"They simply flew into the timber. I took a pistol shot
at one but missed. Ruth hadn't though; she had winged
her man; he left a red trail behind him.

"We didn't follow the trail. We made for the opposite
direction--and as fast as possible.

"Nothing happened that day or night. Next morning,
creeping up a slope, we caught sight of a suspicious glitter
a mile or two away in the direction we were going. We
sought shelter in a small ravine. In a little while, over
the hill and half a mile away from us, came about two
hundred of these fellows, marching along.

"And they were indeed Darius's men. Men of that
Persia which had been dead for millenniums. There was
no mistaking them, with their high, covering shields, their
great bows, their javelins and armor.

"They passed; we doubled. We built no fires that night
--and we ought to have turned the pony loose, but we
didn't. It carried my instruments, and ammunition, and I
felt we were going to need the latter.

"The next morning we caught sight of another band--
or the same. We turned again. We stole through a tree-covered
plain; we struck an ancient road. It led south,
into the peaks again. We followed it. It brought us here.