th a
curious interest on the mountains, and on the defiles which lay towards
the north, right before his eyes. On the left arose the precipitous
ridges dividing Tchetchna from Avar, and beyond them glittered the snows
of Caucasus; saklas scattered disorderly along the ridges half-way up
the mountain, and narrow paths led to these fortresses built by nature,
and employed by the hill-robbers to defend their liberty, or secure
their plunder. All was still in the village and the surrounding hills;
there was not a human being to be seen on the roads or streets; flocks
of sheep were reposing in the shade of the cliffs; the buffaloes were
crowded in the muddy swamps near the springs, with only their muzzles
protruded from the marsh. Nought save the hum of the insects--nought
save the monotonous chirp of the grasshoppers indicated life amid the
breathless silence of the mountains; and Hadji Suleiman, stretched under
the cupola, was intensely enjoying the stillness and repose of nature,
so congenial to the lazy immobility of the Turkish character. Indolently
he turned his eyes, whose fire was extinguished, and which no longer
reflected the light of the sun, and at length they fell upon two
horsemen, slowly climbing the opposite side of the declivity.

"Nephtali!" cried our Moollah, turning towards a neighbouring sakla, at
the gate of which stood a saddled horse. And then a handsome
Tchetchenetz, with short cut beard, and shaggy cap covering half his
face, ran out into the street. "I see two horsemen," continued the
Moollah; "they are riding round the village!"

"Most likely Jews or Armenians," answered Nephtali. "They do not choose
to hire a guide, and will break their necks in the winding road. The
wild-goats, and our boldest riders, would not plunge into these recesses
without precaution."

"No, brother Nephtali; I have been twice to Mecca, and have seen plenty
of Jews and Armenians every where. But these riders look not like Hebrew
chafferers, unless, indeed, they exchange steel for gold in the mountain
road. They have no bales of merchandise. Look at them yourself from
above; your eyes are surer than mine; mine have had their day, and done
their work. There was a time when I could count the buttons on a Russian
soldier's coat a verst off, and my rifle never missed an infidel; but
now I could not distinguish a ram of my own afar."

By this time Nephtali was at the side of the Moollah, and was examining
the travellers with