With It All, I Had To Leave Two Of The Weaker Ones Behind,
Purposing, If God Should In Kindness Permit Us To Reach Water, To
Return And Save Them.
That afternoon the Indian chief, who, though an old man, had shown
wonderful fortitude and endurance, and still led the way, shouted:
"Eyoape!
Eyoape!" (Come! Come!) We were near the lake. With new-
born strength I left all and ran, broke through the brushwood of the
shore, jumped into the lake, and found - nothing but hard earth! The
lake was dried up! I dug my heel into the ground to see if below the
surface there might be soft mud, but failing to find even that, I
dropped over with the world dancing in distorted visions before my
eyes. More I cannot relate.
How long I lay there I never knew. The Indian, I learned later,
exploring a deep gully at the other side, found a putrid pool of
slime, full of poisonous frogs and alive with insects. Some of this
liquid he brought to me in his hands, and, after putting it in my
mouth, had the satisfaction of seeing me revive. I dimly remember
that my next act was to crawl towards the water-hole he guided me to.
In this I lay and drank. I suppose it soaked into my system as rain
in the earth after a drought. That stagnant pool was our salvation.
The horses were brought up, and we drank, and drank again. Not until
our thirst was slaked did we fully realize how the water stank!
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