A brief dash carried Alden beyond sight of his enemies, though he was likely to encounter others. He partly straightened up in his saddle and looked to the right and left. With relief unspeakable, he suddenly debouched from the broad gorge he had been following, into a wide plateau. On the right, it wound to the foothills a long distance away and stretched as far as the vision could reach to the left. Some three or four miles straight ahead, the comparatively level plain swept until it entered the hills again, beyond which could be seen the snowy peaks of a lofty mountain range.