“I hardly have the courage to look out of the door, Ray,” said Sidney. “I’m afraid we’ll find there are houses and people on all sides of us.” “If there are, the people certainly don’t make much noise; we might be in the middle of a cemetery for all we can hear.” Raymond had hardly finished speaking when there came in at the door the sound of a voice talking, seemingly so near that the boys were sure it must be from some person just outside the door. Another voice replied, and the two continued in a conversation. The boys looked at each other in wide-eyed apprehension, then they raised themselves cautiously from their blankets and stood, Raymond with his revolver held at full cock. They expected every moment that some one would enter through the door, and Raymond wondered if it would not be foolish to resist, after all, if men came to arrest them. He could, without doubt, shoot a man or two, perhaps all who came at first, but they could hardly hope to get away even then. The talking outside continued, yet no one appeared, and when the boys were standing they could hear more distinctly, and the voices did not seem quite so near as they had thought at first. They did not dare to speak, but they tiptoed carefully to the door, and standing just inside, listened again. They were greatly puzzled to locate the voices; they seemed near, and yet not as though the persons talking were on the terrace outside of the door. Finally, Raymond peered out, and then stepped into the doorway, but just inside, where he would be protected from possible observation except from directly in front. There he was joined by Sidney. For the first time the boys saw the prospect from the door, for darkness had, of course, prevented their seeing anything before they went to sleep. They observed that the space in front of the room where they had slept was, in fact, a terrace. It was some fifteen feet wide and was then cut square down. The voices which they heard rose from some lower level which they could not see, apparently close under the wall that descended from the edge of the terrace, and at no great distance. Beyond the level whence came the voices, however, the view was unobstructed, and the boys were amazed by what they saw. The steep slope below them was thickly clothed with houses constructed in terraces, apparently with no intervening streets, the front yard of one house being also the roof of the next house below. The buildings were all of rough stone and the walls were not finished smooth with mortar or plaster, so that, seen at a distance, the village might easily be taken for a collection of rocks on the side of the mountain. On some of the terraces in front of the houses they saw horses calmly eating their provender on the roofs of their neighbors. They also saw people moving about, undoubtedly attending to their customary occupations.