The conquest just achieved by M. Desrioux in the dominion of science, had no effect on his pride. If he congratulated himself at all on his success, it was simply because he had managed to overcome one of the obstacles which, in his idea, separated him from Madame de Guéran. In a word, it seemed impossible to him that behind this last curtain of mountains, and in the vast and certainly inhabited plain stretching out before him, he could fail to obtain some news of the European caravan.
His heart beat high at the thought that down below him, at the edge of a forest, on the bank of a river, or in some unknown village, he might suddenly find himself face to face with Laura de Guéran. He would not admit for a moment, even to himself, that instead of having come southwards, she might have been obliged to return towards the north, or that she might have fallen a victim either to the climate or a savage attack. No; something told him that not in vain had he undertaken so long a journey, surmounted so many obstacles, braved so many dangers. If he were not near the longed-for end, would his heart be beating as it did beat at that moment? Would his gaze be rivetted so fondly on the sea of mountain and plain?
Whilst his thoughts were thus straying and his eyes seeking to discover the land inhabited by Madame de Guéran, three of the men who had accompanied him made their way back in the evening to M. de Pommerelle, and handed him a note scribbled on a scrap of paper, and in this note M. Desrioux informed the Count of the success of the ascent, and begged him to attempt it, in his turn, on the following day, together with all the soldiers and escort. It could no longer be looked upon as dangerous, because the guides, whom he had sent to him, had already accomplished it, and consequently would be able to take the most direct road, and point out the dangerous places.
On the afternoon of the 5th of December the doctor, the Count de
Pommerelle, and fifty men of the escort were together on the summit
of the mountain, discovered and trodden for the first time by M.
Desrioux.
The rest of the day was devoted to rest, and the recovery of the strength necessary for the long marches of the following days. But it was unanimously resolved that a fresh start should be made at daylight on the morrow, and that no further halt should be made except when some natural obstruction should render it a matter of necessity. As the caravan had with it only provisions enough to last five or six days, it was bound to make every effort to reach an inhabited district as soon as possible. The keen air prevailing on the mountain tops, and the comparative cold felt by men accustomed to an unvarying temperature of 30° or 40°, imparted to them unwonted briskness and activity; they would be called upon for exertions which they would certainly have been powerless to make in the plain.
The descent at first was easy enough. M. Desrioux had employed his time, whilst waiting for the Count de Pommerelle, in making a careful survey of the neighbourhood, and was therefore able to act as guide in the earlier stages. But very soon, obstacles made their appearance; they had scarcely made their way down a precipitous incline than a fresh mountain obtruded its unwelcome presence and closed their road almost vertically. They must either make a long detour, or mark out a path for themselves above an abyss. The plain seen on the previous day was lost to view as soon as ever they left the plateau. The horizon now became contracted in the extreme, precipices, rocks, gorges, and lofty peaks succeeding each other in unbroken succession. It was like plunging into an inextricable labyrinth, and without a compass they would have been lost for ever.
The Beluchs began to murmur, complaining of having been inveigled too far away from the coast, and saying that they would never see their own country any more. Sometimes they stopped and cried like children, and a dozen times a day they had to be reasoned with, entreated, and threatened by turns. On the 8th of December, at the first gleam of dawn, just as they received the order to move on, they one and all refused to budge an inch.
"As you please," said M. de Pommerelle, calmly, "I am going on with my friend and will leave you here. You will not have anyone to guide you, and in two days you will all be dead from starvation. Fools! Don't yon see that to get back to the lake is ten times as far as to reach the country we are in search of?"
MM. Desrioux and de Pommerelle suited the action to the word, and, leaving the escort, slowly ascended a hill in front of them. As they anticipated, half an hour had not passed away before all their men rejoined them, begging them to continue their leadership.
"Very well," replied the doctor, "but at the first show of resistance or sign of fear, we part and for ever. We shall leave you at night when you are asleep, and you will never be able to find us. If, left to yourselves, you manage to reach the coast, which is very doubtful, all your trouble will have been thrown away, because the Consul will refuse to pay you, and your Sultan, our friend, will have you punished for deserting us."