Part 17 (1/2)
”By St James!” exclaimed Kennedy, in turn, ”ould have believed it? Look, look! doctor!”
”I see it!” said the doctor, very quietly
”Another balloon! and other passengers, like ourselves!”
And, sure enough, there was another balloon about two hundred paces fro in the air with its car and its aeronauts It was following exactly the same route as the Victoria
”Well,” said the doctor, ”nothing re, Kennedy, and show them our colors”
It seemed that the travellers by the other balloon had just the sa repeated precisely the same salute with a hand that moved in just the same manner
”What does that mean?” asked Kennedy
”They are apes,” said Joe, ”i, ”that it is you, dick, yourself, nal to yourself; or, in other words, that we see ourselves in the second balloon, which is no other than the Victoria”
”As to that, master, with all respect to you,” said Joe, ”you'll never e of the car, Joe; wave your arestures were instantaneously and exactly repeated
”It is merely the effect of the MIRAGE,” said the doctor, ”and nothing else-a siht by different layers of the atmosphere, and that is all
”It's wonderful,” said Joe, who could not esticulations
”What a curious sight! Do you know,” said Kennedy, ”that it's a real pleasure to have a view of our noble balloon in that style? She's a beauty, isn't she?-and how stately her !”
”You may explain the , anyhow!”
But ere long this picture began to fade away; the clouds rose higher, leaving the balloon, which made no further attempt to follow them, and in about an hour they disappeared in the open sky
The wind, which had been scarcely perceptible, seemed still to diminish, and the doctor in perfect desperation descended toward the ground, and all three of the travellers, whom the incident just recorded had, for a few loo heat
About four o'clock, Joe descried soround of sand, and soon was able to declare positively that there were two palreat distance
”Pal-a well!”
He took up his glass and satisfied hith!” he said, over and over again, ”water! water! and we are saved; for if we do move slowly, still we move, and we shall arrive at last!”
”Good, master! but suppose ere to drink a ?”
”Let us drink then, my boy!”
No one waited to be coaxed A whole pint ed then and there, reducing the total re supply to three pints and a half
”Ah! that does one good!” said Joe; ”wasn't it fine? Barclay and Perkins never turned out ale equal to that!”
”See the advantage of being put on short allowance!” reat, after all,” retorted Kennedy; ”and if I were never again to have the pleasure of drinking water, I should agree on condition that I should never be deprived of it”
At six o'clock the balloon was floating over the palm-trees
They were two shrivelled, stunted, dried-up specie, and uson examined them with terror
At their feet could be seen the half-worn stones of a spring, but these stones, pulverized by the baking heat of the sun, see now but in of moisture The doctor's heart shrank within hihts to his companions, when their exclamations attracted his attention As far as the eye could reach to the eastward, extended a long line of whitened bones; pieces of skeletons surrounded the fountain; a caravan had evidently ress by its bleaching remains; the weaker had fallen one by one upon the sand; the stronger, having at length reached this spring for which they panted, had there found a horrible death
Our travellers looked at each other and turned pale
”Let us not alight!” said Kennedy, ”let us fly from this hideous spectacle! There's not a drop of water here!”
”No, dick, as well pass the night here as elsewhere; let us have a clear conscience in thedown to the very botto here, and perhaps there's soround; Joe and Kennedy put into the car a quantity of sand equal to their weight, and leaped out They then hastened to the well, and penetrated to the interior by a flight of steps that was now nothing but dust The spring appeared to have been dry for years They dug down into a parched and powdery sand-the very dryest of all sand, indeed-there was not one trace of moisture!
The doctor saw them come up to the surface of the desert, saturated with perspiration, worn out, covered with fine dust, exhausted, discouraged and despairing
He then comprehended that their search had been fruitless He had expected as much, and he kept silent, for he felt that, froh for three
Joe brought up with hirown hard and horn-like with age, and angrily flung the bones of the caravan
At supper, not a as spoken by our travellers, and they even ate without appetite Yet they had not, up to this onies of thirst, and were in no despondingfor the future
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH
One Hundred and Thirteen Degrees-The Doctor's Reflections-A Desperate Search-The Cylinder goes out-One Hundred and Twenty-two Degrees-Conteht Walk-Solitude-Debility-Joe's Prospects-He gives himself One Daythe preceding day did not exceed ten miles, and, to keep it afloat, one hundred and sixty-two cubic feet of gas had been consuave the signal for departure