"There's something astir down there. Men are moving up the slope towards the gorge—and, by George, they are Hassan's men too!"
Venning stood up, and looked down upon a file of little figures breasting the slope.
"Good thing I had that wall built. Dick will be having his hands full. Come along; we may get out in time yet to take a share in the fight, for his sake."
Venning remained staring down, with a look in his face that brought the Hunter back.
"What do you see?"
"Of all the idiots," said the boy—"of all the miserable, shortsighted, thick-headed, addle-pated duffers and asses we are the worst! We took pains to find a way into a fiendish maze of tunnels, pits, and caverns, occupied by vampires and enveloped in darkness, in search of a thing that was never there."
"As what?"
"Look there!" and the boy pointed down. "There's our boat—down there, out in the broad daylight."
"You're mistaken, lad."
"There—straight down—in that patch of reeds on the right of the pool."