Yussuf started out of his trance and answered:
“Stay where you are. I will try and climb up.”
“All right,” cried Lawrence from his eyrie.
“Are you hurt, my boy?” cried Mr Preston; and his voice was repeated from the face of the rock on the other side.
“No, not much,” came back faintly, for the boy’s voice was lost in the immensity of the place around.
“We will come to you,” cried the professor, and he began to follow Yussuf, who was going forward to find the end of the mass of rock wall, and try to discover some way of reaching the shelf where the boy was standing with his horse.
“Are you coming too, effendi?” said Yussuf at the end of a few minutes’ walking.
“Yes,” said the professor. “You will wait here, will you not, Burne?”
“Of course I shall—not,” said the old lawyer. “You don’t suppose that I am going to stand still and not make any effort to help the boy, do you, Preston? Hang it all, sir! he is as much interest to me as to you.”
It was evident that Mr Burne was suffering from exhaustion, but he would not give in, and for the next two hours he clambered on after his companions, till it seemed hopeless to attempt farther progress along the defile in that direction, and they were about to go back in the other, to try and find a way up there, when Yussuf, who was ahead, suddenly turned a corner and uttered a cry of delight which brought his companions to his side.