"Is it broken?"
"It narrows to a path, but is clear."
The Count spoke in Arabic to his followers, and taking the gallop, pushed the guide forward. Shortly a party of terror-stricken peasants ran down toward him.
"Why do you run? What is the matter?" he asked.
"Oh, the Turks, the Turks!"
"What of them? Stand, and tell me."
"We went to work this morning cutting corn, for it is now ripe enough. The Mahounds broke in on us. We were a dozen to their fifty or more. We only escaped, and they set fire to the field. O Christ, and the Most Holy Mother! Let us pass, or we too will be slain!"
"Are they mounted?"
"Some have horses, some are afoot."
"Where are they now?"