The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1898-08-16

no injury if he had to cut it's throat to
gain strength enough to struggle on q
little farther.
This was so far the end of his expedi-
ton and the outcome of his hopes.
Poor little Shirty's body had more than
u week ago been assimilated into the
system of a starving lion, his horse had
died of thesH big head" sickness before
that, one of his mules had strayed and
by this time no doubt it's bones were
picked clean Two others had taken the
sickness and had died the same night
The wagon stood abandoned five or six
days journey back, and here he was,
with the strongest and wiriest of his
animals worn to a skeleton, like him
self, and half mad with thirst, within
scent of water, it was true, but within
sight of nothing but the bare, baked
wildernesses around and the blazing
white hot heavens above.
Hour after hour passed in dumb,
hopeless struggling, and blind, half
conscious suffering, and still man and
beast staggered on, and the wheeling
vultures came lower and closer.
ernooh, thessnule stopped and sort Of
shudder ran through her body. Tom
stumbled and would have fallen if his
hand had not been fast to the saddle.
AS if the stoppage had reused him out
of his slumber, he pulled himself up;
his reason seemed to be awakening for
a last struggle with delirium, and he
raised his head and looked about him
and tried to remember where he was
and what had happened to him
Had the mule given out at last? Its
knees were shaking, and it's head droop-
ing. This was the end then He drop
ped his stick and fumbled for his knife
to cut his left hand loose, SO that No,
the mule didn't fall; it raised it's head
again. A horrible sound, like human
death rattle, seemed to come ont of its
dried throat, and then it started forward
again. He staggered on beside it, feel
ing vague sort Of anger at the necessi-
ty for any more exertion. Presently the
ground began to dip little, then more
and more, and the mule hobbled on
quicker and quicker, making the noise
III its throat almost continuously.
Was it coming to water at last? Tom
pulled himself. together once more, rub
bed his eyes with the back Of his hand
and looked about him. He saw lakes
and rivers and| splashing cascades
whose waters made no sound, but he
had seen these every day-every hour
almost--since the thirstmadness began,
ever in theiskies, not OH the earth, and
40 Il.
know that.
But stop! If there was no water on
earth there surely had been some here
once. He rubbed his eyes harder, till
he even brought a little moisture into
them. That cleared his sight, and he
saw that the mule had brought him to
little shallow valley. and THAT along
the middle of it thereran q string Of
patches of sand, broken f}y worn bowlder
sand Jumps of dry baked gray blue
earth that had once been mud.
The mule tottered to one of the sand
patches and thrust its. nose into the sand
with hoarse, rattling, g1pnt. At the
same>fmonent it flashed across Toms
half clouded mind that water is often
found beneath the dry beds of vanished
African streams He cut his hand loose,
flung himself down on the sand and be-
gan to dig with his knife feebly, but
desperately. The mule meanwhile be-
gan scraping With it's fore hoofs, and
this encouraged him to go Oh. He broke
the sand up with the knife blade and
scoopcd it out with his hands. Present.
ly the knife blade began to rattle and
clink against pebbles in the sand, and
when the hole was about a.foot deep
there We're more stones than sand.
He thrust hiss hands down and
brought mp double handful of them.
He happened t},look, at them before he
threw them away, and as he did SO a
sound something like what the mule
was making game from his throat. The
pebbles Were diamonds of all sizes ;lsd
colors, ard in his two hands there he
probably held 800, 900 worth. He flung
them away With a cry that it would
not have done amy one much good to
hear. What We're all the diamonds in
the world worth in comparison to half
pint of water?
He thrust his hands into the hole
again. This time he uttered very diff
ferent cry, for now the stones at the
bottom were wet. He grubbed them up
and threw them out, now with frantic
energy thousands and thousands Of
pounds worth of them The mule put
his nose among them and seemed to
draw the moisture off Nthem with it's
breath. That Was all the good they were
just then.
After a few more minutes Of hard
work little water-rcal liquid water
COLLECTED at the bottom Of the hole.
He tried to thrust his head into it so he
could get his lips to the water, but it
was too small, SO he made cup Of his
hands and put them against his mouth,
and in that instant he passed from the
torments OF holl to the joys of paradise.
His lips and tongue seemed to melt as
the water touched them, and his thick
enlns Blood pulsed with new life al
ready.