"Here is the cliff, there lies the plain; I see no road between the two, and my wise uncle, the prince, tells me that he never heard of one." "Lady," answered the man, "now I take command, and you must follow me.
But first let us see that nobody and nothing are lacking." Then he went round the company and numbered them.

In all we were sixteen; Maqueda and Joshua, we three Englishmen, armed with repeating rifles and revolvers, our guide Shadrach, and some picked Mountaineers chosen for their skill and courage.

For even in Mur there were brave men left, especially among the shepherds and huntsmen, whose homes were on the cliffs.

These sturdy guides were laden with ropes, lamps, and long, slender ladders that could be strapped together.
When everything had been checked and all the ladders and straps tested, Shadrach went to a clump of bushes which grew feebly on the wind-swept crest of the precipice.

In the midst of these he found and removed a large flat stone, revealing what evidently had been the head of a stair, although now its steps were much worn and crumbled by the water that in the wet season followed this natural drain to the depths below.
"This is that road the ancients made for purposes of their own," explained Shadrach, "which, as I have said, I chanced to discover when I was a boy.