"D'you think they've got friends in this neighbourhood?" Jackson asked.
"Eh, what use is it talking?" Mackenzie replied. "They're gone, and for my part I don't wish to see them again."
"All the same, it's queer their going away suddenly without their carriers, and not saying a word," Forrester remarked. "They were polite enough in asking to be allowed to join us."
"Ay, there's something mysterious about them; we must be on our guard," said Mackenzie. "It's not very likely they're in league with the natives of these parts, but you never can tell."
"I'd give something to learn the history of that one-armed fellow," said Jackson, reflectively.
Next day, on emerging from the tract of scrub, the party found themselves on a bare rocky ridge below which stretched a broad and densely wooded valley. On the farther side the ground rose steeply to the foot-hills of the snowy range. The hollows were clothed with vegetation, which formed dark green patches amid bare brown spaces of rock.
"Which way are we to go now?" Forrester said, as they halted on the ridge to survey the country.
"Camel's Hump and Monkey Face are clean out of sight," said Jackson, after a glance behind. "All we can do is to make straight for the north. The falls must be part of a river, and when we get a bit higher we may see it winding through the country. If it's of any size, we must work up its course until we find the falls."
"Ay, there's nothing else for it," said Mackenzie. "I'm beginning to think we've tackled a tough job."
"I've thought that for some time," said Forrester. "However, we'll go through with it. The first thing now is to cross this valley. Lead the way, Sher Jang."