ached our ears. We ran forward, fearing that Mr Tidey's
horse might also be bitten, and holding our rifles ready to shoot the
creature, but it glided away through the grass, and though we heard its
rattle, we could not catch sight of it. We anxiously examined the
horses' heads, and found that they had both been bitten on the lip; as,
however, they did not appear to suffer, we mounted, hoping that no evil
consequences would ensue.

"At all events we must gallop on and get to the fort as soon as
possible," said Mr Tidey, "and if we reach it soon, we may be able to
apply some remedies to counteract the poison."

For some time our spirited little animals went willingly enough, but at
length they both began to flag, and on looking down I saw that their
heads and necks had begun to swell. The swelling increased until they
were fearfully disfigured, while their nostrils and gums became swollen,
and discharged a clear mucus. Still on they went, though their pace
became slower and slower, and it was evident that they could only walk
with the greatest difficulty. At last we were obliged to dismount, lest
they should roll over with us on the ground. On looking at them we
found that their eyes were glassy, the pupils greatly dilated, while the
hair on their backs seemed literally to stand on end. To mount again
would have been useless, but unwilling to abandon them, we led them
forward as fast as they could move. Mr Tidey constantly stood up
looking out more anxiously than ever for the fort, but no object broke
the line of the horizon to the westward. Sometimes we thought that we
might possibly have passed it, and then we hoped against hope that we
should reach it even now before dark. Still the day wore on, and our
poor horses followed us with feeble steps, and it was pitiable to look
at them, so swollen and disfigured had they become, their faces
resembling hippopotami rather than terrestrial steeds. At last Dio's
stumbled and fell; nothing which we could do would induce the poor
creature to rise, so we were obliged to leave him to become ere long the
prey of the coyotes, should they venture to devour a poisoned animal.
Mine, which had perhaps not received so much of the venom in its system
as the other, still followed me, but it moved so slowly that I was
compelled to lag behind my companions. The sun set and still nowhere
could we discover the fort; there seemed every probability that we
should have to spend anothe