“I knew the mirage might lure you on and on into the desert, seeming to flee before you, till at last it would vanish in a mocking manner, and you, utterly exhausted and spirit-broken, would lie down and die without another effort.”
Jack was silent a few moments.
“And you did all this for me?” he finally asked. “You pursued and pulled me from my wheel to—to save me?”
“Yes.”
Another brief silence.
“Frank.”
“Well, Jack?”
“I was mad.”
“You looked it.”
“My thirst—the sight of what I took to be water—the shadows of the trees! Ah, yes, I was mad, Frank!”