A CARAVAN NEAR DAMASCUS.
Frank and Fred wanted to travel by this modern road, but their enthusiasm was a trifle dampened by the suggestion of the Doctor.
"We are going from here to Baalbec," said the Doctor, "where we will see the ruins of the Temple of the Sun. The place is about twenty miles from the carriage-road, and will require an outfit of saddle-horses and a dragoman from Shtora, the nearest point on the road. I have thought it best to arrange with Ali to accompany us to Baalbec, and from there to Shtora, where he can leave us, and we can then have a ride on the company's route to the sea-coast. This will give you an experience of carriage travelling in Syria, and put us to less trouble than any other plan we could adopt."
Of course there was no dissenting voice when the scheme of the good Doctor was propounded, and the whole party announced its readiness to move whenever he gave the word.
THE RIVER AMONG THE ROCKS.
They started in the afternoon for a ride of about four hours to the Fountain of Fijeh, one of the sources of the Abana. For an hour they followed the road of the French company, and then turned away to the right among chalky hills so rugged and bare as to have in places the appearance of snow. Sometimes they looked down upon little valleys rich with orchards of olive and fig trees, and a moment later there was hardly a green thing to be seen. In many places the river wound among rocks so steep that a safe passage to the edge of the water was impossible to find. One of the villages that they passed was perched on a hill-side so abrupt that it was only to be reached by a winding path. The scenery was of the wildest character, and the boys were glad that the Doctor had determined upon this route instead of the more prosaic one of the French company's road.