Page:A child of the Orient (IA childoforient00vakarich).pdf/146

 always been a closed science to me, so I have no idea where this is, except that it is somewhere in Turkish territory, and on the way to Xanthy.

It was near nightfall. We took a short rest at a small village, ate a hearty meal, exchanged the mules we had been riding for horses, and started out to cross the forest. There was a silvery moonlight over all the landscape, and the lantern which our guide carried, as he walked in front of the horses, blinded us more than it helped us. We asked to have the light put out, but the kouroudji, who was also the owner of the horses we were riding, insisted on the lighted lantern as part of the convention of the forest.

My saddle was made of camel-bags, filled with blankets and clothes, and the motion of the horse was smooth and soporific. I became drowsy from the long day's ride, and now and then stretched myself in the saddle.

In the very heart of the forest my horse reared so unexpectedly that had it not been for the vast pillowy saddle I should have been thrown to the ground. My brother's horse not only reared but whirled about like a leaf in a storm. The kouroudji seized the bridle of my horse and patted and spoke to him, while my brother, who was a very good horseman, managed to calm his own mount somewhat, and to keep him headed in the direction we wished to go.