good."

Soon the whole party was retracing its course. The halt and the movements of their employer had made the Armenians uneasy; but there was only cheerful assurance in the demeanour of Frank and the Kurd; and the men, if not reassured, at least gave no utterance to their fears.

About a mile back they discovered a spot, marked by a few stunted trees and bushes, where a narrow mountain path branched from the broader track. Into this they struck. It wound up into the hills, at first so steeply that the laden mules with difficulty maintained their footing; but after a time it became less arduous, and the party pushed on with greater speed. It was nearly two hours before they caught sight of the man. From that moment they had to combine speed with caution: to keep pace with the Kurd so as not to lose him from sight, but to take care that he should neither see nor hear them.

At length the mountain path took a downward trend, suggesting that it would ultimately rejoin the main track from which they had diverged. Here they lost sight of the scout through the frequent windings of the path. Presently they came to a narrow ledge dropping down very steeply. The ground was rough, and crumbled under the hoofs of their beasts. In spite of all their caution, they suffered a misadventure when still some distance above the junction of the the tracks. The ground gave way beneath the mule of one of the Armenians. It slid over the edge, and rolled with its yelling rider for nearly a hundred yards down a steep incline, until the fall was checked by a clump of prickly bushes. Neither man nor animal appeared to be seriously hurt, but the mule's load was scattered broadcast. Consisting as it did partly of camp utensils, to the clatter of displaced stones and the cries of the muleteer was added the clink and rattle of tins and iron pots as they bumped on the rocky ground.

The din was a greater misfortune even than the delay and the dispersal of the load. Just as the Armenian picked himself up, rubbing his elbows and shins, a head showed above the rocks a little to the left of the junction. In another moment Frank caught sight of the Kurd they had been following, riding at full speed back along the main track. Apparently he had been resting for a spell.

"Wallahy!" Ali ejaculated, cursing the mule and its rider and the ancestors of both.

There could be little doubt that his suspicion was well grounded. Abdi and his party--if Abdi was in truth the plotter--could not be far off, for the Kurd must have reckoned on being able to warn them before the expected prey reached the spot where they were waiting. How far away the ambush had been laid Frank could not guess.

"Cursed be that howling son of a cat!" cried Ali. "We must ride on with all haste, effendim. Peradventure the rascal Abdi is so far away that we shall have time to reach a village of the plain before he can overtake us. Wallahy! But our beasts are laden, and he has many horsemen without encumbrance. Yet there is no other way. We must leave that shrieking jackal and his load; there is no time to gather up the many things that are scattered."

"No, we can't leave him, but we'll leave the things," said Frank. "Get on your mule and ride with us," he called to the man.

Hastening down to the track, they pushed on with all possible speed in the direction of Erzerum. Laden as they were, the mules could not go at any great pace over the rough ground, and the carpet being the heaviest part of the load, the speed of the whole party was regulated by that of the mule bearing it. Frank suggested that Ali should ride ahead and bring back an armed escort from Erzerum; but the Kurd resolutely refused to divest himself of his responsibility for the safety of his employer, who for his part was determined not to lose sight of the carpet. They made what progress they could, then, Ali falling behind to act as rearguard and give warning of pursuit.

They had covered something less than two miles and were entering a long, fairly straight defile, when Ali closed up.

"They are coming, effendim," he said, "riding furiously, and the foremost of them is Abdi the Liar."

"Ah! And look at that," said Frank, pointing ahead.

Near the further end of the defile two figures were seated on a loose pile of rocks overhanging the track. Ali shot a glance towards them.

"Wallahy! the German!" he exclaimed.

Almost at the same moment the two figures rose. Clearly they had recognised Frank. And then Wonckhaus and his Kurd companion began with haste to roll rocks from the pile down the slope, obviously with the intention of blocking the track.

"Come, Ali!" cried Frank. "Joseph, look after the rest. Bring them along."

Urging their mounts to their best speed, the two men dashed along the track, and reined up only when they were in danger of being crushed by the rocks crashing down from above. The narrow path was already almost impassable. Frank sprang from his horse and began to clamber up the face of the cliff, followed, after a moment's hesitation, by Ali.

Twenty feet above them Wonckhaus stood irresolute. He held a jagged boulder, and seemed to be in two minds about hurling it straight upon the climbing Englishman. Some prudential instinct--it may have been a scruple--gave him pause, and his Kurd companion, taking the cue from him, held a large stone similarly poised.

"Wait a moment," said Frank coolly. "I won't keep you long."

Wonckhaus, somewhat taken aback by Frank's calmness, and the absence of hostility from his tone, watched him in silence as he climbed to his side.

"Another stone or two would have completely blocked the track," Frank went on.

Shooting a curious glance at him, Wonckhaus replied:

"That was my intention, Mr. Forester."

"Exactly. I don't want to interrupt your amusement, Herr Wonckhaus, but you will wait until my party has passed. A few moments will suffice. If you loose another rock till then, I shall throw you after it!"

Frank's nerves were tingling, but he spoke as quietly as if he was announcing the merest matter of fact. The German recognised at a glance that it was no empty threat, and his Kurd looked by no means comfortable under the menacing attitude of Ali, who had now joined them. Meanwhile, Joseph had come up with the carriers.

"Come straight through, Joseph," called Frank, "and lead my horse and Ali's. Go forward: we will overtake you."

As the mules were passing through the narrow gap that remained between the obstacles on the track, Abdi's party came in sight at the southern end of the defile half a mile distant.

"Now, my good sir," said Frank, as the last of his mules emerged from the gap, "we will help you to complete your amusing work. Ali, shove these stones down as fast as you can, and get your countryman to assist you."

Ali grinned and hurled a threat at the other Kurd; the two pushed the stones down the slope one after another in quick succession, while Frank, taking out his revolver, stood guard over the German. In a few seconds the track was wholly blocked up.

"We have saved you the trouble, Herr Wonckhaus," said Frank. "Good-day."