Page:Harold Lamb--The House of the Falcon.djvu/186

 lens. This flicker of light from the branches of the hemlock caught the eye of a man who lay hidden in the tamarisk clumps a short way up the mountain side.

He was a broad, squat fellow in dirty woolen garb, a long musket slung over his shoulder. From the shelter of the tamarisks he was keeping a keen watch over the valley. The man had seen a movement in the hemlock, but had attributed it to the flutter of birds. Now, however, he pushed his gun further behind his back and began to crawl quietly downward, passing from thorn patch to tamarisk clump and gliding across the stretches of open grass.

The watcher had not far to go. He moved with the stealth of one whose fear of observation had ascendancy over his desire to spy. A heavy-footed, evil-faced native, evidently a Sart, and a Sart upon a mission.

Owing to her interest in the panorama of the valley, Edith did not notice him. The telescope was powerful, and she could discern plainly the details of the hidden mosque. Its doors were closed at this early hour; but she could see the crimson and blue coloring of the gate arch, and certain robed figures moving on the balcony over the arch.

From this she turned the instrument down the lower valley. The gorge was revealed to her, and she drew an excited breath at seeing the gray tower perched on the cliff, rising over the steaming vapor that welled from the hot springs in the stream winding down the ravine bottom.

The square, barren tower appeared as desolate as ever, at first. The girl, however, had strong, young eyes and the telescope brought the scene on the cliff