e in
the old city, but it will not be far, on account of the snow."

"And outside the town?" said the professor.

"Outside the town, excellency," said Yussuf sadly. "You do not realise
that we had a narrow escape that night."

"Escape?"

"Yes, of being destroyed; the snow everywhere is tremendous. Even if no
more comes, we shall be shut in here, perhaps, for months."

"Shut in?"

"Yes; the mountains are impassable, and there is nothing for it but to
submit to fate."

"But the snow will soon melt in this sunshine."

"No, excellency, only on the surface, unless there is a general thaw.
You forget where we are, high up in the Dagh. Even where the snow
melts, it will freeze every night, and make the roads more impassable.
As to our path by the side of the precipice it will not be available for
months."

There was a serious calm in Yussuf's words that was most impressive. It
seemed so hard, too, just as they had been on the point of escaping, for
the winter to have closed in upon them so soon, and with such terrible
severity; but that their case was hopeless seemed plain enough, for the
guards were withdrawn from their door, and in the afternoon they
relieved the tedium of their confinement by walking along the cuttings
that had been made.

On every hand it could be seen that the brigands were accustomed to such
events as this; firing and food had been laid up in abundance, and
whether the winter, or an enemy in the shape of the government troops,
made the attack, they were prepared.

"There is nothing for it, Lawrence, but to accept our position, I
suppose," said the professor.

"No," said Mr Burne, who overheard the remark; "but suppose my snuff
does not hold out, what then?"

Before anyone could answer, he made a suggestion of his own.

"Necessity is the mother of invention," he said. "I should have to bake
some of this Turkish tobacco, and grind it between stones."

Then a week glided away, and during that time, being left so much to
their own devices, the brigands keeping in the shelter of their homes,
the professor visited the ancient passage with Yussuf, and carefully
explored it.

"Ancient Greek," he said when he returned, "like the greater part of
this old city. Some of it has been modernised by the Romans, but that
passage is certainly ancient Greek, about--"

"But the way out--the way to escape, Mr Preston," said Mrs Chumley
eagerly, "surely that is of more consequence than your dates.