d by
that terrific fall, but now I remembered the diamond had been sewn
securely into the cartridge belt I had always worn. It must be here now
with my clothes.

For now I realized that I was naked as a savage clothed but in the long
tangled hair on head and chin scarred, blistered and burnt till I
looked like a wild man, as I had indeed become.

And then I remembered my face, the vultures! and looking into the clear
waters of the pool, I saw, for the first time with sane eyes, my
terrible disfigurement, and cried aloud in anguish as I saw what manner
of man I had become, and realized that even if I could escape life was
for me a closed book. Scarred, grotesque, and horrible; what future was
there for me among my fellow beings . . . even though I could return to
them? Again I was sorely tempted to seek the berries that would give me
oblivion from all this agony of regret; but I struggled, and as night
came I slept a natural, refreshing sleep, and awoke with a new-born
hope and determination strong in me. I would not die here as a wild
beast; somehow I would scale the cliffs and escape, or die in the
attempt a better death than to perish like a rat in a trap without a
struggle for liberty.

My head was clearer now than it had been for I know not how long, and I
could reason. And Inyati's diamond was my first thought. I could find
but little trace of my pack; the white bones of my horses were half
buried in sand; a rusty tin here and a few shreds of clothing there
being all that I could find near them. My rifle I found; or rather the
remnants of it, for it had been broken to pieces in the fall, and no
trace of the stock remained. At length in a crevice near the pool I
found my revolver with a number of cartridges, my hunting knife, and a
few odds and ends of clothing, all in a canvas haversack that still
remained strong and sound, and at the bottom my belt and the diamond
tied up with Inyati's bracelet. But the leather belt had perished to a
remarkable degree; it was hard, black, cracked and twisted, and broke
at my first touch; and I found too upon searching for the saddles that
nothing remained of them but some dried fragments. I realized then that
months must have passed since my fall; but even then I had no
conception of the terrible truth! Cheered by the discovery of the blue
diamond, I now determined to look closely for others in the vicinity of
the pool, but days of laborious searching brought no reward except t