It will only be a moment.

Don't take your eyes off him; there must be no alarm." She moved forward through the gloomy shadows toward the light showing at the mouth of the cave.

The rocks here were in their natural state, exactly as left by the forces which had originally disrupted them, the cavern's mouth much wider than the tunnel piercing the hill, and somewhat obstructed by ridges of stone.
Sheltered by these Stella crept to the very edge of the opening, and was able to gain a comprehensive view of the entire scene beyond.
Within the cave itself there was no movement, no evidence of life.
Quite clearly no guard had been posted here, and no precautions taken, although doubtless the only entrance to the deep valley was carefully watched.
A glance without convinced her that no other guardianship was necessary to assure safety.

The valley lay before her, almost a level plain, except for the stream winding through its centre, and all about, unbroken and precipitous, arose the rampart of rocks, which seemed unscalable.
She rested there long enough to trace this barrier inch by inch in its complete circle, but found no opening, no cleft, promising a possible exit, except where the trail led up almost directly opposite, and only memory of her descent enabled her to recognise this.

Satisfied that the top could be attained in no other way, her eyes sought the things of more immediate interest.