“Yes, effendi,” said the Turk, “but the other way.”

“Other way?”

“Yes, effendi; the band of rascals are lying in ambush for us about a mile distant.”

“Are you sure?”

Yussuf smiled.

“I went out at the mouth of the ravine to observe,” he said; “and I could see nothing till, all at once, I saw a flash of light.”

“Well?”

“Such a flash could only be reflected from a sword or gun.”

“From water—a piece of glass—or crystal.”

“No, excellency. There is no water up on the mountain slope. Pieces of glass are not seen there, and a crystal must be cut and polished to send forth such rays. The enemy are waiting for us in a depression, out there beyond the mouth of the plain, and we must go back the other way.”