These men will not hesitate. You
    must judge yourselves of the time to shoot. The others of us will
    move to the right and try to find a path on that side. If the valley
    be indeed a pocket between the cliffs, we must find a way down that
    is not a path!" As he spoke thus there was a blaze in his eyes that betokened no good
    to aught that might stand in his way. I ran by his side as we moved
    to the right. It was as he surmised about the cliff. When we got a little on our
    way we saw how the rocky formation trended to our right, till,
    finally, with a wide curve, it came round to the other side. It was a fearful valley that, with its narrow girth and its towering
    walls that seemed to topple over. On the farther side from us the
    great trees that clothed the slope of the mountain over it grew down
    to the very edge of the rock, so that their spreading branches hung
    far over the chasm. And, so far as we could understand, the same
    condition existed on our own side. Below us the valley was dark even
    in the daylight. We could best tell the movement of the flying
    marauders by the flashes of the white shroud of their captive in the
    midst of them. From where we were grouped, amid the great tree-trunks on the very
    brow of the cliff, we could, when our eyes were accustomed to the
    shadow, see them quite well. In great haste, and half dragging, half
    carrying the Voivodin, they crossed the open space and took refuge in
    a little grassy alcove surrounded, save for its tortuous entrance, by
    undergrowth. From the valley level it was manifestly impossible to
    see them, though we from our altitude could see over the stunted
    undergrowth. When within the glade, they took their hands from her. She, shuddering instinctively, withdrew to a remote corner of the
    dell. And then, oh, shame on their manhood!--Turks and heathens though they
    were--we could see that they had submitted her to the indignity of
    gagging her and binding her hands! Our Voivodin Teuta bound! To one and all of us it was like lashing
    us across the face. I heard the Gospodar's teeth grind again. But
    once more he schooled himself to calmness ere he said:

    "It is, perhaps, as well, great though the indignity be. They are
    seeking their own doom, which is coming quickly . . . Moreover, they
    are thwarting their own base plans. Now that she is bound they will
    trust to their binding, so that they will delay their murderous
    alternative to the very last moment. Such is our chance of rescuing
    her alive!" For a few moments he stood as still as a stone, as though revolving
    something in his mind whilst he watched. I could see that some grim
    resolution was forming in his mind, for his eyes ranged to the top of
    the trees above cliff, and down again, very slowly this time, as
    though measuring and studying the detail of what was in front of him. Then he spoke:

    "They are in hopes that the other pursuing party may not come across
    them. To know that, they are waiting. If those others do not come
    up the valley, they will proceed on their way. They will return up
    the path the way they came. There we can wait them, charge into the
    middle of them when she is opposite, and cut down those around her. Then the others will open fire, and we shall be rid of them! Whilst he was speaking, two of the men of our party, who I knew to be
    good sharpshooters, and who had just before lain on their faces and
    had steadied their rifles to shoot, rose to their feet. "Command us, Gospodar!" they said simply, as they stood to attention. "Shall we go to the head of the ravine road and there take hiding?" He thought for perhaps a minute, whilst we all stood as silent as
    images. I could hear our hearts beating. Then he said:

    "No, not yet. There is time for that yet. They will not--cannot
    stir or make plans in any way till they know whether the other party
    is coming towards them or not. From our height here we can see what
    course the others are taking long before those villains do. Then we
    can make our plans and be ready in time." We waited many minutes, but could see no further signs the other
    pursuing party. These had evidently adopted greater caution in their
    movements as they came closer to where they expected to find the
    enemy. The marauders began to grow anxious. Even at our distance we
    could gather as much from their attitude and movements. Presently, when the suspense of their ignorance grew too much for
    them, they drew to the entrance of the glade, which was the farthest
    place to which, without exposing themselves to anyone who might come
    to the valley, they could withdraw from their captive. Here they
    consulted together. We could follow from their gestures what they
    were saying, for as they did not wish their prisoner to hear, their
    gesticulation was enlightening to us as to each other. Our people,
    like all mountaineers, have good eyes, and the Gospodar is himself an
    eagle in this as in other ways. Three men stood back from the rest. They stacked their rifles so that they could seize them easily. Then
    they drew their scimitars, and stood ready, as though on guard. These were evidently the appointed murderers. Well they knew their
    work; for though they stood in a desert place with none within long
    distance except the pursuing party, of whose approach they would have
    good notice, they stood so close to their prisoner that no marksman
    in the world--now or that ever had been; not William Tell
    himself--could have harmed any of them without at least endangering
    her. Two of them turned the Voivodin round so that her face was
    towards the precipice--in which position she could not see what was
    going on--whilst he who was evidently leader of the gang explained,
    in gesture, that the others were going to spy upon the pursuing
    party. When they had located them he, or one of his men, would come
    out of the opening of the wood wherein they had had evidence of them,
    and hold up his hand. That was to be the signal for the cutting of the victim's
    throat--such being the chosen method (villainous even for heathen
    murderers) of her death. There was not one of our men who did not
    grind his teeth when we witnessed the grim action, only too
    expressive, of the Turk as he drew his right hand, clenched as though
    he held a yataghan in it, across his throat. At the opening of the glade all the spying party halted whilst the
    leader appointed to each his place of entry of the wood, the front of
    which extended in an almost straight across the valley from cliff to
    cliff.