"You don't mean to say, Charlie, that you have been watching all this time while I have been asleep?"
"It was absolutely necessary to keep watch," he said, "and I was very glad to do so. It was nothing to me to miss a night's sleep."
"I am very angry with you," she said, "and insist on taking my turn in future. Now you must lie down at once without a minute's delay. The sun is already getting low, and we cannot have more than three hours before it is time to start. I suppose it is not very necessary to stand quite still and watch all the time?"
"By no means. From this point you can see well down the valley, and would be able to make out any one approaching at some distance."
"Very well, then, I will get some meat cooked. I am sorry to say that we have come to our last piece. It has held out a good deal better than we expected."
"I have no doubt that we shall be able to replenish it," he said; "there are a considerable number of cattle in these valleys."
Three hours later they again set out. It was in many places very difficult to keep to the path, and they had to hark back several times, but at length they began to descend so rapidly that they felt that they could be but a small distance from the next valley. They therefore halted and sat down till daylight broke, and then moved away from the path to a mass of great boulders, among which they lay up for the day. Three more valleys were passed in safety. Carter had succeeded in replenishing their supply of meat, and the water-skin was regularly filled whenever they got the chance.
"Things are going on first-rate," Nita said, when they halted early one morning.
"Yes, but we must not expect them always to go so well. This valley is getting larger. The houses are more carefully built, and it is, no doubt, inhabited by an increased population. You see, the robes that we are wearing will do well enough to pass at a distance, but they would not bear close inspection."
The next evening, emboldened by their good fortune, they started some time before the sun was down, and at a sudden turn in the pass came upon three Afridis.
Nita happened to be carrying the rifle, while Charlie had been obliged to lead the pony. The men paused when within twenty yards of them, and then a sudden exclamation broke from the party, and one raised his rifle and shouted, "Who are you?"