Page:Erewhon-1872-003.djvu/34

I COOEYED to him, but he would not hear. I ran after him, but he had got too good a start. Then I sat down on a stone and thought the matter carefully over. It was plain that Chowbok had designedly attempted to keep me from going up this valley, yet he had shown no unwillingness to follow me anywhere else. What could this mean, unless that I was now upon the route by which alone the mysteries of the great ranges could be revealed? What then should I do? go back at the very moment when it had become plain that I was on the right scent? Hardly: yet to proceed alone would be a most difficult and dangerous undertaking. It would be bad enough to go back to my master’s run, and pass through the rocky gorges, with no chance of help from another should I get into any difficulty; but to advance for any considerable distance without a companion would be next door to madness. Accidents which are slight when there is another at hand (as the spraining of an ankle, or the falling into some place whence escape would be easy by means of an outstretched hand and a bit of rope), may be fatal to one who is alone. The more I pondered the less I liked it; and yet, the less could I make up my mind to return when I looked