By and by, when they came to more level ground, another shout reached them through the gloom.
'Ah! there is your mother!' said Mary, and shouted her loudest. 'But we cannot go to them, or we will miss the guide.'
The sound of hoofs was now heard, and the crack of a gun fired as a signal, and presently a mounted figure loomed up in the mist.
'Captain Drysdale!' said Peter.
'Mr. Sangster! and a lady! Miss Brown, you had better get on my pony. He will save you a good many stumbles.' So saying, he dismounted and lifted her on the saddle.
When people meet in the mist, and are hastening after an invisible guide, there is no time for ceremonious speeches. Mary was mounted and Kenneth leading the pony, before she had made up her mind whether she should accept his proffer or not.
'You may trust Dandy, Miss Mary; he never stumbles, and he will overtake the rest of your party sooner than you could.' But here their path ended in rock and precipice.
'We are at the bottom, climb straight down,' came up out of the abyss. 'It is not difficult, and we will wait for you.'
Peter began to descend.
'I know where we are,' said Captain Drysdale. 'If Miss Brown will trust herself to my guidance, I will bring her round these cliffs without her needing to dismount, and we, with the pony's help, will reach the inn before you, so do not be uneasy, Mr. Sangster;' and before Mary or Peter could express an opinion, the pony had turned, and they were swallowed up in the mist.