By the time the ford was passed over in safety the moon had risen in the sky above the trees.
The four travellers were now safe on terra firma.
"Now, Miss Angela," said Tom Mitchell, gallantly, "place yourself between this gentleman and myself. Good. And now, Tête de Plume, my boy, take the rearguard, and, whatever you do, look out."
The four cavaliers dashed off at a hand gallop, and soon disappeared in the windings of the defile.
[CHAPTER XIX.]
IN WHICH TOM MITCHELL DISCOVERS THAT HONESTY IS A GOOD SPECULATION.
We now direct our steps to one of the most savage and abrupt sites in all the desert, before the rising of the sun.
Five men are crossing a narrow gorge in the mountains, the tops of which are rocky and bare or covered with snow. Just now they are rendered almost invisible by the dense fog which the sun's rays cannot dissipate.