ingers till I find the road again. I wonder if I'll
know it when I see it."

The sun went down, a dazzling ball of yellow fire, behind the rounded,
rolling outlines of the Fernandez mountains, and from out the towering
crags of the Oro Fino range the moon rose, white and cool, looking
like a great, round wheel of snow. Wellesly had planned to keep on
with his journey through the greater part of the night, in order to
take advantage of the cooler atmosphere. But the trail was so faint he
feared he might not recognize it in the less certain light of the
moon, and so he decided to stop where he was for the night. With his
heel and a sharp-edged stone he stamped in the head of the can of
baked beans and with his fingers helped himself to a goodly share of
its contents. He forced himself to drink sparingly of what remained of
his tea. Not more than a pint was left and he dared take no more than
a few sips. To keep from pouring the whole of it down his throat in
great gulps strained his will power to the utmost. His whole body
clamored for drink. He would seize the coffee pot with a savage grip
and carry it half way to his lips, stop it there with gritting teeth,
and with conjured visions of men dying with thirst force himself to
put it down again. He said to himself that of all the times in his
life which had required self-control none had ever made such sweeping
demands upon his will power as did this. After he had finished his
supper and was ready to lie down on the sand to sleep, he carried the
coffee pot some rods away, to the edge of the growth of cactus, and
hid it there under the protection of the branching, needle-covered
joints of the prickly-pear, where he could not get it without having
his hands pierced and stung by the spines. For he feared that his
thirst might rouse him in the night and that, with his faculties
benumbed with sleep, he might drink the whole of the precious store.

By midnight the air of the desert had cooled enough for him to sleep
with comfort, save for the thirst that now and again wakened him with
parched mouth and clinging tongue. In the morning, he resolutely ate
his breakfast of cold baked beans, helping himself with his fingers,
forcing himself to swallow the very last morsel he could choke down,
before he took the coffee pot from its hiding-place. His eyelids fell,
and with a gasping breath he put it to his lips. Then he summoned all
his will power and took two small swallows.

As he