te of the very smallest shred of good feeling. He
felt that it would be quite hopeless to look for any praise or
appreciation from such a man; he foresaw that the fellow would
appropriate to himself whatever credit might result from the expedition,
and lay upon his (Harry's) shoulders the onus of any shortcomings of
complete success. And he came to the conclusion that since such a chief
was not worth putting oneself out for, he would remain where he was
until it was quite certain that he could travel with perfect safety, and
resume duty immediately upon his return to camp. But he was young, and
possessed a thoroughly sound constitution; moreover, he had miraculously
escaped with unbroken bones, his recovery therefore was rapid, and on
the nineteenth day after the accident he rejoined the camp and formally
reported himself as prepared to resume duty.

It had been Butler's custom, from the commencement of the survey, to
flag out a certain length of route daily, and to insist--without very
much regard to the difficulties of the task--that that amount of work
should be done by nightfall. This length of route usually amounted to
from two to three miles, and Escombe had once or twice protested--when
the natural difficulties of the work were excessive--that he could not
undertake to guarantee the accuracy of his work if so much were demanded
of him; to which Butler had retorted that, in his opinion, the amount of
work demanded was exceedingly moderate, that he should expect it to be
done, and that he should hold Escombe responsible for all inaccuracies.
Yet, upon Escombe's return to camp he found that, during the nineteen
days of his absence, Butler had advanced the survey by a distance of
less than four miles! the explanation which the elder man condescended
to make being that, during the four days immediately following the
accident, no survey work at all had been done, the whole body of peons
having been scattered in various directions, seeking some clue to
Harry's fate.

For a week or two after Escombe's return to camp matters went very much
more smoothly. Whether it was that Harry's accident had given Butler a
wholesome fright, or that the conviction had been forced upon the latter
that he had been outrageously exacting, there was nothing to show, but
certain it was that, for a while, Escombe was allowed to take his own
time over his work and do it his own way, with the result that while
this state of affairs lasted