and that by now we should be nearing The House in the Woods. I said
as much to Ali Khan. He looked perplexed and agreed. We had reached
a comparatively level place, the trail faint but apparent, and it
surprised me that we heard no sound of life from the dense wood where
our goal must be.

"I know not, Presence," he said. "May his face be blackened that
directed me. I thought surely I could not miss the way, and yet-"

We cast back and could see no trail forking from the one we were on.
There was nothing for it but to trust to luck and push on. But I began
to be uneasy and so was the man. I had stupidly forgotten to unpack
my revolver, and worse, we had no food, and the mountain air is an
appetiser, and at night the woods have their dangers, apart from being
absolutely trackless. We had not met a living being since we left the
road and there seemed no likelihood of asking for directions. I stopped
no longer for views but went steadily on, Ali Khan keeping up a running
fire of low-voiced invocations and lamentations. And now it was dusk and
the position decidedly unpleasant.

It was at that moment I saw a woman before us walking lightly and
steadily under the pines. She must have struck into the trail from
the side for she never could have kept before us all the way. A native
woman, but wearing the all-concealing boorka, more like a town dweller
than a woman of the hills. I put on speed and Ali Khan, now very tired,
toiled on behind me as I came up with her and courteously asked the
way. Her face was entirely hidden, but the answering voice was clear and
sweet. I made up my mind she was young, for it had the bird-like thrill
of youth.

"If the Presence continues to follow this path he will arrive. It is not
far. They wait for him."

That was all. It left me with a desire to see the veiled face. We passed
on and Ali Khan looked fearfully back.

"Ajaib! (Wonderful!) A strange place to meet one of the purdah-nashin
(veiled women)" he muttered. "What would she be doing up here in the
heights? She walked like a Khanam (khan's wife) and I saw the gleam of
gold under the boorka."

I turned with some curiosity as he spoke, and lo! there was no human
being in sight. She had disappeared from the track behind us and it was
impossible to say where. The darkening trees were beginning to hold the
dusk and it seemed unimaginable that a woman should leave the way and
take to the dangers of the woods.

"Puna-i-Khoda--God prote