guessed that the path was narrow and
bordered by some gulf, for as we went I heard stones fall, apparently to
a considerable depth, while the poor horse lifted its feet gingerly and
snorted in abject fear. At length we saw daylight, and never was I more
glad of its advent, although it showed us that there _was_ a gulf on our
right, and that the path we travelled could not measure more than ten
feet in width.

Now we were out of the tunnel, that evidently had saved us a wide
detour, and standing for the first time upon the actual slope of the
Mountain, which stretched upwards for a great number of miles till it
reached the snow-line above. Here also we saw evidences of human life,
for the ground was cultivated in patches and herds of mountain sheep and
cattle were visible in the distance.

Presently we entered a gully, following a rough path that led along the
edge of a raging torrent. It was a desolate place, half a mile wide
or more, having hundreds of fantastic lava boulders strewn about its
slopes. Before we had gone a mile I heard a shrill whistle, and suddenly
from behind these boulders sprang a number of men, quite fifty of them.
All we could note at the time was that they were brawny, savage-looking
fellows, for the most part red haired and bearded, although their
complexions were rather dark, who wore cloaks of white goat skins and
carried spears and shields. I should imagine that they were not unlike
the ancient Picts and Scots as they appeared to the invading Romans. At
us they came uttering their shrill, whistling cries, evidently with the
intention of spearing us on the spot.

"Now for it," said Leo, drawing his sword, for escape was impossible;
they were all round us. "Good-bye, Horace."

"Good-bye," I answered rather faintly, understanding what the Khania and
the old Shaman had meant when they said that we should be killed before
we ascended the first slope of the Mountain.

Meanwhile our ghastly-looking guide had slipped behind a great boulder,
and even then it occurred to me that her part in the tragedy being
played, she, if it were a woman at all, was withdrawing herself while
we met our miserable fate. But here I did her injustice, for she had, I
suppose, come to save us from this very fate which without her presence
we must most certainly have suffered. When the savages were within a few
yards suddenly she appeared on the top of the boulder, looking like a
second Witch of Endor, and stretched ou