"Hm!"

There was another long pause.

"You cannot reach it this day. It is late
now, and there is no moonlight."

"Hm! This is bad."

"Hm!"

Another pause.

"Have you met men who were journeying
towards Krupa?"

"No!"

"Hm!"

In this instance there was a remarkably
long pause.

"Ele Jusuf!" said Staniza at last,"
methinks you are going to Krupa!"

"No, Stara lisice," (old fox), replied Jusuf,
"for once you are in the wrong. I saw you,
and came down from my Konak."

Staniza laughed.

"You honour us much!" said he. "I did
not think you would stir for our sakes."

Jusuf smiled.

"Listen, old giour!" said he, "wilt thou
swear on thy book to give an honest answer to
an honest question?"

"Boga mi!— my answer shall be as honest
as thy question."

"Evala!" said the Turk. "Tell me from
whence did you come this day."

"From Jarak."

"Hm!— Did you see Ahmed Beg?"

"We slept in his house."

"Hm!"

"Did he give you orders for the Capitan of
Jasenica"

"No."

"Did he give you a Teskera?"

This question was uttered with peculiar
emphasis, and accompanied by a very searching
glance.

"He did;" said Staniza. "Shall I show
thee the Teskera?"

"Hm? No! Ahmed Beg is of our party.
Why should I see it?"

"Show it him!" said Staniza, and I
produced the paper, with its crabbed Turkish
characters.

"It is well!" said the Turk. "I will
go with you to Jasenica; I can confide in
you."

"Where is thy horse?"

"It is at home. Your way lies past my
Konak."

Saying which he rose and disappeared in
the forest.

"He has confidence in us," said I, "but I
am not quite sure whether we can return him
the compliment."

"Sveta ti Vjera, covjece!" replied Staniza.
"Why should not one man be trusted by
three? Think you a Turk has two tongues
in one mouth like a Swaba? Are we not
armed? Whom I trust, you may surely
confide in. Saddle your horses and let us be
gone!"

We proceeded on our road, and were soon
afterwards overtaken by Jusuf. Staniza and
Richard led the way, and I followed with
Jusuf, partly for the purpose of watching him,
and partly because my horse, on which Staniza
had been pleased to pack all our luggage,
seemed almost unequal to the double burden.
Neither of the party spoke for some hours.
All of a sudden— bang! went the report of a
musket, and close at my side too. Staniza
taking a pistol from his belt, turned upon the
Turk; who, as I now saw, had dismounted,
and discharged his piece at an enormous
eagle, which sat on a tree by the road-side.
He had evidently hit it, for the feathers were
flying about. Seeing this, Staniza fired at
the bird, which came down with a plaintive
cry, flapping the ground with its enormous
wings in so furious a manner that Staniza and
Jusuf thought it proper to keep at a respectful
distance. But Richard, a keen sportman,
intended evidently to deal with the eagle as
he would have done with a partridge, or black
cock. He stooped to take it up, but the very
next moment he measured his length on
the ground. The eagle had hit him in the
face.

"Ludi Kriste!" (Stupid Christian!) said
Jusuf to my discomfited friend. "I was not
afraid; and now thou knowest why I stood
aloof from the bird."

The wounded eagle had meanwhile breathed
its last. Jusuf and Staniza plucked the
largest feathers, and fastened them to their
bridles.

"Do you know, Ture," said Staniza; "whom
I thought of shooting with my pistol?"

"I saw it," said the Turk.

"The eagle's feathers which flew about my
face, saved you. Had it not been for them,
even your Prophet would not have saved your
life."

The Turk was silent.

"Didst thou mistake it for a signal?" said
he, after a while.

"I did."

"Ludi Kucko," said Jusuf with great scorn,
"Dost think me a Christian?"

"Never mind, Ture, don't I know you?"

And we moved on, until the darkness of
the night, and the dense impenetrable underwood
in our way, convinced us of the uselessness
of our effort to reach Jasenica in the
course of that night. So we stopped and
looked out for a resting-place in the forest.

Staniza secured the horses, and Jusuf lighted
a fire, round which we squatted smoking and
despatching the remains of our dinner. The
evening passed very much as an evening in
the woods may be expected to pass, whether
it be in Pagan countries or in Christendom,
and as the night grew dark and the fire burned
with a low and flickering flame, the chibuks
dropped from our mouths, and leaning our
leads in our knees, we were fast in meditation—
or sleep.

The neighing of our horses roused us. I
took my pistols, and Richard, with all the