to this state. My desire for revenge was forgotten, and my
only thought now was to nurse back to health the unconscious man.

First of all I moistened his mouth with the water which Yamba always
carried with her in a skin bag, and then I rubbed him vigorously, hoping
to restore animation. I soon exhausted the contents of the bag, however,
and immediately Yamba volunteered to go off and replenish it. She was
absent an hour or more, I think, during which time I persisted in my
massage treatment--although so far I saw no signs of returning
consciousness on the part of my patient.

When Yamba returned with the water, I tried to make the prostrate man
swallow some of it, and I even smeared him with the blood of an opossum
which my thoughtful helpmate had brought back with her. But for a long
time all my efforts were in vain, and then, dragging him to the foot of a
grass-tree, I propped him up slightly against it, wetted his shirt with
water and wound it round his throat. Meanwhile Yamba threw water on him
and rubbed him vigorously.

At last he uttered a sound--half groan, half sigh (it thrilled me through
and through); and I noticed that he was able to swallow a few drops of
water. The gloom of night was now descending on that strange wilderness
of sand and spinifex, so we prepared to stay there with our helpless
charge until morning. Yamba and I took it in turns to watch over him and
keep his mouth moistened. By morning he had so far revived that he
opened his eyes and looked at me. How eagerly had I anticipated that
look, and how bitter was my disappointment when I found that it was a
mere vacant stare in which was no kind of recognition! Ever hopeful,
however, I attributed the vacant look to the terrible nature of his
sufferings. I was burning to ply him with all manner of questions as to
who he was, where he had come from, and what news he had of the outside
world; but I restrained myself by a great effort, and merely persevered
in my endeavours to restore him to complete animation. When the morning
was pretty well advanced the man was able to sit up; and in the course of
a few days he was even able to accompany us to a water-hole, where we
encamped, and stayed until he had practically recovered--or, at any rate,
was able to get about.

But, you may be asking, all this time, did the man himself say nothing?
Indeed, he said much, and I hung upon every syllable that fell from his
lips, but, to my indescriba