Should the camels arrive, I
could march into Myria in twenty minutes, make the chief a large
present, and pass on without halting until I cleared the Ellyria valley.
At any rate I was well before the Turks, and the forced march at night,
however distressing, had been successful. The great difficulty now lay
in the ravine that we had just crossed; this would assuredly delay the
caravan for a considerable time.
Tying our horses to a bush, we sat upon a rock beneath the shade of a
small tree within ten paces of the path, and considered the best course
to pursue. I hardly liked to risk an advance into Ellyria alone, before
the arrival of my whole party, as we had been very rudely received by
the Tollogo people on the previous evening;--nevertheless I thought it
might be good policy to ride unattended into Ellyria, and thus to court
an introduction to the chief. However, our consultation ended in a
determination to wait where we then were, until the caravan should have
accomplished the last difficulty by crossing the ravine; when we would
all march into Ellyria in company. For a long time we sat gazing at the
valley before us in which our fate lay hidden, feeling thankful that we
had thus checkmated the brutal Turks. Not a sound was heard of our
approaching camels; the delay was most irksome.
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