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.
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?