patches of cedars, clumps of planes low down in the valleys, and the
slopes of pines, while in the groves the thrushes sang, and the
blackbirds piped as familiarly as if it was some spot in Devonshire
instead of Asia Minor. Then a diversion was made here and there to
examine some spring or the edge of a ravine where a stream ran. There
was plenty of time for this, as the two baggage-horses had to be
studied, and they were soon overtaken after one of these rides.
But at last a visit to a few stones on a hillside, which had evidently
been a watch-tower in some old period of this country's history, took up
so much time that the man with the baggage was a good hour's journey
ahead; and as they reached the track once more Yussuf turned to ask the
professor whether he thought the invalid could bear the motion if he led
the way at a trot.
The professor turned to ask Lawrence, who replied that he believed he
could, and then something happened.
The professor had hardly spoken and obtained his reply before Mr Burne,
who had been refreshing himself with a pinch of snuff, whisked out his
handkerchief according to his custom.
They were now going along a valley which ran between too highish walls
of rock, dotted here and there with trees--just the sort of place, in
fact, where anyone would be disposed to shout aloud to try if there was
an echo; but the idea had not occurred to either of the travellers,
whose thoughts were bent upon overtaking the baggage animals with their
stores, when quite unexpectedly Mr Burne applied his handkerchief to
his face and blew his nose.
It was not one of his finest blasts, there was less thunder in it, and
more high-pitched horn-like music, but the effect was electrical.
There was an echo in that valley, and this echo took up the sound,
repeated it, and seemed to send it on to a signalling station higher up,
where it was caught and sent on again, and then again and again, each
repetition growing weaker and softer than the last.
But only one of these echoes was heard by the travellers, for, as afore
said, the effect was electrical.
The moment that blast was blown behind him, Ali Baba, Lawrence's
cream-coloured horse, threw up his head, then lowered it, and lifted his
heels, sending his rider nearly out of his saddle, uttered a peculiar
squeal, and set off at a gallop.
The squeal and the noise of the hoofs acted like magic upon the other
three horses, and away they went, all four as hard as they could go at
full gallop, utterly regardless of the pulling and tugging that went on
at their bits.
This wild stampede went on along the valley for quite a quarter of an
hour before Yussuf was able to check his steed's headlong career; and it
was none too soon, for the smooth track along the valley was rapidly
giving way to a steep descent strewed with blocks of limestone, and to
have attempted to gallop down there must have resulted in a serious
fall.
As it was, Yussuf was only a few yards from a great mass of rock when
his hard-mouthed steed was checked; and as the squeal of one had been
sufficient to start the others, who had all their early lives been
accustomed to run together in a drove, so the stopping of one had the
effect of checking the rest, and they stood together shaking their ears
and pawing the ground.
As soon as he could get his breath, Lawrence began to laugh, and Mr
Preston followed his lead, while the grave Muslim could not forbear a
smile at Mr Burne. This worthy's straw hat had been flying behind,
hanging from his neck by a lanyard, while he stood up in his stirrups,
craned his neck forward, and held his pocket-handkerchief whip fashion,
though it more resembled an orange streak of light as it streamed
behind; while now, as soon as the horse had stopped, he climbed out of
the saddle, walked two or three steps, and then sat down and stared as
if he had been startled out of his senses.
"Not hurt, I hope, Burne," said the professor kindly.
"Hurt, sir--hurt? Why, that brute must be mad. He literally flew with
me, and I might as well have pulled at Saint Paul's as try to stop him.
Good gracious me! I'm shaken into a jelly."
"Mine was just as hard-mouthed," said the professor.
"Hard-mouthed? say iron-mouthed while you are about it. And look here,
Lawrence, don't you make your pony play such tricks again."
"I did nothing, sir," expostulated Lawrence.
"Nonsense, sir! don't tell me. I saw you tickle him with your hand
behind the saddle."
"But, Mr Burne--"
"Don't interrupt and contradict, sir. I distinctly saw you do it, and
then the nasty brute kicked up his heels, and squealed, and frightened
the others."
"But, Mr Burne--"
"Don't prevaricate, sir, I saw you, and when that brute squealed out you
could hear the noise go echoing all down the valley."
In the most innocent manner--having his handkerchief out of his pocket--
the old lawyer applied it to his nose and gave another blast, the result
being that the horses nearly went off again; but Yussuf caught Mr
Burne's steed, and the professor and Lawrence managed to hold theirs in,
but not without difficulty.
"What! were you doing it again?" cried Mr Burne angrily.
"My dear Burne--no, no; pray, don't do that," cried the professor.
"Don't you see that it was you who startled the animals off?"
"I startle them? I? What nonsense!"
"But indeed you did, when you blew your nose so loudly."
"Blew my nose so loudly! Did I blow my nose so loudly?"
"Did you? why it was you who raised that echo."
"I? Raised that echo? My dear sir, are you dreaming?"
"Dreaming? No! A ride like that upon a rough Turkish horse does not
conduce to dreaming. My dear Burne, did you not know that you made that
noise?"
"Noise? What, when I blew my nose, or when I took snuff?"
Lawrence could not contain himself, but burst into another tremendous
fit of laughter, while, when the old lawyer looked up at him angrily,
and then glanced at Yussuf, it was to see that the latter had turned his
face away, and was apparently busily rearranging the bridle of his
horse.
"But I say, Preston," said the old lawyer then, "do you really mean to
say that I made enough noise to frighten the horses? I thought it was
Lawrence there tickling that biting beast of his."
"But I did not tickle him, Mr Burne," protested Lawrence.
"Bless my heart, it's very strange! What do you say, Preston?--you
don't answer me. It is very strange."
"Strange indeed that you do not recognise the fact that the tremendous
noise you made in your pocket-handkerchief started the horses."
The old gentleman looked round; then at the horses; then in his
handkerchief; and back at the horses again.
"I--er--I--er--I really cannot believe it possible, Preston; I blow my
nose so softly," he said quite seriously. "Would you--there--don't
think I slight your word--but--er--would you mind--I'm afraid, you see,
that you are mistaken--would you mind my trying the horses?"
"By no means," said the professor smiling.
"I will then," said the old gentleman eagerly; and going up to the
horses, yellow handkerchief in hand held loosely as if he were about to
use it, he slowly advanced it to each animal's nose.
They neither of them winced, Lawrence's cream colour going so far as to
reach out and try to take hold of it with his lips, evidently under the
impression that it was some delicate kind of Turkish dried hay.
"There," said Mr Burne triumphantly; "you see! They are not frightened
at the handkerchief."
"Walk behind," said the professor, "and blow your nose--blow gently."
The old gentleman hesitated for a moment, and then blew as was
suggested, not so loudly as before, but a fairly sonorous blow.
The horses all made a plunge, and had to be held in and patted before
they could be calmed down again.
"What ridiculous brutes!" exclaimed Mr Burne contemptuously. "How
absurd!"
"You are satisfied, then?" said the professor.
"I cannot help being," replied Mr Burne. "Bless my heart! It is
ridiculous."
"I am growing anxious, your excellencies," said Yussuf interrupting.
"The time is getting on, and I want to overtake the baggage-horses.
Will you please to mount, sir?"
"Bless me, Yussuf," cried Mr Burne testily; "anyone would think that
this was your excursion and not ours."
"Your pardon, effendi, but it will be bad if the night overtakes us and
we have not found our baggage. Perhaps we may have to sleep at a khan
where there is no food."
"When we have plenty with the baggage. To be sure. But must I mount
that animal again? I am shaken to pieces. There, hold his head."
The old gentleman uttered a sigh, but he placed his foot in the stirrup
and mounted slowly, not easily, for the horse was nervous now, and
seemed as if it half suspected his rider of being the cause of that
startling noise.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
ADVENTURES IN THE HILLS.
"All the result of coming among savages," grumbled Mr Burne. "Anyone
would think that the Turks had never learned the use of the
pocket-handkerchief."
"I do not suppose many of them have arrived at your pitch of
accomplishment," said the professor, laughing, as they rode on along the
faint track in and out of the loveliest valleys, where nature was
constantly tempting them to stop and gaze at some fresh beauty. But
there was every prospect of darkness overtaking them before they reached
the little mountain village where they were to rest for the night; and
as the time went on the beauties of nature were forgotten in the
all-powerful desire to overtake the driver with the two baggage-horses,
laden with that which was extremely precious to so many hungry
travellers, and at every turn their eyes were strained in front to look
upon the welcome sight.
"Not so much as a tail," muttered Mr Burne. "I say," he said aloud,
"what's become of that baggage?"
Yussuf was understood to say that the man must have made haste, and that
they would find him at the village.
But if that was what the Muslim had said, he was wrong. For when in the
darkness, after what had become quite a dangerous finish to their
journey along the edge of a shelf of rock, where, far below, the rushing
and gurgling of a torrent could be heard, they reached the cluster of
houses and the miserable khan, one thing was evident, and that was that
the baggage had not arrived.
"What is to be done, Yussuf?" said the professor. "Must we go back and
search for it?"
"We could do nothing in the dark, effendi," was the reply. "The path is
safe enough in daylight; by night the risk is too great."
"But he may come yet," exclaimed Mr Burne.
Yussuf only shook his head, and said that they must wait.
But he did not waste time, for he sought out the head-man of the village
to ask for a resting-place for his employers, with a supply of the best
food the village could afford, and barley for the horses.
The man surlily replied that they had not enough food for themselves,
and that the barley had all gone to pay the taxes. They must go
somewhere else.
It was now that the weary and hungry travellers found out the value of
Yussuf.
For he came to the professor, as they sat together on their tired
horses, and held out his hand.
"Give me the firman, excellency," he said. "These miserable people have
been robbed and plundered by travellers who ask their hospitality, till
they are suspicious of all strangers. Let me show the head-man the
sultan's command before I use force."
The professor handed the document, and Yussuf walked straight to where
the head-man was standing aloof, caught him by the shoulder and pushed
him inside his house, where he made him read the order.
The effect was magical. The man became obsequious directly; the horses
were led to a rough kind of stable; barley was found for them, a sturdy
fellow removed bridles and saddles, and carried them into a good-sized
very bare-looking room in the house, which he informed them was to be
their chamber for the night.
Here a smoky lamp was soon lit; rugs were brought in, and before long a
rough meal of bread, and eggs and fruit was set before them, followed by
some coffee, which, if not particularly good, was warm and refreshing in
the coolness of the mountain air.
The lamp burned low, and they were glad to extinguish it at last, and
then lie down upon the rugs to sleep.
It seemed strange and weird there in the darkness of that room. Only a
few hours before, they were in the heated plain; now by the gradual rise
of the road they were high up where the mountain-breeze sighed among the
cedars, and blew in through the unglazed window.
There was a sense of insecurity in being there amongst unfriendly
strangers, and Lawrence realised the necessity for going about armed,
and letting the people see that travellers carried weapons ready for
use.
Twice over that day they had passed shepherds who bore over their
shoulders what, at a distance, were taken for crooks, but which proved
on nearer approach to be long guns, while each man had a formidable
knife in his sash.
But, well-armed though they were, Lawrence could not trust himself to
sleep. He was horribly weary, and ached all over with his long ride,
but he could not rest. There was that open window close to the ground,
and it seemed to him to offer great facilities for a bloodthirsty man to
creep in and rob and murder, if he chose, before the sleepers could move
in their own defence.
It was a window that looked like a square patch of transparent
blackness, with a point or two of light in the far distance that he knew
were stars. That was the danger, and he lay and watched it, listening
to the breathing of his friends.
The door gave him no concern, for Yussuf had stretched himself across it
after the fashion of a watchdog, and he too seemed to sleep.
How time went Lawrence could not tell, but he could not even doze, and
the time seemed terribly long. His weariness increased, and, in
addition, he began to feel feverish, and his skin itched and tingled as
if every now and then an exquisitely fine needle had punctured it.
The restlessness and irritation ceased not for a moment, and he realised
now that he must have caught same disease peculiar to the country. A
fever, of course, but he knew enough of the laws of such complaints,
from his long life of sickness, to feel that this was not a regular
fever, for he perspired too freely, and his head was cool.
He tossed from side to side, but there was no rest, and when at last the
window faded from his sight, and he became insensible to what was going
on around him, he was still conscious of that peculiar irritation, that
prickled and itched and stung and burned, till he dreamed that he was
travelling through a stinging-nettle wood that led up to a square
window, through which a fierce-looking Turk armed with pistols and
dagger crept to come and rob him.
It was all dreadfully real, and, in the midst of his fear and agony, he
could not help feeling that he was foolish to wish that the Guilford
Street police-sergeant, whom he had so often seen stop by one particular
lamp-post at the corner to speak to one of his men, would come now, for
he had a sensation that this must be quite out of his beat.
And all the time the fierce-looking Turk was coming nearer, and at last
seized him, and spoke in a low whisper.
He saw all this mentally, for his eyes were closed; but, as he opened
them and gazed upwards, a broad band of pale light came through the
square window, falling right on the stern face of the Turk as he bent
over him just as he had fancied in his sleep.
For the moment he was about to speak. Then he calmed down and uttered a
sigh as he realised the truth.
"Is that you, Yussuf?" he said.
"Yes," was the reply. "It is morning, and I thought you might like to
see the sun rise from the mountain here."
"Yes, I should," said Lawrence, uttering another sigh full of relief;
"but I am not well. I itch and burn--my neck, my face, my arms."
"Yes," said Yussuf sadly, as if speaking of a trouble that was
inevitable.
"Is it a fever coming on?"
"Fever?" said Yussuf smiling; "oh, no! the place swarms with nasty
little insects. These rugs are full."
"Ugh!" ejaculated Lawrence, jumping up and giving himself a rub and a
shake. "How horrid, to be sure!"
Yussuf would not let him go far from the house, merely led him to a spot
where the view was clear, and then let him gaze for a few minutes as the
great orange globe rolled up and gilded the mists that lay in the
hollows among the hills. Then he returned to the house and prepared the
scanty breakfast, of which they partook before going off in search of
the missing baggage-horses and their load.
Three hours were consumed in seeking out the spot where the man who had
charge of the two animals had gone from his right path. It was very
natural for him to have done so, for the road forked here, and he
pursued that which seemed the most beaten way. Down here he had
journeyed for hours, and when at last he had come to the conclusion that
he had gone wrong, instead of turning back he had calmly accepted his
fate, unloaded the animals, made himself a fire out of the abundant wood
that lay around, and there he waited patiently until he was found.
It was a hindrance so soon after their starting; but Yussuf seemed to
set so good an example of patience and forbearance that the professor
followed it, and Mr Burne was compelled to accept the position.
"We shall have plenty of such drawbacks," Mr Preston said; "and we must
recollect that we are not in the land of time-tables and express
trains."
"We seem to be in the land of no tables at all, not even chairs,"
grumbled Mr Burne; "but there, I don't complain. Go on just as you
please. I'll keep all my complaints till I get back, and then put them
in a big book."
A week of steady slow travelling ensued, during which time they were
continually journeying in and out among the mountains, following rough
tracks, or roads as they were called, whose course had been suggested by
that of the streams that wandered between the hills. Often enough the
way was the dried-up bed of some torrent, amidst whose boulders the
patient little Turkish horses picked their way in the most sure-footed
manner.
It was along such a track as this that they were going in single file
one day, for some particular reason that was apparently known only to
the professor and Yussuf. They seemed to be deep down in the earth, for
the rift along which they travelled was not above twenty feet wide, and
on the one side the rock rose up nearly three thousand feet almost
perpendicularly, while, on the other, where it was not perpendicular, it
appeared to overhang.
Now and then it opened out a little more. Then it contracted, and
seemed as if ere long the sides of the ravine would touch; but always
when it came to this, it opened out directly after.
The heat was intense, for there was not a breath of wind. The gully was
perfectly dry, and wherever there was a patch of greenery, it was fifty,
a hundred, perhaps a thousand feet above their heads.
"How much farther is it to the village where we shall stop for the
night?" said the old lawyer, pausing to mop his forehead.
"There is no village that we shall stop at, effendi," said Yussuf
quietly. "We go on a little more, and then we shall have reached the
remains that Mr Preston wishes to see."
"Bless my heart!" panted the old gentleman. "You are killing that boy."
"I am quite well," said Lawrence smiling, "only hot and thirsty. I want
to see the ruins."
"Oh, go on," cried Mr Burne. "Don't stop for me."
Just then they were proceeding along a more open and sunny part when the
professor's horse in front suddenly shied, swerved round, and darted
back, throwing his rider pretty heavily.
"Mind, sir! Take care!" shouted Yussuf.
"What's the good of telling a man to take care when he is down?" cried
Mr Burne angrily; and he tried to urge his horse forward, but it
refused to stir, while Lawrence's had behaved in precisely the same
manner, and stood shivering and snorting.
"Your gun, sir, quickly!" exclaimed Yussuf.
"What is it? Robbers?" cried Mr Burne excitedly as he handed the guide
his double-barrelled fowling-piece.
"No, sir; one of the evil beasts which haunt these valleys and slopes.
Is the gun loaded, sir?"
"Loaded? No, man. Do you suppose I want to shoot somebody?"
"Quick, sir! The charges!" whispered Yussuf; and when, after much
fumbling, Mr Burne had forced his hand into his cartridge-bag, Yussuf
was closing the breech of the gun, having loaded it with a couple of
cartridges handed by Lawrence, who had rapidly dismounted and drawn his
sword.
It was evident that Mr Preston was stunned by the fall, for he lay
motionless on one side of the ravine among the stones.
"No, no, stop!" cried Yussuf as Lawrence was making his way towards the
professor.
The lad involuntarily obeyed, and waited breathless to see what would
follow, as Yussuf advanced cautiously, gun in hand, his dark eyes
rolling from side to side in search of the danger.
For some minutes he could see nothing. Then, all at once, they saw him
raise the gun to his shoulder, take a quick aim and fire, when the
horses started, and would have dashed off back, but for the fact that
they were arrested by the way being blocked by the baggage animals and
Mr Burne.
As the gun was fired its report was magnified a hundredfold, and went
rolling along in a series of peals like thunder, while the faint blue
smoke rose over where Yussuf stood leaning forward and gazing at some
broken stones.
Then all at once he raised the gun again as if to fire, but lowered it
with a smile, and walked forward to spurn something with his foot, and
upon Lawrence reaching him it was to find him turning over a
black-looking serpent of about six feet long, with a short thin tail,
the body of the reptile being very thick in proportion to its length.
Upon turning it over the Muslim pointed out that it had a peculiar
reddish throat, and he declared it to be of a very poisonous kind.
"How do you know it to be poisonous?" said Mr Preston, who had, unseen
by them, risen from where he had been thrown.
"Oh, Mr Preston, are you much hurt?" cried Lawrence.
"I must say I am hurt," said the professor smiling. "A heavy man like
me cannot fall from his horse and strike his head against the stones
without suffering. But there, it is nothing serious. How do you know
that is a poisonous snake, Yussuf?"
"I have been told of people being bitten by them, effendi, and some have
died; but I should have said that it was dangerous as soon as I saw the
horse shrink from it. Animals do not generally show such horror unless
they know that there is danger."
"I don't think you are right about the horses," said the professor
quietly, "for they are terrible cowards in their way; but I think you
are right about the snake. Serpents that are formed like this, with the
thick, sluggish-looking shape, and that peculiar short tail, are mostly
venomous. Well, this one will do no more mischief, Burne."
"No. Nasty brute!" said the old lawyer, gazing down at the reptile
after coaxing his horse forward. "What are you going to do, Yussuf?"
"Make sure that it will not bite any of the faithful," said the guide
slowly; and drawing his knife he thrust the reptile into a convenient
position, and, after cutting off its head, tossed the still writhing
body to the side of the ravine.
This incident at an end, they all mounted again and rode on, Yussuf in
the middle, and Lawrence and Mr Preston, who declared himself better,
on either hand, till, at the end of about an hour, the latter said
quickly:
"Do you think you are right, Yussuf? These ravines are so much alike.
Surely you must have made a mistake."
"If I am right," replied Yussuf, pointing forward, "there is a spring of
clear water gushing out at the foot of that steep rock."
"And there is none, I think," said the professor, "or it would be
running this way."
"If it did not run another, effendi," said Yussuf grimly. "Yes: I am
right. There is the opening of the little valley down which the stream
runs, and the ruined rock-dwellings are just beyond."
If there had been any doubt as to their guide's knowledge it would have
been set aside by the horses, for Mr Burne suddenly uttered a warning
shout, and, looking back, they saw the two baggage animals coming along
at a sharp pace, which was immediately participated in by the rest of
the horses, all trotting forward as fast as the nature of the ground
would allow to get to a patch of green that showed at the foot of a
great rock; and upon reaching it, there, as Yussuf had said, was a
copious stream, which came spouting out from a crevice in the rock,
clear, cool, and delicious, for the refreshment of all.
The horses and baggage were left here in charge of the driver, and,
following Yussuf, the little party were soon after at the foot of a very
rugged precipice, the guide pointing upwards, and exclaiming:
"Behold, effendi, it is as I said."