piercing the hill, and
somewhat obstructed by ridges of stone.

Sheltered by these Stella crept to the very edge of the opening, and
was able to gain a comprehensive view of the entire scene beyond.
Within the cave itself there was no movement, no evidence of life.
Quite clearly no guard had been posted here, and no precautions taken,
although doubtless the only entrance to the deep valley was carefully
watched.

A glance without convinced her that no other guardianship was necessary
to assure safety. The valley lay before her, almost a level plain,
except for the stream winding through its centre, and all about,
unbroken and precipitous, arose the rampart of rocks, which seemed
unscalable.

She rested there long enough to trace this barrier inch by inch in its
complete circle, but found no opening, no cleft, promising a possible
exit, except where the trail led up almost directly opposite, and only
memory of her descent enabled her to recognise this. Satisfied that
the top could be attained in no other way, her eyes sought the things
of more immediate interest. The two cabins were directly before the
entrance, the smaller closely in against the cliff, the larger slightly
advanced. Neither exhibited any sign of life; indeed the only evidence
that the valley contained human occupants was the distant view of two
herders, busily engaged in rounding up a bunch of cattle on the
opposite bank of the stream. These were too far away, and too intently
engaged at their task, to observe any movement at this distance.

Her study of the situation concentrated on the small cabin immediately
in front. It was low, a scant story in height, but slightly elevated
from the ground, leaving a vacant space beneath. It was built of logs,
well mortised together, and plastered between with clay. The roof
sloped barely enough to shed water, and there were no windows on the
end toward the cliff, or along the one side which she could see from
where she lay. The single door must open from the front, and
apparently the house had been erected with the thought that it might
some time be used for purposes of defence, as it had almost the
appearance of a fort. The larger building was not entirely unlike this
in general design, except that small openings had been cut in the log
walls, and a rude chimney arose through the roof. Both appeared
deserted. Confident there could be no better time for the venture,
Stella signalled with her hand f