"I know not, Presence," he said. "May his face be blackened that
directed me. I thought surely I could not miss the way, and
yet-"
We cast back and could see no trail forking from the one we were
on. There was nothing for it but to trust to luck and push on.
But I began to be uneasy and so was the man. I had stupidly
forgotten to unpack my revolver, and worse, we had no food, and
the mountain air is an appetiser, and at night the woods have
their dangers, apart from being absolutely trackless. We had not
met a living being since we left the road and there seemed no
likelihood of asking for directions. I stopped no longer for
views but went steadily on, Ali Khan keeping up a running fire of
low-voiced invocations and lamentations. And now it was dusk and
the position decidely unpleasant.
It was at that moment I saw a woman before us walking lightly and
steadily under the pines. She must have struck into the trail
from the side for she never could have kept before us all the
way. A native woman, but wearing the all-concealing boorka, more
like a town dweller than a woman of the hills.
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