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Nonlinear Parameter Optimization Using R Tools 1st
Edition John C. Nash Digital Instant Download
Author(s): John C. Nash
ISBN(s): 9781306638784, 1118884752
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 3.42 MB
Year: 2014
Language: english
 Nonlinear Parameter
Optimization Using R Tools
 Nonlinear Parameter
Optimization Using R Tools

John C. Nash
Telfer School of Management
University of Ottawa
This edition first published 2014
© 2014 John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Registered office
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for per-
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or particular use of the MATLAB® software.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nash, John C., 1947-
Nonlinear parameter optimization using R tools / John C. Nash.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-56928-3 (cloth)
1. Mathematical optimization. 2. Nonlinear theories. 3. R (Computer program language) I. Title.
QA402.5.N34 2014
519.60285′ 5133–dc23
2013051141

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 9781118569283

Typeset in 10/12pt TimesLTStd by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai, India

Printed and bound in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd.

1 2014
 This work is a part of and is dedicated to that effort by the many
community-minded people who create, support, promote, and use free
and open source software, and who generously share these ideas,
without which R in particular would not exist.
Contents

Preface xv

1 Optimization problem tasks and how they arise 1

1.1 The general optimization problem 1
1.2 Why the general problem is generally uninteresting 2
1.3 (Non-)Linearity 4
1.4 Objective function properties 4
1.4.1 Sums of squares 4
1.4.2 Minimax approximation 5
1.4.3 Problems with multiple minima 5
1.4.4 Objectives that can only be imprecisely computed 5
1.5 Constraint types 5
1.6 Solving sets of equations 6
1.7 Conditions for optimality 7
1.8 Other classifications 7
References 8

2 Optimization algorithms – an overview 9

2.1 Methods that use the gradient 9
2.2 Newton-like methods 12
2.3 The promise of Newton’s method 13
2.4 Caution: convergence versus termination 14
2.5 Difficulties with Newton’s method 14
2.6 Least squares: Gauss–Newton methods 15
2.7 Quasi-Newton or variable metric method 17
2.8 Conjugate gradient and related methods 18
2.9 Other gradient methods 19
2.10 Derivative-free methods 19
2.10.1 Numerical approximation of gradients 19
2.10.2 Approximate and descend 19
2.10.3 Heuristic search 20
2.11 Stochastic methods 20
2.12 Constraint-based methods – mathematical programming 21
References 22
viii CONTENTS

3 Software structure and interfaces 25

3.1 Perspective 25
3.2 Issues of choice 26
3.3 Software issues 27
3.4 Specifying the objective and constraints to the optimizer 28
3.5 Communicating exogenous data to problem
definition functions 28
3.5.1 Use of “global” data and variables 31
3.6 Masked (temporarily fixed) optimization parameters 32
3.7 Dealing with inadmissible results 33
3.8 Providing derivatives for functions 34
3.9 Derivative approximations when there are constraints 36
3.10 Scaling of parameters and function 36
3.11 Normal ending of computations 36
3.12 Termination tests – abnormal ending 37
3.13 Output to monitor progress of calculations 37
3.14 Output of the optimization results 38
3.15 Controls for the optimizer 38
3.16 Default control settings 39
3.17 Measuring performance 39
3.18 The optimization interface 39
References 40

4 One-parameter root-finding problems 41

4.1 Roots 41
4.2 Equations in one variable 42
4.3 Some examples 42
4.3.1 Exponentially speaking 42
4.3.2 A normal concern 44
4.3.3 Little Polly Nomial 46
4.3.4 A hypothequial question 49
4.4 Approaches to solving 1D root-finding problems 51
4.5 What can go wrong? 52
4.6 Being a smart user of root-finding programs 54
4.7 Conclusions and extensions 54
References 55

5 One-parameter minimization problems 56

5.1 The optimize() function 56
5.2 Using a root-finder 57
5.3 But where is the minimum? 58
5.4 Ideas for 1D minimizers 59
5.5 The line-search subproblem 61
References 62
 CONTENTS ix

6 Nonlinear least squares 63

6.1 nls() from package stats 63
6.1.1 A simple example 63
6.1.2 Regression versus least squares 65
6.2 A more difficult case 65
6.3 The structure of the nls() solution 72
6.4 Concerns with nls() 73
6.4.1 Small residuals 74
6.4.2 Robustness – “singular gradient” woes 75
6.4.3 Bounds with nls() 77
6.5 Some ancillary tools for nonlinear least squares 79
6.5.1 Starting values and self-starting problems 79
6.5.2 Converting model expressions to sum-of-squares functions 80
6.5.3 Help for nonlinear regression 80
6.6 Minimizing R functions that compute sums of squares 81
6.7 Choosing an approach 82
6.8 Separable sums of squares problems 86
6.9 Strategies for nonlinear least squares 93
References 93

7 Nonlinear equations 95
7.1 Packages and methods for nonlinear equations 95
7.1.1 BB 96
7.1.2 nleqslv 96
7.1.3 Using nonlinear least squares 96
7.1.4 Using function minimization methods 96
7.2 A simple example to compare approaches 97
7.3 A statistical example 103
References 106

8 Function minimization tools in the base R system 108

8.1 optim() 108
8.2 nlm() 110
8.3 nlminb() 111
8.4 Using the base optimization tools 112
References 114

9 Add-in function minimization packages for R 115

9.1 Package optimx 115
9.1.1 Optimizers in optimx 116
9.1.2 Example use of optimx() 117
9.2 Some other function minimization packages 118
9.2.1 nloptr and nloptwrap 118
9.2.2 trust and trustOptim 119
x CONTENTS

9.3 Should we replace optim() routines? 121

References 122

10 Calculating and using derivatives 123

10.1 Why and how 123
10.2 Analytic derivatives – by hand 124
10.3 Analytic derivatives – tools 125
10.4 Examples of use of R tools for differentiation 125
10.5 Simple numerical derivatives 127
10.6 Improved numerical derivative approximations 128
10.6.1 The Richardson extrapolation 128
10.6.2 Complex-step derivative approximations 128
10.7 Strategy and tactics for derivatives 129
References 131

11 Bounds constraints 132

11.1 Single bound: use of a logarithmic transformation 132
11.2 Interval bounds: Use of a hyperbolic transformation 133
11.2.1 Example of the tanh transformation 134
11.2.2 A fly in the ointment 134
11.3 Setting the objective large when bounds are violated 135
11.4 An active set approach 136
11.5 Checking bounds 138
11.6 The importance of using bounds intelligently 138
11.6.1 Difficulties in applying bounds constraints 139
11.7 Post-solution information for bounded problems 139
Appendix 11.A Function transfinite 141
References 142

12 Using masks 143

12.1 An example 143
12.2 Specifying the objective 143
12.3 Masks for nonlinear least squares 147
12.4 Other approaches to masks 148
References 148

13 Handling general constraints 149

13.1 Equality constraints 149
13.1.1 Parameter elimination 151
13.1.2 Which parameter to eliminate? 153
13.1.3 Scaling and centering? 154
13.1.4 Nonlinear programming packages 154
13.1.5 Sequential application of an increasing penalty 156
 CONTENTS xi

13.2 Sumscale problems 158

13.2.1 Using a projection 162
13.3 Inequality constraints 163
13.4 A perspective on penalty function ideas 167
13.5 Assessment 167
References 168

14 Applications of mathematical programming 169

14.1 Statistical applications of math programming 169
14.2 R packages for math programming 170
14.3 Example problem: L1 regression 171
14.4 Example problem: minimax regression 177
14.5 Nonlinear quantile regression 179
14.6 Polynomial approximation 180
References 183

15 Global optimization and stochastic methods 185

15.1 Panorama of methods 185
15.2 R packages for global and stochastic optimization 186
15.3 An example problem 187
15.3.1 Method SANN from optim() 187
15.3.2 Package GenSA 188
15.3.3 Packages DEoptim and RcppDE 189
15.3.4 Package smco 191
15.3.5 Package soma 192
15.3.6 Package Rmalschains 193
15.3.7 Package rgenoud 193
15.3.8 Package GA 194
15.3.9 Package gaoptim 195
15.4 Multiple starting values 196
References 202

16 Scaling and reparameterization 203

16.1 Why scale or reparameterize? 203
16.2 Formalities of scaling and reparameterization 204
16.3 Hobbs’ weed infestation example 205
16.4 The KKT conditions and scaling 210
16.5 Reparameterization of the weeds problem 214
16.6 Scale change across the parameter space 214
16.7 Robustness of methods to starting points 215
16.7.1 Robustness of optimization techniques 218
16.7.2 Robustness of nonlinear least squares methods 220
16.8 Strategies for scaling 222
References 223
xii CONTENTS

17 Finding the right solution 224

17.1 Particular requirements 224
17.1.1 A few integer parameters 225
17.2 Starting values for iterative methods 225
17.3 KKT conditions 226
17.3.1 Unconstrained problems 226
17.3.2 Constrained problems 227
17.4 Search tests 228
References 229

18 Tuning and terminating methods 230

18.1 Timing and profiling 230
18.1.1 rbenchmark 231
18.1.2 microbenchmark 231
18.1.3 Calibrating our timings 232
18.2 Profiling 234
18.2.1 Trying possible improvements 235
18.3 More speedups of R computations 238
18.3.1 Byte-code compiled functions 238
18.3.2 Avoiding loops 238
18.3.3 Package upgrades - an example 239
18.3.4 Specializing codes 241
18.4 External language compiled functions 242
18.4.1 Building an R function using Fortran 244
18.4.2 Summary of Rayleigh quotient timings 246
18.5 Deciding when we are finished 247
18.5.1 Tests for things gone wrong 248
References 249

19 Linking R to external optimization tools 250

19.1 Mechanisms to link R to external software 251
19.1.1 R functions to call external (sub)programs 251
19.1.2 File and system call methods 251
19.1.3 Thin client methods 252
19.2 Prepackaged links to external optimization tools 252
19.2.1 NEOS 252
19.2.2 Automatic Differentiation Model Builder (ADMB) 252
19.2.3 NLopt 253
19.2.4 BUGS and related tools 253
19.3 Strategy for using external tools 253
References 254
 CONTENTS xiii

20 Differential equation models 255

20.1 The model 255
20.2 Background 256
20.3 The likelihood function 258
20.4 A first try at minimization 258
20.5 Attempts with optimx 259
20.6 Using nonlinear least squares 260
20.7 Commentary 261
Reference 262

21 Miscellaneous nonlinear estimation tools for R 263

21.1 Maximum likelihood 263
21.2 Generalized nonlinear models 266
21.3 Systems of equations 268
21.4 Additional nonlinear least squares tools 268
21.5 Nonnegative least squares 270
21.6 Noisy objective functions 273
21.7 Moving forward 274
References 275

Appendix A R packages used in examples 276

Index 279
Preface

This book is about tools for finding parameters of functions that describe phenom-
ena or systems where these parameters are implicated in ways that do not allow their
determination by solving sets of linear equations. Furthermore, it is about doing so
with R.
R is a computer language and suite of libraries intended primarily to be used for
statistical and mathematical computations. It has a strong but quite small base sys-
tem that is rich in functions for scientific computations as well as a huge collection
of add-in packages for particular extra problems and situations.
Among both the base and add-in tools are facilities for finding the “best” param-
eters of functions that describe systems or phenomena. Such tools are used to fit
equations to data or improve the performance of devices or find the most efficient
path from A to B, and so on. Some such problems have a structure where we
only need solve one or two sets of linear equations. Others – the subject of this
book – require iterative methods to approximate the solution we desire. Generally
we refer to these as nonlinear parameters. A formal definition will be given later,
but the tools we shall discuss can be applied anyway.
Sometimes the problems involve constraints as well as objective functions.
Dealing with constraints is also a subject for this book. When there are many
constraints, the problem is usually called mathematical programming, a field with
many subspecialties depending on the nature of the objective and constraints. While
some review of the R tools for mathematical programming is included, such prob-
lems have not been prominent in my work, so there is less depth of treatment here.
This does not imply that the subject should be ignored, even though for me, and
also to some extent for R, mathematical programming has been a lower priority
than nonlinear function minimization with perhaps a few constraints. This reflects
the origins of R in the primarily statistical community.
The topics in this book are most likely to be of interest to researchers and prac-
titioners who have to solve parameter determination problems. In some cases, they
will be developing specialized tools, such as packages for maximum likelihood
estimation, so the tools discussed here are like the engines used by car designers to
prepare their particular offering. In other cases, workers will want to use the tools
directly. In either case, my aim is to provide advice and suggestions of what is likely
to work well and what should generally be avoided.
xvi PREFACE

The book should also interest the serious users of composite packages that use
optimization internally. I have noticed that some such packages call the first or most
obvious tool in sight. I believe the user really should be offered a choice or at least
informed of what is used. Those who stand most to benefit from the book in this way
are workers who have large computationally intensive problems or else awkward
problems where standard methods may “fail” – or more likely simply terminate
before finding a satisfactory solution.
Thus my goal in preparing this book is to provide an appreciation of the tools
and where they are most useful. Most users of R are not specialists in computation,
and the workings of the specialized tools are a black box. This can lead to mis appli-
cation. A lumberjack’s chain saw is a poor choice for a neurosurgeon’s handiwork.
But a system like R needs to have a range of choices for different occasions. Users
also need to help in making appropriate choices.
I also hope to provide enough simplified examples to both help users and stimu-
late developers. While we have a lot of tools for nonlinear parameter determination
in R, we do not have enough well-organized guidance on their use or ways to effec-
tively retire methods that are not good enough.
As a developer of such tools, I have found myself confronted on a number of
occasions by users telling me that a colleague said my program was very good, but
“it didn’t work.” This has almost always been because the mode of use or choice
of tool was inappropriate. Ideally, I aim to have the software identify such misap-
plication but that is a very difficult challenge that I have spent a good deal of my
career addressing.
That said, I must note that many many items that appear in this book were
developed or adjusted during its writing. The legacy of a very large and widely used
open source system leaves much detritus that is not useful and many inconvenient
loose ends. Some have been addressed as the writing progressed.
A word about the structure of this book. Readers who read cover to cover will
find a certain amount of duplication. I have tried to make each chapter somewhat
self-contained. This does not mean that I will not refer the reader to other chapters,
but it does mean that sometimes there is repetition of ideas that are also treated
elsewhere. This is done to make it easier to read chapters independently.
Any book, of course, owes a lot to people other than the author. I cannot
hope to do justice to every person who has helped with ideas or support, but the
following, in no particular order, are the names of some people who I feel have
contributed to the writing of this book: Mary Nash, Ravi Varadhan, Stephen Nash,
Hans Werner Borchers, Claudia Beleites, Nathan Lemoine, Paul Gilbert, Dirk
Eddelbeuttel, John Fox, Ben Bolker, Doug Bates, Kate Mullen, Richard Alexander
and Gabor Grothendieck.

John C. Nash
1

Optimization problem tasks

and how they arise

In this introductory chapter we look at the classes of problems for which we will
discuss solution tools. We also consider the interrelationships between different
problem classes as well as among the solution methods. This is quite general. R is
only incidental to this chapter except for some examples. Here we write our list of
things to do.

1.1 The general optimization problem

The general constrained optimization problem can be stated as follows.

Find x = argmin f (x)

such that
c(x) >= 0

Note that f () is a scalar function but x is a vector. There may or may not be
constraints on the values of x, and these are expressed formally in the vector
of functions c. While these functions are general, many problems have much
simpler constraints, such as requirements that the values of x be no less than some
lower bounds or no greater than some upper bounds as we shall discuss in the
following text.
We have specified the problem as a minimization, but maximization problems
can be transformed to minimizations by multiplying the objective function by −1.
Note also that we have asked for the set of arguments x that minimize the
objective, which essentially implies the global minimum. However, many – if not
most – of the numerical methods in optimization are able to find only local minima

Nonlinear Parameter Optimization Using R Tools, First Edition. John C. Nash.

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Companion Website: www.wiley.com/go/nonlinear_parameter
2 NONLINEAR PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION USING R TOOLS

and quite a few problems are such that there may be many local minima and possi-
bly even more than one global minimum. That is, the global minimum may occur
at more than one set of parameters x and may occur on a line or surface.

1.2 Why the general problem is generally uninteresting

While there do exist methods for tackling the general optimization problem, almost
all the “real” work of optimization in problems related to statistics and model-
ing tends to be done by more specialized methods that work on problems that are
restricted in some ways by the nature of the objective or the constraints (or lack
thereof). Indeed, for a number of particular problems, there are very specialized
packages expressly designed to solve them. Unfortunately, the user often has to
work quite hard to decide if his or her problem actually matches the design con-
siderations of the specialized package. Seemingly small changes – for example, a
condition that parameters must be positive – can render the specialized package
useless. On the other hand, a very general tool may be quite tedious for the user to
apply easily, because objective functions and constraints may require a very large
amount of program code in some cases.
In the real world, the objective function f () and the constraints c are not only
functions of x but also depend on data; in fact, they may depend on vast arrays of
data, particularly in statistical problems involving large systems.
To illustrate, consider the following examples, which, while “small,” illustrate
some of the issues we will encounter.

Cobb–Douglas example
The Cobb–Douglas production function (Nash and Walker-Smith, 1987, p. 375)
predicts the quantity of production prodn of a commodity as a function of the inputs
of kapital (it appears traditional to use a K for this variable) and labour used, namely,
prodn = b1 ∗ kapitalb2 ∗ labourb3 (1.1)
A traditional approach to this problem is to take logarithms to get
log(prodn) = log(b1 ) + b2 ∗ log(kapital) + b3 ∗ log(labour) (1.2)
However, the two forms imply very different ways in which errors are assumed
to exist between the model and real-world data. Let us assume (almost certainly
dangerously) that data for kapital and labour are known precisely, but there may be
errors in the data for prodn. Let us use the name Dprodn. In particular, if we use
additive errors of the form
errors = data − model (1.3)
then we have
log(Dprodn) = log(b1 ) + b2 ∗ log(kapital) + b3 ∗ log(labour) + errorsL (1.4)
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
“Sid,” asked Raymond, when the sun had dropped behind the
mountain at the back, and long shadows lay across the valley, “how
much longer will we have to wait?”
“Until it’s good and dark.”
“But then we shan’t know where to get water.”
“It can’t be far to the mouth of the cañon above the village, and
we’re almost sure to find water there.”
“I don’t see how I’m going to stand it, Sid. I’d go back to the jail if I
could have a good drink.”
“You see, Ray, it’s not just a question of going back to the jail. We
can’t tell what they would do with us for killing the bandits. I don’t
know of any way we could prove we did it in self-defense.”
“Well, I almost wish that policeman would find us; that would settle
it.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t,” said Sidney, “but I think he must have
believed that we went back to Timour Khan Shoura. And I think, too,
that he was trying to work a little private graft of his own. I don’t
believe he reported that we got out. He probably went back on the
road to try to overtake and rob us.”
“And here we’ve had to stay all day,” growled Raymond, “with water
in the house right below us. I’ve a good mind to go down there now
and get a drink.” For the thought of the possible water so near was
almost more than the boy could endure.
“It won’t be long now, Ray,” said Sidney encouragingly; “see, it’s
almost dark down in the valley now. You’ve been too fine the last
few days to give up just because you’re thirsty.”
“Let’s stop talking about it, Sid,” groaned Raymond. “It makes me
wild to think of water.” And Raymond took up the endless tramp
again to wear away the time.
 CHAPTER XI
WITHOUT WATER

A t last the hour came when Sidney judged it was dark enough for
them to venture out. He did not think it necessary to wait until
late at night, for as soon as they could leave the house they would
climb a little way up the mountain and then pass along the slope at
some distance above the village. Moreover, all the houses opened
toward the valley, and like their place of refuge had no windows
facing the mountain. It seemed, then, that there would be little
danger of discovery as soon as it was dark enough to prevent their
being seen at a distance.
The boys rolled up their blankets and disposed of their packs to the
best advantage for traveling, then left their shelter with feverish
haste in their longing to reach water. The mountain along which they
had to pass was bare, as all southern slopes are in Eastern and
Central Daghestan. With practically no growth of bushes, and with
only broken rocks to retard them, their way was not difficult, even in
the dark, and they made good progress.
Sidney again proved himself to be a good prophet, for their
departure was not seen, and no one appeared to stop them. They
stumbled along in the dark over the rocky surface, and soon were
beyond what seemed to be the extreme limit of the village. However,
to insure security, they went half a mile farther, and then descended
to the valley.
At the foot of the mountain they encountered a well-traveled trail,
but as it was plain that they had not yet reached the lowest level of
the valley, they decided to continue a little farther on the same line
in the hope of finding water. So they went straight forward and soon
crossed the wash of a stream, but alas! it was dry. They thought it
might be that it was only a tributary wash and that they had not yet
come to the main stream, and they went on, only to realize after a
little that they were climbing an ascent. That convinced them, with a
shock, that they had, indeed, crossed the bottom of the valley
without finding water.
“What shall we do, Sid?” asked Raymond with a tremble in his voice.
“We must go back to the trail and follow that up to the mountains.
The stream probably doesn’t flow much below the mouth of the
cañon, and when we get up there we’ll find it.”
“I hope so,” said Raymond, in a tone that contradicted his words.
They turned back on their course, crossed the wash again, and
climbing a gentle rise reached the trail. Turning into that to the left
they plodded doggedly on. They had encountered only one trail, and
as that was well traveled, they had assumed that it must be the
main road into the mountains, therefore the one they wanted. So
they followed it without hesitation.
As they proceeded they entered more directly under the brow of the
mountains and the darkness increased. The trail was so well defined,
however, that they had no difficulty in following it, even when they
could not really see the road they were traveling. On and on they
went, with only one thought, to hurry forward, the sooner to reach
water.
The boys had eaten nothing since early in the day, for after they had
become so thirsty they could not endure the thought of dry food.
And they ate very little the day before while in the jail, for even
when there was water to assist, the food they had was very
unpalatable. So their strength was failing greatly, though they hardly
realized it, even unconsciously, and certainly did not think about it,
in their frenzy to reach the mouth of the cañon where they expected
to find water.
The two raced on at a speed which, under ordinary conditions, and
without the stimulus of an overpowering desire, would have soon
exhausted them. They kept the trail in the dark with the instinct that
is shown by animals, rather than by any exercise of reason, and they
paid no attention to its direction so long as they were advancing, as
they supposed, to water. With the terrible disappointment they had
experienced in finding a dry wash where they had expected a
stream, their desire for water had increased so greatly as to be fairly
consuming, and left no room for any other thought.
Suddenly Sidney, who was in the lead, stopped short,—so suddenly
in his swift course that his brother plunged forcibly against him.
When Raymond had recovered his balance he asked anxiously, in a
strained, unnatural voice,—
“What’s the matter, Sid?”
“See that trail!” replied Sidney.
Raymond stooped and peered at the ground in the darkness. The
trail turned back at a sharp angle and ascended in almost the
opposite direction, plainly the first turn of a switchback that climbed
the mountain.
“That means we’re on the wrong road,” said Sidney. “I’m sure the
road we want doesn’t go up over the mountain like that, and,
anyway, we shan’t find water this way.”
“Then we’ll have to go back,” said Raymond in a hopeless tone, “and
hunt for another trail.”
“It’s a long way,” said Sidney doubtfully. “I think we must have been
tramping fully two hours, and after we found another trail we’d have
to follow it up to water, maybe two hours longer. I doubt if we are
equal to that.”
With the new disappointment, after the great exertion that had
preceded it, the boys had nearly collapsed. Their legs gave way
under them and they sank to the ground.
“Sid!”—and there was a note of terror in Raymond’s voice—“maybe
this country is like Lower California, and there is no surface water.”
“It can’t be; there are so many people living here.”
“But perhaps the people in the village get all their water from wells.”
“That’s so; I never thought of that; maybe they do.”
“I’m going back to the village, Sid, for water.” And Raymond
struggled to his feet.
“We must not do a foolish thing, Ray, just because we feel
desperate. If we go back I don’t believe we’ll ever leave there alive.
I think there is water in the cañon above the village, too, for you
know there was running water where we camped below.”
Raymond hesitated, partly convinced by his brother’s reasoning.
“What do you propose to do?” he asked.
“I think it’s too far to go back by the trail,” replied Sidney, “and we
can’t get straight down the mountain in the dark. I blame myself for
not noticing that we were climbing quite a grade, but that can’t be
helped now, and really, I could hardly think of anything but water.”
“I can’t think of anything else now. You were not to blame, Sid, any
more than I was. We were simply frantic, both of us.”
“Don’t you think, Ray, that we could stay here till daylight? That
would be better than to blunder around in the dark, and wear
ourselves out, and perhaps break our arms and legs.”
Raymond stood without replying, and Sidney continued:—
“We can leave here just as soon as it is light enough to get down the
mountain. We can go straight down, then, and it probably won’t be
more than two or three miles. And I believe we’ll find water when
we get there, Ray. It will be flowing in the mouth of the cañon, if
anywhere.”
“Can you stay here till morning without water, Sid?” asked Raymond
finally.
“I believe I can, because I think it’s the only thing for us to do. It will
be hard, I admit. I would rather have a drink now than anything else
under Heaven.”
Raymond threw his blankets down on the ground and began to
unroll them without speaking.
“Won’t you eat a little bread first, Ray?” asked his brother.
“No; I can’t eat.”
“I think we ought to eat something, though. If we don’t we’ll be so
weak by morning we shan’t be able to reach water. If we chew the
driest part of the bread very thoroughly we can swallow it.”
“All right,” said Raymond dully; “give me a piece.”
Sidney opened his knapsack, felt for the driest piece of bread, and,
breaking off the driest portion of that, handed it to Raymond. Then
he selected a bit for himself and they sat on their blankets and
munched the crusts. Even with the most faithful chewing they found
it difficult to swallow the morsels, but they persevered and managed
to consume nearly all of the pieces which Sidney had apportioned
them.
Then they opened their blankets on the smoothest bit of ground
they could find in the dark, and huddled down in them. Neither boy
felt like talking. The reclining position was a relief, for their fatigue
was great, but the rest it brought was more a sort of apathy than
sleep.
They had not been lying long when Raymond began to mutter and
talk unintelligibly and frequently started up violently. Sidney spoke to
him at such times, but was unable to attract his attention, so finally,
when the boy sprang up in such a frenzy, Sidney would reach out
and place his hand soothingly on Raymond’s shoulder or his hand,
and that always quieted him.
That occurred at such frequent intervals that it seemed to Sidney as
though it had gone on forever, and would continue without end. He
would no more than settle down in his blankets and sink into a
delicious stupor when Raymond would jump up and cry out, and he
would have to take hold of him to quiet him. So it went with almost
mechanical regularity until Sidney was dazed.
But extreme exhaustion at length prevailed and both boys lay
without moving. That change took place so near morning that when
the boys had become quiet they did not wake early as they
intended. They did not rouse at all until the sun shone hot upon
them, then Sidney opened his eyes. He could not remember at first
where he was. His mouth felt queer and stiff and uncomfortably full
of something. He looked about, vaguely at first, when his gaze
rested on Raymond and it all came back to him. He remembered
their flight in the dark from the village, their having taken the wrong
road, and their failure to find water.
The thought of water brought Sidney’s mind back to his own
condition and he realized that the something which filled his mouth
so uncomfortably was his tongue, which was badly swollen. That
realization made him get up as quickly as he was able. He stood and
looked down into the valley. The trail which they had followed by
mistake had taken them along the side of the mountain until they
were directly above the gorge that narrowed from the upper end of
the valley. Down there, glistening in the sun, perhaps two miles
away, Sidney saw a thread of water. At the sight he started to
plunge down the mountain to reach it, but he had taken no more
than two or three steps when he remembered with a shock that he
was leaving his brother behind.
With a crucial effort Sidney relinquished the thought of prompt relief
and turned back and spoke to Raymond in a voice that was thick
and unmanageable, but received no reply. Then he stooped and took
hold of him, but was obliged to shake him several times before he
roused.
Raymond finally looked around and sat up, but did not seem to
comprehend what was wanted. Sidney tried to explain that there
was water in sight, but his voice was little more than a croak. At last
he succeeded in getting Raymond on his feet and started with him
down the mountain. Each boy wore his knapsack still slung over his
shoulder, but their blankets and cloaks they did not think about, and
left lying on the ground.
It was a difficult task that Sidney had before him. His own wits were
so befuddled by raging thirst that he could not think clearly, and it
was only by a supreme effort of the will that he could fix his mind on
a subject and keep it there. Two days and nights only without water,
but when his mind tried to go back to that last drink in the jail, it
seemed as though half a lifetime must have passed since.
Raymond was able to help himself very little; he could only stumble
forward when he was guided and supported by his brother. In that
way they proceeded slowly down the mountain slope. Sidney had
almost uncontrollable impulses to desert his brother and rush
headlong down the hill to the water which he knew was at its foot,
but he had a dim, undefined fear that if he did that he would not get
back to Raymond until it was too late. So he stuck by his brother
and they went down together.
Two miles is not far, and it was probably not more than that from the
place where the boys slept, or rather where they passed the night,
on the mountain, down to the bottom of the gorge. Moreover, the
goal was in plain view, and every step was down hill. But to Sidney,
who was nearly at the point of collapse, and who was burdened with
his almost insensible brother, the distance over the rocky, broken
ground seemed interminable.
The boys stumbled along, Sidney dragging his brother and
sometimes falling and picking himself up with difficulty. Raymond,
too, frequently fell over rocks and into holes, and was pulled up by
his companion. Each time that happened it became increasingly
difficult to put the boy on his feet again.
Hours, it seemed to Sidney, passed in the endless struggle. Finally,
however, they reached a point where the descent became abruptly
much steeper, the last nearly a perpendicular drop to the bottom of
the gorge. That was the hardest stretch of all. Down that declivity
Sidney went first, supporting his brother’s weight on his shoulders. It
was but little better than carrying an inert body, and the boy
trembled with the strain. But it came to an end, and with his nearly
inanimate burden he dropped on the sand at the bottom of the cliff.
Sidney lay there panting, his parched nostrils unable properly to
admit air to his lungs, and his mouth and throat so swollen and dry
that but little aid was possible that way. For a few moments he
nearly lost consciousness; then came a remembrance of the
salvation that was so near, and he struggled to his feet and
staggered the few yards to the little stream. Throwing himself on the
ground, with his scooped hand he dashed water into his mouth and
over his face.
Oh, the blessed, indescribable relief that moisture gave! But with the
return of reason that it brought came the memory of his brother, and
with an almost superhuman effort of self-restraint, Sidney dipped up
water in his hat and went back to Raymond. Kneeling by the
unconscious boy’s side, he plunged his hand into the water and
dripped the life-giving fluid into Raymond’s mouth and over his face.
Occasionally he allowed himself the luxury of a sip, but he resolutely
refused to allow his own desire to interfere with his ministry to his
brother, until Raymond began to stir and opened his eyes.
 CHAPTER XII
RESTING

T he return of the boys to anything like a normal condition was

very slow, though Sidney had the courage and good sense to
parcel out the water, both to himself and to Raymond. He allowed
his brother to take only a swallow or two at intervals, and he
restrained himself in the same way. At first it required a self-control
that was almost beyond his strength, but as they absorbed the
restoring fluid their ravening, consuming appetite decreased, and it
became a joy, instead of a tantalizing torture, to sip the water slowly.
Presently, too, as their mouths and throats became softened they
were able to talk, if not with ease, at least with little difficulty.
“That was as near as I want to come to passing in my checks, Sid,”
said Raymond as they lay on the sand below the cañon wall.
“Yes, it was quite close enough.”
“I would have done it, too, if I had been alone. You must have just
dragged me down the mountain.”
“You didn’t seem very anxious to come, and that’s a fact.”
“You know, Sid, I don’t remember a thing after we lay down last
night, but I had the most delightful dreams.”
“You didn’t act as though they were delightful.”
“Why, what did I do?”
“You kept jumping up and calling out.”
“And keeping you awake, I suppose.”
“Yes, a little.”
“Poor old Sid; you have a hard time getting me through.”
“But when it comes to gun play, then you take care of us both.”
“Well, that’s one thing I can do,—handle a gun.”
“I hope you’ll not have any more of it to do, though.”
“Do you think, Sid, that we are safe here? I haven’t looked, but I
should think the trail that we missed last night must pass through
this gorge.”
“Yes, it does. I saw the tracks out there in the sand.”
“I suppose it must be traveled occasionally.” And Raymond stood up
and looked along the cañon wall. “That looks like a little ravine
coming in up there. Let’s see if there isn’t some place that we can
crawl into for shelter.”
“Yes, I guess we’d better.” And Sidney stood up and stretched stiffly.
“We are certainly too exposed here. But do you know, Ray, I’m so
lame and sore that I can hardly move.”
“I’m not very lame,—just tired, that’s all; but then you worked
harder than I did.”
The boys moved slowly along the sand to the cleft in the cañon wall
which Raymond had indicated. They found a very narrow chasm that
had been cut through the rock by the occasional torrential rains of
centuries. Its bottom, for some yards back, was on a level with the
sandy floor of the cañon and was not more than ten feet wide.
Overhead the cleft was very irregular, in places the two walls nearly
coming together. Extending back on the right side beneath the
overhanging rock was a sheltered space, very like a small cave.
“Gee! Sid,” exclaimed Raymond, “that’s a fine place, and nobody can
see us from the cañon. But, jiminy! where are our blankets? Did we
leave them up on the mountain?”
“I guess we did. I hadn’t thought of them at all. But I don’t believe I
can crawl up there after them to-night; I feel too gone for anything.”
“No wonder you feel gone,” said Raymond; “we haven’t eaten a
thing to-day. We’ve been so busy drinking since we got down to the
cañon that I had forgotten all about grub.”
“I can’t remember exactly,” said Sidney, “but I don’t think there is
much grub.”
“Well, there’s some, anyway. You get out what there is, Sid, and I’ll
take the cup and bring up some water. I feel as though I should
want to keep right on drinking forever.”
It had been very late in the morning when the boys roused from
their night of stupor on the side of the mountain, and then it had
taken a long time for Sidney to get himself and his brother down to
the bottom of the cañon. After they had reached water they were
also a long time in getting back any semblance of strength, so when
they retreated to the little cave under the cañon wall, it was nearly
night and the sun had already dropped back of the mountains.
Sidney, when he examined the knapsacks, found there was a
moderate supply of bread and cheese. The latter, with water to
remove the effect of its salty condition, was extremely palatable, and
the boys made what they declared was a sumptuous supper.
“Do you realize, Sid,” said Raymond, as they lay on the sand
munching bread and cheese, and frequently sipping water, of which
they seemed never to be able to get enough, “that we have eaten
nothing for twenty-four hours, and then only a little bread in that
deserted house, because we had no water to wash it down? And
we’ve done some strenuous work since, too.”
“We haven’t eaten much, but you know we did eat a little bread up
on the mountain last night.”
“I don’t remember eating any bread,” declared Raymond.
“Have you forgotten how I urged you to eat something, and you
finally took a dry crust?”
“Yes; I don’t remember a thing about it. But I do remember the
dreams I had. I was in swimming most of the time, and it was
always down in Mexico, in the Conchos River. Gee, but it was fine!”
“If it was so fine I don’t see why you made such a rumpus.”
“I suppose I was swimming hard, and splashing around.”
“I didn’t observe much splashing. It was a mighty dry swim.” And
Sidney laughed rather ruefully.
“Do you know what the date is, Sid?”
“No, I haven’t the least idea, and I don’t believe I could figure it out,
after all we have done.”
“Do you suppose it’s September yet?”
“September,” repeated Sidney thoughtfully; “maybe it is. I should
think it might be December.”
The boys had by that time finished their supper, and Sidney carefully
packed away the bread and cheese that was left. Then they
stretched out on the sand, beginning to feel quite like themselves
again.
“I wish I knew where father is,” said Sidney.
“He may be back in New York by this time.”
“Oh, I don’t think he can be,” exclaimed Sidney. Then, after a
moment of reflection, “Still, he may be, too. I hope he is.”
“Are you sorry we started out the way we did?” asked Raymond.
“Well, I don’t know,” replied Sidney. “If we had known the Russian
Government was going to be so good to Americans, we might have
waited in Nizhni-Novgorod. But we did what we thought was the
best thing.”
“Gee! but that was a long time ago,” said Raymond. “If we had only
been able to send a message to mother! She must have had a tough
time waiting in New York after she knew about the war.”
“Yes; I feel worse about that than anything else.” And there was a
suspicion of moisture in Sidney’s eyes. “Poor mother! I suppose we
ought not to have insisted on coming when she was so opposed to
it.”
“But who could have imagined there would be such a war? Even
mother thought we should be safe from war over here. And father
wanted to come, too.”
“Well, father is about as much of a boy as we are.”
“This is the toughest proposition we were ever up against, Sid.”
“It certainly is, and after we are over the mountains we don’t know
what we’ll strike on the other side.”
“Maybe America will join in the war by that time, and we’ll be
arrested as spies.”
“That couldn’t be,” said Sidney. “If America goes in she’ll be on the
side of England and France and Russia. So I think we’ll be safe till
we reach the Black Sea; then there’s no knowing what Turkey may
do to us.”
“It would sure be a comfort to know what’s going on.”
As Raymond spoke, the boys heard voices, and peering around the
corner of rock they saw two horsemen cantering down the cañon.
“I’m glad we had sense to hide,” said Raymond, as they watched the
men. “I should think those fellows would swelter in their long coats
and those awful woolly caps.”
“I’m wondering,” said Sidney, “how much travel there is on that
other trail. I feel so much better now that I’ve a good mind to go up
after our blankets.”
“It would be dark before you could get there. We’d better wait till
morning. That’s probably only a wood trail and there won’t be much
travel over it.”
“If it’s a wood trail,” suggested Sidney, “somebody may start out
after wood early in the morning, or somebody may have come down
to-night, already.”
“Well, if they’ve come down already,” said Raymond, “we can’t do
any good by going up now.”
“It’s not going to be very comfortable here to-night without any
blankets.” And Sidney looked about them suggestively.
“Oh, it won’t be so bad,” said Raymond; “we can stretch out on the
sand, and it’s not cold.”
The relief brought by food and drink after their privation, and the
delightful peace of calm security after their strenuous exertions,
induced a languid drowsiness that became sleep almost as soon as
the boys had lain down.
A cold night wind came down off the high mountains and whistled
and wailed through the little ravine, but the boys in their cave were
out of its course, and its moaning, instead of disturbing them, made
them sleep sounder. As they had gone to sleep, however, with the
closing-in of night, the long hours before morning brought thorough
rest, and they were awake by break of day.
Raymond proposed that they should go up after their blankets
before eating breakfast, and so perhaps get ahead of any early
wood-chopper. The slope did not look so long as it had seemed the
night before, and they were soon halfway up it. At that height they
could see the village from which they had escaped, looking, from
that distance, like a collection of big rocks. And they saw, too,
coming on the trail which they had taken in the dark, a man who
was driving a donkey ahead of him.
“There’s our wood-chopper, Ray,” said Sidney, “and he’s going to
reach the blankets ahead of us.”
“Oh, well, he can’t get away with them, and we can take care of one
man all right.”
Hurry as the boys might, the man with the donkey arrived first. He
was, apparently, ignorant that there was any one near him, but the
boys were sure that he must have seen them on the bare slope.
When he came to the blankets he stopped and examined them for a
moment, then quickly gathering them up, he threw them across the
donkey and started on.
“Hold on, there!” shouted Raymond.
The man, however, instead of stopping, tried to whip his donkey to a
swifter gait. But the little animal was so used to traveling at a walk
that it could not be persuaded to go faster, and the boys soon
overhauled them.
Raymond ran up on one side of the donkey, and taking hold of his
head, stopped him. The man, on the other side, drew a wicked-
looking knife and reaching across the animal’s back made a lunge at
Raymond. Sidney, who was a few steps behind, saw the movement
and cried a warning to his brother, who leaped back in time to avoid
the thrust.
THE FELLOW DREW A WICKED LOOKING KNIFE
“Oh, no, you don’t!” cried Raymond, and whipping out his revolver
he covered the man with it.
The fellow stood, without flinching, watching them with gleaming
eyes while Sidney removed the blankets and cloaks from the
donkey’s back.
“Now, go on,” ordered Raymond, motioning up the trail.
The man sulkily took charge of his donkey, and drove the animal
along without once looking back.
 CHAPTER XIII
THEIR FIRST GAME

“I f we had waited for breakfast,” said Sidney, as the boys stood

watching the mountaineer climb the switchback of the trail, “we
should have been minus our blankets.”
“Gracious! It makes me shiver just to think of hiking over those
mountains without any blankets.” And Raymond gazed off at the
Caucasus, whose crests shone white in the clear morning air.
“And speaking of breakfast,” said Sidney, as he made his blanket and
cloak into the usual roll for packing, “reminds me that I’ll be quite
ready for it when we get down to the bottom.”
“I wish there was a good breakfast ready for us,” said Raymond, as
they started down the mountain. “I’m tired to death of that
everlasting dry bread.”
“Dry bread, you know, is more hygienic than fresh bread.”
“It may be hygienic, but it’s not high living. I just long for something
really tasty, like quail or rabbit.”
“Well, there are rabbits here. I saw one this morning down in the
cañon. Do you think you could hit one with that revolver?”
“Of course I could hit one! What’s the matter with you?”
“Then I hope we’ll see another.”
The long night’s rest, after food and drink, had made the boys feel
so fine that they already had little to remind them of their trying
experience of the previous two days. They went down the mountain
at a swinging gait, and as they approached the bottom, Raymond’s
mind reverted with longing to the subject of rabbit.
“Sid,” he suggested, “if you’ll hang back a little I’ll go on ahead and
maybe I’ll see a rabbit as we near the cañon.”
“All right,” agreed Sidney. “You’d better give me your blankets; you
don’t want to be bothered with them if you’re going to shoot.”
Raymond passed his blanket roll over to Sidney, who sat down on a
rock to give his brother time to get ahead. The boy proceeded
cautiously down the slope with his revolver held ready, but rabbits
were, apparently, either very scarce or very shy, for none appeared.
He stopped on the brink of the steeper descent just before the
bottom, and after pausing to make an examination there, he turned
and called out to Sidney in a disgusted tone,—
“No use, Sid; come on.”
The boys clambered down the rocks and trudged through the sand
to their camping-place, Raymond grumbling as they went.
“Tough luck, I say, not to see hide or hair of a rabbit, hungry as we
are.”
They reached the little ravine, and there, just inside the entrance,
sat a big gray rabbit!
Raymond threw up his revolver, and bringing it down, fired as it
came to a level. It was done in an instant, without apparent
preparation, and yet there on the sand with the greater part of its
head missing, lay the rabbit.
“You are certainly a crackerjack with the gun, Ray,” exclaimed Sidney
admiringly. “If I had tried that I should have blown the rabbit all to
pieces, or else missed him entirely.”
“It all depends on believing you’re going to hit. And don’t hesitate;
fire as soon as you see your game through the sight.”
“But you don’t sight at all, you just fire regardless.”
Raymond laughed. “Well, I guess it’s instinct.”
While Raymond was dressing the game Sidney gathered an armful
of bits of wood and brush, and carrying the fuel up into the little
ravine, he built a fire in an angle where it could not be seen from the
cañon. He fed the blaze until, by the time Raymond had the rabbit
cleaned and quartered, there was a thick bed of coals. Then the
boys sharpened sticks and holding the pieces of meat over the coals
roasted them beautifully.
The meal that followed, Raymond declared was fit to be served on
Olympus. It would, perhaps, have been improved with a little salt,
for the boys had forgotten to supply themselves with that desirable
condiment. But the delicious roast meat was so much more savory
than anything they had eaten for days, and so much better than
they expected to have, that it seemed absolutely perfect. Besides
furnishing an ample breakfast, there was enough meat left for
another meal, and that they packed in the knapsacks with the bread
and cheese.
By the time breakfast was concluded the day was far advanced
toward noon, and the boys hastened on their way. The trail up the
cañon, though the bottom was very sandy, was sufficiently plain to
leave the travelers in no doubt. After two or three miles, too, where
the cañon became narrow and rocky, the trail turned to the right up
the mountain, and there, on the harder ground, it was well beaten.
To the inexperienced traveler it would have seemed that the traffic
must be very considerable to maintain so well-defined a road. The
boys, however, were familiar with a land of scanty rainfall and knew
that in such a dry region tracks are obliterated very slowly. So they
were not uneasy about meeting people, for they knew that they
might possibly travel two or three days and see no one. If they
might only be allowed to place a reasonably safe distance between
themselves and the village where they had had such an unpleasant
adventure, they would rather meet people than not.
The road plunged at once into difficult mountains, more difficult than
the boys had ever seen before. They did not know that the region is
called the “Russian Alps,” and that it furnishes scenery which is
grander and more magnificent than that in the true Alps. The road
would climb up out of a cañon for two or three thousand feet by a
series of zigzags over a lofty divide, and descend by another
switchback into a similar cañon on the other side. The cañons were
narrow, deep, and gloomy, and were crowded so closely together
that there was absolutely no level ground between.
From the summit of any high divide the boys looked off both ways
and saw only a confused jumble of mountains and ravines, picked
out by occasional salient peaks. Sometimes there was a descent of
not more than a mile in a direct line, and yet the road was so
tortuous that half a day of strenuous walking was required to reach
the bottom.
On the sides of the cañons were perched villages, curious collections
of rough rock houses, always above the bottom of the cañon, and
often far above, away out of reach, except by an hour of hard
climbing. As the boys advanced into the mountains the villages were
situated at greater heights, and were more difficult of access.
For many hundreds of years the great Caucasian Range was a
harbor of refuge for oppressed people of various nationalities. Greek
and Roman deserters from the armies of Alexander the Great and
Pompey fled to its fastnesses; Mongols found asylum there, and
Arabs, Jews, and later, Armenians. All these peoples, to insure their
security, built their habitations in inaccessible places. That they
planned well was shown by the way in which they held out against
both Turks and Persians. There is a saying among the Persians,
which has become a proverb: “If the Shah becomes too proud, let
him make war with the highlanders of Daghestan.”
Though the boys walked as rapidly as possible in their anxiety to get
away from the village where they had been imprisoned, night came
while they were still up on the top of the first high divide which they
had climbed after leaving the cañon. Away behind, and far below
them, was the slope where they knew the village lay, though at that
distance they could not make out the houses.
The boys saw that they would be obliged to pass the night on the
summit, for while it was still light where they were, down in the
cañon into which the trail descended it was already dark. They
looked about and found a place where two or three great rocks
formed a protected angle, and there they prepared to make their
beds. That performance was very simple, consisting only of picking
the loose stones from a space large enough for them to lie down.
Then Sidney took their supper out of the knapsacks.
“Yum! yum!” said Raymond, as he watched his brother take out the
food; “won’t that rabbit be good, though!”
Sidney paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked:—
“Is there anything you would specially like for supper, Ray?”
“How about some caviare, like that we had on the Volga steamer,
and a cup of coffee; yes, and a little butter.”
“What would you say to a glass of water?”
Raymond looked thunderstruck. “For Heaven’s sake, Sid! We haven’t
any water, have we?”
“I don’t find any here.” And Sidney peered into the knapsack.
“What boneheads we are, Sid, and I was hardly moistened through
after that other dry spell.” And Raymond groaned dismally.
“Well, I must say,” said Sidney, “I should think water would be the
last thing we’d forget now. We can’t get down to the bottom of that
cañon to-night, either, and there’s not likely to be any water this side
of the bottom.” And Sidney looked down into the deep gloom of the
ravine at their feet.
“It’s a dry supper, that’s sure,” said Raymond. “It’s a good thing that
rabbit has no salt.”
“Oh, well, we’ll forget all about it once we’re asleep, and we can hike
down to the next stream as soon as it’s light.” And Sidney spread the
meat, bread, and cheese out on the ground before them.
“No cheese for yours truly, thank you,” said Raymond, “but I’ll take
some meat and bread, if you please.”
“I guess it would be wise to let the cheese go by to-night,” agreed
Sidney; “it’s a little too salty for a dry lunch.”
“There’s one thing sure, Sid; we’ve got to scare up something to
carry water in. We may be caught like this often.”
“Meantime, we’ll have to stop where there is water, if we make only
half a day.”
The roast rabbit was savory enough to assist the consumption of a
little dry bread, and the lack of water did not prevent the boys from
going to sleep almost as soon as they lay down. Early to bed, the old
jingle truthfully says, is early to rise, and the boys were awake
before the sun had touched the peaks around them, and while the
cañons were still in dense shadow.
It required only a minute or two for the travelers to roll up their
blankets and start on their hike down into the next ravine. At its
bottom was a little stream that seemed, to the thirsty boys, to be
flowing nectar.
In the afternoon of that day they observed a village, the first one,
but as it was perched up on the side of the ravine, and they
happened at that time to be in the bottom, they passed stealthily,
and thought themselves fortunate to get by. An hour or two later,
when they found that the trail was leaving the cañon to climb
another mountain, they camped right there by the stream,
determined not to be surprised by another dry camp.
 CHAPTER XIV
LESGHIAN HOSPITALITY

T he boys need not have been uneasy about water, for as they
advanced to the main range every ravine was the bed of a
foaming torrent, and there were no more dry camps. The trail
crossed the streams by bridges of curious construction. Sometimes
the bridge spanned a gorge high above the stream, and sometimes
it was thrown across from banks that were near the water.
To build the bridges logs were projected a few feet from one side,
being held in place by an abutment of rocks which was built about
them and in which they were bedded. Above those logs were laid
other longer ones which projected a few feet farther, and were
lashed to the lower ones by leather thongs, secured at the inner end
by the rock abutment. That was repeated until from each side
extended a span so far out that finally the intervening space could
be covered by a length of poles. Then a hand-rail was placed along
each side, and the result was a rude but stable and safe suspension
bridge.
The bridges were a never-failing source of interest and wonder to
the boys. Each one that they crossed seemed quite as remarkable as
the first one had appeared, and they always stopped to look in
admiration. Days afterward, in Batum, when they were describing
their mountain journey to an English-speaking Russian, they were
told that in all the mountain region the building of bridges was so
difficult that the destruction of one was punished by death.
Raymond shot another rabbit, which eked out their scanty stock of
bread and cheese for a couple of days. Then, as the food was almost
gone, they decided they must stop at the first village they came to.
That they found situated high on a mountain-side. Though they had
sighted the houses early in the afternoon, the climb up to them was
so steep and so long that night was closing in when they arrived.
That village, like the one from which they had escaped, was built in
terraces on a mountain slope, but it was much steeper, even, than
the first village. The road went up in front of the lower tier of
houses, where were standing several men, who, apparently, had
been watching the boys’ approach.
Sidney selected the most important-looking of the group and
tendered him their passport, with an inquiry for accommodation for
the night. The man received the paper, examined it curiously, and
then passed it on to another near him. It went around the circle, and
was the subject of an animated conversation, coming back in the
end to Sidney, with, however, no intelligible comment.
“Can you tell us where we will find supper and lodging?” Sidney
asked.
The man who had received the paper looked mystified and replied in
a tongue that sounded to the boys different from anything they had
previously heard: as indeed it was, for in the mountainous part of
Daghestan nearly every village has its own dialect, there being about
twenty different languages spoken in that area.
“It’s no use to talk to them, Sid,” said Raymond; “they won’t
understand a word you say.”
“I know they won’t, but I can’t just stand and stare at them. It’s
much easier to say something, even if they don’t understand.”
“We’ll have to use pantomine, the way Ramon used to with the
Tarahumaras. Let’s see what I can do.” And Raymond made the
motion of putting something into his mouth, at the same time
working his jaws vigorously.
The man laughed, as did all the others. The number present had
been increased by many who were curious to see the strangers, and
laughter and joking remarks extended through the crowd.
Raymond’s face grew very red. “They are easily amused,” he said
sarcastically, “but I’ll bet they understood what I meant.”
It was apparent that they did understand, for the man who had
been addressed beckoned to the boys to follow him, and proceeded
to a near-by house. As they were about to enter, something over the
door caught Raymond’s eye, and he stopped and stared
incredulously.
“Goodness! Sid, look over the door!” he exclaimed.
On the lintel were tacked the bony skeletons of two human hands.
“That looks pretty gruesome,” said Sidney; “I wonder what it
means.”
“I suppose it’s a pleasant reminder of some nice feud. We’d better
not show too much interest in it; they might not like that.”
The room that they entered had a floor that was earth mixed with
chopped straw packed down hard and smooth. It was quite dark,
being lighted only by the door and two small portholes of windows
that had neither sash nor glass. Supper, which consisted of a kettle
of stewed mutton, was just ready, and was placed on the floor in the
center of the room. The family gathered about the kettle, each
person provided with a sharp stick with which he fished out
fragments of meat. They also dipped pieces of black bread in the
broth, and soaked them before they were eaten. The boys were
given sticks and helped themselves as the others did, finding the
stew extremely savory.
When supper was finished there was the sound of a fife outside, and
the family all got up and went out, followed by the boys. They found
a large gathering of people, with torches placed around on the
buildings for light. The fife was playing shrilly, and as a drum began
to mark time, a man stepped out into a space that had been left in
the center. Then a woman from another side joined him and they
danced in a stately fashion. The fife and the drum vied with each
other in the noise they made, and frequently, as the couple danced,
there was a fusillade of pistol shots, fired by the spectators.
Presently, when those dancers had become weary, they retired and
their places were taken by others, who danced in the same fashion,
to the same accompaniment of pistol shots added to the music of
the fife and drum. Besides the circle of people surrounding the
dancers, many others were perched on the flat-topped roofs of the
near-by houses.
It was well into the night before the dancing ceased and the people
scattered to their homes. The boys went with their host, who
indicated some rugs on the floor where they might spread their
beds. The rugs were fine, silky, and delightfully soft.
“Gee! Sid,”—and Raymond stooped to examine the beautiful rug
before placing his blankets on it,—“if mother was here I’ll bet that
rug would go with her when she left, if she had to carry it herself.”
“She’d just go wild over them, Ray. They’re finer than anything she’s
got.”
“Heck! Sid, why can’t we buy one to take home to her?”
“I’m afraid it would be pretty heavy to pack, with the load we’ve
already got,” said Sidney doubtfully. “I’d just love to do it, though, it
would please her so.”
“We haven’t got much of a load, Sid, and these rugs are not heavy,
they’re so fine and thin. And one would be as good as another
blanket. We ought to have more bedding, anyway, as we go higher
up.”
“Well, we’ll see in the morning if we can strike a bargain with that
fellow. I’ve got to get to sleep now, I’m dead tired. I’m glad we don’t
have a dance every night.”
In the morning, when the boys had eaten and wished to depart,
Sidney took a piece of bread, and opening their knapsacks, showed
that they contained no food, at the same time holding the bread up
inquiringly. Their host understood at once that they wished to buy
food, and brought two or three loaves of black bread. Then Sidney
held four rubles out on his open hand, motioning toward their beds
to indicate that he wished to include that accommodation as well as
the food. The man took two rubles from the four, and bowed in
assent.
There still remained the rug which the boys wished to buy, and
Sidney picked up the finer of the two pieces of carpet and held it up,
saying, “How much?”
The man considered for a few moments, and held a short
consultation with his wife, after which he extended his hands with
the fingers all open.
“He means ten rubles, Sid,” said Raymond. “That’s dirt cheap.”
“It certainly is, and I guess we’d better take it.” Whereupon Sidney
nodded in affirmation and took out his purse for the money. “I hope
I’ve got enough here without going down under my clothes.”
“If you haven’t, I have a few rubles in my purse.”
“Yes, I have exactly ten rubles. When we’re out on the trail, Ray, you
must remind me to take some more money from my secret stock.”
“Now I’ll take your cloak, Sid,” said Raymond, “and carry it with my
cloak and blanket. Then you take the rug with your blanket, and that
will be about even. Gee! won’t mother be pleased with that rug! And
you certainly are a peach, Sid, with sign language.”
“I feel silly as can be when I try to talk without saying anything. I
wish we were in Mexico, or some other place where we could use
Spanish.”
When the boys started out they were obliged to drop down to the
bottom of the cañon again to pick up the trail. Then began the really
difficult part of their mountain journey. For several days they climbed
steep slopes by endless zigzags, or trod the edges of dizzy
precipices. The cañons were deep, dark, and narrow, and occurred
one right after another, with no intervening level ground. The boys
were always either straining forward to toil up a precipitous ascent,
or holding back to keep from pitching down another. And always
when they opened their bed under some sheltering rock they were
at a higher elevation than on the previous night. That meant, as a
general thing, that each camp was colder than the preceding one.
The camps soon became very cold indeed, and the boys were
obliged each night to seek a spot that was protected from the biting
winds that raced and surged from the crests above. As soon as the
sun was gone, the cold air descended from the summits to take the
place of the layers that rose from the rocks which had been warmed
during the day.
The lower portions of the range had been destitute of trees, but
between that section and the heights that were above the timber
line was a zone where a little timber grew. When the boys reached
that belt they also ran into clouds and drizzling mists.
One day the weather had been threatening and damp, but not
actually raining. Toward night, however, the clouds thickened and
descended in genuine rain. The boys saw that they would soon be
soaked through, their beds as well as their clothes. That would mean
a night of misery, so they hunted for a spot that was sheltered from
the storm. Fortune smiled on them, for almost immediately Sidney,
who had gone a little to one side of the trail to examine a ledge of
rocks for possible shelter, called out to his brother,—
“Here’s a dandy place, Ray.”
In the face of the ledge was a narrow fissure which was just wide
enough, with some squeezing, to admit the boys. Once inside,
however, the opening proved to be a good-sized cave. The ceiling
was high enough for the boys to stand upright, and there was plenty
of room for them to spread their beds comfortably. Moreover, it was
absolutely dry, and there was a thick coating of fine soil on the floor
which would make a soft bed.
“This is swell, Sid,” exclaimed Raymond, when they were inside.
“Jiminy! it’s good to be out of the rain. Just see how it’s coming
down now.”
“Yes,” replied Sidney, “it’s raining so hard that we shan’t be able to
get any wood for a fire.”
“Oh, well, it’s warm in here, and we have nothing to cook anyway. I
think there’s a little meat left, and there’s always that horrid bread.”
Raymond had succeeded in keeping them supplied with small game.
The day before he had shot two fine grouse, and there was still
some of that meat. The boys ate their cold supper and spread their
beds before it became dark, then sat in the gloom talking. Night fell
rapidly, and with the heavy downpour of rain it soon became very
dark. The boys were just about to roll up in their blankets for the
night when they heard strange noises outside. There was a low,
muttered grumbling, mingled with a strange whimpering.
The boys sat breathless, listening intently. At first they thought it
must be some large animal, though they had seen no animals larger
than rabbits. In a moment, however, the voice whimpered
complainingly, and the boys thought it was surely a person in
distress. The storm was turning colder, and the rain and sleet were
coming down in such volumes that any one caught in it, perhaps
insufficiently clothed, would suffer greatly.
Raymond was about to step to the opening and call out that there
was shelter near, when the whimpering ceased and the growling
began again, in a heavier, gruffer tone than at first. It was plain that
it could not be a human being that made such noises, and it seemed
to the frightened boys that it must be a very large animal.
“What can it be, Sid?” whispered Raymond.
“I don’t know, unless it’s a wolf. We’ve read of the terrible Russian
wolves.”
“The animal that’s growling like that is bigger than a wolf,” declared
Raymond.
“Then I hope it’s so big that it can’t squeeze in here.”
The growling and muttering continued, and steadily drew nearer.
The boys sat shivering. The cave had grown much colder, they
thought, and their teeth chattered. Suddenly the noises ceased and
there was a dreadful silence. The rain was still pouring outside, with
a steady roar on the rocks, but the boys did not notice that, and it
seemed to them that all sounds had stopped.
Silently the two sat in suspense, wondering what would happen,
whether they would suddenly be conscious of an animal in the cave
with them. Then they reflected that the entrance was so small that
no large animal could pass through, at least not quickly.
They were gazing intently toward the opening, though the darkness
was so dense that not even its outline could be distinguished. As
they sat, rigid, they realized with a shock that they were looking at
two small balls of fire which must be just outside the opening. The
fiery globes remained stationary, and colder shivers ran along the
boys’ spines.
 CHAPTER XV
A BLOCKADE

W hen the boys saw the two glowing spots of fire in the entrance
to the cave, for one sickening moment they imagined that it
was something supernatural. They waited tensely for whatever
fearful development might follow.
“What can it be, Sid?” And Raymond’s voice trembled.
“It’s beyond me. Is it outside, or in?”
As they gazed, the glowing orbs rose slowly to about the height of a
man, where they again remained stationary. There was a rock wall a
short distance in front of the cave so that no sky-line could be visible
from the entrance. Consequently, in the pitch darkness there was
not the slightest suggestion of a form that could be distinguished. It
was as though the luminous points had raised independent of any
agency. But the fact of their rising to the height at which they
stopped suggested a possibility to Sidney, and he exclaimed under
his breath,—
“It must be a bear, Ray, and he’s risen to his hind legs.”
“Gee! I believe it is, and those are his eyes.”
“But don’t shoot, you would only wound him.”
Sidney’s warning was too late, for as he spoke Raymond fired. The
glowing balls wavered, rapidly disappearing and reappearing several
times, then became extinguished. At the same time there was the
sound of scratching and straining, with groaning and grunting. Then
there was a cough or two and all was quiet.
The boys waited with their hearts in their throats, expecting an
attack from some sort of formidable animal. But the silence
continued.
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