"Then, Mr. Temple, you can slightly understand my infatuation, my sincere love for this girl of Gathma. Is she not worthy of all the love that man can give? She is as good and as true as she is handsome. And yet, all now is over between us—all is over, and I shall see her no more!"
"But you must cheer up. Don't let the Doctor see your weakness, for it will only make unpleasantness amongst us. Things may come right yet. You know the old Earth-saying about all things coming to him who waits? Something tells me that even now we have not seen the last of Edos, or of the King of Gathma's daughter."
"That you may be a true prophet, then, is my one prayer. For I love Volinè, and without her my life is dreary and desolate as this desert around us."
"Well, Graham, we had better get back to the Sirius now. I daresay the Doctor is ready to start by this time; and if you take my advice you will let the subject of Volinè, and all that happened in Edos, form no part of our conversation. The Doctor has strange ideas—what man of genius has not?—and at present it is best to humour him, for we require all his undivided energies to bring us safely through our perils."
So conversing, Temple and Graham walked back towards the Sirius, where we found the Doctor and Sandy had arranged into four packs the various necessaries he had selected from the stores.
"Well, friends, what is the result of your exploration?" said the Doctor, smiling, and looking up from one of the packages he was strapping together.
"Travelling will be slow, Doctor," answered Graham, "for the ground is covered with loose sand and rough broken rock. Our best course is north-east, towards the rent or defile in the mountains yonder. We should reach them by to-morrow afternoon."
"Then take a cup of this meat essence, and we will be off," said the Doctor. "I think we have got all that we shall require for immediate use. Water will be scarce, but I think we have a substitute. Now have a last look round, and satisfy yourselves that you are leaving nothing you may value specially behind."
At last we each shouldered our package, strapping it on our back like a knapsack, and with rifle in hand we turned from the Sirius and began our march. Tears dimmed the Doctor's eyes as he looked for the last time upon his cherished handiwork, every bolt and plate of which was dear to him; and not one of us left the good carriage without feelings of regret, for it seemed as though we were turning our backs on home!
Hour after hour we trudged along, now sinking knee-deep in fine sand, then slipping and stumbling as we slowly picked our way across stony ground, the sun beating down upon us from a clear and rainless sky. After exerting ourselves to the very utmost, we found that we had not advanced more than twelve miles from the Sirius by mid-day; and owing to the extreme clearness of the heated atmosphere, this distance did not appear much more than six. We halted to rest under the shadow of a big mass of rock which lay embedded in the sand, and here we ate our food and each drank a cup of wine and water from his flask. Of pure water we had only one small cask, holding a gallon, which Sandy carried slung from his shoulder. This we reserved for any emergency, but we hoped to find a stream or pool before nightfall.