had lived when the earth was a couple of thousand years or more younger,
when western Europe was the home of barbarians. The dust of buildings
that had been erected by the most civilised peoples then dwelling in the
world, and this now rising in the thick dense cloud which seemed as if
it would never pass.
An hour must have gone by, and they were conscious as they stood there
in a group that the mist looked blacker, and by this they felt that the
night must be coming on. For some time now there had not been the
slightest quiver of the ground, and in place of the horses standing with
their legs spread wide and heads low, staring wildly, and snorting with
dread, they had gathered themselves together again, and were beginning
to crop the herbage here and there, but blowing over it and letting it
fall from their lips again as if in disgust.
And no wonder, for every blade and leaf was covered with a fine
impalpable powder, while, as the perspiration dried upon the exposed
parts of the travellers, their skins seemed to be stiff and caked with
the dust.
"I think the earthquake is over, excellencies," said Yussuf calmly. "I
could not be sure, but the look of the sky this evening was strange."
"I had read of earthquakes out here," said the professor, who was
gaining confidence now; "but you do not often have such shocks as
these?"
"Oh, yes, effendi; it is not an unusual thing. Much more terrible than
this; whole towns are sometimes swallowed up. Hundreds of lives are
lost, and hundreds left homeless."
"Then you call this a slight earthquake?" said Mr Burne.
"Certainly, excellency, here," was the reply. "It may have been very
terrible elsewhere. Terrible to us if we had been standing beside those
stones which fell. It would have been awful enough if all these ruins
had been, as they once were, grandly built houses and temples."
"And I was grumbling about poor dear old sooty, foggy England," said Mr
Burne. "Dear, dear, dear, what foolish things one says!"
"Is not the dust settling down?" said the professor just then.
"A little, your excellency; but it is so fine that unless we have a
breeze it may be hours before it is gone."
"Then what do you propose to do?" asked Mr Burne.
"What can I do, excellency, but try to keep you out of danger?"
"Yes, but how?"
"We must stay here."
"Stay here? when that village is so near at hand?"
Yussuf paused for a few minutes and then said slowly, as if the question
had just been asked:
"How do we know that the village is near at hand?"
"Ah!" ejaculated the professor, startled by the man's tone.
"It was not more than two of your English miles from here, excellency,
when we left the place this morning, but with such a shock there may be
only ruins from which the people who were spared have fled."
"How horrible!" exclaimed Lawrence.
"Let us hope that I am wrong, effendi," said Yussuf hastily. "I only
speak."
"But we cannot stay here for the night," said Mr Burne impatiently.
"Excellency, we must stay here," said the Turk firmly. "I am your
guide, and where I know the land I will lead you. I knew this country
this morning, but how can I know it now? Great chasms may lie between
us and the village--deep rifts, into which in the dust and darkness we
may walk. You know what vast gorges and valleys lie between the hills."
"Yes," replied Mr Preston.
"Some of these have been worn down by the torrents and streams from the
mountains, others have been made in a moment by such shocks as these. I
would gladly say, `come on; I will lead you back to the head-man's
house,' but, excellencies, I do not dare."
"He is quite right, Burne," said the professor gravely.
"Oh, yes, confound him: he always is right," cried Mr Burne. "I wish
sometimes he were not. Fancy camping out here for the night in this
horrible dust and with the air growing cold. It will be icy here by and
by."
"Yes, excellency, it will be cold. We are high up, and the snow
mountains are not far away."
"We must make the best of it, Lawrence, my boy," said the professor
cheerily. "Then I suppose the next thing is to select a camp. But,
Yussuf, this is rather risky. What about the asps?"
"And the ants," cried Mr Burne with a groan. "I can't sleep with such
bed-fellows as these."
"And the djins and evil spirits," cried Lawrence.
"Ah, I don't think they will hurt us much, my boy," said the professor.
"And there is one comfort," added Mr Burne; "we have left the cemetery
behind. I do protest against camping there."
"A cemetery of two thousand years ago," said the professor quietly.
"Ah, Burne, we need not make that an objection. But come, what is to be
done?"
Yussuf answered the question by calling Hamed to come and help unpack
the horses, and all then set to work to prepare to pass the night in the
midst of the ruins, and without much prospect of a fire being made.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
ALI BABA'S FEAT.
The night came on colder and colder, and though Yussuf and Hamed worked
hard at cutting bushes and branches of trees, the green wood covered
with leaves obstinately refused to burn, and the result was a thick
smoke, which hung about and spread amongst the dust, making the position
of the travellers worse than before. Yussuf searched as far as he
could, but he could find no pines, neither were there any bushes of the
laurel family, or the result would have been different.
All this while they were suffering from a nervous trepidation that made
even a heavy footfall startling, every one being in expectation of a
renewal of the earthquake shocks.
Rugs and overcoats were taken from the baggage and, giving up the fire
as a bad job, the little party were huddled together for the sake of
warmth, when all at once a breeze sprang up, and in less than half an
hour the mist of dust had been swept away, and the dark sky was overhead
studded with countless stars.
It was even colder than before, the wind that came down from the
mountains being extremely searching, and it seemed a wonder that there
could be so much difference between day and night. But in spite of the
cold the little party felt cheered and relieved by the disappearance of
the thick mist of dust. The bright sky above them seemed to be a sign
of the danger, having passed away, and suggestive of the morning
breaking bright and clear to give them hope and the power of seeing any
dangers that were near.
But they were not to wait till morning, for soon after the clearing away
of the mist, shouts were heard in the distance, to which they responded,
and the communication was kept up till a party of men appeared, who
proved to be no belated set of wanderers like themselves, but about
twenty of the village people under the command of the head-man, come in
search of them, and all ready to utter a wild cheer when they were
found.
The leader explained to Yussuf that the earthquake shocks had all been
on this side of the little river, the village having completely escaped.
About a couple of hours after the shocks the party of people who had
been digging for treasure returned to the village, and upon the head-man
learning that the travellers had been left up there he had organised a
party to come in search.
There was no mistaking the cordiality of the head-man or his joy at
having found them, and after helping to repack the horses he led the way
back confidently enough, and in the walk explained that the mischief
done was very slight. No gaps had opened, as far as he knew, but at all
events the road from the old ruins to the village was safe.
"Your cudgel seems to have been a regular genii's wand, Yussuf," said
Mr Burne softly. "You would not find it have so good an effect upon
Englishmen."
"It and your payments, effendi, have taught the man that we are people
of importance, and not to be trifled with," replied Yussuf smiling; and
Mr Burne nodded and took snuff.
In an hour they were safely back at the head-man's house, where hot
coffee and then a good meal prepared all for their night's rest amidst
the warm rugs which were spread for them; and feeling that no watch was
necessary here, all were soon in a deep sleep, Lawrence being too tired
even to think of the danger to which they had been exposed.
Directly after breakfast next morning the head-man came to them with a
very serious look upon his countenance.
The people of the village were angry, he said to Yussuf, and were
uttering threats against the strangers, for it was due to them that the
earthquake had taken place. Every one knew that the old ruins were the
homes of djins and evil spirits. The strangers had been interfering
with those ruins, and the djins and evil spirits had resented it.
"But," said Yussuf, "your people did more than their excellencies."
"Yes, perhaps so," said the head-man; "but they are fools and pigs. Let
the English effendis go, and not touch the ruins again."
Yussuf explained, and the professor made a gesture full of annoyance.
"Ask him, Yussuf, if he believes this nonsense."
"Not when I am with you, excellencies," he said smiling; "but when I am
with my people, I do. If I did not think as they do I could not live
with them. I am head-man, but if they turn against me they are the
masters, and I am obliged to do as they wish."
There was nothing for it but to go, and they left the village with all
its interesting surroundings as soon as the horses were packed, the
people uttering more than one menacing growl till they were out of
hearing.
"So vexatious!" exclaimed the professor. "I feel as if we have done
wrong in giving up. The firman ought to have been sufficient. We shall
never find such a place again--so rich in antiquities. I have a good
mind to turn back."
"No, no, effendi," said Yussuf, "it would only mean trouble. I can take
you to fifty places as full of old remains. Trust to me and I will show
you the way."
They journeyed on for days, finding good, bad, and indifferent lodgings.
Sometimes they were received by the people with civility, at others
with suspicion, for Yussuf was taking them farther and farther into the
mountains, where the peasants were ignorant and superstitious to a
degree; but, save where they crossed some plain, they were everywhere
impressed by the grandeur of the country, and the utter ruin and neglect
which prevailed. Roads, cities, land, all seemed to have been allowed
to go to decay; and, to make the journey the longer and more arduous,
over and over again, where they came to a bridge, it was to find that it
had been broken down for years, and this would often mean a journey
along the rugged banks perhaps for miles before they found a place where
it was wise to try and ford the swollen stream.
There was always something, though, to interest the professor--a
watch-tower in ruins at the corner of some defile, the remains of a
castle, an aqueduct, a town with nothing visible but a few scattered
stones, or a cemetery with the remains of marble tombs.
Day after day fresh ruins to inspect, with the guide proving his value
more and more, and relieving the party a great deal from the
pertinacious curiosity of the scattered people, who would not believe
that the travellers were visiting the country from a desire for
knowledge.
It must be for the buried treasures of the old people, they told Yussuf
again and again; and they laughed at him derisively as he repeated his
assurances.
"Don't tell them any more," Lawrence used to say in a pet; "let the
stupids waste their time."
Sometimes this constant examination of old marbles and this digging out
of columns or slabs grew wearisome to the lad, but not often, for there
was too much exciting incident in their travels through gorge and
gully--along shelves where the horses could hardly find foothold, but
slipped and scrambled, with terrible precipices beneath, such as at
first made the travellers giddy, but at last became so common, and their
horses gave them so much confidence, that they ceased to be alarmed.
It was a wonderful country, such as they had not dreamed could exist so
near Europe, while everywhere, as the investigations went on, they were
impressed with the feeling that, unsafe as it was now, in the past it
must have been far worse, for on all hands there were the remains of
strongholds, perched upon the top of precipitous heights with the most
giddy and perilous of approaches, where, once shut in, a handful of
sturdy Greeks or stout Romans could have set an army at defiance. This
was the more easy from the fact that ammunition was plentiful in the
shape of rocks and stones, which the defenders could have sent crashing
down upon their foes.
It was one evening when the difficulties of the day's journey had been
unusually great that they were on their way toward a village beyond
which, high up in the mountains, Yussuf spoke of a ruined city that he
had only visited once, some twenty years before. He had reserved it as
one of the choicest bits for his employers, and whenever Lawrence had
been enraptured over some fine view or unusually grand remains Yussuf
had smiled and said, "Wait."
Their progress that day had been interrupted by a storm, which forced
them to take shelter for a couple of hours, during which the hail had
fallen in great lumps as big as walnuts, and when this was over it lay
on the ridges in white beds and crunched beneath the feet of their
horses.
Their way lay along one of the defiles where the road had been made to
follow the edge of the stream, keeping to its windings; but as they
descended a slope, and came near the little river, Yussuf drew rein.
"It is impossible, excellencies," he said; "the path is covered by the
torrent, and the water is rising fast."
"But is there no other way--a mile or two round?" said the professor.
Yussuf shook his head as he pointed to the mountains that rose on every
side.
"It is only here and there that there is a pass," he said. "There is no
other way for three days' journey. We must go back to the place where
we sheltered and wait till the river flows back to its bed."
"How long?" asked Mr Burne; "an hour or two?"
"Perhaps longer, effendi," said Yussuf. "Mind how you turn round; there
is very little room."
They had become so accustomed to ride along shelves worn and cut in the
mountain sides that they had paid little heed to this one as they
descended, their attention having been taken by the hail that whitened
the ledges; but now, as they were turning to ascend the steep slope cut
diagonally along the precipitous side of the defile, the dangerous
nature of the way became evident.
But no one spoke for fear of calling the attention of his companions to
the risky nature of the ride back; so, giving their horses the rein, the
docile beasts planted their feet together, and turned as if upon a pivot
before beginning to ascend.
So close was the wall of rock in places that the baggage brushed the
side, and threatened to thrust off the horses and send them headlong
down the slope, that began by being a hundred feet, and gradually
increased till it was five, then ten, and then at least fifteen hundred
feet above the narrow rift, where the stream rushed foaming along,
sending up a dull echoing roar that seemed to quiver in the air.
How it happened no one knew. They had plodded on, reaching the highest
part, with Hamed and the baggage-horses in front, for there had been no
room to pass them. First Yussuf, then the professor, Mr Burne and
Lawrence on Ali Baba, of course counting from the rear. There was a
good deal of hail upon the path, but melting so fast in the hot sun that
it was forgotten, and all were riding slowly on, when the second baggage
horse must have caught its load against the rock, with the result that
it nearly fell over the side. The clever beast managed to save itself,
and all would have been well had it not startled Ali Baba, who made a
plunge, stepped upon a heap of the hail, and slipped, the left fore-hoof
gliding off the ledge.
The brave little animal made a desperate effort to recover itself, but
it had lost its balance, and in its agony it made a bound, which took it
ten feet forward, and along the rapid slope, where it seemed to stand
for a moment, and then, to the horror of all, it began to slip and
stumble rapidly down the steep side of the ravine towards a part that
was nearly perpendicular, and where horse and rider must be hurled down
to immediate death.
Everyone remained motionless as if changed to stone, while the
clattering of the little horse's hoofs went on, and great fragments went
rattling off beneath it to increase their pace and go plunging down into
the abyss as if to show the way for the horse to follow to destruction.
It was all a matter of moments, with the gallant little beast making
bound after bound downward, as it felt that it could not retain its
position, while Lawrence sat well back in his saddle, gripping it
tightly with his knees, and holding the loosened rein.
Another bound, and another, but no foothold for the horse, and then,
after one of its daring leaps, which were more those of a mountain sheep
or goat than of a horse, Ali Baba alighted at the very edge of the
perpendicular portion of the valley side, and those above saw him totter
for a moment, and then leap right off into space.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
ANOTHER SERPENT.
The professor uttered a groan, and covered his eyes.
But only for a moment. The next he was descending from his horse, and
beginning to clamber down the side of the precipice, but a cry from
Yussuf stopped him.
"No, no, effendi. We must go back down to the side of the river and
climb up. We cannot descend."
It was so plain that the professor said nothing; but, as if yielding to
the command of a superior officer, clambered back to the pathway, and
all stood gazing down to where the slope ended and the perpendicular
wall began.
There was nothing to see but the top of the wall of rock: nothing to
hear but the hissing, roaring rush of the water far below.
"Come," said Yussuf, turning his horse, and taking the lead in the
descent along the path they had just reascended, down which, scrambling
and slipping over the thawing ice, they crept slowly, looking in the
midst of the stupendous chasm little bigger than flies.
The old lawyer trembled, while the professor's cheeks looked sunken, his
eyes hollow. No one spoke, and as they went on, the crunching of the
half-melted hailstones and the click of the horses' hoofs against the
loosened stones sounded loudly in the clear air.
It was a perilous descent, for the horses were constantly slipping; but
at last the bottom of the defile was reached, and the steeds being left
in charge of Hamed, Yussuf turned sharply to the right, closely followed
by Mr Preston and Mr Burne, to climb along the steep stone-burdened
slope, where the flooded mountain torrent was just beneath them and
threatening to sweep them away.
Yussuf turned from time to time to look at his companions, half
expecting that they would not follow, for the way he took was extremely
perilous, and he fully expected to see Mr Preston give up in despair.
But, experienced as he was in the ways of Englishmen, he did not quite
understand their nature, for not only was the professor toiling on over
the mossy stones just behind him, but Mr Burne, with his face
glistening in perspiration and a set look of determination in his
features, was clambering up and sliding down with unwonted agility, but
with a piteous look in his eyes which told how painfully he felt the
position in which they were placed.
No one spoke, every effort being needed for the toilsome task, as they
clambered along, now down in narrow rifts, now dragging themselves
painfully over the rugged masses of rock which lay as they had fallen
from the side of the defile, a couple of thousand feet above them. The
scene would have appeared magnificent at another time; the colours of
the rocks, the tufts of verdant bushes, the gloriously-mossed stones,
the patches of white hail, and the glancing, rushing, and gleaming
torrent, which was here deep and dark, there one sheet of white
effervescing foam. But the hearts of all were too full, and their
imaginations were painting the spectacle upon which they soon expected
to gaze, namely, the terribly mutilated body of poor Lawrence, battered
by his fall out of recognition.
One moment Mr Preston was asking himself how he could make arrangements
for taking the remains of the poor lad home. At another he was thinking
that it would be impossible, and that he must leave him sleeping in this
far-off land. While, again, the course of his thoughts changed, and he
found himself believing that poor Lawrence would have fallen and rolled
on, and then, in company with the avalanche of loose stones set in
motion by his horse's hoof's, have been plunged into the furious
torrent, and been borne away never to be seen again.
A curious dimness came over the professor's eyes, as he paused for a
moment or two upon the top of a rock, to gaze before him. But there was
nothing visible, for the defile at the bottom curved and zigzagged so
that they could not see thirty yards before them, and where it was most
straight the abundant foliage of the trees growing out of the cliffs
rendered seeing difficult.
"It must have been somewhere here, effendi," said Yussuf at last,
pausing for the others to overtake him, and pointing upwards. "Let us
separate now, and search about. You, Mr Burne, keep close down by the
river; you, Mr Preston, go forward here; and I will climb up--it is
more difficult--and search there. I will shout if I have anything to
say."
The professor looked up to find that he was at the foot of a mass of
rock, high up on whose side there seemed to be a ledge, and then another
steep ascent, broken by shelves of rock and masses which seemed to be
ready to crumble down upon their heads.
Each man felt as if he ought to shout the lad's name, and ask him to
give some token of his whereabouts, but no one dared open his lips for
the dread of the answer to the calls being only the echoes from the
rocks above, while beneath there was the dull, hurrying roar of the
torrent which rose and fell, seeming to fill the air with a curious
hissing sound, and making the earth vibrate beneath their feet.
They were separating, with the tension of pain upon their minds seeming
more than they could bear, when, all at once, from far above, there was
a cry which made them start and gaze upward.
"Ahoy-y-oy!"
There was nothing visible, and they remained perfectly silent--
listening, and feeling that they must have been mistaken; but just then
a stone came bounding down, to fall some fifty feet in front, right on
to a mass of rock, and split into a score of fragments.
Then again:
"Ahoy! Where are you all?"
"Lawrence, ahoy!" shouted the professor, with his hands to his mouth.
"Ahoy!" came again from directly overhead. "Here. How am I to get
down?"
All started back as far as they could to gaze upward, and then remained
silent, too much overcome by their emotion to speak, for there, perched
up at least a thousand feet above them, stood Lawrence in an opening
among the trees, right upon a shelf of rock. They could see his horse's
head beside him, and the feeling of awe and wonder at the escape had an
effect upon the party below as if they had been stunned.
"How--am--I--to--get--down?" shouted Lawrence again.
Yussuf started out of his trance and answered:
"Stay where you are. I will try and climb up."
"All right," cried Lawrence from his eyrie.
"Are you hurt, my boy?" cried Mr Preston; and his voice was repeated
from the face of the rock on the other side.
"No, not much," came back faintly, for the boy's voice was lost in the
immensity of the place around.
"We will come to you," cried the professor, and he began to follow
Yussuf, who was going forward to find the end of the mass of rock wall,
and try to discover some way of reaching the shelf where the boy was
standing with his horse.
"Are you coming too, effendi?" said Yussuf at the end of a few minutes'
walking.
"Yes," said the professor. "You will wait here, will you not, Burne?"
"Of course I shall--not," said the old lawyer. "You don't suppose that
I am going to stand still and not make any effort to help the boy, do
you, Preston? Hang it all, sir! he is as much interest to me as to
you."
It was evident that Mr Burne was suffering from exhaustion, but he
would not give in, and for the next two hours he clambered on after his
companions, till it seemed hopeless to attempt farther progress along
the defile in that direction, and they were about to go back in the
other, to try and find a way up there, when Yussuf, who was ahead,
suddenly turned a corner and uttered a cry of delight which brought his
companions to his side.