ming in a
weary sigh.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

WON'T YOU SAY GOOD-BYE?

Every eye kept a sharp lookout as soon as the journey was recommenced,
and a strong effort was made to place a few miles between the party and
a spot evidently infested with the venomous reptiles of whose power such
a terrible example had been seen. Plenty of energy too was displayed
for quite a couple of hours. Then it died out at once; the boys and
animals seemed as if they could go no farther, and a halt was called in
about the barest spot they had seen. Several more suitable places had
been passed--places where there was a scanty growth of sage-brush,
others where the plain was rocky or encumbered with stones; but the
doctor's word was "Forward," and the order was obeyed, for in the eyes
of the adventurers every bush and every stone appeared to be the haunt
of a dangerous enemy.

Where they halted at last the plain all round was thick with a dull
silvery haze which intensified the heat of the sun, whose rays seemed to
be passing through a burning-glass, and it was only in obedience to
desperate efforts that the tent-cloth was stretched for shelter and the
animals watered and fed more sparingly than before. The provisions were
spread-out, but no one could eat. Every word and look was about the
water and directed at the fast-emptying keg that carried it, other
vessels having long since been exhausted.

"We must lie here till the sun goes down," said the doctor, almost
solemnly, in spite of his effort to speak calmly; "it would be madness
to persevere through this heat. Then we must make a brave effort to
reach the mountains by morning."

"And if we don't?" said Wilton.

"Don't say if, sir," cried Griggs. "We must do it."

"If there are any to reach," said Bourne, to himself; but his words were
heard.

"If there are any!" cried the doctor hoarsely. "I tell you there are.
We saw them distinctly, Griggs and I."

"That's so, gentlemen," said the American. "Then you must have lost
your way, doctor."

"I have not if there is any truth in a compass. I laid down our course,
and we have not deviated a bit. The sun and stars too have endorsed my
calculations. Come, lie down and try to sleep. Afterwards we will
serve out some more water, and walk all through the night. We must be
nearly across now."

There was no answer made to this, every one lying down to try and forget
the agonies of the intense heat and thirst in the sle