"If a fellow tells you a fib once, you don't believe him next time."

"What do you want me to say to make you believe me? It does hurt, really."

"Say there was no fly in the case, to begin with."

"Will you use the gla.s.s if I do?"

"If you can make me believe that you can't see well."

"Look, then," cried Ned, and he dropped his hand, to open his right eye, which was quite bloodshot, "Now, is it likely that I can see steadily with that aching and watering so that I'm half blind?"

"No," said Chris quietly, and he took the gla.s.s and began to focus it on a distant object. "Now, own up; you did rub that hard on purpose?"

Ned was silent.

"I'm going to give you the gla.s.s back," cried Chris.

"No, you're not; and you're going to have a good look out. But I say, mind; don't let the sun shine on the gla.s.s, or the Indians may see the flash. Pull out the sunshades."

"I have," said Chris, taking a long look out in the direction of the enemy.

"See 'em?"

"No. All's clear there."

"Take a good long sweep round and keep watching till you find out where the Indians are. I'm going down to the bottom of the fall to bathe my eye. It is bad."

"Make haste, then."

"All right. Call or whistle when you see them. I shall hear you."

Chris nodded and grunted, and then went on examining every part of the plain below, but without result, and he thought and muttered to himself the while.

"He needn't have told a fib over it. Now, I wonder where those red n.i.g.g.e.rs are.--He might have known that I should see through him at once.--A n.i.g.g.e.r can't be red. That's stupid.--It was rather nice of old Ned, though. I'm afraid I shouldn't have done as much for him.--They must have gone in amongst the gra.s.s and trees somewhere about there. I wish I could see them. But I don't think they're after us--only hunting."

He lay stretched out on his chest, slowly moving the gla.s.s so that he could sweep the edge of the plain; but the time went on, and the mounted party might, after all, have been a cloud-shadow for all the sign that he could see, and at last he began to grow weary and think of whistling to Ned to come up to him.

"He ought to have been back again by now."

The words had hardly been muttered before Chris started, for a hand was laid upon his leg.

"See 'em?"

"No. I was just going to whistle. How's your eye?"

"Getting all right again now. But you ought to be able to see the enemy. Have you looked well?"

For answer Chris began to shuffle himself back, moving on hands and toes till he was level with Ned.

"Looked well? Of course. Here, you catch hold and have a good look yourself.--Ah! Don't you say another word about that eye, or we shall fall out. I know: you've bathed it well, and it's ever so much better.

Catch hold, I say."

Ned took the gla.s.s without a word and crept up to the stone which had sheltered the observer, and there was silence for a few minutes, during which Chris's patience became exhausted.

Then he cried--

"You ought to have seen them by this time. What are they doing?"

"Cooking," said Ned laconically.

"What!" cried Chris in astonishment.

"Well, I'm not sure they're cooking, but they've made a fire."

"Where--where? I say: no nonsense. Can you really see them?"

"No, but I can see the smoke of a fire curling up, and their horses are grazing just at the edge of the forest part where the long gra.s.s begins."

"Your eye must have grown worse and worse," said Chris, with grim humour, as he crawled up alongside of his companion. "It must be very bad indeed, or you couldn't see all that. Let's have a look."

"Keep your head down, mind," said Ned, handing the gla.s.s.

"Oh, that's all right; they couldn't tell heads from stones at this distance. You must have been dreaming, Ned; I can't see smoke or horses."

"You're not looking in the right direction; bear round more to the left."

Chris made the object-gla.s.s of the binocular describe the segment of a circle, and then after another look he gave vent to a long, low whistle.

"I never thought to look so far this way," he said, as softly as if he was afraid of being heard.

"You can see them, then?"

"Yes, and the Indians too; dozens of them, I think. Here, catch hold."

"What are you going to do?"

"Tell them down below, and see what they mean to do."

The gla.s.s was pa.s.sed into Ned's hand with a warning not to lose sight of the enemy again, and then Chris shuffled back and downward for a few yards, and then hurried down to the camp by an easier way of travelling than crawling on hands and toes.

He was not long in doubt as to what was to be done, for the doctor gave his orders at once, all hands setting to work to drive in the mules, which were rapidly loaded up, Chris being sent back to rejoin Ned and return from time to time with any news worth communication.

He descended twice to announce that the fire was burning still and the Indians' mustangs still grazing, there being no suggestion of movement, and as soon as possible the little mule-train was once more in motion, the doctor making for a great gully a quarter of a mile beyond in the mountain side, a rift which opened into one of several by which they hoped to get round in time to the further side of the peak, though the way was long and the impediments many--not that this was minded, for every impediment partook in some way of a screen from the enemy behind, while the way was so rocky that the trail left was of the slightest kind.

Camp that night there was none. There was a short halt or two, but they journeyed on for mile after mile by moonlight, and it was not till morning was well advanced towards mid-day that a suitable gully was found, offering all they needed in the way of water and pasturage, joined to a good lookout place for danger, which could only come to them from below, while the travellers had opened out to them an entirely fresh panorama of mountain and plain, any portion of which might contain the object for which they aimed.