rushing little torrent at the bottom of a rift hurrying to join the
stream below; but it was full of moment to Yussuf, for it led upward,
and it was a break in the great wall of rock.
Yussuf explained this clearly, and, plunging down, he was in a few
minutes holding out his hand to his companions, and pointing out that
the path was easier a few yards on.
So it proved, for the stream grew less, and they were able to climb up
its bed with ease, finding, too, that it led in the direction they
wanted to take, as well as upward, till, at the end of an hour, they
were able to turn off along a steep slope with a wall of rock above them
and another below.
The obstacles they met with were plentiful enough, but not great; and at
last, when they felt that they were fully a thousand feet above the
torrent, and somewhere near the spot on which they had hailed Lawrence,
Yussuf stopped, but no one was to be seen.
"That must be the shelf below us yonder, effendi," said the guide. "I
seem to know it because of the big tree across the valley. Yes; that
must be the shelf."
He led the way to try and descend to it, but that proved impossible,
though it was only some fifty feet below.
Retracing their steps they were still defeated, but, upon going forward
once more, Yussuf found what was quite a crack in the rocks, some huge
earthquake split which proved to be passable, in spite of the bushes and
stones with which it was choked, and after a struggle they found
themselves upon an extensive ledge of the mountain, but no Lawrence.
"The wrong place, Yussuf," said the professor, as Mr Burne seated
himself, panting, upon a block of stone, and wiped his face.
"No, effendi; but I am sure it was here," said the Turk quietly. "Hush!
what is that?"
The sound came from beyond a mass of rock, which projected from the
shelf over the edge of the precipice, the perpendicular rock seeming to
fall from here sheer to the torrent, that looked small and silvery now
from where they stood.
"It is a horse feeding," said Yussuf smiling. "They are over yonder."
The next minute they were by the projecting rock which cut the shelf in
two.
Yussuf went close to the edge, rested his hand upon the stone, and
peered over.
"Only a bird could get round there," he said, shaking his head, and
going to the slope above the ledge. "We must climb over."
Mr Burne looked up at the place where they were expected to climb with
a lugubrious expression of countenance; but he jumped up directly, quite
willing to make the attempt, and followed his companions.
The climb proved less difficult than it seemed, and on reaching the top,
some fifty feet above where they had previously stood, there below them
stood Ali Baba, cropping the tender shoots of a large bush, and as soon
as he caught sight of them he set up a loud neigh.
There was no sign of Lawrence, though, until they had descended to the
shelf on that side, when they found him lying upon the short growth fast
asleep, evidently tired out with waiting.
"My dear boy!" was on the professor's lips; and he was about to start
forward, but Yussuf caught him roughly by the shoulder, and held him
back.
"Hist! Look!" he whispered.
Both the professor and Mr Burne stood chilled to the heart, for they
could see the head of an ugly grey coarsely scaled viper raised above
its coil, and gazing at them threateningly, after having been evidently
alarmed by the noise which they had made.
The little serpent had settled itself upon the lad's bare throat, and a
reckless movement upon the part of the spectators, a hasty waking on the
sleeper's part might end in a venomous bite from the awakened beast.
"What shall we do, Yussuf?" whispered, the professor in a hoarse
whisper. "I dare not fire."
"Be silent, effendi, and leave it to me," was whispered back; and, while
the two Englishmen looked on with their hearts beating anxiously, the
Turk slowly advanced, taking the attention of the serpent more and more.
As he approached, the venomous little creature crept from the boy's neck
on to his chest, and there paused, waving its head to and fro, and
menacingly thrusting out its forked tongue.
The danger to be apprehended was a movement upon the part of Lawrence,
who appeared to be sleeping soundly, but who might at any moment awaken.
Yussuf, however, was ready to meet the emergency, for he slowly
continued to advance with his staff thrown back and held ready to
strike, while, as he came nearer, the serpent seemed to accept the
challenge, and crawled slowly forward, till it was upon a level with the
lad's hips.
That was near enough for Yussuf, who noted how Lawrence's hands were
well out of danger, being beneath his head.
He hesitated no longer, but advanced quickly, his companions watching
his movements with the most intense interest, till the serpent raised
itself higher, threw back its head, and seemed about to throw itself
upon its advancing enemy.
The rest was done in a flash, for there was a loud _whizz_ in the air as
Yussuf's staff swept over Lawrence, striking the serpent, rapid as was
its action, low down in the body, and the virulent little creature,
broken and helpless, was driven over the edge of the precipice to fall
far away among the bushes below.
"Hallo! what's that?" cried Lawrence, starting up. "Oh, you've got
here, then."
"Yes; we are here, my lad," cried the professor, catching one hand, as
the old lawyer took the other. "Are you much hurt?"
"Only stiff and shaken. Ali made such a tremendous leap--I don't know
how far it was; and then he came down like an india-rubber ball, and
bounded again and again till he could find good foothold, and then we
slipped slowly till we could stop here, and it seemed as if we could go
no farther."
"What an escape!" muttered Mr Burne, looking up.
"Oh, it wasn't there," said Lawrence patting his little horse's neck.
"It must have been quite a quarter of a mile from here. But how did you
come?"
Yussuf explained, and then Mr Preston looked aghast at the rock they
had climbed over.
"Why, we shall have to leave the pony," he said.
"Oh, no, effendi," replied Yussuf; "leave him to me. He can climb like
a goat."
And so it proved, for the brave little beast, as soon as it was led to
the task by the rein passed over its head, climbed after Yussuf, and in
fact showed itself the better mountaineer of the two, while, after the
rock was surmounted, and a descent made upon the other side, it followed
its master in the arduous walk, slipping and gliding down the
torrent-bed when they reached it, till at last they reached the greater
stream, which to their delight had fallen to its regular summer volume,
the effects of the storm having passed away, and the sandy bed being
nearly bare.
Theirs proved quite an easy task now, in spite of weariness; and as
evening fell, they reached Hamed, camped by the roadside, with the
horses grazing on the bushes and herbage, all being ready to salute Ali
Baba with a friendly neigh.
They had a long journey before them still; but there was only one thing
to be done now--unpack the provisions, light a fire, make coffee, and
try to restore some of their vigour exhausted by so many hours of toil.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
A FORMIDABLE PARTY.
Fortunately for the travellers a glorious moonlight night followed the
glowing evening, and they reached in safety a mountain village, where,
awed by their appearance and display of arms, the rather surly people
found them a resting-place.
For days and days after this their way was on and on, among the
mountains, deeper and deeper in the grand wild country. Sometimes they
encountered good and sometimes surly treatment, but the beauty of the
scenery and the wonderful remains of ancient occupation recompensed the
professor, while Mr Burne in his snappish manner seemed to be satisfied
in seeing Lawrence's interest in everything around him, his relish for
the various objects increasing every hour.
For the change was unmistakable; he was making rapid progress back to
health; and instead of the rough life and privations of hunger, thirst,
and exposure having a bad effect, they seemed to rouse up in his nature
a determination that rapidly resulted in vigour.
"What are you going to show us to-day, Yussuf?" asked the lad, one
glorious autumn morning, when the little party were winding along one of
the many mountain tracks, so like others they had passed that they might
have been repeating their journey.
"Before long we shall reach the great ruins of which I have so often
spoken," replied Yussuf, smiling at the boy's eager look.
"At last!" cried Lawrence. "I began to think that we were never going
to get there. But is there nothing to see to-day?"
"Yes," replied Yussuf. "We are approaching a village now. It lies
yonder low down in this rift--where the cedars are half-way up on that
shelf in the mountain side."
"Yes; I see," replied Lawrence; "but what a place! Why, they must be
without sun half their time."
"Oh, no, effendi," said Yussuf; "certainly they are in shadow at times,
but though the village seems to lie low, we are high up in the
mountains, and when it is scorching in the plains, and the grass withers
for want of water, and down near the sea people die of fever and
sunstroke, up here it is cool and pleasant, and the flowers are
blossoming, and the people gather in their fruit and tend their bees."
"And in the winter, Yussuf?" said the professor, who had been listening
to the conversation.
"Ah, yes, in the winter, effendi, it is cold. There is the snow, and
the wolves and the bears come down from the mountains. It is a bad time
then. But what will you?--is it always summer and sunshine everywhere?
Ah! look, effendi Lawrence," he cried, pointing across the narrow gorge,
"you can see from here."
"See what?" cried Lawrence. "I can only see some holes."
"Yes; those are the caves where the people here keep their bees. The
hives are in yonder."
"What, in those caves?"
"Yes; the people are great keepers of bees, for they thrive well, and
there is abundance of blossom for the making of honey."
"But why do they put the hives in yonder?"
"In the caves? Because they are out of the sun, which would make the
honey pour down and run out in the hot summer time, and in the winter
the caverns are not so cold. It does not freeze hard there, and the
hives are away out of the snow, which lies so heavy here in the
mountains. It is very beautiful up here, and in the spring among the
trees there is no such place anywhere in the country for nightingales;
they till the whole valley with their song. Now, effendi, look before
you."
They had reached a turn in the valley, where once more a grand view of
the mountain chain spread before them, far as eye could reach, purple
mountains, and beyond them mountains that seemed to be of silver, where
the snow-capped their summits.
But among them were several whose regular form took the professor's
attention directly, and he pointed them out.
"Old volcanoes," he said quietly.
"Where?" cried Lawrence. "I want above all things to see a burning
mountain."
"You can see mountains that once burned," said the professor; "but there
are none here burning now."
"How disappointing!" cried Lawrence. "I should like to see one burn."
"Then we must go and see Vesuvius," cried Mr Burne decisively. "He
shall not be disappointed."
"I think the young effendi may perhaps see one burning a little here,"
said Yussuf quietly. "There are times when a curious light is seen
floating up high among the mountains. The peasants call it a spirit
light, but it must be the sulphurous glare rising from one of the old
cones, above some of which I have seen smoke hanging at times."
"Why, Yussuf, you are quite a professor yourself, with your cones, and
sulphurous, and arguments," cried Mr Burne.
"A man cannot be wandering all his life among nature's wonders, effendi,
and showing English, and French, and German men of wisdom the way,
without learning something. But I will watch each night and see if I
can make out the light over the mountains."
"Do, Yussuf," cried the professor eagerly.
Yussuf bowed.
"I will, excellency, but it is not often seen--only now and then."
They began to descend the side of the defile, and before long came upon
a fine grove of ancient planes, upon some of whose leafless limbs tall
long-necked storks were standing, placidly gazing down at them unmoved;
and it was not until the party were close by that they spread their
wings, gave a kind of bound, and floated off, the protection accorded to
them making them fearless in the extreme.
"Stop!" cried the professor suddenly, and the little party came to a
stand by a rough craggy portion of the way where many stones lay bare.
"Well, what is it?" cried Mr Burne impatiently, "I'm sure those are
natural or live stones, as you call them."
"Yes," said the professor; "it was not the stones which attracted me,
but the spring."
"Well, we have passed hundreds of better springs than that, and besides
it is bad water; see, my horse will not touch it."
"I thought I was right," cried the professor dismounting. "Look here,
Lawrence, that decides it; here is our first hot spring."
"Hot?" cried Lawrence, leaping off and bending over the spring. "Why,
so it is."
"Yes, a pretty good heat. This is interesting."
"It is a volcanic country, then," said Lawrence eagerly. "Oh, Mr
Preston, we must see a burning mountain."
"It does not follow that there are burning mountains now," said the
professor smiling, "because we find hot springs."
"Doesn't it?" said Lawrence in a disappointed tone.
"Certainly not. You would be puzzled to find a volcano in England, and
yet you have hot springs in Bath."
"Effendi, be on your guard. I do not like the look of these people,"
said Yussuf quickly, for a party of mounted men, all well-armed, was
seen coming from the opposite direction; but they passed on scowling,
and examining the little group by the hot spring suspiciously.
"A false alarm, Yussuf," said the professor smiling.
"No, effendi," he replied; "these are evil men. Let us get on and not
stop at this village, but make our way to the next by another track
which I know, so as to reach the old ruined city, and they may not
follow. If they do, I think they will not suspect the way we have
gone."
There seemed to be reasons for Yussuf's suspicions, the men having a
peculiarly evil aspect. A perfectly honest man sometimes belies his
looks, but when a dozen or so of individuals mounted upon shabby Turkish
ponies, all well-armed, and wearing an eager sinister look upon their
countenances, are seen together, if they are suspected of being a
dishonest lot, there is every excuse for those who suspect them.
"'Pon my word, Preston," said Mr Burne, "I think we had better get off
as soon as possible."
"Oh, I don't know," replied the professor; "the men cannot help their
looks. We must not think everyone we see is a brigand."
"You may think that those are, effendi," said Yussuf in his quiet way.
"Let us get on. You go to the front and follow the track beyond the
village--you can make no mistake, and I will hang back and try and find
out whether we are followed."
"Do you think there is danger, then?" whispered the professor.
"I cannot say, effendi; it may be so. If you hear me fire, be on your
guard, and if I do not return to you, hasten on to the next village, and
stay till you have sent messengers to find an escort to take you back."
"Yussuf! is it so serious as that?"
"I don't know, effendi. I hope not, but we must be prepared."
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
A STARTLING CHECK.
Yussuf's suspicions seemed to be without reason, for the rest of that
day's journey was finished without adventure, and the party reached a
village and found good quarters for the night.
So comfortable were they that the scare was laughed at, and it seemed to
all three that Yussuf was rather ashamed of his timidity.
Contrary to their experience of many nights past they found the head-man
of the village civil and even bumble; but it did not excite the
suspicion of the travellers, who congratulated themselves upon their
good fortune.
The only drawback to their comfort was the fact that Lawrence was
suffering somewhat from the shock of his descent from the rocky shelf.
At first he had merely felt a little stiff, the excitement of the whole
adventure tending to keep his thoughts from his personal discomfort; but
by degrees he found that he had received a peculiar jar of the whole
system, which made the recumbent position the most comfortable that he
could occupy.
It was no wonder, for the leaps which the pony had made were tremendous,
and it was as remarkable that the little animal had kept its feet as
that Lawrence had retained his seat in the saddle.
The next morning, a memorable one in their journey, broke bright and
clear; and Lawrence, after a hearty breakfast of bread, yaourt, and
honey, supplemented by coffee which might have been better, and peaches
which could not have been excelled, mounted Ali Baba in the highest of
spirits, feeling as he did far better for his night's rest. The sun was
shining gloriously and lighting up the sides of the mountains and
flashing from the streams that trickled down their sides. Low down in
the deep defiles there were hanging mists which looked like veils of
silver decked with opalescent tints of the most delicate transparency,
as they floated slowly before the morning breeze.
Their host of the night wished them good speed with a smiling face, and
they were riding off when Lawrence happened to look back and saw that
the man had taken off his turban and was making a derisive gesture, to
the great delight of the group of people who were gathered round.
Lawrence thought it beneath his notice and turned away, but this once
more seemed to give strength to Yussuf's suspicions.
But a bright morning in the midst of the exhilarating mountain air is
not a time for bearing in mind suspicions, or thinking of anything but
the beauty of all around. They were higher up in the mountains now,
with more rugged scenery and grand pine-woods; and as they rode along
another of the curious shelf-like tracks by the defile there was
constantly something fresh to see.
They had not been an hour on the road before Yussuf stopped to point
across the gorge to an object which had taken his attention on the other
side.
"Do you see, effendi Lawrence?" he said smiling.
"No."
"Yonder, just to the left of that patch of bushes where the stone looks
grey?"
"Oh, yes; I see now," cried the lad--"a black sheep."
"Look again," said Yussuf; and he clapped his hands to his mouth and
uttered a tremendous "Ha-ha!"
As the shout ran echoing along the gorge the animal on the farther
slope, quite two hundred yards away, went shuffling along at a clumsy
trot for some little distance, and then stopped and stood up on its
hind-legs and stared at them.
"A curious sheep, Lawrence!" said Mr Preston, adjusting his glass;
"what do you make of it now?"
"Why, it can't be a bear, is it?" cried Lawrence eagerly.
"Undoubtedly, and a very fine one," said Mr Preston.
"Let's have a look," said Mr Burne; and he too focussed his glass.
"Why, so it is!" he cried--"just such a one as we used to have upon the
pomatum pots. Now, from what gardens can he have escaped?"
The professor burst out laughing merrily.
"It is the real wild animal in his native state, Burne," he said.
"Then let's shoot him and take home his skin," cried Lawrence, preparing
to fire.
"You could not kill it at this distance, effendi," said Yussuf; "and
even if you could, it would be a day's journey to get round to that side
and secure the skin. Look!"
The chance to fire was gone as he spoke, for the bear dropped down on
all-fours, made clumsily for a pile of rocks, and Mr Preston with his
glass saw the animal disappear in a hole that was probably his cave.
"Gone, Lawrence!" said the professor. "Let's get on."
"I should have liked to go on after him," said Lawrence, gazing at the
hole in the rocks wistfully; "there's something so strange in seeing a
real bear alive on the mountains."
"Perhaps we shall see more yet," said Yussuf, "for we are going into the
wildest part we have yet visited. Keep a good look-out high up on each
side, and I daresay we shall not go far without finding something."
"Right, Yussuf," cried the professor; "there is another of those grand
old watch-towers. Look, Burne!--just like the others we have seen
planted at the corner where two defiles meet."
"Ah, to be sure--yes," said the old lawyer. "What! an eagle's nest?"
"And there goes the eagle," cried Lawrence, pointing, as a huge bird
swept by them high up on rigid wing, seeming to glide here and there
without the slightest effort. "That's an eagle, is it not, Mr
Preston?"
"A very near relative, I should say," replied the professor. "The
lammergeier, as they call it in the Alpine regions. Yes, it must be.
What a magnificent bird!"
"We shall see more and finer ones, I daresay," said Yussuf! quietly;
"but the time is passing, excellencies. We have a long journey before
us, and I should like to see the better half of a difficult way mastered
before mid-day."
Their guide's advice was always so good that they continued their slow
progress, the baggage-horses ruling the rate at which they were able to
proceed; and for the next hour they went on ascending and zigzagging
alone; the rugged mountain track, with defile and gorge and ridge of
rock rising fold upon fold, making their path increase in grandeur at
every turn, till they were in one of nature's wildest fastnesses, and
with the air perceptibly brisker and more keen.
All at once, just as they had turned into the entrance to one of the
most savage-looking denies they had yet seen, Yussuf pointed to a
distant pile of rock and said sharply:
"Look, there is an animal you may journey for days without seeing. Take
the glass, effendi Lawrence, and say what it is."
The lad checked his pony, adjusted his glass, an example followed by the
professor, while Mr Burne indulged himself with a pinch of snuff.
"A goat," cried Lawrence, as he got the animal into the field of the
glass, and saw it standing erect upon the summit of the rock, and gazing
away from them--"A goat! And what fine horns?"
"An ibex, Lawrence, my boy. Goat-like if you like. Ah, there he goes.
How easily they take alarm."
For the animal made a bound and seemed to plunge from rock to rock down
into a rift, and then up an almost perpendicular wall on the opposite
side higher and higher until it disappeared.
"It is no wonder, excellency," said Yussuf as they rode on along the
narrow path, "when every hand is against them, and they have been taught
that they are not safe from bullets half a mile away, and--Why is Hamed
stopping?"
They had been halting to gaze at the ibex, and all such pauses in their
journey were utilised for letting Hamed get well on ahead with his slow
charge. Experience had taught them that to leave him behind with the
necessaries of life was often to miss them altogether till the next
morning.
In this case he had got several hundred yards in advance, but had
suddenly stopped short, just at the point of a sharp elbow in the track,
where they could see him with the two horses standing stock-still, and
staring straight before him.
"Let's get on and see," said the professor, and they pressed on to come
upon a spot where the track forked directly after, a narrower path
leading up a rift in the mountains away to their left, and the sight of
this satisfied Yussuf.
"Hamed thinks he may be doing wrong," he said, "and that perhaps he
ought to have turned down here. All right, go on!" he shouted in his
own tongue, as they rode on past the wild passage among the rocks.
But Hamed did not stir, and as they advanced they could see that he was
sheltering himself behind one of his horses, and still staring before
him.
The way curved in, and then went out to the shoulder upon which the
baggage-horses stood, doubtless bending in again directly on the other
side. Hence, then, it was impossible for Yussuf and his party to see
what was beyond; neither could they gain a sight by altering their
course, for their path was but a shelf with the nearly perpendicular
side of the gorge above and below.
They were now some eighty or ninety yards from the corner, and Yussuf
shouted again:
"Go on, man; that is right."
But Hamed did not move hand or foot, and Yussuf checked his horse.