The western mount was close, the mouth of the gorge through which we must pass, now plain before us.

It did not seem as though we could reach it before dusk, and Drake and I were reconciled to spending another night in the peaceful vale.

Plodding along, deep in thought, I was startled by his exclamation.
He was staring at a point some hundred yards to his right.

I followed his gaze.
The towering cliffs were a scant half mile away.

At some distant time there had been an enormous fall of rock.