so many men, he pushed her gently away.
'Take care of Tessay. I will meet you at the boats.' Before she could
protest further, he turned and struck out up the valley at a long-legged
lope which carried him over the rough terrain so swiftly that she had no
further chance to prevent him.
'Nicky!' she screamed after him despairingly, but he pretended not to
hear and kept going, following the diverted river upstream, back towards
the dam.
he jet Ranger followed the convoluted course of the river below the dam.
At moments they could look directly down into the narrow gap between the
high cliffs, into the shaded depths of the chasm, almost dry now, with
only the occasional gleam of the shrunken and still pools.
'There they are!' Helm pointed dead ahead. There was a small cluster of
men on the brink of the chasm.
'Make sure they aren't shufta!' There was fear in von Schiller's voice.
'No!' Helm reassured him loudly. 'I recognize Nogo, and that tall one
beside him in the white shamnia is the monk Hansith Sherif, our
informer.' He shouted above the engine beat at the pilot, 'You can go in
and land. There!
Nogo is waving you in!'
The moment the skids of the helicopter touched the ground, both Nogo and
Hansith ran forward Between them they helped von Schiller down from the
passenger cabin and hustled him clear of the spinning rotors.
'My men have secured the area,' Nogo assured him.
'We have driven the shufta down the valley towards the river. This man
is Hansith Sherif, who has been working beside Harper in the tomb. He
knows every inch of the tunnels.'
'Does he speak English?' Von Schiller looked up at the tall monk
eagerly.
'A little bit,' Hansith answered for himself.
'Good! Good!' Von Schiller beamed at him. 'Show me the way. I will
follow You. Come on, Guddabi, it's about time you did some work for the
money I am paying you., Hansith led them quickly to the head of the
scaffolding, where von Schiller paused and looked down nervously into
the gloomy depths of the chasm, The bamboo framework seemed flimsy and
rickety, the drop deep and terrifying. Von Schiller was on the point Of
Protesting when Nahoot Guddabi whimpered behind him.
'He does not expect us to climb down there, does he?' His terror
bolstered von Schiller immediately, and he turned on Nahoot with relish.
'It is the only access to the tomb. Follow the man down. I will be close
behind you., 1VjU,)t 'Putul- YY(, When Nahoot still hesitated, Helm put
a calloused hand in the small of his back and shoved him forward.
'Get on with it. You are wasting time.'
MD
Reluctantly Nahoot started down the affording after SC the monk, and von
Schiller followed him. The framework of bamboo shook and swayed under
their combined weight and the drop to the rocks below sucked at them,
but at last they reached the ledge beside Taita's pool. There they stood
in a small group, staring about them in awe and wonder. .
