“Look here, young fellow, we have all we can do to get along by the regular track.”
“Irregular track,” said Bracy, laughing.
“Right. How, then, do you think our lads could get along below there?”
“Yes; impossible,” said Bracy, with a sigh; and then glancing upward at the towering perpendicular rocks, he added, “and no one could get along there even with ropes and scaling-ladders. Well, I shall be precious glad to be out of it.”
“There, don’t fret. I expect we shall find any amount of this sort of country.”
“Then I don’t see how any manoeuvring’s to be done. We shall be quite at the mercy of the enemy.”
“Oh! one never knows.”
“Well, I know this,” said Bracy; “if I were in command I should devote my attention to avoiding traps. Hallo! what’s amiss?”
The conversation had been cut short by the sharp crack of a rifle, which set the echoes rolling, and the two young officers hurried forward past their halted men, who, according to instructions, had dropped down, seeking every scrap of shelter afforded by the rocks.
“What is it?” asked Bracy as he reached the men who were in front, the advance-guard being well ahead and a couple of hundred feet below.