nough!" he said, resuming his offhand manner. "Such an array of
reasons cannot be gainsaid; and, indeed, I shouldn't feel comfortable in
leaving you down here with no champion but little Spira, so let us be
off at once. Head the van, you see, by crossing this Slough of Despond
on friend Basil's back!"

Danger always sharpens my sense of the ridiculous, and the sight of
Basil steadying himself with a pole, and striding through the mire with
the long-legged Englishman on his back, fairly upset my gravity. He
soon landed him, and came back for me; lifting me on one arm, and
carrying me as easily and tenderly as if I had been little Nilo.

Well! we scrambled up the pathless steep, through oaks and ashes of
mushroom growth to a height of perhaps two hundred feet. It was
troublesome climbing, for there was an undergrowth of brier and bramble
which tore my clothes, and the sharp crags which jutted in all
directions out of the ground cut my feet; nevertheless, I progressed
rapidly, outstripping Spira and Mr Popham, and keeping alongside of
Basil, who now and then stretched out a helping hand to me and nodded
grim approval.

No one uttered a word, and a sign from Basil made us understand that we
were to keep in the shade, lest, perchance, some of the enemy might be
straggling in our direction. I was growing tired and breathless, when
our herculean guide signed to me to look upwards. My eye following the
lead of his finger, travelled across a curtain of foliage--the delicate
ash leaf, faded and ready to drop away; the sturdier oak, brown, yellow,
dull green, or blotted with crimson. At the top of all was a hut
perched on the edge of the cliff; that was Laurie's hut, Basil
whispered. I could see the wall, built of rough stones, and a miserable
little hole meant for a window, and a bright patch of red, probably a
"strucca," stuffed into it to keep out the cold. At that sight I forgot
my fatigue, and Mr Popham grew excited, and waved his cap over his
head, crying, "Hurrah! Now go ahead, Mrs Englefield!" for which piece
of boyish folly he received a frown from Basil, the darkest I ever saw
on human face.

We were brought here to a standstill by a smooth wall of rock about ten
feet high. In order to get round it, we had to crawl some yards to our
right, that is nearer to the scene of conflict. There were voices,
trampling of feet, and the report of fire-arms, close by, as it seemed,
but really on the shoulder of the hi