A Study in Scarlet Part II

Chapter 5

The Avenging Angels

All night their course lay through intricate

defiles and over irregular and rock-strewn paths.

More than once they lost their way, but Hope's intimate knowledge of the mountains enabled them to

regain the track once more. When morning broke,

a scene of marvellous though savage beauty lay

before them. In every direction the great snow-

capped peaks hemmed them in, peeping over each

other's shoulders to the far horizon. So steep were

the rocky banks on either side of them, that the

larch and the pine seemed to be suspended over

their heads, and to need only a gust of wind to

come hurtling down upon them. Nor was the fear

entirely an illusion, for the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and boulders which had fallen in

a similar manner. Even as they passed, a great rock

came thundering down with a hoarse rattle which

woke the echoes in the silent gorges, and startled

the weary horses into a gallop.

As the sun rose slowly above the eastern hori-

zon, the caps of the great mountains lit up one after

the other, like lamps at a festival, until they were

all ruddy and glowing. The magnificent spectacle

cheered the hearts of the three fugitives and gave

them fresh energy. At a wild torrent which swept

out of a ravine they called a halt and watered their

horses, while they partook of a hasty breakfast.

Lucy and her father would fain have rested longer,

but Jefferson Hope was inexorable. "They will be

upon our track by this time," he said. "Everything

depends upon our speed. Once safe in Carson we

may rest for the remainder of our lives."

During the whole of that day they struggled

on through the defiles, and by evening they calcu-

lated that they were more than thirty miles from

their enemies. At night-time they chose the base

of a beetling crag, where the rocks offered some

protection from the chill wind, and there huddled

together for warmth, they enjoyed a few hours'

sleep. Before daybreak, however, they were up and

on their way once more. They had seen no signs of

any pursuers, and Jefferson Hope began to think

that they were fairly out of the reach of the terri-

ble organization whose enmity they had incurred.