In a steep zig-zag path resembling a dried watercourse, Mrs. Bourne's pony cast a shoe. This was indeed a calamity, for Ibex had brittle hoofs, and had lost a fore shoe, such bad luck, and yet owing to this circumstance, the fate of Geoffrey and Barbie received a little push!
"It's a good two miles to the 'Window'—I dare not try it, unless I walk," said Mrs. Bourne, "the last bit is ghastly; so I'll just stop here, waylay the coolies, and make preparations for supper. I expect you will find Mr. Mack, and the Kennedys, and young Reekie, there before you. Of course, Barbie, you and Captain Mallender are to go on."
"What! and leave you here, all alone," objected Mallender, "certainly not."
"I'm not afraid; it's not the tiger season, and anyway, he'd take the pony first. Come, come, good people, don't waste time—the sun sets in half an hour."
"I intend to stay with you," said Barbie, "and we can take turns on The Cat, riding home."
"Be off at once, Barbie,", urged her friend authoritatively, "you had better ride up as far as possible, and Captain Mallender can leave The Duffer here, with the syce; if you go now, you will just be in time for the sunset,—and see it sinking into the sea."
So Barbie departed, escorted by Mallender. It proved a rugged climb, through slippery mossy rocks, tree roots, and shale. At last, quite suddenly, they arrived at a space, and stood as it were at the open casement of some high castle.
Barbie had dismounted from her pony, and the two remained momentarily transfixed, gazing on the evergreen forests which clothed the long roll downwards, to the undulating teeming plains; steeped in all the glamour of the tropics, a world of absolute peace and plenty lay at their feet. Beyond the plains, shimmering in the sunset, shone the sea: over all, there was a peculiar quality, which is best described as radiance, and the scene, the atmosphere, and spirit of the ocean, seemed somehow to grip one's heart.
Mallender continued to gaze for a long time in silence. It was the girl who spoke first.
"How wonderful! how exquisite! It's like the setting of a fairy-tale. It makes one feel——" she hesitated in search of an appropriate expression.