enos should go to some place in the vicinity where the bishop was
said to be, and that, if he gave permission, the two books should be
forwarded immediately by a trusty man to the khan of Malacash, where I
was to pass the night. I consented to this plan, although I had no hope
of obtaining the manuscripts, as in the present unsettled state of the
country the bishop would naturally calculate on the probability of the
messenger being robbed, and on the improbability of his meeting me at
the khan, as it would be absolutely necessary for me to leave the place
before sunrise the next day.

All this being arranged I proceeded to the chamber of the windlass, was
put into the net, swung out into the air, and let down. They let me down
very badly, being all talking and scolding each other; and had I not
made use of my hands and feet to keep myself clear of the projecting
points of the rock I should have fared badly. To increase my perils, my
friends the palicari at the bottom, to testify their joy at my
re-appearance, rested their long guns across their knees and fired them
off, without the slightest attention to the direction of the barrels,
which were all loaded with ball-cartridge: the bullets spattered against
the rock close to me, and in the midst of the smoke I came down and was
caught in the arms of my affectionate thieves, who bundled me out of my
net with many extraordinary screeches of welcome.

When my servants arrived and informed them of our recent disappointment,
"What!" cried they, "would they not let you take the books? Stop a bit,
we will soon get them for you!" And away they ran to the series of
ladders which hung down another part of the precipice: they would have
been up in a minute, for they scrambled like cats; but by dint of
running after them and shouting we at length got them to come back, and
after some considerable expenditure of oaths and exclamations, kicking
of horses, and loading of guns and saddle-bags, we found ourselves
slowly winding our way back towards the valley of the Peneus.

After all, what an interesting event it would have been, what a standard
anecdote in bibliomaniac history, if I had let my friendly thieves have
their own way, and we had stormed the monastery, broken open the secret
door of the library, pitched the old librarian over the rocks, and
marched off in triumph, with a gorgeous manuscript under each arm!
Indeed I must say that under such aggravating circumstances it requir