They had not gone very far, however, when he began to realize that he was up against a pretty hard proposition, a much tougher one than he had imagined could confront them.
There seemed to be some sort of rough road along the shore. It could not have been much of a thoroughfare in its palmiest days, and long neglect had caused it to become a hollow mockery, had one attempted to drive any sort of vehicle that way.
For a short time after leaving the camp Arturus had been leading them along this road. Now he dropped down and sought the shallow beach, and Jack guessed that the going would be better there.
In this he found himself correct, though they had to keep close to the little bluff, and stop to listen every minute or so for signs of hostile forces ahead.
Amos was trying to figure out what distance they had covered. The only way he knew of accomplishing this was according to the steps they took. He had worked that all out, knew the number of feet in a mile, and counting two to a step believed he could tell when they had passed the half-way mark.
When, according to his deductions, they had actually made one-third of the distance, his hopes began to mount higher. Why, after all, this was not so very bad; he felt positive they could get to their destination in due course of time; and thinking thus Amos was actually patting himself—figuratively of course—upon his back.
Then something happened as usual to throw down all these fine castles in the air. Arturus came to a sudden pause. He held out both hands as though to prevent either of his charges from advancing another step.
Standing or half crouching there they strained their ears to listen. Low sounds reached them as the night air took a new slant just then, striking directly in their faces.
There was the mutter of voices for one thing, and then came a queer clinking noise, followed by more grumbling sounds. Jack jumped to the conclusion that they must have stumbled upon a nest of the enemy, who for some reason had taken up a position at this particular spot where the scrub grew thickest, and they could more easily lie in ambush.
The boy wondered what reason the Turks could have for hiding here; and what that strange clinking sound meant. Possibly Arturus, who was better acquainted with such things, would be able to understand it all. He had hardly come to this conclusion when he felt the Greek guide pushing him gently back. This Jack knew meant they must retreat for a consultation; and taking hold of his chum’s arm, he commenced a retrograde movement.