where there are no laws.”

“There are plenty of laws, Burne,” said the professor, “but we are getting out of their reach.”

“Highwaymen and footpads about, I suppose?” said the old lawyer mockingly. “My dear sir, don’t put such romantic notions into the boy’s head. This is not Hounslow Heath. I suppose you will want to make me believe next that there are bands of robbers close at hand, with a captain whose belt is stuck full of pistols—eh, Yussuf?”

“Oh, yes, sir,” said their guide quietly. “I should not be surprised. There are plenty of brigands in the mountains.”

“Rubbish, sir; stuff, sir; nonsense, sir!”

“It is true, sir,” replied Yussuf sturdily.

“Then what do you mean, sir, if it is true, by bringing us into such a place as this?”

Yussuf stared at him wonderingly; and Lawrence burst into a hearty fit of laughter.

“Come, come, Burne,” cried the professor; “if anyone is to blame, it is I. Of course, this country is in a very lawless state, but all we have to do is to preserve a bold front. Come along; we are wasting time.”

Yussuf smiled and nodded, and led the way up over the crumbling stones, climbing and pointing out the easiest paths, till they were at the first ledge, and were able to inspect the first group of cliff-dwellings, which proved to be strongly built roofless places, evidently of vast antiquity, and everywhere suggesting that the people who had dwelt in them had been those who lived in very troublous times, when one of the first things to think about in a home was safety, for enemies must have abounded on every side.

For about a couple of hours the professor examined, and climbed, and turned over stones, finding here and there rough fragments of pottery, while Mr Burne settled himself down in a shady corner and had a nap.

Yussuf was indefatigable, moving fragments of rock and trying to contrive ways off the giddy slope to another group of the strange old edifices, to which in due time, and not without some risk, the professor and Lawrence climbed. But there was nothing more to reward them than they had found below, only that the wisdom of the choice of the old occupants was evident, for just as the professor had come to the conclusion that the people who made these their strongholds must have been at the mercy of the enemies who seized upon the spring down below in the ravine, they came upon proof that there was plenty of foresight exercised, and that these ancient inhabitants had arranged so as not to be forced to surrender from thirst.

It was Lawrence who made the discovery, for having climbed a little higher up the cliff face to a fresh ledge, he called to the professor to follow, and upon his reaching the spot, a great niche right in the cliff, deep and completely hidden, there were the remains of a roughly-made tank or reservoir, formed by simply building a low wall of stones and cement across the mouth, when it was evident that the water that came down from above in rainy weather would be caught and preserved for use.

It was all intensely interesting to everyone but Mr Burne, who could not get up any enthusiasm on the subject of whom these people were, and excused himself from climbing higher on account of his back.

They descended at length, and Mr Burne sighed with satisfaction; but Yussuf had more wonders of the past to show the travellers, pointing out a narrow path that ran diagonally up the side of the gully, and assuring the party that if they only made up their minds to ascend bravely there was no danger.

Again it was suggested that Mr Burne should sit down and wait; but the only effect of this was to make him obstinate; and he started forward and followed Yussuf up the steep path.

It was decidedly dangerous in places where the stones had crumbled away, and a slip must have resulted in a terrible fall; but all got well over the perilous parts, and at last they climbed to a platform on the side of the huge rocky mass, where the low crumbling walls showed where a kind of temple had once stood. Here they had an opportunity of gazing down into a valley that was one mass of glorious verdure, through which dashed a torrent, whose waters flashed and glittered where the sunbeams pierced the overhanging trees, and made the scene one of the most beautiful they had seen.

There were more wonders yet, for the face of the rock was honey-combed with caverns which ran in a great distance, forming passages and chambers connected one with the other.

These had evidently been inhabited, for there were marks of tools showing how they had been enlarged, and curious well-like arrangements which suggested tanks; but Yussuf assured the travellers that these holes in the natural rock were used as stores for grain, this being the manner in which it was stored or buried to the present day.

“There,” cried Mr Burne, as they came out of the last cave, and stood once more upon the platform of rock by the ruins, and had a glorious panorama of the defile below—“there, I’ve been as patient as can be with you, but now it’s my turn. What I say is, that we must go back to camp at once, and have a rest and a good lunch.”

“Agreed,” said Mr Preston. “You have been patient. What is it, Yussuf?” he cried suddenly, as he saw the guide gazing intently down at something about half a mile away, far along the winding defile.

“Travellers,” said Yussuf; and in that wild, almost uninhabited region, the appearance of fellow-creatures excited curiosity.

They were only seen for a few minutes before the party of mounted and unmounted men with their baggage were seen to curve round a bold mass of rock, and disappear into a narrow valley that turned off almost at right angles to that by which they had come.

The descent proved more difficult than the ascent, and Mr Burne made several attempts to plunge down or slide amongst the débris instead of trusting to his feet; but these accidents were foreseen, and checked by Yussuf, who went in front, and at the first sound of a slip threw himself down and clung to the rock, making himself a check or drag upon the old lawyer’s progress.

They reached the bottom at last safely, but heated and weary with the long and arduous descent.

Once on tolerably level ground in the bottom of the defile, however, their progress was easy, and, with the anticipation of long hearty drinks at the clear spring, and a good meal from the store on the pack-horses’ backs, they strode on bravely in spite of the heat. The track up to the cliff-dwellings was passed; but now that they were weary, the way seemed to be twice as far as when they were going in the morning, and the defile looked so different upon the return journey that at last Lawrence asked with a wistful look whether they had missed the spring.

Yussuf smiled and replied that it was below, and not far distant now, and a few minutes later they turned an angle in the defile, and came in full view of the patch of verdure that marked its presence in the sterile stony gorge.

“Hah!” ejaculated Mr Burne, “it makes one know the value of water, travelling in a land like this. Only fancy how clear and cold and refreshing it will be.”

He nodded and smiled, for it was his custom after having been in any way unamiable to try and make up for it by pleasant remarks and jocularity.

“Yes,” said Mr Preston; “it does indeed. This mountain air, too, gives one an appetite—eh, Lawrence?”

“Is that curious feeling one has appetite?” said the lad. “I fancied that I was not well.”

“But you feel as if you could eat?”

“Oh, yes; a great deal,” cried the boy, “and I shall be glad to begin.”

“Then it is hunger,” said the professor laughing. “Eh, what?”

This last was in answer to some words uttered loudly by Yussuf, who had walked swiftly on, and entered the little depression where they had left the man with the horses.

“Gone, excellency, gone!” he cried excitedly, for the place was empty; the six horses and the man were not visible.

The little party stood gazing wonderingly at each other.

The water was there, gushing with great force from beneath the towering mass of rock; but their supply of food, their means of progression, the man whom they had engaged—where were they?

Yussuf stood with his hands clenched, and his brow contracted, gazing down at the ground.

Mr Preston looked down the valley in the direction by which they had come that morning.

Mr Burne took out his box, partook of a large pinch of snuff, and blew his nose violently.

Lawrence walked to the spring, stooped down, and began drinking, dipping up a little water at a time in the hollow of his hand.

Then there was a few moments’ silence, and the professor spoke.

“It is very vexatious, just when we were so hungry, but it is plain enough. Something has startled the horses. Your Ali Baba, Lawrence, has been biting them, and they have all gone off back, and Hamed has followed to catch them. There, let’s have a draught of spring water and trudge back.”

“Humph! yes,” said Mr Burne hopefully. “We may meet them coming back before long.”

They each drank and rose refreshed.

“Come, Yussuf,” said the professor. “This way.”

“No, effendi,” he exclaimed sharply; “not that way, but this.”

“What do you mean?” cried Mr Preston, for the guide pointed up the ravine instead of down.

“The horses have not been frightened, but have been stolen—carried off.”

“Nonsense, man!” cried Mr Burne.

“See!” said Yussuf, pointing to the soil moistened by the stream that ran from the source, “the horses have gone along this little valley by the side of the stream—here are their hoof-marks—and come out again higher up beyond this ridge of the mountain. Yes: I know. The valleys join again there beyond where we were to-day, and I ought to have known it,” he cried, stamping his foot.

“Known? Known what, man?” cried Mr Burne angrily.

“That those men, who I said were travellers, were the robbers, who have seized our horses, and carried everything off into the hills.”

Chapter Twenty One.A Skirmish.“This is a pretty state of affairs,” cried Mr Burne, opening and shutting his snuff-box to make it snap. “Now, what’s to be done?”“Tramp to the nearest village, I suppose, and buy more,” replied the professor coolly, “We must expect reverses. This is one.”“Hang your reverses, man! I don’t expect and I will not have them, if I can help it—serves us right for not watching over our baggage.”“Well, Yussuf, I suppose you are right,” said the professor.“Yes, effendi. What is to be done?”“What I say.”“Yes; what you say,” replied the Turk frowning; “and he is so young. We are only three.”“What are you thinking, Yussuf?”“That it makes my blood boil, effendi, to be robbed; and I feel that we ought to follow and punish the dogs. They are cowards, and would fly. A robber always shrinks from the man who faces him boldly.”“And you would follow them, Yussuf?”“If your excellency would,” he said eagerly.The grave quiet professor’s face flushed, his eyes brightened, and for a few moments he felt as if his youthful days had come back, when he was one of the leaders in his college in athletics, and had more than once been in a town-and-gown row. All this before he had settled down into the heavy serious absent-minded student. There was now a curious tingling in his nerves, and he felt ready to agree to anything that would result in the punishment of the cowardly thieves who had left them in such a predicament; but just then his eyes fell upon Lawrence’s slight delicate figure, and from that they ranged to the face of Mr Burne, and he was the grave professor again.“Why, Preston,” said the old lawyer, “you looked as if you meant fighting.”“But I do not,” he replied. “Discretion is the better part of valour, they say.” Then, turning to Yussuf—“What is the nearest place to where we are now?”Yussuf’s face changed. There was a look of disappointment in it for a few moments, but he turned grave and calm as usual, as he said:“There is a village right up the valley, excellency. It is partly in the way taken by the robbers, but they will be far distant by now. They are riding and we are afoot.”“But is it far?”“Half the distance that it would be were we to return to the place we left this morning.”“Forward, then. Come, Lawrence, you must walk as far as you can, and then I will stay with you, and we will send the others forward for help.”“I do not feel so tired now,” said the lad. “I am ready.”Yussuf took the lead again and they set off, walking steadily on straight past the cliff-dwellings, and the ruins by the cave, till they reached the spot in the beautifully-wooded vale where, from far above, they had seen the horsemen pass, little thinking at the time that they were bearing off their strong helps to a journey through the mountains, and all the food.Here the beaten track curved off to the left, and the traces left by the horses were plain enough to see, for there was a little patch of marshy ground made by a little spring here, and this they had passed, Yussuf eagerly scanning them, and making out that somewhere about twelve horses had crossed here, and there were also the footprints of five or six men.“If we go this way we may overtake the scoundrels,” said the old lawyer, “but it will not do. Yussuf, I am a man of peace, and I should prove to be a very poor creature in another fight. I had quite enough to last me the rest of my life on board that boat. Here, let’s rest a few hours.”“No, excellency; we must go on, even if it is slowly. This part of the valley is marshy, and there are fevers caught here. I have been along here twice, and there is a narrow track over that shoulder of the mountain that we can easily follow afoot, though we could not take horses. It is far shorter, too. Can the young effendi walk so far?”Lawrence declared that he could, for the mountain air gave him strength. So they left the beaten track, to continue along a narrow water-course for a couple of miles, and then rapidly ascend the side of one of the vast masses of cliff, the path being literally a shelf in places not more than a foot wide, with the mountain on their left rising up like a wall, and on their right the rock sank right down to the stream, which gurgled among the masses of stone which had fallen from above, a couple of hundred feet below them and quite out of sight.“’Pon my word, Yussuf, this is a pretty sort of a place!” panted Mr Burne. “Hang it, man! It is dangerous.”“There is no danger, effendi, if you do not think of danger.”“But I do think of danger, sir. Why, bless my heart, sir, there isn’t room for a man to turn round and comfortably blow his nose.”“There is plenty of room for the feet, effendi,” replied Yussuf; “the path is level, and if you will think of the beautiful rocks, and hills, and listen to the birds singing below there, where the stream is foaming, and the bushes grow amongst the rocks, there is no danger.”“But I can’t think about the beauty of all these things, Yussuf, my man, and I can only think I am going to turn giddy, and that my feet are about to slip.”“Why should you, effendi?” replied the Turk gravely. “Is it not given to man to be calm and confident, and to walk bravely on, in such places as this? He can train himself to go through what is dangerous to the timid without risk. Look at the young effendi!” he added in a whisper; “he sees no danger upon the path.”“Upon my word! Really! Bless my heart! I say, Preston, do you hear how this fellow is talking to me?”“Yes, I hear,” replied the professor. “He is quite right.”“Quite right!”“Certainly. I have several times over felt nervous, both in our climb this morning, and since we have been up here; but I feel now as if I have mastered my timidity, and I do not mind the path half so much as I did.”“Then I’ve got your share and my own, and—now, just look at that boy. It is absurd.”“What is absurd?” said the professor quietly.“Why, to see him walking on like that. Ill! Invalid! He is an impostor.”The professor smiled.“I say, is it safe to let him go on like that?”“So long as he feels no fear. See how confident he is!” said Mr Preston.Just then Lawrence stopped for the others to overtake him.“Have you noticed what beautiful white stone this is, Mr Preston?” he said.He pointed down at the path they were on, for every here and there the rock was worn smooth and shiny by the action of the air and water, perhaps, too, by the footsteps of men for thousands of years, and was almost as white as snow.“Yes,” said the professor, “I have been making a mental note of it, and wishing I had a geologist’s hammer. You know what it is, I suppose?”“White stone, of course,” said Mr Burne.“Fine white marble,” said the professor.“Nonsense, sir! What! in quantities like this?”“To be sure.”“But it would be worth a large fortune in London.”“Exactly, and it is worth next to nothing here, because it could not be got down to the sea-shore, and the carriage would be enormous.”“What a pity!” exclaimed the old lawyer. “Dear me! Fine white marble! So it is. What a company one might get up. The Asia Minor Major Marble Quarry Company—eh, Preston?”“Yes, in hundred-pound shares that would be worth nothing.”“Humph! I suppose not. Well, never mind. I’d rather have a chicken pie and a loaf of bread now than all the marble in the universe. Let’s get on.”Their progress was slow, for in spite of all that Yussuf had said they had to exercise a great deal of care, especially as the narrow track rose higher and higher, till they were at a dizzy height above the little stream, whose source they passed just as the sun was getting low; and then their way lay between two steep cliffs; and next round a sunny slope that was dotted with huge walnut-trees, the soil being; evidently deep and moist consequent upon a spring that crossed their path.The trees were of great girth, but not lofty, and a peculiarity about them was that they were ill-grown, and gnarled and knotted in a way that made them seem as if they were diseased. For every now and then one of them displayed a huge lump or boss, such as is sometimes seen upon elms at home.“There’s another little fortune there, Burne,” said the professor quietly.“Nonsense, sir! There isn’t a tree in the lot out of which you could cut a good board. Might do for gun-stocks.”“My dear Burne,” said the professor, “don’t you know that these large ugly bosses go to Europe to be steamed till they are soft, and then shaved off into leaves as thin almost as coarse brown paper, and then used and polished for all our handsome pianofortes?”“No,” said Mr Burne shortly, “I didn’t know it, and I didn’t want to know it. I’m starving, and my back is getting bad again. Here, Yussuf, how much farther is it?”“Two hours’ journey, excellency; but as soon as we reach that gap in the rocks we come to a road that leads directly to the village, and the walking will be easier.”“Hadn’t we better try and shoot a bird or an animal, and make a fire under those trees, and see if we can find some walnuts? I must eat something. I cannot devour snuff!”The professor smiled.“There is nothing to shoot,” he said; “and as to the walnuts, they are very nice after dinner with wine, but for a meal—”“Here, Lawrence, you are tired out, my boy,” cried Mr Burne interrupting.“Yes, I am very tired,” said Lawrence, “but I can go on.”“It is dreary work to rest without food,” said Yussuf, “but it might be better to get on to the spring yonder, and pick out a sheltered place among the rocks, where we could lie down and sleep for a few hours, till the moon rises, and then continue our journey.”“That’s the plan, Yussuf; agreednem con,” cried Mr Burne.“Perhaps it will be best,” said Mr Preston, and they journeyed on for another half hour, till they reached the gap which their guide had pointed out, one which proved to be the embouchure of another ravine, along the bottom of which meandered a rough road that had probably never been repaired since the Romans ruled the land.“Let us go a little way in,” said Yussuf; “we shall then be sheltered from the wind. It will blow coldly when the sun has set.”He led the way into a wild and awful-looking chasm, for the shadows were growing deeper, and to the weary and hungry travellers the place had a strangely forbidding look, suggestive of hidden dangers. But for the calm and confident way in which Yussuf marched forward, the others would have hesitated to plunge into a gorge of so weird a character, until the sun had lightened its gloomy depths.“I think this will do,” said Yussuf, as they turned an angle about a couple of hundred yards from the entrance. “I will climb up here first. These rocks look cave-like and offer shelter. Hist!”He held up his hand, for a trampling sound seemed to come from the face of the rocks a couple of hundred feet above them, and all involuntarily turned to gaze up at a spot where the shadows were blackest.All except Yussuf, who gazed straight onward into the ravine.It was strange. There was quite a precipice up there, and it was impossible for people to be walking. What was more strange, there was the trampling of horses’ feet, and then it struck the professor that they were listening to the echoes of the sounds made by a party some distance in.“How lucky!” said Mr Burne. “People coming. We shall get something to eat.”“Hush, effendi!” said Yussuf sternly. “These may not be friends.”“What?” exclaimed Mr Burne, cocking his gun.“Yes; that is right, excellencies; look to your arms. If they are friends there is no harm done. They will respect us the more. If they are enemies, we must be prepared.”“Stop!” said Mr Preston, glancing at Lawrence. “We must hide or run.”“There is time for neither, effendi,” said Yussuf, taking out his revolver. “They will be upon us in a minute, and to run would be to draw their fire upon us.”“Run!” exclaimed Mr Burne; “no, sir. As I’m an Englishman I won’t run. If it was Napoleon Bonaparte and his army coming, and these were the Alps, I would not run now, hungry as I am, and I certainly will not go for a set of Turkish ragamuffins or Greeks.”“Then, stand firm here, excellencies, behind these stones. They are mounted; we are afoot.”The little party had hardly taken their places in the shadow cast by a rock, when a group of horse and footmen came into sight. They were about fourteen or fifteen in number apparently, some mounted, some afoot, and low down in that deep gorge the darkness was coming on so fast that it was only possible to see that they were roughly clad and carried guns.They came on at a steady walk, talking loudly, their horses’ hoofs ringing on the stony road, and quite unconscious of anyone being close beside the path they were taking till they were within some forty yards, when a man who was in front suddenly caught sight of the group behind the rocks, checked his horse, uttered a warning cry, and the next moment ample proof was given that they were either enemies or timid travellers, who took the party by the rocks for deadly foes.For all at once the gloomy gorge was lit by the flashes of pretty well a dozen muskets, the rocks echoed the scattered volley, and magnified it fifty-fold, and then, with a yell, the company came galloping down, to rush past and reach the open slope beyond.How it all happened neither Mr Burne nor the professor could fully have explained. It must have been the effect of Yussuf’s example, for, as the bullets flew harmlessly over the party’s head, he replied with shot after shot from his revolver, discharging it at the attacking group. As he fired his second shot, Mr Burne’s fowling-piece went off, both barrels almost together, and the professor and Lawrence both fired as the group reached them, and after them, as it passed and went thundering by and down the slope out beyond the entrance to the gorge.“Load again quickly,” cried the professor; “they may return. There is one poor wretch down.”His command was obeyed, empty cartridges thrown out and fresh ones inserted; but the trampling of horses’ hoofs was continued, and gradually grew more faint, as the little party descended from their improvised fort. They ran down, for something curious had occurred.As the band of horsemen charged, their company seemed to divide in two, and the cause appeared to be this:One of the mounted men was seen to fall from his saddle and hang by the stirrup, when his horse, instead of galloping on, stopped short, and five other horses that were seen to be riderless stopped, after going fifty yards, and cantered back to their companion and huddled round him.“Why, there’s Ali Baba!” cried Lawrence excitedly, as he ran down and caught his little steed by the bridle.“And the pack-horses!” cried Mr Burne quite as excitedly, as he followed.“Enemies, not friends, effendi,” said Yussuf quickly.For all had seen at once now that they had recovered their lost horses, it being evident that the travellers, by taking the short cut, had got ahead of the marauding band, for such they seemed to be; and they had possibly made the task the easier by halting somewhere on the way to let their horses feed.But there was another cause for the horses keeping together, and not following those of the strangers in their headlong flight, for, on coming up, the reason for the first one stopping was perfectly plain. Hamed, the pack-horse driver, had been made prisoner, and, poor fellow! secured by having his ankles bound together by a rope which passed beneath the horse’s girths. When the charge had been made he had slipped sidewise, being unable to keep his seat, and gone down beneath his horse, with the result that the docile, well-trained animal stopped at once, and then its comrades had halted and cantered back.“Is he much hurt, Preston?” said Mr Burne eagerly, as the professor supported the poor fellow, while Yussuf drew out his dagger and cut the rope.“I cannot say yet. Keep your eyes on the mouth of the gorge, and fire at once if the scoundrels show again.”“They will not show again, effendi,” said Yussuf. “They are too much scared. That’s better. The horses will stand. They know us now. Take hold of your bridle, Mr Lawrence, and the others will be sure to stay.”Lawrence obeyed, and rested his piece on the horse’s back, standing beside him and watching the mouth of the defile, while the others carried the injured man to the side and laid him down, the professor taking out his flask which was filled with spirit.“Yes,” said Yussuf, acquiescing. “It is not a drink for a true believer, but it is a wonderful medicine, effendi.”So it proved, for soon after a little had been poured down Hamed’s throat the poor fellow opened his eyes and smiled.“It is your excellencies!” he said in his native tongue; and upon Yussuf questioning him, he told them faintly that he was not much hurt, only a little stunned. That he was seated by the fount, with his horses grazing, when the band of armed men rode up, and one of them struck him over the head with the barrel of his musket, and when he recovered somewhat he found himself a prisoner, with his legs tied as he was found, and the horses led and driven down a narrow defile, out of which they had made their way into a forest of shady trees. Later on they had made a halt for a couple of hours, and then continued their journey, which was brought to an end, as far as he was concerned, by his falling beneath his horse.“What is to be done now?” said the professor.“Eat,” exclaimed Mr Burne, “even if we have to fight directly after dinner.”“The effendi is right,” said Yussuf smiling. “If we go on, we may fall into a trap. If we go back a little way here till we find a suitable spot, the enemy will not dare to come and attack us in the dark. Can you walk, Hamed?”The poor fellow tried to rise, but his ankles were perfectly numbed, and there was nothing for it but to help him up on one of the horses, and go back farther into the gloomy ravine, which was perfectly black by the time they had found a likely place for their bivouac, where the horses would be safe as well, and this done, one of the packs was taken down from its bearer and a hearty meal made by all, Yussuf eating as he kept guard with Lawrence’s gun, while Hamed was well enough to play his part feebly, as the horses rejoiced in a good feed of barley apiece.

“This is a pretty state of affairs,” cried Mr Burne, opening and shutting his snuff-box to make it snap. “Now, what’s to be done?”

“Tramp to the nearest village, I suppose, and buy more,” replied the professor coolly, “We must expect reverses. This is one.”

“Hang your reverses, man! I don’t expect and I will not have them, if I can help it—serves us right for not watching over our baggage.”

“Well, Yussuf, I suppose you are right,” said the professor.

“Yes, effendi. What is to be done?”

“What I say.”

“Yes; what you say,” replied the Turk frowning; “and he is so young. We are only three.”

“What are you thinking, Yussuf?”

“That it makes my blood boil, effendi, to be robbed; and I feel that we ought to follow and punish the dogs. They are cowards, and would fly. A robber always shrinks from the man who faces him boldly.”

“And you would follow them, Yussuf?”

“If your excellency would,” he said eagerly.

The grave quiet professor’s face flushed, his eyes brightened, and for a few moments he felt as if his youthful days had come back, when he was one of the leaders in his college in athletics, and had more than once been in a town-and-gown row. All this before he had settled down into the heavy serious absent-minded student. There was now a curious tingling in his nerves, and he felt ready to agree to anything that would result in the punishment of the cowardly thieves who had left them in such a predicament; but just then his eyes fell upon Lawrence’s slight delicate figure, and from that they ranged to the face of Mr Burne, and he was the grave professor again.

“Why, Preston,” said the old lawyer, “you looked as if you meant fighting.”

“But I do not,” he replied. “Discretion is the better part of valour, they say.” Then, turning to Yussuf—“What is the nearest place to where we are now?”

Yussuf’s face changed. There was a look of disappointment in it for a few moments, but he turned grave and calm as usual, as he said:

“There is a village right up the valley, excellency. It is partly in the way taken by the robbers, but they will be far distant by now. They are riding and we are afoot.”

“But is it far?”

“Half the distance that it would be were we to return to the place we left this morning.”

“Forward, then. Come, Lawrence, you must walk as far as you can, and then I will stay with you, and we will send the others forward for help.”

“I do not feel so tired now,” said the lad. “I am ready.”

Yussuf took the lead again and they set off, walking steadily on straight past the cliff-dwellings, and the ruins by the cave, till they reached the spot in the beautifully-wooded vale where, from far above, they had seen the horsemen pass, little thinking at the time that they were bearing off their strong helps to a journey through the mountains, and all the food.

Here the beaten track curved off to the left, and the traces left by the horses were plain enough to see, for there was a little patch of marshy ground made by a little spring here, and this they had passed, Yussuf eagerly scanning them, and making out that somewhere about twelve horses had crossed here, and there were also the footprints of five or six men.

“If we go this way we may overtake the scoundrels,” said the old lawyer, “but it will not do. Yussuf, I am a man of peace, and I should prove to be a very poor creature in another fight. I had quite enough to last me the rest of my life on board that boat. Here, let’s rest a few hours.”

“No, excellency; we must go on, even if it is slowly. This part of the valley is marshy, and there are fevers caught here. I have been along here twice, and there is a narrow track over that shoulder of the mountain that we can easily follow afoot, though we could not take horses. It is far shorter, too. Can the young effendi walk so far?”

Lawrence declared that he could, for the mountain air gave him strength. So they left the beaten track, to continue along a narrow water-course for a couple of miles, and then rapidly ascend the side of one of the vast masses of cliff, the path being literally a shelf in places not more than a foot wide, with the mountain on their left rising up like a wall, and on their right the rock sank right down to the stream, which gurgled among the masses of stone which had fallen from above, a couple of hundred feet below them and quite out of sight.

“’Pon my word, Yussuf, this is a pretty sort of a place!” panted Mr Burne. “Hang it, man! It is dangerous.”

“There is no danger, effendi, if you do not think of danger.”

“But I do think of danger, sir. Why, bless my heart, sir, there isn’t room for a man to turn round and comfortably blow his nose.”

“There is plenty of room for the feet, effendi,” replied Yussuf; “the path is level, and if you will think of the beautiful rocks, and hills, and listen to the birds singing below there, where the stream is foaming, and the bushes grow amongst the rocks, there is no danger.”

“But I can’t think about the beauty of all these things, Yussuf, my man, and I can only think I am going to turn giddy, and that my feet are about to slip.”

“Why should you, effendi?” replied the Turk gravely. “Is it not given to man to be calm and confident, and to walk bravely on, in such places as this? He can train himself to go through what is dangerous to the timid without risk. Look at the young effendi!” he added in a whisper; “he sees no danger upon the path.”

“Upon my word! Really! Bless my heart! I say, Preston, do you hear how this fellow is talking to me?”

“Yes, I hear,” replied the professor. “He is quite right.”

“Quite right!”

“Certainly. I have several times over felt nervous, both in our climb this morning, and since we have been up here; but I feel now as if I have mastered my timidity, and I do not mind the path half so much as I did.”

“Then I’ve got your share and my own, and—now, just look at that boy. It is absurd.”

“What is absurd?” said the professor quietly.

“Why, to see him walking on like that. Ill! Invalid! He is an impostor.”

The professor smiled.

“I say, is it safe to let him go on like that?”

“So long as he feels no fear. See how confident he is!” said Mr Preston.

Just then Lawrence stopped for the others to overtake him.

“Have you noticed what beautiful white stone this is, Mr Preston?” he said.

He pointed down at the path they were on, for every here and there the rock was worn smooth and shiny by the action of the air and water, perhaps, too, by the footsteps of men for thousands of years, and was almost as white as snow.

“Yes,” said the professor, “I have been making a mental note of it, and wishing I had a geologist’s hammer. You know what it is, I suppose?”

“White stone, of course,” said Mr Burne.

“Fine white marble,” said the professor.

“Nonsense, sir! What! in quantities like this?”

“To be sure.”

“But it would be worth a large fortune in London.”

“Exactly, and it is worth next to nothing here, because it could not be got down to the sea-shore, and the carriage would be enormous.”

“What a pity!” exclaimed the old lawyer. “Dear me! Fine white marble! So it is. What a company one might get up. The Asia Minor Major Marble Quarry Company—eh, Preston?”

“Yes, in hundred-pound shares that would be worth nothing.”

“Humph! I suppose not. Well, never mind. I’d rather have a chicken pie and a loaf of bread now than all the marble in the universe. Let’s get on.”

Their progress was slow, for in spite of all that Yussuf had said they had to exercise a great deal of care, especially as the narrow track rose higher and higher, till they were at a dizzy height above the little stream, whose source they passed just as the sun was getting low; and then their way lay between two steep cliffs; and next round a sunny slope that was dotted with huge walnut-trees, the soil being; evidently deep and moist consequent upon a spring that crossed their path.

The trees were of great girth, but not lofty, and a peculiarity about them was that they were ill-grown, and gnarled and knotted in a way that made them seem as if they were diseased. For every now and then one of them displayed a huge lump or boss, such as is sometimes seen upon elms at home.

“There’s another little fortune there, Burne,” said the professor quietly.

“Nonsense, sir! There isn’t a tree in the lot out of which you could cut a good board. Might do for gun-stocks.”

“My dear Burne,” said the professor, “don’t you know that these large ugly bosses go to Europe to be steamed till they are soft, and then shaved off into leaves as thin almost as coarse brown paper, and then used and polished for all our handsome pianofortes?”

“No,” said Mr Burne shortly, “I didn’t know it, and I didn’t want to know it. I’m starving, and my back is getting bad again. Here, Yussuf, how much farther is it?”

“Two hours’ journey, excellency; but as soon as we reach that gap in the rocks we come to a road that leads directly to the village, and the walking will be easier.”

“Hadn’t we better try and shoot a bird or an animal, and make a fire under those trees, and see if we can find some walnuts? I must eat something. I cannot devour snuff!”

The professor smiled.

“There is nothing to shoot,” he said; “and as to the walnuts, they are very nice after dinner with wine, but for a meal—”

“Here, Lawrence, you are tired out, my boy,” cried Mr Burne interrupting.

“Yes, I am very tired,” said Lawrence, “but I can go on.”

“It is dreary work to rest without food,” said Yussuf, “but it might be better to get on to the spring yonder, and pick out a sheltered place among the rocks, where we could lie down and sleep for a few hours, till the moon rises, and then continue our journey.”

“That’s the plan, Yussuf; agreednem con,” cried Mr Burne.

“Perhaps it will be best,” said Mr Preston, and they journeyed on for another half hour, till they reached the gap which their guide had pointed out, one which proved to be the embouchure of another ravine, along the bottom of which meandered a rough road that had probably never been repaired since the Romans ruled the land.

“Let us go a little way in,” said Yussuf; “we shall then be sheltered from the wind. It will blow coldly when the sun has set.”

He led the way into a wild and awful-looking chasm, for the shadows were growing deeper, and to the weary and hungry travellers the place had a strangely forbidding look, suggestive of hidden dangers. But for the calm and confident way in which Yussuf marched forward, the others would have hesitated to plunge into a gorge of so weird a character, until the sun had lightened its gloomy depths.

“I think this will do,” said Yussuf, as they turned an angle about a couple of hundred yards from the entrance. “I will climb up here first. These rocks look cave-like and offer shelter. Hist!”

He held up his hand, for a trampling sound seemed to come from the face of the rocks a couple of hundred feet above them, and all involuntarily turned to gaze up at a spot where the shadows were blackest.

All except Yussuf, who gazed straight onward into the ravine.

It was strange. There was quite a precipice up there, and it was impossible for people to be walking. What was more strange, there was the trampling of horses’ feet, and then it struck the professor that they were listening to the echoes of the sounds made by a party some distance in.

“How lucky!” said Mr Burne. “People coming. We shall get something to eat.”

“Hush, effendi!” said Yussuf sternly. “These may not be friends.”

“What?” exclaimed Mr Burne, cocking his gun.

“Yes; that is right, excellencies; look to your arms. If they are friends there is no harm done. They will respect us the more. If they are enemies, we must be prepared.”

“Stop!” said Mr Preston, glancing at Lawrence. “We must hide or run.”

“There is time for neither, effendi,” said Yussuf, taking out his revolver. “They will be upon us in a minute, and to run would be to draw their fire upon us.”

“Run!” exclaimed Mr Burne; “no, sir. As I’m an Englishman I won’t run. If it was Napoleon Bonaparte and his army coming, and these were the Alps, I would not run now, hungry as I am, and I certainly will not go for a set of Turkish ragamuffins or Greeks.”

“Then, stand firm here, excellencies, behind these stones. They are mounted; we are afoot.”

The little party had hardly taken their places in the shadow cast by a rock, when a group of horse and footmen came into sight. They were about fourteen or fifteen in number apparently, some mounted, some afoot, and low down in that deep gorge the darkness was coming on so fast that it was only possible to see that they were roughly clad and carried guns.

They came on at a steady walk, talking loudly, their horses’ hoofs ringing on the stony road, and quite unconscious of anyone being close beside the path they were taking till they were within some forty yards, when a man who was in front suddenly caught sight of the group behind the rocks, checked his horse, uttered a warning cry, and the next moment ample proof was given that they were either enemies or timid travellers, who took the party by the rocks for deadly foes.

For all at once the gloomy gorge was lit by the flashes of pretty well a dozen muskets, the rocks echoed the scattered volley, and magnified it fifty-fold, and then, with a yell, the company came galloping down, to rush past and reach the open slope beyond.

How it all happened neither Mr Burne nor the professor could fully have explained. It must have been the effect of Yussuf’s example, for, as the bullets flew harmlessly over the party’s head, he replied with shot after shot from his revolver, discharging it at the attacking group. As he fired his second shot, Mr Burne’s fowling-piece went off, both barrels almost together, and the professor and Lawrence both fired as the group reached them, and after them, as it passed and went thundering by and down the slope out beyond the entrance to the gorge.

“Load again quickly,” cried the professor; “they may return. There is one poor wretch down.”

His command was obeyed, empty cartridges thrown out and fresh ones inserted; but the trampling of horses’ hoofs was continued, and gradually grew more faint, as the little party descended from their improvised fort. They ran down, for something curious had occurred.

As the band of horsemen charged, their company seemed to divide in two, and the cause appeared to be this:

One of the mounted men was seen to fall from his saddle and hang by the stirrup, when his horse, instead of galloping on, stopped short, and five other horses that were seen to be riderless stopped, after going fifty yards, and cantered back to their companion and huddled round him.

“Why, there’s Ali Baba!” cried Lawrence excitedly, as he ran down and caught his little steed by the bridle.

“And the pack-horses!” cried Mr Burne quite as excitedly, as he followed.

“Enemies, not friends, effendi,” said Yussuf quickly.

For all had seen at once now that they had recovered their lost horses, it being evident that the travellers, by taking the short cut, had got ahead of the marauding band, for such they seemed to be; and they had possibly made the task the easier by halting somewhere on the way to let their horses feed.

But there was another cause for the horses keeping together, and not following those of the strangers in their headlong flight, for, on coming up, the reason for the first one stopping was perfectly plain. Hamed, the pack-horse driver, had been made prisoner, and, poor fellow! secured by having his ankles bound together by a rope which passed beneath the horse’s girths. When the charge had been made he had slipped sidewise, being unable to keep his seat, and gone down beneath his horse, with the result that the docile, well-trained animal stopped at once, and then its comrades had halted and cantered back.

“Is he much hurt, Preston?” said Mr Burne eagerly, as the professor supported the poor fellow, while Yussuf drew out his dagger and cut the rope.

“I cannot say yet. Keep your eyes on the mouth of the gorge, and fire at once if the scoundrels show again.”

“They will not show again, effendi,” said Yussuf. “They are too much scared. That’s better. The horses will stand. They know us now. Take hold of your bridle, Mr Lawrence, and the others will be sure to stay.”

Lawrence obeyed, and rested his piece on the horse’s back, standing beside him and watching the mouth of the defile, while the others carried the injured man to the side and laid him down, the professor taking out his flask which was filled with spirit.

“Yes,” said Yussuf, acquiescing. “It is not a drink for a true believer, but it is a wonderful medicine, effendi.”

So it proved, for soon after a little had been poured down Hamed’s throat the poor fellow opened his eyes and smiled.

“It is your excellencies!” he said in his native tongue; and upon Yussuf questioning him, he told them faintly that he was not much hurt, only a little stunned. That he was seated by the fount, with his horses grazing, when the band of armed men rode up, and one of them struck him over the head with the barrel of his musket, and when he recovered somewhat he found himself a prisoner, with his legs tied as he was found, and the horses led and driven down a narrow defile, out of which they had made their way into a forest of shady trees. Later on they had made a halt for a couple of hours, and then continued their journey, which was brought to an end, as far as he was concerned, by his falling beneath his horse.

“What is to be done now?” said the professor.

“Eat,” exclaimed Mr Burne, “even if we have to fight directly after dinner.”

“The effendi is right,” said Yussuf smiling. “If we go on, we may fall into a trap. If we go back a little way here till we find a suitable spot, the enemy will not dare to come and attack us in the dark. Can you walk, Hamed?”

The poor fellow tried to rise, but his ankles were perfectly numbed, and there was nothing for it but to help him up on one of the horses, and go back farther into the gloomy ravine, which was perfectly black by the time they had found a likely place for their bivouac, where the horses would be safe as well, and this done, one of the packs was taken down from its bearer and a hearty meal made by all, Yussuf eating as he kept guard with Lawrence’s gun, while Hamed was well enough to play his part feebly, as the horses rejoiced in a good feed of barley apiece.

Chapter Twenty Two.The Use of a Straw Hat.“There,” said Mr Burne, as he lit a cigar, and sat with his back to a stone; “if anybody in Fleet Street, or at my club, had told me I could have such an adventure as this, I should have said—” Here he paused.“What, Mr Burne?” asked Lawrence after a time.“Tarradiddle!” replied the old gentleman shortly, and he took out his handkerchief to blow his nose, but promptly suppressed the act, and said:“No; wait till we get somewhere that is likely to be safe.”That word “safe” occurred to everybody in the silence of that dark and solemn gorge, whose sombre aspect was enough to daunt the most courageous; but somehow that night, in spite of the riskiness of their position, no one felt much alarmed.There were several things which combined to make them feel cheerful. One was the company, for the knowledge of being there with a trusty companion on either side was encouraging.Then there was the calm confidence given by the knowledge that their enemies had run from them like a flock of sheep before a dog.Lastly, there were the satisfactory sensations produced by the recovery of their horses and belongings, and consequent enjoyment of a good meal.Taken altogether, then, after proper arrangements had been made to secure the horses, and for a watch being kept, no scruple was felt about lying down to sleep, everyone with his weapons ready for use in case of an attack, which after all was not greatly feared.Lawrence wanted to take his turn at keeping guard, but the professor forbade it.“No,” he said; “you have done your day’s work. Sleep and grow strong. You will help us best by getting vigorous;” and hence it was that the lad lay down in the solemn stillness of the vast place, gazing up at the stars, which seemed dazzlingly bright in the dark sky, and then it seemed to him that he closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them again to see the mountain slopes bathed in sunshine, while the birds were twittering and piping, and the black desolate gorge of the previous night was a scene of loveliness such as he could not have imagined possible there.“Shows the value of the sun, Lawrence,” said the professor laughing; “and what a fine thing it would be if some of our clever experimentalists could contrive to bottle and condense enough sunshine to last us all through the winters.”Just then Yussuf came up through the dewy grasses and flowers with Lawrence’s gun over his shoulder.“Well,” said the professor, “what next—a good breakfast, and then start?”“Yes, effendi,” said the Turk, “but the other way.”“Other way?”“Yes, effendi; the band of rascals are lying in ambush for us about a mile distant.”“Are you sure?”Yussuf smiled.“I went out at the mouth of the ravine to observe,” he said; “and I could see nothing till, all at once, I saw a flash of light.”“Well?”“Such a flash could only be reflected from a sword or gun.”“From water—a piece of glass—or crystal.”“No, excellency. There is no water up on the mountain slope. Pieces of glass are not seen there, and a crystal must be cut and polished to send forth such rays. The enemy are waiting for us in a depression, out there beyond the mouth of the plain, and we must go back the other way.”“Of course. It will be safer. But after a time they will follow us.”“I think I can stop that, effendi,” said their guide smiling; and while the horses were being loaded, and everything was being got ready for a start, Yussuf took out his knife, and selecting from among the bushes a good straight stick, he cut and trimmed it carefully till it was about the length of a gun.This done, he climbed up the ridge that screened them from the mouth of the gorge, and, selecting a spot from whence a good view of the sloping plain beyond could be obtained, he walked up and down for a few minutes.After this he beckoned to the professor and the others to join him; and as soon as they were there he drew their attention to a clump of bushes, as they seemed, but which must have been trees, a couple of miles away, though in that wondrously clear mountain air the distance did not seem to be a quarter.Mr Burne was nearest to the guide, in his straw hat, which he had retained in safety so far through having it secured by a lanyard, but it was growing very shabby, and was much out of shape from its soaking in the sea.The professor noticed that Yussuf—who was conspicuous in his red fez skull-cap, about which was rolled a good deal of muslin in the form of a turban or puggree—kept walking up and down on the edge of the ridge, and pointing out to Mr Burne the beauty of the prospect, with the distant ranges of snow-topped mountains, and the old lawyer kept on nodding his satisfaction.“Yes. Very fine—very fine,” he said; “but I want my breakfast.”“There!” exclaimed Mr Preston suddenly. “I saw it yonder.”“The flash of light, effendi?” said Yussuf quietly.“Yes. And there again.”“I saw it then,” said Lawrence quickly; and no one doubted now that their guide was right.After staying there for about a quarter of an hour Yussuf suggested that as the horses were ready, breakfast should be hastily eaten and they should start. Consequently all went down, a hearty meal was made, Yussuf taking his walking to and from the ridge to guard against surprise, and then he approached Mr Burne to request him to give up his straw hat.“My straw hat!” exclaimed the old gentleman in astonishment.“Yes, effendi,” replied Yussuf. “I propose to fasten it, after wearing it for a few minutes and walking up and down, on one of the little bushes at the top of the ridge, and to stick this little pole out by its side.”“What! to look like a man on guard?” cried Lawrence eagerly.“Yes,” replied Yussuf. “It will keep the enemy where they are watching it for half the day, even if it does not keep them till evening before they find out their mistake.”“Then, stick your turban there,” said Mr Burne shortly.“I would, effendi, if it would do as well, but it would not be so striking, nor so likely to keep them away. They might suspect it to be a trick; but they would never think that an English effendi would leave his hat in a place like that.”“And quite right, too,” said the old lawyer with a snort. “No; I shall not expose my brains to the risk of sunstroke, sir. Bah! Pish! Pooh! Absurd!”There was a shiver among the horses, and a disposition to start off again, for Mr Burne blew another of his sonorous blasts; but the moment he whisked out his yellow silk flag, the others, as if by instinct, seized the horses’ bridles and checked them in time.“Pah! Bless my heart!” ejaculated the old gentleman, as soon as he saw what he had done. “Here, Lawrence, you will have to take all my pocket-handkerchiefs away till we get back to a civilised land.”“If the effendi would let me have his handkerchiefs I could make him a turban to keep off the sun, or if he would condescend to wear my fez it is at his service.”“Rubbish! Stuff!” cried Mr Burne, taking off his battered straw hat, which looked as if he had slept in it on the previous night, if not before, and then sticking it on again at a fierce angle. “Do I look like a man, sir, who would wear a fez with a towel round it? Hang it all, sir, I am an Englishman.”Yussuf bowed.“Why, he must think me mad, Lawrence.”“My dear Burne,” said the professor smiling, “Yussuf is quite right. Come, you might make that concession.”“Sir, do I look like a man who would wear a fez with a jack-towel twisted round it?” cried Mr Burne in the most irate manner.“You certainly do not, my dear Burne,” said the professor laughing; “but you do look like a man who would make any sacrifice for the benefit of his party.”“Ah! I thought as much,” cried the old gentleman. “Now you come round me with carney. There, Yussuf, take it,” he cried, snatching off his straw hat and sending it skimming through the air. “Now, then, what next? Do you want my coat and boots to dress up your Guy Fawkes with? Don’t be modest, pray. Have even my shirt too while you are about it.”He took five pinches of snuff in succession so close to Ali Baba that the horse began to sneeze—or snort would be the better term.Yussuf smiled, and took off his fez, from which he rapidly untwisted the muslin folds.“Your excellency will condescend to wear my fez?” he said.“No, sir, I will not,” cried Mr Burne. “Certainly not.”“But your excellency may suffer from sunstroke,” said Yussuf. “I must insist.”“You must what?” cried Mr Burne angrily.“Insist, your excellency,” replied Yussuf gravely. “I am answerable for your safety. Your life, while I am in your service, is more than mine.”“And yet, sir, you brought me here, along a break-neck path, to fight robbers yesterday. Didn’t they shoot at me?”“I could not prevent that, excellency,” said Yussuf smiling. “I can prevent you from being smitten by the sun. Your handkerchief, please.”“Oh, all right!” exclaimed Mr Burne ruefully. “I suppose I am nobody at all here. Take it. Here are two.”“Hah!” ejaculated Yussuf smiling with satisfaction, and with all the oriental’s love of bright colours, as he took the two yellow silk handkerchiefs, and rolled them loosely before arranging them in a picturesque fashion round his bright scarlet fez, and handing the head-dress back to Mr Burne.“Humph!” ejaculated that gentleman, putting it on with a comical expression of disgust in his countenance. “Here, you, Lawrence, if you dare to laugh at me, I’ll never forgive you.”“Do, please, Mr Burne,” cried the lad, “for I must laugh: I can’t help it.”So he did laugh, and the professor too, while the old lawyer gave an angry stamp.“Look here,” said the professor; “shall I wear the fez, and you can take my hat?”“Stuff, sir! you know your head’s twice as big as mine,” cried Mr Burne.“Have mine, Mr Burne,” said Lawrence.“Bah! do you think I’ve got a stupid little head like you have. No, I shall wear the fez, and I hope we shall meet some English people. It will be a warning to them not to come out into such wild spots as this.”The fact was that the old gentleman looked thoroughly picturesque, while Yussuf looked scarcely less so, as he rapidly turned the roll of muslin which he had taken from his fez into a comfortable white head-dress and put it on.Then, taking the stick and the straw hat, he climbed up to the top of the ridge, where they saw him shoulder the stick and walk to and fro as if on guard, before rapidly arranging the hat upon the top of a little cypress-tree, and placing the stick through the branches at a slope.So cleverly was this done, that even from where the travellers stood just below, the ruse was effective. Seen from a quarter of a mile away it must have been just like Mr Burne on sentry.“There,” said the old lawyer with comic anger, “worse and worse. I am being set up in effigy for these barbarians to laugh at.”“No,” said the professor, “we are having the laugh at them.”Yussuf came down smiling after finishing his task, and then, a final glance round having been given, and a look at the arms, they prepared to mount.One of the baggage-horses bore the grain used for their supply, and as a good feed for six horses night and morning had somewhat reduced his load, he was chosen to bear Hamed.For the driver, in spite of the bold face he put upon the matter, was quite unfit to walk. The rough treatment he had received when his legs were tied together had completely crippled him, and in addition his head was injured by a kick from his horse when he fell.The man was brave, though, as soon as he found that he was not to be left behind, and all being now ready, Yussuf climbed the ridge once more to see whether the enemy was approaching, and after peering just over the edge, he descended, and they went on down the defile as fast as their horses could walk.

“There,” said Mr Burne, as he lit a cigar, and sat with his back to a stone; “if anybody in Fleet Street, or at my club, had told me I could have such an adventure as this, I should have said—” Here he paused.

“What, Mr Burne?” asked Lawrence after a time.

“Tarradiddle!” replied the old gentleman shortly, and he took out his handkerchief to blow his nose, but promptly suppressed the act, and said:

“No; wait till we get somewhere that is likely to be safe.”

That word “safe” occurred to everybody in the silence of that dark and solemn gorge, whose sombre aspect was enough to daunt the most courageous; but somehow that night, in spite of the riskiness of their position, no one felt much alarmed.

There were several things which combined to make them feel cheerful. One was the company, for the knowledge of being there with a trusty companion on either side was encouraging.

Then there was the calm confidence given by the knowledge that their enemies had run from them like a flock of sheep before a dog.

Lastly, there were the satisfactory sensations produced by the recovery of their horses and belongings, and consequent enjoyment of a good meal.

Taken altogether, then, after proper arrangements had been made to secure the horses, and for a watch being kept, no scruple was felt about lying down to sleep, everyone with his weapons ready for use in case of an attack, which after all was not greatly feared.

Lawrence wanted to take his turn at keeping guard, but the professor forbade it.

“No,” he said; “you have done your day’s work. Sleep and grow strong. You will help us best by getting vigorous;” and hence it was that the lad lay down in the solemn stillness of the vast place, gazing up at the stars, which seemed dazzlingly bright in the dark sky, and then it seemed to him that he closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them again to see the mountain slopes bathed in sunshine, while the birds were twittering and piping, and the black desolate gorge of the previous night was a scene of loveliness such as he could not have imagined possible there.

“Shows the value of the sun, Lawrence,” said the professor laughing; “and what a fine thing it would be if some of our clever experimentalists could contrive to bottle and condense enough sunshine to last us all through the winters.”

Just then Yussuf came up through the dewy grasses and flowers with Lawrence’s gun over his shoulder.

“Well,” said the professor, “what next—a good breakfast, and then start?”

“Yes, effendi,” said the Turk, “but the other way.”

“Other way?”

“Yes, effendi; the band of rascals are lying in ambush for us about a mile distant.”

“Are you sure?”

Yussuf smiled.

“I went out at the mouth of the ravine to observe,” he said; “and I could see nothing till, all at once, I saw a flash of light.”

“Well?”

“Such a flash could only be reflected from a sword or gun.”

“From water—a piece of glass—or crystal.”

“No, excellency. There is no water up on the mountain slope. Pieces of glass are not seen there, and a crystal must be cut and polished to send forth such rays. The enemy are waiting for us in a depression, out there beyond the mouth of the plain, and we must go back the other way.”

“Of course. It will be safer. But after a time they will follow us.”

“I think I can stop that, effendi,” said their guide smiling; and while the horses were being loaded, and everything was being got ready for a start, Yussuf took out his knife, and selecting from among the bushes a good straight stick, he cut and trimmed it carefully till it was about the length of a gun.

This done, he climbed up the ridge that screened them from the mouth of the gorge, and, selecting a spot from whence a good view of the sloping plain beyond could be obtained, he walked up and down for a few minutes.

After this he beckoned to the professor and the others to join him; and as soon as they were there he drew their attention to a clump of bushes, as they seemed, but which must have been trees, a couple of miles away, though in that wondrously clear mountain air the distance did not seem to be a quarter.

Mr Burne was nearest to the guide, in his straw hat, which he had retained in safety so far through having it secured by a lanyard, but it was growing very shabby, and was much out of shape from its soaking in the sea.

The professor noticed that Yussuf—who was conspicuous in his red fez skull-cap, about which was rolled a good deal of muslin in the form of a turban or puggree—kept walking up and down on the edge of the ridge, and pointing out to Mr Burne the beauty of the prospect, with the distant ranges of snow-topped mountains, and the old lawyer kept on nodding his satisfaction.

“Yes. Very fine—very fine,” he said; “but I want my breakfast.”

“There!” exclaimed Mr Preston suddenly. “I saw it yonder.”

“The flash of light, effendi?” said Yussuf quietly.

“Yes. And there again.”

“I saw it then,” said Lawrence quickly; and no one doubted now that their guide was right.

After staying there for about a quarter of an hour Yussuf suggested that as the horses were ready, breakfast should be hastily eaten and they should start. Consequently all went down, a hearty meal was made, Yussuf taking his walking to and from the ridge to guard against surprise, and then he approached Mr Burne to request him to give up his straw hat.

“My straw hat!” exclaimed the old gentleman in astonishment.

“Yes, effendi,” replied Yussuf. “I propose to fasten it, after wearing it for a few minutes and walking up and down, on one of the little bushes at the top of the ridge, and to stick this little pole out by its side.”

“What! to look like a man on guard?” cried Lawrence eagerly.

“Yes,” replied Yussuf. “It will keep the enemy where they are watching it for half the day, even if it does not keep them till evening before they find out their mistake.”

“Then, stick your turban there,” said Mr Burne shortly.

“I would, effendi, if it would do as well, but it would not be so striking, nor so likely to keep them away. They might suspect it to be a trick; but they would never think that an English effendi would leave his hat in a place like that.”

“And quite right, too,” said the old lawyer with a snort. “No; I shall not expose my brains to the risk of sunstroke, sir. Bah! Pish! Pooh! Absurd!”

There was a shiver among the horses, and a disposition to start off again, for Mr Burne blew another of his sonorous blasts; but the moment he whisked out his yellow silk flag, the others, as if by instinct, seized the horses’ bridles and checked them in time.

“Pah! Bless my heart!” ejaculated the old gentleman, as soon as he saw what he had done. “Here, Lawrence, you will have to take all my pocket-handkerchiefs away till we get back to a civilised land.”

“If the effendi would let me have his handkerchiefs I could make him a turban to keep off the sun, or if he would condescend to wear my fez it is at his service.”

“Rubbish! Stuff!” cried Mr Burne, taking off his battered straw hat, which looked as if he had slept in it on the previous night, if not before, and then sticking it on again at a fierce angle. “Do I look like a man, sir, who would wear a fez with a towel round it? Hang it all, sir, I am an Englishman.”

Yussuf bowed.

“Why, he must think me mad, Lawrence.”

“My dear Burne,” said the professor smiling, “Yussuf is quite right. Come, you might make that concession.”

“Sir, do I look like a man who would wear a fez with a jack-towel twisted round it?” cried Mr Burne in the most irate manner.

“You certainly do not, my dear Burne,” said the professor laughing; “but you do look like a man who would make any sacrifice for the benefit of his party.”

“Ah! I thought as much,” cried the old gentleman. “Now you come round me with carney. There, Yussuf, take it,” he cried, snatching off his straw hat and sending it skimming through the air. “Now, then, what next? Do you want my coat and boots to dress up your Guy Fawkes with? Don’t be modest, pray. Have even my shirt too while you are about it.”

He took five pinches of snuff in succession so close to Ali Baba that the horse began to sneeze—or snort would be the better term.

Yussuf smiled, and took off his fez, from which he rapidly untwisted the muslin folds.

“Your excellency will condescend to wear my fez?” he said.

“No, sir, I will not,” cried Mr Burne. “Certainly not.”

“But your excellency may suffer from sunstroke,” said Yussuf. “I must insist.”

“You must what?” cried Mr Burne angrily.

“Insist, your excellency,” replied Yussuf gravely. “I am answerable for your safety. Your life, while I am in your service, is more than mine.”

“And yet, sir, you brought me here, along a break-neck path, to fight robbers yesterday. Didn’t they shoot at me?”

“I could not prevent that, excellency,” said Yussuf smiling. “I can prevent you from being smitten by the sun. Your handkerchief, please.”

“Oh, all right!” exclaimed Mr Burne ruefully. “I suppose I am nobody at all here. Take it. Here are two.”

“Hah!” ejaculated Yussuf smiling with satisfaction, and with all the oriental’s love of bright colours, as he took the two yellow silk handkerchiefs, and rolled them loosely before arranging them in a picturesque fashion round his bright scarlet fez, and handing the head-dress back to Mr Burne.

“Humph!” ejaculated that gentleman, putting it on with a comical expression of disgust in his countenance. “Here, you, Lawrence, if you dare to laugh at me, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Do, please, Mr Burne,” cried the lad, “for I must laugh: I can’t help it.”

So he did laugh, and the professor too, while the old lawyer gave an angry stamp.

“Look here,” said the professor; “shall I wear the fez, and you can take my hat?”

“Stuff, sir! you know your head’s twice as big as mine,” cried Mr Burne.

“Have mine, Mr Burne,” said Lawrence.

“Bah! do you think I’ve got a stupid little head like you have. No, I shall wear the fez, and I hope we shall meet some English people. It will be a warning to them not to come out into such wild spots as this.”

The fact was that the old gentleman looked thoroughly picturesque, while Yussuf looked scarcely less so, as he rapidly turned the roll of muslin which he had taken from his fez into a comfortable white head-dress and put it on.

Then, taking the stick and the straw hat, he climbed up to the top of the ridge, where they saw him shoulder the stick and walk to and fro as if on guard, before rapidly arranging the hat upon the top of a little cypress-tree, and placing the stick through the branches at a slope.

So cleverly was this done, that even from where the travellers stood just below, the ruse was effective. Seen from a quarter of a mile away it must have been just like Mr Burne on sentry.

“There,” said the old lawyer with comic anger, “worse and worse. I am being set up in effigy for these barbarians to laugh at.”

“No,” said the professor, “we are having the laugh at them.”

Yussuf came down smiling after finishing his task, and then, a final glance round having been given, and a look at the arms, they prepared to mount.

One of the baggage-horses bore the grain used for their supply, and as a good feed for six horses night and morning had somewhat reduced his load, he was chosen to bear Hamed.

For the driver, in spite of the bold face he put upon the matter, was quite unfit to walk. The rough treatment he had received when his legs were tied together had completely crippled him, and in addition his head was injured by a kick from his horse when he fell.

The man was brave, though, as soon as he found that he was not to be left behind, and all being now ready, Yussuf climbed the ridge once more to see whether the enemy was approaching, and after peering just over the edge, he descended, and they went on down the defile as fast as their horses could walk.

Chapter Twenty Three.The Professor is startled.It was an exciting flight, the more so from the fact that they were obliged to keep on at a foot-pace because of the baggage-horses, when at any moment they knew that the enemy might appear behind in full chase. Certainly the road was bad, and it was only here and there that they could have ventured upon a trot or canter; but this did not lessen the anxiety that was felt.A dozen times over the professor would have been glad to pause and investigate some wonderful chasm or rift, but Yussuf was inexorable. He pointed out that it would be madness to stop, for at any time the enemy might appear in sight, so Mr Preston had to resign himself to his fate.It was the same when, during the heat of the afternoon, they came to the ruins of a tower placed upon an angle in the defile quite a thousand feet above the rough track, so as to command a good view in every direction. From where they stood it looked ancient enough to have been erected far back in the days when the armies of Assyria or Egypt passed through these gates of the country; certainly it was not later than the Roman times.“One might find inscriptions, perhaps, or something else to explain when it was made,” said the professor. “Come, Yussuf, don’t you think we might stop and ascend here?”“No, effendi,” replied Yussuf sternly. “Those dogs may be close upon our track, and I cannot let you run risks. We are not all men.”“Yussuf is perfectly right,” said Mr Burne, who had become quite reconciled to his fez with its gaudy roll of yellow silk; in fact, two or three times over he had taken it off and held it up to examine it as it rested on his fist. “He is perfectly right,” he repeated, “we do not want to fight, unless driven to extremities, and discretion is the better part of valour.”“Yes,” said the professor, looking up longingly at the watch-tower, “but—”“Now, my dear Preston, you really must not run risks for the sake of a few stones,” cried the old lawyer. “Come.”There was no help for it, so the professor sighed, and they rode slowly on, with the heat growing more and more intense, till toward sundown, when, about a hundred and fifty feet above the path, there was a cluster of ruins, evidently of quite modern date, and among them a few old fruit-trees, one of which, a plum, showed a good many purple fruit here and there.The lawyer made a peculiar noise with his mouth as he drew rein, the others following his example.“Now, there are some ruins that you might very well examine,” he said, pointing upwards with the barrel of his gun. “Shall we dismount and climb up?”“To see these?” said the professor quietly; and then a change came over his countenance, and he laughed softly as he turned round to look his travelling companion in the face. “Which stones do you want to look at?” he said.“Those, sir, those,” cried Mr Burne fiercely. “Can’t you see?”“No,” said the professor smiling; “I do not know which you mean, whether it is the building stones or the plum stones.”“Tchah!” ejaculated the old gentleman, with his face puckering up into a comical grin. “There, come along.”Yussuf smiled too as he rode on, and at the end of a few moments he said gravely:“The plums would not have been worth gathering, effendi. They are a bitter, sour kind.”“Grapes are too, when the fox cannot reach them—eh, Lawrence?”No more was said, for every one was exhausted with the long slow ride. The little wind there was came from behind, and they were wandering in and out to such an extent that the soft mountain-breeze was completely shut off, and the horses were beginning to suffer terribly now from want of water to quench their burning thirst.At last, in front, that for which they had been hoping to see appeared to be at hand, for a patch of broad green bushes at the foot of a rock told plainly that their fresh growth must be the result of abundant watering at the roots, and, pressing onward, to their delight the horses proved the correctness of their belief by breaking into a canter, and soon carrying them to where the defile ended in one of larger extent, at whose junction a spring of clear water gushed from the foot of a rock, and Lawrence cried eagerly:“Why, this is the old place where we left Hamed!”And so it proved to be.Here, pursued or not, it was absolutely necessary to stop and recruit the horses, even if they had been prepared to suffer themselves; so a halt was made, one of the party took it in turn to be sentry, and the package containing provision was undone, the horses finding plenty of herbage to satisfy their wants.Yussuf took the first watch, while Lawrence and his friends were enjoying their repast with the hunger and appetite produced by such a long fast; and then Lawrence took his place, while Yussuf seated himself upon a stone by the spring, and began eating his simple meal of hard bread and a few dates.The night was coming on fast; and, enticed by the beauty of the shadows that were deepening in the gorge through which they had gone in pursuit of the robbers the day before, the professor walked on and on till he was nearly abreast of the rock-dwellings.They were just visible, but where he stood the gorge was in profound darkness, and he remained watching the ruins fade away as it were in the evening gloom, till, feeling that it was time to return, he was in the act of going back, when a peculiar click struck his ear, and he knew as well as if he had seen the act that a horse had struck its armed hoof against a stone.Had he felt any doubt it was set aside by a low snort, and, feeling that one of their steeds had strayed after him, and then gone on toward the end of the gorge, he was about to hurry forward and seize it, when a second click startled him, and in an instant he realised that the enemy had evidently been duped by the sham sentry, and given up the attempt to attack them. What was more, he grasped that the enemy had started a ruse of their own, and were coming along the larger gorge, to turn back during the night by the spring, so as to take them in the rear, while they were expecting an attack in front.The professor realised all this as he stood there in the darkness leaning upon his gun, and afraid to stir, for he knew that to do so was to betray his whereabouts to a set of men who would perhaps take his life, and even if they spared this, carry him off to hold him to ransom.Worse still; they would then go on and surprise the party by the spring, his presence betraying their whereabouts, for there was only one spot likely in that stony wilderness for people to halt, and that was of course by the water side.What was he to do?It was a hard question, and the professor felt himself at his wits’ end. He had stepped a dozen yards out of the track, and was standing amongst some rough stones which helped the darkness to conceal his presence, though the valley was in such a deep shadow that, as he strained eyes and ears to make out and count the enemy, he could do neither, though he knew now that they had halted just opposite to him, and he could hear them whispering evidently in consultation before they took another step in advance.The professor stood there in the darkness with the perspiration streaming down his face as he recalled the stories he had heard of the atrocities committed by the outlaws who made their homes in the mountains of the sultan’s dominions. He was tortured by a dozen different plans which suggested themselves for his next course of action, but neither of them commended itself for second consideration, while there he was, face to face with the one great difficulty, that he was cut off from his companions, and unable to stir without betraying his presence and being captured or perhaps slain.To stir was impossible. He hardly dared to breathe, while his heart throbbed with so audible a beat that he fully expected it to betray his whereabouts.It was a perilous time, and his agony of mind was terrible, for just then it seemed to him that he had, to gratify his own selfishness, brought the son of his old friend—a lad weak and wasted from a long illness—into a peril which might have been avoided. There they were, perfectly unconscious of danger in this direction; and as soon as the party had finished their whispered consultation he felt that they would steal cautiously on and make their attack.What should he do—fire at them or over them, and in the confusion make a dash for the little camp?He dared not risk it, for it seemed a clumsy, gambling experiment, which would most probably result in failure.What should he do then—sacrifice himself?Yes. It seemed after all that his firing would not be so clumsy an expedient, for even if it ended in his own destruction it would warn his friends and place them upon their guard.He hesitated for a few moments, as he tried once more to realise the position. This might not, after all, be the gang of men who had stolen their horses; but everything pointed to the fact that it was, as he had at first imagined—that they had been duped by Yussuf’s ruse, and then made, by some way known to them, for the principal gorge, down which they had come to turn into the lesser ravine by the spring, and then in the night or early morning, take their victims in the rear, drive them out into the open country, and master them with ease.While Mr Preston was running over all this in his own mind he could hear the low whispering of the little, body of men going on, and every now and then an impatient stamp given by one of the horses, followed by a low muttered adjuration in the Turkish dialect, bidding the animal be still.It was only a matter of minutes, but it seemed to be hours before the band of men began to move forward cautiously through the darkness, and more than ever the professor blamed himself for not staying with his friends, but only to acknowledge the next moment that if he had done so he would not have known of the approach of the foe.As near as he could judge the enemy had about half a mile to go, and not knowing what to do Mr Preston began to follow them cautiously, getting as near as he could while straining his eyes to make out the figures of the mounted men as they moved slowly on.By degrees he found out that he was left a long way behind, but while quickening his pace he was compelled to do so with the greatest caution, and to walk with outstretched hands, for, though high above his head the starlight enabled him to make out the line of the high cliff against the sky, all below in that gorge was of pitchy blackness, and he had to guide himself by stepping carefully more than by the use of his eyes.In spite of his care he was, he found, being left more and more behind, and yet he dare not hasten for fear of coming suddenly upon the rear of the party.But at last, quite in despair, he pressed forward, trusting to his good fortune to get near enough to note their actions without being detected, so that at last he was within a very few yards, and he kept that distance till he felt that they must be very near the spring, when, as he pressed on, keeping to the path, as he believed, he suddenly found himself about to stumble over a low block of blackish stone just beneath his feet.He tried to save himself, but he was too late, and he blundered right upon it; but instead of knocking the skin off his shins, and falling heavily, he was stricken back, for the object he had taken for a rock felt soft, sprang up, and he found, as the man, who had been stooping to bind up his rough gear, uttered a few angry words in his own tongue, that he had come upon a laggard of the party.It was evident that in the darkness the man imagined that he was addressing a companion, for he gripped the professor fiercely and whispered a question.A struggle would have ensued, but just then a clear voice rang out on the night air, sounding wild and strange, and echoing from the face of the cliff as it seemed to cut the black darkness.The man dropped the professor’s arm which he had seized, sprang away into the darkness ahead, and then there was utter silence.

It was an exciting flight, the more so from the fact that they were obliged to keep on at a foot-pace because of the baggage-horses, when at any moment they knew that the enemy might appear behind in full chase. Certainly the road was bad, and it was only here and there that they could have ventured upon a trot or canter; but this did not lessen the anxiety that was felt.

A dozen times over the professor would have been glad to pause and investigate some wonderful chasm or rift, but Yussuf was inexorable. He pointed out that it would be madness to stop, for at any time the enemy might appear in sight, so Mr Preston had to resign himself to his fate.

It was the same when, during the heat of the afternoon, they came to the ruins of a tower placed upon an angle in the defile quite a thousand feet above the rough track, so as to command a good view in every direction. From where they stood it looked ancient enough to have been erected far back in the days when the armies of Assyria or Egypt passed through these gates of the country; certainly it was not later than the Roman times.

“One might find inscriptions, perhaps, or something else to explain when it was made,” said the professor. “Come, Yussuf, don’t you think we might stop and ascend here?”

“No, effendi,” replied Yussuf sternly. “Those dogs may be close upon our track, and I cannot let you run risks. We are not all men.”

“Yussuf is perfectly right,” said Mr Burne, who had become quite reconciled to his fez with its gaudy roll of yellow silk; in fact, two or three times over he had taken it off and held it up to examine it as it rested on his fist. “He is perfectly right,” he repeated, “we do not want to fight, unless driven to extremities, and discretion is the better part of valour.”

“Yes,” said the professor, looking up longingly at the watch-tower, “but—”

“Now, my dear Preston, you really must not run risks for the sake of a few stones,” cried the old lawyer. “Come.”

There was no help for it, so the professor sighed, and they rode slowly on, with the heat growing more and more intense, till toward sundown, when, about a hundred and fifty feet above the path, there was a cluster of ruins, evidently of quite modern date, and among them a few old fruit-trees, one of which, a plum, showed a good many purple fruit here and there.

The lawyer made a peculiar noise with his mouth as he drew rein, the others following his example.

“Now, there are some ruins that you might very well examine,” he said, pointing upwards with the barrel of his gun. “Shall we dismount and climb up?”

“To see these?” said the professor quietly; and then a change came over his countenance, and he laughed softly as he turned round to look his travelling companion in the face. “Which stones do you want to look at?” he said.

“Those, sir, those,” cried Mr Burne fiercely. “Can’t you see?”

“No,” said the professor smiling; “I do not know which you mean, whether it is the building stones or the plum stones.”

“Tchah!” ejaculated the old gentleman, with his face puckering up into a comical grin. “There, come along.”

Yussuf smiled too as he rode on, and at the end of a few moments he said gravely:

“The plums would not have been worth gathering, effendi. They are a bitter, sour kind.”

“Grapes are too, when the fox cannot reach them—eh, Lawrence?”

No more was said, for every one was exhausted with the long slow ride. The little wind there was came from behind, and they were wandering in and out to such an extent that the soft mountain-breeze was completely shut off, and the horses were beginning to suffer terribly now from want of water to quench their burning thirst.

At last, in front, that for which they had been hoping to see appeared to be at hand, for a patch of broad green bushes at the foot of a rock told plainly that their fresh growth must be the result of abundant watering at the roots, and, pressing onward, to their delight the horses proved the correctness of their belief by breaking into a canter, and soon carrying them to where the defile ended in one of larger extent, at whose junction a spring of clear water gushed from the foot of a rock, and Lawrence cried eagerly:

“Why, this is the old place where we left Hamed!”

And so it proved to be.

Here, pursued or not, it was absolutely necessary to stop and recruit the horses, even if they had been prepared to suffer themselves; so a halt was made, one of the party took it in turn to be sentry, and the package containing provision was undone, the horses finding plenty of herbage to satisfy their wants.

Yussuf took the first watch, while Lawrence and his friends were enjoying their repast with the hunger and appetite produced by such a long fast; and then Lawrence took his place, while Yussuf seated himself upon a stone by the spring, and began eating his simple meal of hard bread and a few dates.

The night was coming on fast; and, enticed by the beauty of the shadows that were deepening in the gorge through which they had gone in pursuit of the robbers the day before, the professor walked on and on till he was nearly abreast of the rock-dwellings.

They were just visible, but where he stood the gorge was in profound darkness, and he remained watching the ruins fade away as it were in the evening gloom, till, feeling that it was time to return, he was in the act of going back, when a peculiar click struck his ear, and he knew as well as if he had seen the act that a horse had struck its armed hoof against a stone.

Had he felt any doubt it was set aside by a low snort, and, feeling that one of their steeds had strayed after him, and then gone on toward the end of the gorge, he was about to hurry forward and seize it, when a second click startled him, and in an instant he realised that the enemy had evidently been duped by the sham sentry, and given up the attempt to attack them. What was more, he grasped that the enemy had started a ruse of their own, and were coming along the larger gorge, to turn back during the night by the spring, so as to take them in the rear, while they were expecting an attack in front.

The professor realised all this as he stood there in the darkness leaning upon his gun, and afraid to stir, for he knew that to do so was to betray his whereabouts to a set of men who would perhaps take his life, and even if they spared this, carry him off to hold him to ransom.

Worse still; they would then go on and surprise the party by the spring, his presence betraying their whereabouts, for there was only one spot likely in that stony wilderness for people to halt, and that was of course by the water side.

What was he to do?

It was a hard question, and the professor felt himself at his wits’ end. He had stepped a dozen yards out of the track, and was standing amongst some rough stones which helped the darkness to conceal his presence, though the valley was in such a deep shadow that, as he strained eyes and ears to make out and count the enemy, he could do neither, though he knew now that they had halted just opposite to him, and he could hear them whispering evidently in consultation before they took another step in advance.

The professor stood there in the darkness with the perspiration streaming down his face as he recalled the stories he had heard of the atrocities committed by the outlaws who made their homes in the mountains of the sultan’s dominions. He was tortured by a dozen different plans which suggested themselves for his next course of action, but neither of them commended itself for second consideration, while there he was, face to face with the one great difficulty, that he was cut off from his companions, and unable to stir without betraying his presence and being captured or perhaps slain.

To stir was impossible. He hardly dared to breathe, while his heart throbbed with so audible a beat that he fully expected it to betray his whereabouts.

It was a perilous time, and his agony of mind was terrible, for just then it seemed to him that he had, to gratify his own selfishness, brought the son of his old friend—a lad weak and wasted from a long illness—into a peril which might have been avoided. There they were, perfectly unconscious of danger in this direction; and as soon as the party had finished their whispered consultation he felt that they would steal cautiously on and make their attack.

What should he do—fire at them or over them, and in the confusion make a dash for the little camp?

He dared not risk it, for it seemed a clumsy, gambling experiment, which would most probably result in failure.

What should he do then—sacrifice himself?

Yes. It seemed after all that his firing would not be so clumsy an expedient, for even if it ended in his own destruction it would warn his friends and place them upon their guard.

He hesitated for a few moments, as he tried once more to realise the position. This might not, after all, be the gang of men who had stolen their horses; but everything pointed to the fact that it was, as he had at first imagined—that they had been duped by Yussuf’s ruse, and then made, by some way known to them, for the principal gorge, down which they had come to turn into the lesser ravine by the spring, and then in the night or early morning, take their victims in the rear, drive them out into the open country, and master them with ease.

While Mr Preston was running over all this in his own mind he could hear the low whispering of the little, body of men going on, and every now and then an impatient stamp given by one of the horses, followed by a low muttered adjuration in the Turkish dialect, bidding the animal be still.

It was only a matter of minutes, but it seemed to be hours before the band of men began to move forward cautiously through the darkness, and more than ever the professor blamed himself for not staying with his friends, but only to acknowledge the next moment that if he had done so he would not have known of the approach of the foe.

As near as he could judge the enemy had about half a mile to go, and not knowing what to do Mr Preston began to follow them cautiously, getting as near as he could while straining his eyes to make out the figures of the mounted men as they moved slowly on.

By degrees he found out that he was left a long way behind, but while quickening his pace he was compelled to do so with the greatest caution, and to walk with outstretched hands, for, though high above his head the starlight enabled him to make out the line of the high cliff against the sky, all below in that gorge was of pitchy blackness, and he had to guide himself by stepping carefully more than by the use of his eyes.

In spite of his care he was, he found, being left more and more behind, and yet he dare not hasten for fear of coming suddenly upon the rear of the party.

But at last, quite in despair, he pressed forward, trusting to his good fortune to get near enough to note their actions without being detected, so that at last he was within a very few yards, and he kept that distance till he felt that they must be very near the spring, when, as he pressed on, keeping to the path, as he believed, he suddenly found himself about to stumble over a low block of blackish stone just beneath his feet.

He tried to save himself, but he was too late, and he blundered right upon it; but instead of knocking the skin off his shins, and falling heavily, he was stricken back, for the object he had taken for a rock felt soft, sprang up, and he found, as the man, who had been stooping to bind up his rough gear, uttered a few angry words in his own tongue, that he had come upon a laggard of the party.

It was evident that in the darkness the man imagined that he was addressing a companion, for he gripped the professor fiercely and whispered a question.

A struggle would have ensued, but just then a clear voice rang out on the night air, sounding wild and strange, and echoing from the face of the cliff as it seemed to cut the black darkness.

The man dropped the professor’s arm which he had seized, sprang away into the darkness ahead, and then there was utter silence.

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