114 
OUTMARCHED BY THE TURKS , 
[chap, IV. 
the camels arrive, I could march into Ellyria in twenty 
minutes, make the chief a large present, and pass on 
without halting until I cleared the Ellyria valley. At 
any rate I was well before the Turks, and the forced 
march at night, however distressing, had been successful. 
The great difficulty now lay in the ravine that we had 
just crossed; this would assuredly delay the caravan 
for a considerable time. 
Tying our horses to a bush, we sat upon a rock 
beneath the shade of a small tree within ten paces of 
the path, and considered the best course to pursue. 
I hardly liked to risk an advance into Ellyria alone, 
before the arrival of my whole party, as we had been 
very rudely received by the Tollogo people on the 
previous evening;—nevertheless I thought it might 
be good policy to ride unattended into Ellyria, and 
thus to court an introduction to the chief. However, 
our consultation ended in a determination to wait 
where we then were, until the caravan should have 
accomplished the last difficulty by crossing the ravine; 
when we would all march into Ellyria in company. 
For a long time we sat gazing at the valley before us 
in which our fate lay hidden, feeling thankful that we 
had thus checkmated the brutal Turks. Not a sound 
was heard of our approaching camels; the delay was 
most irksome. There were many difficult places that 
we had passed through, and each would be a source 
of serious delay to the animals. 
At length we heard them in the distance. We could 
distinctly hear the men’s voices; and we rejoiced 
that they were approaching the last remaining 
obstacle;—that one ravine passed through, and all 
before would be easy. I heard the rattling of the 
stones as they drew nearer; and, looking towards the 
ravine, I saw emerge from the dark foliage of the 
trees within fifty yards of us the hated red flag and 
crescent , leading the Turks’ party! We were out¬ 
marched ! 
One by one, with scowling looks, the insolent scoun- 
