Seymour and the Yankee, although they knew that the course suggested by the scientist was not the most prudent one, had not the heart to refuse him; so they rose, and, under the guidance of the engineer, moved on up the valley.
“I guess we’ve got to be slick over this deal,” the millionaire remarked, “an’ then we’ll strike for the Seal right away. If the old boat can’t carry us out of this darned underworld, we’ll be considerable safer aboard her than knockin’ around here.”
“How about the abyss?” Seymour questioned, “you forget the bridge is gone.”
“Not for a second,” retorted Silas. “I calculate we’ve got to pull for the mouth of that there river and take to the water. How much further to this yer location of yours, Wilson?”
“We’re close upon the defile now,” answered the engineer; “but it’s a good mile through to the valley, and——”
He broke off abruptly, as the weird howl of the wolf-men trembled out of the distance.
“I guess this picnic’s off,” snapped the American. “Mervyn, we’ll postpone this visit to Wilson’s temple, if you don’t object. The niggers must ha’ struck our trail again, and I take it none of us are real anxious to be trapped in a blind gully?”
The force of Haverly’s remark was plain to each of his friends. Even Mervyn, whose scientific zeal would have carried him onward, dared not drag his comrades into danger. Had he been alone he would have turned aside into the valley of the ruins at all costs, and doubtless would have lost his life in consequence.
“We’ve got to find a road out of this,” Silas went on, “an’ real smart, too. Them brutes’ll be on our heels in half an hour. I should advise as we hustle some.”
With that he broke into a trot, and his comrades followed his example. The cliffs on either side closed in steadily as they advanced, and it soon became evident that they were approaching a pass, or that the valley would end in a blank wall. What the latter meant they knew only too well.