TRIP TO VLADIKAVKAZ AND KARBARDA 217 



beyond caring what he drank. Cecily spoke to the 

 Cossacks in Russian, and asked them if they knew 

 enough Tatar language to say to the caravan men that 

 we had a remarkable medicine which we wished our 

 patient to take. I ought not to accuse a martial 

 Cossack of winking ; such vulgarity is unknown in 

 Russia. This one's eyelid flickered. He gave the 

 matter in hand his best histrionic attention, and a 

 perfect wave of excitement passed through the group 

 as we poured out a strong " dose " into the cup. I did 

 hope nobody was standing to windward of it ! 



The mixture swallowed, we arranged the sufferer in 

 a comfortable seat on a heap of prayer-mats and left 

 him for a while. The recollection of missing Ali Ghirik 

 returned to us. Down in the stony bed of the ravine 

 where Fate had so rudely cast him our henchman sat, 

 deaf to all humanitarian inquiries. There was nothing 

 to* do but go after him, which we did in a shding run 

 down the shaly slope, followed by a little rivulet of 

 dislodged stones. We found him gazing into vacancy, 

 apparently quite unhurt, murmuring dully over and 

 over to himself the Muslim formula, designed for times 

 of stress : " Verily to God do we belong, verily to Him 

 do we return." 



" But not just yet," I said, laughing, shaking him 

 by the shoulder. " Did you never tumble down 

 ravines in Schamyl's time ? " 



Then the old man slowly raised himself, and decided 

 that his journey to Paradise might be delayed yet 

 awhile. Our friends of the colliding caravan flung us a 

 rope made of twisted hair, which hauled us all to the 



