I lay down in my great coat;
but all sleeping was out of the question, as any pauses in the tempest
were filled up by the barking of the dogs, and the shouting of the
shepherds in the neighbouring mountains.
"A little after midnight, a man, panting and pale, and drenched with
rain, rushed into the room, and, between crying and roaring, with a
profusion of action, communicated something to the secretary, of which
I understood only--that they had all fallen down. I learnt, however,
that no accident had happened, except the falling of the luggage
horses, and losing their way, and that they were now waiting for fresh
horses and guides. Ten were immediately sent to them, together with
several men with pine-torches; but it was not till two o'clock in the
morning that we heard they were approaching, and my friend, with the
priest and the servants, did not enter our hut before three.
"I now learnt from him that they had lost their way from the
commencement of the storm, when not above three miles from the
village; and that, after wandering up and down in total ignorance of
their position, they had, at last, stopped near some Turkish
tombstones and a torrent, which they saw by the flashes of lightning.
They had been thus exposed for nine hours; and the guides, so far from
assisting them, only augmented the confusion, by running away, after
being threatened with death by George the dragoman, who, in an agony
of rage and fear, and without giving any warning, fired off both his
pistols, and drew from the English servant an involuntary scream of
horror, for he fancied they were beset by robbers.
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