Part 36 (2/2)

”Both our suppositions have proved correct,” observed Alexander, as they walked up to where the antelope lay dead; ”but how are we to cook the animal?”

”Any dry stuff will serve for a fire, if we can only get enough, and a very little cooking will serve us just now Here coht, as soon as we have had a drink”

They went to the pool, and were surprised to behold the filthy puddle which had appeared to theht before They were not sufficiently thirsty to overcoust, and they turned away frorass, and herbs, and lichen from the rocks, and had soon a sufficiency tooff steaks from the antelope, were in a short tier was appeased, they found that their thirst was renewed, and they went down to the pool, and shutting their eyes drank plentifully Omrah cooked as ht not want for the next twenty-four hours; and the horses being again led to the water to drink, they mounted, and proceeded to the southward, followed by O for the caravan without success No water was to be found The heat was dreadful; and at night they threw theround, careless of life; and had it not been sinful they would have prayed for death The next ; they could not speak, but they ns, and resolved once more to atte the whole of the forenoon in the direction by which they hoped to discover the tracks of the wagons The heat was overpowering, and they felt all the agony of the day before At last the horses could proceed no further; they both lay down, and our travelers had little hopes of their ever rising again The scorching of the sun's rays was so dreadful, that they thrust their heads into some empty ant-hills to keep off the heat, and there they lay in as forlorn and hopeless a state as the horses Speak they could not; their parched tongues rattled like boards against the roofs of their mouths; their lips were swollen and bloated, and their eyes infla from the sockets As Alexander afterward said to Swinton, he then recollected the thoughts which had risen in his lish shore, and the sur in the desert; and Alexander now believed that such was to be the case, and he prayed mentally and prepared for death The Major was fully possessed of the same idea; but as they lay at some yards'

distance, with their heads buried in the ant-hills, they could not cons At last they fell into a state of stupor and lost all recollection But an Al their state of insensibility the clouds again rose and covered the firmament, and this time they did not rise in mockery; for, before the day was closed, torrents descended froed the whole plain

Omrah, who had held up better than his masters, crawled out of the ant-hill into which he had crept; and as soon as the rain descended, he contrived to pull the heads of the Major and Alexander, who still remained senseless, from out of the ant-hills, and to turn their blackened and swollen faces to the sky As their clothes became saturated with the rain and the water poured into their radually revived, and at last were completely restored The wind now rose and blew fresh, and beforewith cold, and when they atteet up found their liht the rain ceased, and they were glad to bask in the then cheering rays of the sun, which had nearly destroyed thes and were feeding close to them; and the flesh of the antelope, which had been untasted, was now greedily devoured Most devoutly did they return thanks for their preservation, and the hopes which were now held out to the the colony; for they had abandoned all hopes of reaching the caravan, as they considered the risk of crossing the desert too great They made up their minds to push for the Val River as fast as they could, and proceed back by its banks

They had two horses, and Omrah could ride behind one of theuns and aers to which they would be exposed, they thought lightly of them after what they had suffered They now mounted their horses, and proceeded at a slow pace toward the ard, for the poor animals were still very weak At sunset they had traveled about ten ht Wood to light fires they had none, but they hoped, if their horses were not taken away by the lions, to reach a branch of the river by the following evening

There was noant of water, as they repeatedly passed by small pools, which, for a day or two at least, would not be evaporated by the heat of the sun But they knew that by that tio the former terrible privations, and therefore resolved upon continuing their course toward the river as their safest plan, now that they had lost the caravan

As they were seated on a rising ground which they had chosen for their night's rest, and occasionally firing off their rifles to drive away the lions which were heard prowling about; all of a sudden Omrah cried out, and pointed to the northward; our travelers turned and perceived a rocket ascending the firroup of brilliant stars

”It is the caravan,” exclaimed the Major; ”Swinton has reon”

”Weon his feet ”God be praised for all his mercies”

”Amen,” replied the Major devoutly

O close to them, for their instinctive fear of the lions made them keep as close as possible to their masters They were soon mounted, with Omrah behind the Major, and set off at all the speed that they could obtain from the animals After an interval another rocket was seen, and by its light they discovered that they were not a ons The horses appeared to be sensible of this, and went off at a quicker pace; and in a fewthe cattle, and Alexander and the Major were received into the arms of Swinton, and surrounded by the Hottentots, ere loud in their congratulations at their return

As soon as Alexander and the Major had s to Swinton, the latter informed them that about three hours after they had left the caravan in pursuit of the cattle, the animals had returned, that of course, he had fully expected the that they did not arrive, he had decided upon re where he was, at all events, for another day; but that the cattle were by that time so exhausted, that it ith difficulty they were moved, and he could not proceed with them more than ten miles, when they lay down in their yokes Thirteen had died, and the others must have shared their fate, if it had not been for the providential rain, which had restored thereat state of alarm for them, and that he had alh he had used every means that he could think of When he fired the rockets off, he had scarcely a hope of thus bringing them back to the caravan

”However,” observed Swinton, ”it shows that we should never despair, and never leave a chance untried, even in the ain, and I thank the Alhty for it with all th, most fervently and most sincerely

I have been very, very miserable, I can assure you,to the Cape without you was dreadful Indeed, I never would have left the country until I had found you, or had some clew to your deaths”

”Our preservation has indeed been ht to have raised ain”

”Nor I,” replied Alexander; ”and next to the Alhty, we certainly owe our lives to little O that I would not do for that boy, if you will only give him over to my care”

”Or mine, Swinton,” replied the Major

”Depend upon it,” replied Swinton, ”I will do all for hiratitude for preserving et to repay it”

”Well then, you must allow us to help him as well,” replied the Major

”How far arefrom the Modder River?”